ESPN: Fact Checking Power 5 Propaganda

[volgrad500]

ESPN is way underestimating the strength of the SEC from top to bottom, in my honest opinion. And saying that us and Florida have been sinking ships is taking a very VERY narrow historical view, even by BCS standards.

"Four teams largely carried the SEC's flag during its recent dominance: Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Florida. South Carolina has been better than it ever was under coach Steve Spurrier, but the Gamecocks still haven't won an SEC championship. Florida and Tennessee have been sinking ships, and Georgia can't seem to get over the hump."

Power 5 propaganda already being spread in the College Football Playoff era - ESPN

 

[YankeeVol]

I think our ship was sunk a few years back. It's in the process of being recovered.

Florida is currently taking on heavy water and the pump just went out.

 

[fade route]

I personally think the SEC is overrated a bit. The immediate success of A & M and Mizzou is evidence enough. Also, yes, we've won alot of nattys as a conference, but in head to head match ups in bowl games we are not really running roughshod over the rest of the country, not to mention how overplayed "they didn't really want to be there" is. Want more evidence? I think we (UT) are 1-5 against the PAC 12 in the last 6 matchups.

 

[Hacksaw]

It's the same thing every year. Living in Pac-12 country, I heard for the first time this season a local sports radio dork saying he thinks the Pac-12 will be as strong as the SEC this year. Things like this are just a sign that the season is drawing near.

 

[Biopsyman]

Start kicking ass.. and you will be in the conversaton

 

[Hacksaw]

I personally think the SEC is overrated a bit. The immediate success of A & M and Mizzou is evidence enough. Also, yes, we've won alot of nattys as a conference, but in head to head match ups in bowl games we are not really running roughshod over the rest of the country, not to mention how overplayed "they didn't really want to be there" is. Want more evidence? I think we (UT) are 1-5 against the PAC 12 in the last 6 matchups.

I'm reminded of the drunk Ducks fan who sat behind me chanting "SEC! SEC! SEC!" in the second-half of our game there last season. I don't think we're a good gauge on the overall strength of the SEC right now.

 

[peyton4heisman]

I personally think the SEC is overrated a bit. The immediate success of A & M and Mizzou is evidence enough. Also, yes, we've won alot of nattys as a conference, but in head to head match ups in bowl games we are not really running roughshod over the rest of the country, not to mention how overplayed "they didn't really want to be there" is. Want more evidence? I think we (UT) are 1-5 against the PAC 12 in the last 6 matchups.

No way the SEC is overrated. We stomped Mich, OSU, and PSU in our most recent matches. Our last 6 P12 match ups either came against the top teams of the conference or came while we had Dools. I think that if anything, the ACC and perhaps (maybe) the B12 are slightly UNDERRATED. But if I had to bet the farm on a randomly selected SEC team vs. a randomly selected team from any other conference, you better believe I'm taking the SEC

 

[TBtheGBwiththeTD]

SEC is still the strongest. Pac-12 is closing the gap but the SEC will upswing again shortly and the PAC 12 is as good as it's ever been.

and shocker ESPN hates Tennessee

 

[Vol-in-Atlanta]

I personally think the SEC is overrated a bit. The immediate success of A & M and Mizzou is evidence enough. Also, yes, we've won alot of nattys as a conference, but in head to head match ups in bowl games we are not really running roughshod over the rest of the country, not to mention how overplayed "they didn't really want to be there" is. Want more evidence? I think we (UT) are 1-5 against the PAC 12 in the last 6 matchups.

I agree. I think the SEC is the best conference, but not as dominant as some would have you believe. I'm sure the rest of the country is sick of our bragging by now.

 

[dovervolz]

I agree. I think the SEC is the best conference, but not as dominant as some would have you believe. I'm sure the rest of the country is sick of our bragging by now.

The rest of the country is sick of get getting their $$$ handed to em every year by the SEC.

 

[DC Vol]

I think our ship was sunk a few years back. It's in the process of being recovered.

Florida is currently taking on heavy water and the pump just went out.

If there is any more appropriate movie for Butch Jones here at UT, I'd like to see it:

And Florida's problem is they can't decide if they want to use a bilge pump or a bucket to help with the water problem they're having and keep switching between the 2 (speaking on their switch from power run to spread to pro style now). They're killing their players with the S&C program changes every year. That's why I think their OL took so many injuries in the off-season and camp leading into the the 2013 season. By mid-season they were worn out.

 

[Rudy123]

I think our ship was sunk a few years back. It's in the process of being recovered.

Florida is currently taking on heavy water and the pump just went out.

You better hope that Muschamp does well enough to keep his job but not good enough to dominate.

You know Florida's history.
(1) They fired a dud coach, Galen Hall and then hired Spurrier, who dominated.
(2) They hired Zook, who was a dud coach then fired him and hire "Urban Crier" who did real well.
(3) they hire Muschamp, who is a dud, then they fire him and hire, Pete Carroll or Bill Bilacheat. then dominate again......

 

[99gator]

So many issues are eliminated with one simple solution.

win.

 

[10acvols]

I agree. I think the SEC is the best conference, but not as dominant as some would have you believe. I'm sure the rest of the country is sick of our bragging by now.

Not the dominant teams now, but as a conference we are as stronge top to bottom as ever. After 10+ years teams are starting to close the gap, but to be honest the top teams aren't that far down and won't stay down long. Other teams, Tennessee for one are getting stronger. Who is the "weak link" in the SEC? Even Kentucky is making strides (or so we've been lead to believe)

 

[DC Vol]

You better hope that Muschamp does well enough to keep his job but not good enough to dominate.

You know Florida's history.
(1) They fired a dud coach, Galen Hall and then hired Spurrier, who dominated.
(2) They hired Zook, who was a dud coach then fired him and hire "Urban Crier" who did real well.
(3) they hire Muschamp, who is a dud, then they fire him and hire, Pete Carroll or Bill Bilacheat. then dominate again......

If Muschamp gets fired I'd love to have him as DC here.

That is a dude I'd have confidence in as DC and I feel like the type of players we're recruiting would fit his system perfectly.

 

[Vol-in-Atlanta]

The rest of the country is sick of get getting their $$$ handed to em every year by the SEC.

And, my point is proven again.

 

[fade route]

So many issues are eliminated with one simple solution.

win.

Thanks 99. We hadn't thought of that.

 

[kmkemp11]

Tennessee was 9th in the SEC last year. The equivalent in the PAC 12 would be Washington State, not Oregon. Comparing conferences is hard because the majority of games each team plays is against teams in their own conference. Out of conference matchups are usually at the beginning of a season or a rivalry game, which both have issues with accuracy. Bowl games seem like a good comparison, but the sample size is pretty small and the seedings aren't always fair to a given conference. The more teams you have that make it into a top bowl, the more outmatched you should be in the other bowls since the top picks from your conference were already taken before the lower bowls had a chance to select you. Because of that, bowl wins is actually a better metric than bowl win percentage since the top ACC team might edge out the 5th place SEC team, but that would not mean that the ACC was stronger than the SEC (as an example). Another interesting metric is overall drafted players. There is a general correlation between college productivity and being drafted, although it has some bias issues based on style of play. Perhaps a better metric is NFL early entries (since they tend to be the cream of the crop) or number of current NFL players ?

I would use:
1) overall bowl wins
2) overall bowl game +/-
3) number of current NFL players

I have a feeling that the SEC would win all 3 metrics by a not insignificant margin, no matter which time window you chose to use during the BCS era which is a pretty strong statement.

Here is a good source: Where Does NFL Talent Come From? | Bleacher Report

 

[TNVolunteerGrad]

So many issues are eliminated with one simple solution.

win.

Funny how that works isn't it?

 

[TNVolunteerGrad]

So many issues are eliminated with one simple solution.

win.

 

[99gator]

In my defense, some people on this board are pushing Nate Peterman to start.

 

[fade route]

in my defense, some people on this board are pushing nate peterman to start.

 

[ajvol01]

you better hope that muschamp does well enough to keep his job but not good enough to dominate.

You know florida's history.
(1) they fired a dud coach, galen hall and then hired spurrier, who dominated.
(2) they hired zook, who was a dud coach then fired him and hire "urban crier" who did real well.
(3) they hire muschamp, who is a dud, then they fire him and hire, chip kelly. Then dominate again......

fyp

 

[CWGvol]

I personally think the SEC is overrated a bit. The immediate success of A & M and Mizzou is evidence enough. Also, yes, we've won alot of nattys as a conference, but in head to head match ups in bowl games we are not really running roughshod over the rest of the country, not to mention how overplayed "they didn't really want to be there" is. Want more evidence? I think we (UT) are 1-5 against the PAC 12 in the last 6 matchups.

What? First if all "a lot of nattys" does matter and help prove the point. It's also not a good example to use the worst UT team in 100 years to prove your point. Last year SEC went 7-3 and the PAC went 6-3. That's a year they were better than usual and the SEC had 3 traditional powers down in UT, FL, and GA. From 2000 to 2009 SEC was 48-31 and PAC was 31-26 in bowl games. SEC was 32-17 against ranked teams in bowls and PAC was 16-14. I don't know the numbers between 2010 and 2012, but I remember we either had the best or second best record overall then too. SEC has pretty much run "roughshod" over the rest of the country seeing as we have the best record overall and best record against ranked teams. Not to mention the most nattys, by far.

 

[Guyute]

ESPN is way underestimating the strength of the SEC from top to bottom, in my honest opinion. And saying that us and Florida have been sinking ships is taking a very VERY narrow historical view, even by BCS standards.

"Four teams largely carried the SEC's flag during its recent dominance: Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Florida. South Carolina has been better than it ever was under coach Steve Spurrier, but the Gamecocks still haven't won an SEC championship. Florida and Tennessee have been sinking ships, and Georgia can't seem to get over the hump."

How does a team not winning the championship in a very competitive conference translate into weakness? National champions have been earning the SEC title recently and finishing strong in such an environment means you could probably smack around 95% of the teams in the other Power 5 Conferences.

The argument is bunk.