News SEC has no peers on the field, but heading towards a decline

This is an interesting article regarding the SEC's dominance in college football, focusing on LSU, AL, and FL's run of 4 titles. Despite the recognition that the SEC is the best conference, the conclusion amounted to a prediction that the SEC will fall in the near future and that "there might be too much inbreeding going on" among coaching in the SEC. This was an obvious slight to the South. After all, every one sleeps with their sister and their cousin in South. Pat Forde of ESPN.com clearly got a great laugh at our expense. Regardless, it's a good read. Check it out:

SEC is the standard of excellence in college football - ESPN

Will the SEC be slipping in the near-future?

 

Only if by slipping you mean unsure footing while trampling over the carcasses of out of conference wannabes...

 

Had to be what they meant.:thumb:

 

Yeah, you really gotta read between the lines in some of these articles.:wave:

 

Inbreeding? Is that what really happens at SEC Media Days?

 

Pretty weak arguments. They want to point to "scandals" involving agents in the SEC to prove it's on the decline, but no mention of USC's epic crash and burn? Or the saga of Maurice Clarett at OSU? Please. It's like the old line about why people rob banks. It's where the money is. For agents the SEC is where the talent is. That simple. As for coaching problems, as I recall the last 4 NCs were won by coaches who didn't start their coaching careers in the SEC. When we stop competing for NCs try that argument again.

The only real threat to the SEC's football dominance is the conference reshuffling and consolidation that we got a taste of just recently. That ain't over by a long shot. If the SEC is on the way down then why are the other conference schools killing each other to create some credible NC answer to SEC champs?

 

Pat Forde is a pretty crappy columnist, IMO, but he is from the south, I think. Pretty sure he has Louisville, KY roots. So while it was definitely a dig on the south, it was perhaps supposed to be self deprecating, maybe?

Still a gimmicky writer though who doesn't really know how the game is played.

 

The SEC will begin its decline when / if the recruits stop coming. Until then, the other confereces are playing for second place.

 

Given the socioeconomic developments of the Midwest vs. the South, I'd say the recruits will keep coming for some time.

The economies of the gulf coast and southeast are thriving (relatively speaking), while those in Big Ten country have been crippled. This will drive more and more families to from the rust belt to the sun belt and thus more and more children who can grow up to be big time recruits will be living in the area.

This has been happening for about 20 years now and is a major contributor to the unprecedented success the SEC is enjoying. When you factor in the built-in recruiting advantages of weather and attractive females, it's hard to foresee the midwestern schools making up the ground that they've lost anytime soon.

As everything is however, this is cyclical and will eventually even itself out. Just can't see it happening anytime in the near future.

 

The only reason the SEC will be on the decline is due to the depth of the conference. As the programs get closer in talent and coaching, the cannibalism will begin to eliminate the SEC from competing in the BCSNCG. This is the only way the SEC gets taken down. No other conference out there can compete, on a regular basis, with the upper echelon of the SEC.