Is the SEC in trouble?

#1
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volbound1700

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#1
After seeing the way the CFB Playoff lined up with 4 B1G teams in and only 3 SEC teams in it and the TV Payouts being greater for the B1G, is the SEC's run in jeopardy?

I am seeing more and more players getting paid off to go to B1G schools over SEC schools. This could be good or bad for Tennessee, not sure yet but the B1G seems to be climbing and SEC looks vulnerable.
 
#3
#3
hog88 said:
Is the SEC in trouble? Doubtful but without question some things need to be changed. Sankey needs to be shown the door and we need a 9 game schedule.
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What’s a nine game schedule accomplish? This season would’ve been worse for the SEC with an additional game to beat each other up. SOS didn’t seem to matter so why make it harder.
 
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#4
#4
until/unless we lose our NFL pipelines its not an issue.

in the media's eyes we have always been behind the Big 10. Their media deals have always been bigger than ours. this isn't anything new.

we still have the second most teams in, and that is without big boys like Bama or LSU being included. if UT takes care of business it will be tied up in the number of members from the top two. no reason to worry about the sky falling.

besides our last National Title came when the rest of the SEC was down. we played freaking Mississippi State for crying out loud in the SEC championship.
 
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#5
#5
hog88 said:
Is the SEC in trouble? Doubtful but without question some things need to be changed. Sankey needs to be shown the door and we need a 9 game schedule.
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Why a nine game schedule? SEC schools seem to have had tougher schedules with just eight games. I think it is arguable that if Indiana swapped out with any SEC team this year, they do not sniff the CFP.
 
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#6
#6
95 Vol Alum said:
What’s a nine game schedule accomplish? This season would’ve been worse for the SEC with an additional game to beat each other up. SOS didn’t seem to matter so why make it harder.
Click to expand...

We'll see a whiplash as regards to SoS, even the Gump AD talked about increasing their SoS. Plus a 9 game schedule allows more matchups while keeping traditional rivals.
 
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#7
#7
hog88 said:
We'll see a whiplash as regards to SoS, even the Gump AD talked about increasing their SoS. Plus a 9 game schedule allows more matchups while keeping traditional rivals.
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After the way the CFP was decided the Gumps have come out saying they are rethinking their OOC schedule in favor of an easier one
 
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#10
#10
95 Vol Alum said:
True, but there’s no reason to place any risk there either per the committee.
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There's also a real lack of objective criteria that they are using. I could see the things that the committee values changing from year to year, especially if there are loud objections to them undervaluing/overvaluing something in any given year.
 
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#11
#11
05_never_again said:
Which is rich, because they in no way missed the CFP this year because of their OOC schedule.
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I agree, but that’s not the point they are making.

While this year their OOC schedule was really light, they have games schedule with Notre Dame and Ohio State in the future. With SoS not really a factor in the playoff, it just means there’s less incentive for SEC schools to go for tough OOC matches.

The SEC is hard enough as it is, why risk it even more with tough OOC matches when the committee is rewarding the likes of Indiana for beating no one in the top 25?
 
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#12
#12
Nerwen Aldarion said:
I agree, but that’s not the point they are making.

While this year their OOC schedule was really light, they have games schedule with Notre Dame and Ohio State in the future. With SoS not really a factor in the playoff, it just means there’s less incentive for SEC schools to go for tough OOC matches.

The SEC is hard enough as it is, why risk it even more with tough OOC matches when the committee is rewarding the likes of Indiana for beating no one in the top 25?
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Penn State, Notre Dame in the same boat. Boise, Arizona State, and Clemson only picked up ranked wins in their championship game.

Texas may be on that list too.
 
#13
#13
05_never_again said:
There's also a real lack of objective criteria that they are using. I could see the things that the committee values changing from year to year, especially if there are loud objections to them undervaluing/overvaluing something in any given year.
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There are no transparent set of criteria. There should be a published set of metrics. The way it is now, is full of bias. I don't trust closed door meetings, especially when money is involved.
 
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#14
#14
Nerwen Aldarion said:
After the way the CFP was decided the Gumps have come out saying they are rethinking their OOC schedule in favor of an easier one
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How unfair it was of the SEC schedule makers to force Alabama to play 6-6 Vanderbilt and 6-6 Oklahoma on the road in the same season. Alabama really should seriously consider a move to the ACC.
 
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#16
#16
Nerwen Aldarion said:
I agree, but that’s not the point they are making.

While this year their OOC schedule was really light, they have games schedule with Notre Dame and Ohio State in the future. With SoS not really a factor in the playoff, it just means there’s less incentive for SEC schools to go for tough OOC matches.

The SEC is hard enough as it is, why risk it even more with tough OOC matches when the committee is rewarding the likes of Indiana for beating no one in the top 25?
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I know the point they are trying to make. My point is that their future OOC schedules, regardless of they make them stronger or weaker, would have no bearing if they performed how they did this year in future years.

They missed the playoff and their response was "Well, in the future, we won't play strong OOC teams." That's an interesting takeaway given that this year they didn't play a strong OOC schedule at all and all their losses were in-conference, 2 of which were not great teams. They want to look into weakening their future OOC schedule. Fine, but if they're losing 3 conference games like they did this year they won't get in anyway. Their response to this is as though they had a really strong OOC schedule this year, and a loss to one of those teams is what kept them out.
 
#17
#17
Depending on which version of Georgia we get, they could easily end up being that side of the bracket’s semi-finalist. Between us and Tejas, there’s a pretty decent chance our side of the bracket ends up being an SEC team as well, although my bold prediction is that a team in our cluster (us, OSU, and Oregon) will win it all.

What do you mean by the SEC’s run? A Big Ten team won it last year. If you mean the SEC’s standing as the best/deepest league, that ain’t in jeopardy of changing any time soon.
 
#18
#18
titansvolsfaninga said:
There are no transparent set of criteria. There should be a published set of metrics. The way it is now, is full of bias. I don't trust closed door meetings, especially when money is involved.
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They like it that way, because when there is gray area it allows them to slide teams around in a way that they think benefits ratings, or gives a big name team an easier track to the title game. Look at that path Texas has. If they make it to the title, they will have beaten Clemson in Austin, Arizona St in Atlanta, and they get to play in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
 
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#19
#19
SEC should be severely punished for being pansies and only playing 8 conference games each year
 
#20
#20
05_never_again said:
I know the point they are trying to make. My point is that their future OOC schedules, regardless of they make them stronger or weaker, would have no bearing if they performed how they did this year in future years.

They missed the playoff and their response was "Well, in the future, we won't play strong OOC teams." That's an interesting takeaway given that this year they didn't play a strong OOC schedule at all and all their losses were in-conference, 2 of which were not great teams. They want to look into weakening their future OOC schedule. Fine, but if they're losing 3 conference games like they did this year they won't get in anyway. Their response to this is as though they had a really strong OOC schedule this year, and a loss to one of those teams is what kept them out.
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I agree, anyone who loses three games shouldn’t be in the playoffs (I’d add Clemson to that list too but they have to get rid of automatic bids for conference champs first)

But all of their losses came from in conference teams. So why go for tough OOC games when in conference is already a challenge?

The playoff system was supposed to incentivize teams to branch out and play OOC teams that are tougher than Sunbelt and MAC teams. But the way the committee played things this year, it has done the opposite.
 
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#21
#21
BowlBrother85 said:
How unfair it was of the SEC schedule makers to force Alabama to play 6-6 Vanderbilt and 6-6 Oklahoma on the road in the same season. Alabama really should seriously consider a move to the ACC.
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Oh I love it don’t get me wrong.

I do not think Bama deserved to be even sniffing the playoffs after losing to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. But I also think the CFP totally sucked with their seeding and did reward teams for weaker schedules.

Why is Tennessee which has a ranked win below Texas and Penn State? Texas didn’t beat a team that is ranked and Penn State only beat Illinois. Why is Penn State above Ohio when Ohio beat Penn State and Indiana? Why did Ohio only drop four spots after losing at home to Michigan?

The SEC is without a doubt the toughest conference in the nation. If Strength of Schedule doesn’t matter, as committee made clear, then why should any SEC team schedule OOC games that aren’t guaranteed wins? There’s just no incentive, save the practice times for the in conference rivals and make your playoff path easier.
 
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