I have been engaged in an on-going debate with an Alabama fan for over a month now on a Saints board I frequent. He has been hyping Oregon for a very long time now and loves Dixon for the Heisman. I give him credit for not jumping on the bandwagon there. However, he has constantly claimed the SEC is a weaker conference this year, and despite every argument presented to him he continually refers to the out-of-conference scheduling as the crux of his position. The PAC-10 schedules stronger competition and has fared better thus they are stronger despite the fact that 5 PAC-10 teams do not have a winning record whereas 11 of 12 SEC teams do. Truth be told I think the PAC-10 is much better this year than it has been in recent times. It is no longer a one team conference. They are pretty damn good at the top, however, I still feel that the depth and level of competition throughout the SEC gives it the edge. Anyway, I did quite a bit of researching the non-conference scheduling, found a very useful site, and augmented their findings in formulating a post to counter his argument. Figured some here at TigerForums might enjoy the read so here it is. [quote name='800lbgorillas' date='Nov 13 2007, 08:52 AM' post='219975'] I said the Pac 10 is good because they are 3-2 against top 25 teams OOC with the only two losses coming from Washington and WSU (the two worst teams in the conference.) and because they put up a similar OOC record overall to the SEC while playing only 2 DIAA games Meanwhile, I criticized the SEC for being 1-4 against top 25 teams OOC and playing 11 DIAA games [/quote] SEC Out-Of-Conference Schedule Facts: SEC OOC Schedule by Teams: PAC-10 Out-Of-Conference Schedule Facts: PAC-10 OOC Schedule by Teams: Amazingly as bad as Notre Dame is this year, the PAC-10 gave the Domers their only win of the year. Just to put things in some nice light.. Percentage of Non-Conference BCS Opponents By Conference: ACC: 45% Big East: 38% Pac-10: 33% SEC: 29% Big Ten: 29% Big Twelve: 23% (That includes Notre Dame which the Big Ten and Pac-10 benefits from.) Now for some more perspective.. SEC's Final Tally So Far: 37-5 SEC Losses To: Florida State (6-4), South Florida (7-3), #6 Missouri (9-1), #5 West Virginia (8-1), Cal (6-4) And some comparison.. Pac-10's Final Tally So Far: 20-9 Pac-10's Losses To: BYU (7-2), New Mexico (7-3), #21 Cincinnati (8-2), TCU (5-5), Utah (7-3), Notre Dame (1-9), #7 Ohio State (10-1), #24 Wisconsin (8-3) Every team the SEC has lost to has two things about them.. They have been ranked in the Top 6 at some point this season. (Except FSU who peaked at 19th.) They all have winning records. The same cannot be said for the PAC-10. Sorry, but the numbers do not lie. The PAC-10 doesn't play a stronger schedule. Look at the BCS conference teams. If you include Notre Dame it is barely above the percentage that the SEC plays with a 33% to 29% edge. If you remove Notre Dame from the PAC-10 equation, then the SEC plays a higher percentage of BCS conference teams out-of-conference by a 29% to 26% margin. Either way it is splitting hairs so leave Notre Dame in there. Anyway, it's amazing what some actual research of facts will do when presenting an argument, isn't it? Go ahead. Spin this. You say non-conference games are the end-all and be-all. Spin it. Spin the record of 37-5 to 20-9 with a comparable percentage of BCS conference opponents. Try it. Brian ~Geaux Tigers!~
Yes. Indeed. Try it. I dare you. Go ahead. Spin it. Make my day. Got the cajones? Let's see 'em. C'mon. Do it. Do it! :huh:
I don't know about putting a spin on that but it sure as hell made my head spin....:lol: I think I need a drink....
