After watching/breathing rapidly/drinking during/celebrating last nights's nights game, I piddled around on ESPN.com, and observed that Georgia had beatened highly ranked Georgia Tech, and South Carolina had beaten Clemson. Both Georgia Tech and Clemson are supposed to play for the ACC Championship, which would make me think they were the best their conference had to offer. Instead of demonstrating their greatness, they both lost to two unranked, lower tier (at least for this year) SEC teams. While some announcers and fans stood aghast at this, it was just a reminder that the SEC is the best Conference in the nation. It makes me feel great to compete with that, and it makes me love LSU more:miles::geaux::miles:
The SEC had another fantastic OOC record again this year: 30 wins, and only 6 losses. Those 6 losses were to- 2 x GaTech, UCLA, Army, Houston and Oklahoma State. The SEC posted a 5-2 record vs the ACC. 6 teams went 7-5 in the SEC this year and 10 teams will play in Bowl games. I think that shows the overall depth of our league. We play 8 SEC teams each year, and NOT 1 is a gimme. And to think, LSU goes 9-3 overall, and 5-3 in the conference and lots of folks are grumbling. :huh: Folks, the SEC is brutal!!! :crystal::geaux::crystal::geaux::crystal:
I know, and it's good that other conferences are afraid to play us. We just need more announcers, sports writers, and other teams' fans to put down the kool-aid drink and realize we're the best
While I agree the record ss good, I think many grumble because with a little better offense we're anywhere between undefeated and 10-2 and competing for a more serious bowl. But given the circumstances 9-3 is not a bad way to finish this season.
It was good to see South Carolina finally beat Clemson... I think they had lost 7 of their last eight.
Until some of the SEC's weakenesses are addressed, I don't think we're going to see much change regarding the national perceptions towards the SEC, much of which is largely shaped by the media. I have several friends that are sportswriters (notice that I didn't call them "journalists") , two of which write for nationally-recognized, west coast based publications, ..... so this is a discussion I've had with them on multiple occasions in the past. In no particular order, they always refer to these 3 problems in the SEC: 1) rampant cheating - it's happening, most folks know it, and yet Slive continues to act as the Broom for the University Presidents. I usually counter this with, "what about Pete Carroll?" .... but it's a difficult image to overcome and Slive's efforts have been woefully transparent. 2) playing D-II schools as OOC opponents - this is the one that I feel we are powerless to defend, because there's never an acceptable excuse for a D-I team to play a team from a lesser division. 3) Officiating - this is a topic that normally wouldn't have made the top 3 except for the obvious bias shown this season. Believe me, this is the first thing these guys bring up when we start talking about the SEC as a football power.
Caddy, WTF happened Friday man? Did Chizik and Mahlzan call Miles and Crowton and ask them to coach the last 4 minutes of the Iron Bowl?
Speaking of koolaid.... Perhaps I should only speak for Iowa and say we look forward to playing an SEC team in our bowls... that's out of respect... trust me, there's no fear involved. I doubt if Cal was afraid to play Tennessee. Washington didn't even look all the scared against you guys.... certainly USC wasn't scared in their four games against Arky and Auburn in the few times they've had SEC matchups. Koolaid works both ways, I suspect...
I was making a broad statement. And I like Iowa because they always bring their best to whatever game it is, so the respect is mutual...out of your conference though I'm talking about Ohio State, Penn State (hate both very much)
1. It happens, and I don't really expect it ever to change..best you can hope for is to not get caught (as opposed to the previous time you played whatever team and they didn't get caught) 2. It's somewhat aggravating that this goes on. As a fan, you want to win every game, and you don't want to lose at home. That being said, You need to make statements with the teams that you play out of conference. You don't have to pick #1 or #2 teams every week, but pick solid teams to compete with and show that you are worth your ranking. 3. The officiating has been lousy, but I think it will change after this season. I know other conferences have much more stringent grading on their officials than we do, and I think we'll adopt that
