If I hear one more E$PN analyst spew junk about how the $EC is head and shoulders above any other conference I am going to puke.

 

I am also going to puke when I see 6 $EC schools in the top 10 preseason poll next year.

lets judge the SEC on Monday. ;D

 

^^This. While I truly suffer from SEC fatigue, the rush to bang on the SEC is almost as tiring. Beat Bama on Monday, and the streak is broken.

The real truth is all of college football not just the SEC is down this year. I agree that this year the SEC is vastly overrated. However, who really deserves to supplant those teams in the rankings? No one really earned the right to be a top ten team that isn't already in there except for maybe Oklahoma, who lost two games at home, one in basically blowout fashion and doesn't have any big wins. It is anybody's game tonight, Friday night, and again on Monday. The spread between teams this year just isn't what it was in the past. I am praying that Notre Dame wins cause if I have to hear "seven straight national championships" from all my friends and ESPN for the next year I am going to lose it.

Notre Dame - LSU 2007 Sugar Bowl explained....we lost because we simply did not care enough to show up and play in LSU's backyard. It was a paycheck game yo!

I'll eat my crow when deserved. The SEC is fake. Florida was nothing but a bunch of thugs. There was a reason they weren't in the SEC Championship game though, and they definitely were not number three in the country. The game was a lot worse than the score.

 

This is not the first time the media has tried to force feed viewers a product. That's what they're doing now with the SEC.

 

I stand humbled. Maybe Bama can play with ND on Monday. Maybe not.

The SEC has had a good run. College football is cyclical because recruits generally want to go somewhere they can succeed, and unlike the NFL they can choose where to go. They also like to play with their friends, close to home, blah blah blah.

 

One recruit out of place can upset the entire balance of college football, isn't that odd? I would argue that Te'o upset the balance by choosing ND over SC. As a result of his decision SC has continued to falter on defense while ND has become dominant through his play and his presence. Recruits see him play and they want to play with him. I would imagine he influenced the decision of a lot of our current and incoming talent.

 

What if Te'o goes to SC? Does Tuitt go to GaTech? Does he end up going to Georgia giving them a stud linebacker and another killer defensive end? Does Lynch end up committing to Florida? Does Nix end up in the SEC? What about Russell? Does he choose Washington as he does not want to get murdered in a soft defense that has been traditionally exposed in the secondary?

 

The point here is that the SEC has a well deserved reputation for greatness, but at this point ESPN is looking for the drunk girl with the 2 AM smile right now when all the good looking gals took off at midnight. I am inclined to think that the SEC ship has sailed, by and large. However, look around and find a better conference as a whole. The Big East is 4-0, that is great. But they are also minutes away from implosion. Pac-12? Big 12? B1G? I think that until the conference realignment is all shaken out and the BCS is gone, we will not see a real dominant conference. My 2c

As a conference the SEC is no different than any other big conference aside from the top two: Bama and LSU (LSU would be in the Chip almost every year if they had a head coach).

 

That said.

 

SEC has won 6 straight, until that ends the SEC is top dog. 6 straight is crazy good and deserving of all the street cred they get. ND has it's chance Monday, here is to bunching the bully in the face.

As a conference the SEC is no different than any other big conference aside from the top two: Bama and LSU (LSU would be in the Chip almost every year if they had a head coach).

 

That said.

 

SEC has won 6 straight, until that ends the SEC is top dog. 6 straight is crazy good and deserving of all the street cred they get. ND has it's chance Monday, here is to bunching the bully in the face.

 

That's the problem, the "SEC" isn't top dog, the best team from the SEC is top dog. One team does not a conference make.

 

As others have mentioned, there are plenty of "gimmies" in the SEC.

 

Have they had the best team or maybe the best two or three teams the past several years? Absolutely. But, the conference as whole, is no better than any of the other major conferences.

Maybe a point could be made relating to the talent level on each campus in a conference. Someone with the wherewithal to do so could average the recruiting rankings for the last several years to arrive at a composite top 20. That might begin to tell the tale.

 

But, some of the schools that don't show up on the Rivals or Scout radar end up doing well, i.e. Utah 2010 that spanked Bama in the bowl game.

 

That's not taking into account head coaches either. Some schools tend to "coach 'em up" and make them stronger.

 

Interesting topic nonetheless...

As others have mentioned, there are plenty of "gimmies" in the SEC.

 

There are plenty of gimmies for ND as well...

 

There are like 15 threads on the first page of this board and they all refer to how much the SEC sucks... Top to bottom NO conference is filled with powerhouses. I think the SEC can legitimately claim it is the best conference but really WHAT DOES IT MATTER? Is Notre Dames schedule full of all world teams? No, and ND probably has the MOST control over their schedule, being independent, than just about any other D-1 team.

 

All that matters in the BCS era is WHO wins it ALL.

Louisville

When was the last time ND played an FCS team again? ... oh that's right. NEVER!

 

SEC makes a living on FCS teams. Literally.

There are plenty of gimmies for ND as well...

 

 

There are gimmies and then there are gimmies.

 

So, not only does the SEC usually have several in-conference gimmies (on par with the ND gimmies), they also schedule one if not two, "throw our jerserys on the field and we'll win" games.

 

Western Kentucky, Western Carolina and Florida Atlantic ring a bell?

 

ND doesn't schedule any of those, ever.