Has the cycle started to shift for the SEC?

colton

colton

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Virginia would have lost regardless of who they were playing (ie James Madison). It just so happened that they were playing a team in the SEC.
Northeast Stinger said:
Georgia alone appears to be unstoppable
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You clearly must not have seen the first half against an FCS school or georgia failing to put up any points against... *checks notes* Ball State. Not every team gets the luxury of playing in the SEC East, with 4 OOCs as well as 11 total 5+ loss teams. georgia is going to get a rude awakening playing against an opponent worth a crap.
 
AugustaSwarm

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Northeast Stinger said:
Just for the sake of argument, if LSU is as good as UNC would that make you think more of UNC or think less of LSU?

If Alabama is on about the same level as Clemson, only with a more consistent QB, does that raise the stature of the SEC or lower it?

If Miami is better than any team in the SEC except Georgia how does that affect your ranking of conferences? If FSU is capable of beating uga on a good what does that mean?

My contention remains the same. No matter how good the SEC is, and some years they are very good, the hype always exceeds the reality.

This year the reality caught up with the hype much earlier in the season than usual.
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In the SEC, it just means more. I mean, it's in their slogan! So yeah.
 
Northeast Stinger

Northeast Stinger

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colton said:
Virginia would have lost regardless of who they were playing (ie James Madison). It just so happened that they were playing a team in the SEC.

You clearly must not have seen the first half against an FCS school or georgia failing to put up any points against... *checks notes* Ball State. Not every team gets the luxury of playing in the SEC East, with 4 OOCs as well as 11 total 5+ loss teams. georgia is going to get a rude awakening playing against an opponent worth a crap.
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Good thing Ole Miss played a Tulane team that didn’t have their starting QB and Auburn played a Cal team that didn’t have their star running back or the SEC record against out of conference opponents might be even worse.
 
Vespidae

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RonJohn said:
Get a good old country boy from lower Alabama who has never been outside of Alabama and Florida and he will be absolutely shocked that there are no Alabama, Auburn, out LSU shirts on sale at Walmart in upper Michigan.
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No, he wouldn’t be shocked. You can barely find Auburn swag in lower Alabama, that’s a Tide stronghold. And try to buy an Alabama hat in Knoxville. Very difficult.

FWIW, you can barely find Tech swag in Atlanta other than the bookstore on campus.
 
RonJohn

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Vespidae said:
No, he wouldn’t be shocked. You can barely find Auburn swag in lower Alabama, that’s a Tide stronghold. And try to buy an Alabama hat in Knoxville. Very difficult.

FWIW, you can barely find Tech swag in Atlanta other than the bookstore on campus.
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I was being a little tongue in cheek with the way I described that. I do think that he would be shocked at the lack of interest in the SEC. If he wears Alabama gear in lower Alabama, strangers will tell him roll tide as he encounters them. If he wears Alabama gear in Knoxville, people will jeer him as he encounters them. He will see Alabama, LSU, Auburn, or UF shirts, flags, banners, etc. wherever he goes in lower Alabama. In Michigan, nobody will say anything. He won't see one hint of anything related to any SEC team. To further shock him, send him the Chicago. He will see Cubs, White Sox, and Bears swag everywhere. Not only will he not see anything related to the SEC, he won't even see anything readily visible related to college football at all. There are people in Chicago who care about college athletics, but the visible passion is all about pro sports. That wouldn't fit the vision that a person who had never been out of lower Alabama has of how the rest of the country operates.
 
Southern psu fan

Southern psu fan

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I still believe every conference is chasing the SEC. Big 10 has made up a little ground but not enough to brag about. Just look at the recruiting that the SEC pulled off last year. Alabama had more 5* players in one recruiting class than most teams have on their whole roster. Regardless of how many 5* players teams have, if the QB ain’t playing good you’re probably going to struggle to win. IMO college football has got like the NFL……how good is your QB
 
Skywalker1990

Skywalker1990

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Southern psu fan said:
I still believe every conference is chasing the SEC. Big 10 has made up a little ground but not enough to brag about. Just look at the recruiting that the SEC pulled off last year. Alabama had more 5* players in one recruiting class than most teams have on their whole roster. Regardless of how many 5* players teams have, if the QB ain’t playing good you’re probably going to struggle to win. IMO college football has got like the NFL……how good is your QB
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I guess you didn’t watch the falcons
 

CEB

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Vespidae said:
LSU IS a dominating team in the West. As I recall, LSU has the most NFL talent in play today. They are one of only two states that have no serious in state rival for talent. They are SUPPOSED to win.
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I would agree that LSU and Ohio State are the top of the heap when it comes to in state talent and no major in state rival, but they are far from the only two.
Arkansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, WVU and Maryland come to mind as states with only one “power” conference football school.
In a couple of years Washington and Oregon will presumably meet the criteria also, while Ohio will drop with the addition of Cincy to the ranks of “power” conferences.
Your overarching point still holds; LSU is very favorably positioned as the only major program in a pretty talented state.
 
Vespidae

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CEB said:
I would agree that LSU and Ohio State are the top of the heap when it comes to in state talent and no major in state rival, but they are far from the only two.
Arkansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, WVU and Maryland come to mind as states with only one “power” conference football school.
In a couple of years Washington and Oregon will presumably meet the criteria also, while Ohio will drop with the addition of Cincy to the ranks of “power” conferences.
Your overarching point still holds; LSU is very favorably positioned as the only major program in a pretty talented state.
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I don't really follow Wisconsin much, but Arkansas doesn't have a strong high school program. That's the main reason Malzahn turned them down after he got dismissed. Missouri is not that far behind. So you can be the main player in your state, but that only matters if your state can produce talent. Even Tennessee doesn't have that much talent in the state at the high school level (compared to others) and the only reason they soared to the top under Fulmer was the heavy emphasis on recruiting in Souther Cal when they were on probation.
 

CEB

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Vespidae said:
I don't really follow Wisconsin much, but Arkansas doesn't have a strong high school program. That's the main reason Malzahn turned them down after he got dismissed. Missouri is not that far behind. So you can be the main player in your state, but that only matters if your state can produce talent. Even Tennessee doesn't have that much talent in the state at the high school level (compared to others) and the only reason they soared to the top under Fulmer was the heavy emphasis on recruiting in Souther Cal when they were on probation.
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Agree… just picking at that nit because in-state talent wasn’t part of the stated criteria (unless it was from a previous post that I missed).
 
RonJohn

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Vespidae said:
I’m from Lower Alabama and it didn’t shock me. Stereotypes aren’t a good description of pretty much anything.
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I made a trip to Germany several years ago and the client took a mechanic who had never been outside of central Florida. Not related to sports, but his culture shock was extremely large. He wouldn't go out to eat with us anywhere because there was a Burger King close to the hotel and he wanted to eat what he was familiar with.

I have worked on a business project outside of Chicago which an engineer from Auburn accompanied me on. It was during football season, and on Friday the client engineers were discussing NFL football. They asked me a question about it, and I told them that I only pay attention to college football. They made a comment about forgetting that people in the South are fanatical about college football. During the travel back to Atlanta, the Auburn guy did express that he was surprised that those people didn't seem to care at all about college football. The Auburn guy didn't know a lot about the NFL teams the Chicago guys were talking about, but that was before fantasy football was a big thing on the internet. He isn't with our company any more, but I'm sure he knows tons of stats about the NFL now.

It isn't just the stereotypical PBR drinking, wife beater shirt wearing hick that doesn't realize that the rest of the world isn't just like it is where he lives. College football is everywhere in the South. Walmart, convenience stores, mailboxes, flags on houses, billboards, etc. It is so prevalent down here that it is almost immediately obvious when you are out of the South. I would compare it to how flat the Midwest is. For a guy from Georgia, it sticks out that you can see for miles and everything is flat as it can be. It may take a little more time, but the lack of college gear does stick out. Nothing at Walmart, target, or convenience stores. It is similar to Chick-fil-A vs In-N-Out. People in California don't realize how big Chick-fil-A is and people in the South don't realize how big In-N-Out is. Sure there are people who travel and know that each is huge in their area, but the majority of people in each area don't realize just how big those things are in the other area.
 
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