In the SEC can any coach meet the standards...

I agree.

 

I don't think the expectations of fans are any different that that of the players and coaches. If fact the players and coaches probably have higher expectations than anyone. Fans just can't deal with failure and want change at the first signs of disappointment. And unfortunately as mentioned above it's all about $$, and making these psycho fans happy.

 

true, but the perception has been set for the big-10 due to OSU's collapses in big games.

they could be 48-2 but with the meltdowns in the NC games the perception is the same as if they were a bad wac team who had won their conference without being tested.

wisci, michigan, iowa and purdue sucking hasnt helped matters. the entire conference taking a downturn has magnified the situation and lessened any so-called accomplishments of OSU in the process.

OSU had the chance of doing the same thing USCw has done during this span. beat the patsies as they do in the pac-1 while taking care of business outside the conference.

unfortunately for tressell, that hasnt worked out so well and now everything they've accomplished has been overly scrutinized since they seemingly always get exposed against top competition.

is it fair? not really but therein lies some truth.

the buckeyes have to win a big game outside the conference against a national power before any of this starts to subside. preferably a NC game against an SEC team or USCw.

and thats gotta suck given the last class has won over 85% of their games.

 

Tirk,

i find it difficult to disagree with the vast majority of your post.

The only thing I'd say is that IF the current class was 48-2 that would mean that they'd won and lost 2 BCS championship games in the last 4 years (would have been in each game). Even with losses in the last 2 there would still be tremendous respect for what the program accomplished. However, 43-7 is the reality.

I do believe the Big 10 as a conference will be on the upswing shortly. Iowa is showing signs of becoming a very solid team once again and Wisconsin should get to a higher level. If Penn State becomes more consistent year in, year out the conference starts to regain national power. Michigan can't stay this bad, can they? They do have a ton of recruiting power. Add in Michigan State which may become a perennial top 15-25 team under Dantonio and I have high hopes for the conference.

Then again, it could all be a pipe dream.

 

not necessarily, ask auburn.

the big 10 will improve and seemingly has. recruiting more in the south has been the lesson learned but a slow process.

 

i'm not certain you can compare the two situations. Tubs should have had the opportunity to earn an MNC in '04, but he didn't. Miles has hardware, so IMO he'd get a pass.

Tuberville was forced-out after several years of political stife, and he was forced out by the very same powers that attempted the failed coup in 2003.
Lowder & company overplayed their hand in '03, ended up as public buffoons, and simply bided their time until Tuberville showed vulnerability.

Hell, I admire the man for putting up with their backstabbing for as long as he did. Auburn has dramatically fallen behind in our football facilities, primarily due to the lack of unified support caused by the riff.

Regardless, Tuberville was good for the conference, ran a clean program, with an emphasis on graduating players and keeping his players out of trouble. His team chaplain/FCA program has been widely emulated and has been a model improvement in the sport. Hopefully, some will remember the good with the bad, but the 24 hour media circus will make it nearly impossible.

Like it or not, CFB has become a professional sport.

 

Another bad year and I can see Spurrier out at USCe and Tubberville going there. But regardless, like stated earlier... with all of the coaches being forced out this year, the SEC isn't going to be a dream job for a lot of HCs out there down the line.

 

true all true

 

There is no doubt that tOSU getting smacked in the last two NC games, then by USC earlier this year, has created a perception for both OSU and the Big Ten of being really down, really bad.

And, as usual, things are never as good or bad as we fans (and media) can make them out to be.

There have been ten Capital One bowls and ten Outback bowls since the BCS' "inagural" season in 1998. In this span the Big Ten has had two teams go to the BCS 7 times, the SEC has has two teams five times. I bring this up only because the CapOne, Cotton, Outback, and Alamo selections are effected when either conference gets two teams into the BCS mix.

In this ten year span, the Big Ten is 7-3 in CapOne games (winning the last four) and 4-6 in the Outback, for a record of 11-9. Most of those 20 games were very close and could have gone either way.
The point is the Big Ten isn't near as bad in depth as most would want to paint them, nor is the SEC so "heads above" anyone else as some would paint them.

Personally, I can't help what tOSU does in their bowls. Their recent history would suggest they have done quite well in big games up to the last three years. They certainly have the talent. They are just as mystifying as Oklahoma's record in recent bowl games. Does the Sooner's bowl record of late make the Big 12 "suck"?

Two years ago, we Hawkeyes @ 6-6 had to play a 10-2 Longhorn team in the Alamo.... had their burnt orange butts beat until very late in that game. The only point of that little example is there are a lot of teams who can play the game and be competitive with most anyone.

There, I'm done :yelwink2:.

 

What do you refer as going to the BCS... LSU, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama this season will go... we've sent more the 2 teams to BCS bowl games, and BCSNCs. And the SEC has won up to this point 4 BCSNCs with zero losses in the big game within the BCS era... soon to be 5 after this bowl season.

Considering if the SEC wins the NC this year, our conference will have won HALF of the NCs played since the inception of the modern era BCS in '98. And the SEC in head to head competiton vs. the Big 10 in those BCSNCGs are 2-0 in back to back years.
And as a further comparison, the SEC thus far is 4-0 in the BCSNCG with 3 conference schools winning it, while the Big 10 is 1-2 and has only sent 1 team.