The SEC in '17 was far, far from a meat grinder of a schedule. It was a three team conference last season and that was only for the later portion of the season when Auburn got their act together. (I don't believe Clemson or LSU could have beaten them in the last third of the season just as I don't believe UGA would have beaten them in the SECCG if AU had Kerryon healthy.) I still don't get why this is a bragging point. It doesn't make sense to me. **FWIW, I expect something similar out of Auburn this season...it'll take several games for them to get their offensive line to play cohesively. It's all when you catch them. If they catch three or four losses by mid-season they'll finish in their normal 8-4, 9-3 mark. And, by normal, historically it's what happens to them following a 10 win season.
Buried beneath the headline of the all-SEC title game is the fact that the rest of the conference kinda sucks now. Did you ever think you'd see a Florida team that can barely move the ball? Tennessee went fucking 0-8 in the conference. LSU is above-average at best. USC, aTm, Arkansas, Ole Miss, MSU: nothing to get excited about there. I guess Auburn is pretty decent. This is not the conference that crowned a different national champion every year. This is a two-team league right now.
Between the CFP and the NY6 games four teams are the maximum for the SEC--I wouldn't take over/under 3 because that seems about right. If it's four, I'm seeing three from the west and one from the east: MSU, UA, AU, and UGA. What's crazy about the SEC right now is you've got a guy like Shoop who has moved from Knoxville to Starkville and inherited more talent on defense. That's very unlike UT football. I'd dare say it may be a first for a State team. I've entertained the thought, on more than one occasion, that a Clemson thumping of A&M might twist them up enough to meet last years win totals.
What conference in college football isn’t top heavy? Have the top teams gotten better or has the field gotten worse? Or has there always been a lack of parity? I think it varies year by year conference by conference. I also believe that teams (and fans) give up after a few losses more now than ever. The goal is to win a championship. Hell the expectation now is to win a championship (hence all the fired/hired coaches in the SEC) and when that becomes unavailable after a loss or 2 these kids pack it in. Coach O and LSU didn’t do that last season which is admirable but to be expected in his 1st year as HC. I’ll take that over tossing in the towel A&M style any day and I hope like hell we don’t fall as hard as Tennessee has, however those are my fears. And I agree, LSU majored in the minors last year. The one thing about college football is just about any team with a decent defense is always a good QB away from being a real threat. If Coach O and Ensminger can find that, no doubt LSU will be back tilting the scales. I think I speak for most when I say that’s what we’re all hoping for. Edit: Call me arrogant, call me delusional...but I don’t for one second believe that other SEC fans have written LSU off as much as the media has. You may act like you’re not worried but you’re smart enough to know this team is QB threat away from being a real pain in your ass.
Well said. Agree fully. Just because the SEC top to bottom last year may not have been as marquee as in the past, the talent level is formidable and the coaching top to bottom is as good now as it has ever been. UTs Butch was a good coach, they got into a spiral they couldn't get out of, but I suspect we'll hear from that guy again in the future w/some other team. Offseason is time for speculation and bandwagoners. A couple of media pundits make their pushes one way or the other about a certain team, give some speculative rationale that sounds good verbally/on paper, and others then run with it. LSU will surprise, methinks, but that is another offseason phenomenon, extreme optimism, and I am very guilty of that one. If we figure out the QB situation, and get off to a good start, watch out. I also agree that it has almost become a one and done with losses in college football. Sports analysts like to say LSU is the only 2 loss team that has won the NC in this era. Well, what's so wrong with that? They adapted and overcame. To think you have to go undefeated to win it is hogwash. The more we push to a playoff, the more we crown a true champion in my mind. In life and football, it's about overcoming adversity and mistakes, coming up from the rubble and coming out on top. Sometimes that involves losing along the way. It is impressive when a team can go undefeated in a non-cupcake schedule, and I don't want to take away from that, but if someone loses, but then overcomes later to beat top teams, they deserve it just as much, IMO. That's where polls can sometimes influence negatively a deserving team. An expanded playoff at least allows others a chance despite some earlier mistakes, just like at every other level of football nationally.
