Why Is The SEC So Good?

The Southeastern Conference is so good, and has been for so long, that for the last three straight seasons the national champion has come from the SEC and not been undefeated. Think about all those teams that go undefeated and automatically think they deserve to be in the title game.

Like Hawaii a few seasons ago. They were trying to lobby all over the place to get into the title game when no voter in his or her right mind was actually going to put them ranked either number one or two.

And what happened when they did eventually make an at large BCS game? They got stomped by Georgia and a great SEC defense. And that probably cost Colt Brennan a few million bucks. I'm sure he would have preferred to go to the Holiday Bowl and rack up 500 yards and been drafted in the second round or maybe even the first.

Then there was the curious case of Utah last season who actually did go undefeated and beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. This was a very good 'Bama team, don't get me wrong, but not a great team.

I think the Tide overachieved all season long except in the SEC Championship game and the BCS game, where they were exposed. But Utah was a very good team. However, if they were in the SEC they wouldn't have been undefeated and therefore would not have been in the BCS game to begin with.

And I believe that you can use this formula for pretty much any team in Division I, or FBS (Myanmar!?...It'll always be Burma to me), whatever they call it these days. USC would not have won two straight national titles and gone undefeated for that long streak, and been in a third straight title game, if they were in the SEC.

The Big10, PAC10, and Big12 are all great conferences, but each one has all teams with either a good offense or a good defense. None of these conferences has several teams, like the SEC, with both. Look at Ohio State and Oklahoma the last three seasons in the title game against SEC powerhouses. They were both beaten soundly, Ohio State twice.

Most colleges have some history and tradition, but nearly every shcool in the SEC has a long tradition of winning and success that keeps the fan bases' expectations high, which in turn keeps the AD's and coaches on a short leash. If you don't produce early and often in the SEC, you won't make it long.

The SEC has so many great coaches, too, that no team ever has a week off or a game that they can say, 'we know we will win this one.' Every game is thought out in practice by some of the finest minds in the college game, many against each other week after week.

Then, there's the out of conference scheduling with teams like UGA playing Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State this year, and Florida squaring off versus Florida State every year. South Carolina plays Clemson every year and the list goes on and on.

Few teams in the SEC take more than one weak game every year and that is a big difference in level of competition, which is a major contributor to the conference dominating the way it has for so long.

So once again this season I expect the SEC to dominate not only out of conference play, but also the entire season and bowl games as well.