Stakes even higher in ACC-SEC rivalry

[GlennW]

“Winning would help the league a lot but it’s going to be how does the media portray it?” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. “When I was here in ’08, my first year, we beat Georgia and Clemson beat South Carolina … but nobody said much about it. It was like, ‘Oh.’ Now the next year when they beat us, it was a big deal so would it help the league? Sure. Anytime we can go head to head with the SEC and win a game it helps the league.”

Johnson brings up an excellent point. Will a potential sweep be diminished in value because they are all against SEC East teams? Georgia is the only ranked SEC squad in the group. Florida and South Carolina have been disappointments; Kentucky is not bowl eligible. Georgia is the only school among the four with a winning record in SEC play.

So the East is not even close to its counterparts in the West, creating a no-win situation. If the ACC does well in these games, people may not dish out as much credit as they should. If the ACC winds up with a losing record, get ready for more finger pointing and laughter.

espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id...rivalry-weekend

 

[ibeattetris]

I think expecting ESPN to report unbiased in regards to the SEC is beyond hope. Anything negative will be under reported or swept under the rug. Anything serving the narrative will be hyped as nauseum. It'll take years of dominance to change the story. Let's start this year.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Of course it all comes down to media bias and agenda. It is the same in all forms of t.v. (well really all mainstream) media that they coalesce easily around a "narrative" and they stick to it no matter what occurs in the real world. The whole point of having a bias is to make dealing with reality "easier" because one has already always written the story ahead of time and can simply be lazy or easily adapt in the moment to the agreed upon prior narrative.

Critical thinking is tough to do. Being patient and waiting to conform one's thoughts to reality is very hard to do, especially in journalism. It takes an integrity that few can muster (Furman Bisher may be the last we see). This is why in a press conference every questioner tries to offer the interviewee an answer in the way they formulate their very question! And there is no incentive to do otherwise.

Everything that has followed this season in the media is based on a preseason decision to declare the SEC and everyone in it superior to everyone else. All strength of schedule calculations as well are based on this same pre-season narrative.

 

[jandrews]

Difference is, in 09, both clemson and us we're going to the acccg. We both lost to our rival and gave extra fodder to the media:

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Of course it all comes down to media bias and agenda. It is the same in all forms of t.v. (well really all mainstream) media that they coalesce easily around a "narrative" and they stick to it no matter what occurs in the real world. The whole point of having a bias is to make dealing with reality "easier" because one has already always written the story ahead of time and can simply be lazy or easily adapt in the moment to the agreed upon prior narrative.

Critical thinking is tough to do. Being patient and waiting to conform one's thoughts to reality is very hard to do, especially in journalism. It takes an integrity that few can muster (Furman Bisher may be the last we see). This is why in a press conference every questioner tries to offer the interviewee an answer in the way they formulate their very question! And there is no incentive to do otherwise.

Everything that has followed this season in the media is based on a preseason decision to declare the SEC and everyone in it superior to everyone else. All strength of schedule calculations as well are based on this same pre-season narrative.

Sad, but true.

 

[MidtownJacket]

it has been a long time since the ACC regularly went out and beat their SEC rival.. One season isn't enough, but if we can string together a few seasons of wins then the conversation gets interesting.

 

[Declinometer]

If we would have beat Miss in the bowl game and go on to beat the mutts and the Indians........oh boy!

 

[awbuzz]

Sad, but true.

I second this comment.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Difference is, in 09, both clemson and us we're going to the acccg. We both lost to our rival and gave extra fodder to the media:

And in 2009, it was an opportunity for both Georgia Tech and Clemson to win back-to-back games and establish a trend. Neither of us did and both are now on multiple game losing streaks to SEC in-state rivals.

 

[iggymcfly]

If we beat #9 Georgia on the road as part of an ACC sweep, it will be absolutely huge for the conference. Beating Florida and South Carolina is whatever, but Georgia won both of their games vs. SEC West opponents and win over them would carry a ton of cachet. Of course, the hard part will be actually beating them. Here are the lines for all the SEC/ACC games:

Georgia Tech +13 @ Georgia
Florida State -7.5 vs. Florida
Clemson -4.5 vs. South Carolina
Louisville -12.5 vs. Kentucky

So according to the market, we're slightly more likely to go 2-2 than 3-1.

 

[TheGridironGeek]

Yeah, but I would rather Clemson and Louisville lose this weekend. Protects our Orange Bowl spot in case something goes wrong in these last two.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Yeah, but I would rather Clemson and Louisville lose this weekend. Protects our Orange Bowl spot in case something goes wrong in these last two.

If we lose to the mutts and free shoes, we don't deserve the OB. If we lose to the mutts but beat free shoes, we're ACC Champs and go anyway. If we beat the mutts, but lose to free shoes, we still go to the OB because the mutt win is huge plus we beat Clemson and Miami as well. There's no reason not to pull for the ACC in these conference rivalry games.

 

[Goldisbest]

^^^ What he said. And we really need FSU to win against UF. If they lose to UF and then beat us, we are probably knocked out of OB because they are knocked out of playoff and would go to OB. I want to beat an undefeated FSU. If we don't, let them represent the ACC in the playoffs.

 

[GTech63]

If we lose to the mutts and free shoes, we don't deserve the OB. If we lose to the mutts but beat free shoes, we're ACC Champs and go anyway. If we beat the mutts, but lose to free shoes, we still go to the OB because the mutt win is huge plus we beat Clemson and Miami as well. There's no reason not to pull for the ACC in these conference rivalry games.

I agree. ACC needs to show how overrated the SEC is. I am hoping for Ol Miss to beat State, Auburn to beat 'Bama. ESPN will be all over itself making excuses.

We need to take care of business and everything will fall into place. We do, what we have to do. Focus on one game at a time.
Sting 'em Jackets! Beat the Mutts!
THWG

 

[Northeast Stinger]

SEC is the only conference I know of where losing OOC games is discounted but losing to a conference member actually improves your street cred.

 

[iggymcfly]

SEC is the only conference I know of where losing OOC games is discounted but losing to a conference member actually improves your street cred.

No SEC West games lost OOC games this year. Went a perfect 28-0. The SEC East hasn't been quite as good, but still went 20-3 for a total SEC non-conference record of 48-3. For comparison's sake, the ACC went 38-14 in non-conference. Not exactly on the same level.

 

[JDjacket]

The ACC also has played the most OOC games against power 5 opponents compared to other conferences over the last few years. It doesn't help us if we're not winning more of those games for sure, but the SEC wasn't exactly up against world beaters. They got some good ones (W over Wisconsin, W over Clemson, W over KSU). Wins over Texas Tech and WVU are decent. OU stomped Tennessee.

ACC managed wins over OSU and USC. Top 10 OOC win is pretty good I'd say. 2 wins over ND (also 2 losses by cuse and UNC), but its not like the ACC was playing a bunch of sisters of the poor (UCLA, Nebraska, BYU pre QB injury) OOC.

It was a lot of middle of the pack/bottom ACC teams that managed some of those wins (and got the losses).
Mizzou lost to friggin Indiana and leads the SEC East...

The SEC definitely knows how to pick their matchups so their flag bearers are playing the few OOC games they play against power foes. Also, the SEC rarely plays OOC games at another teams stadium. Home or neutral only. And when playing teams like WVU and Wisconsin... Atlanta and Houston are basically home for the SEC.
Clemson and UGA did a home/home and the home team won both times. The SEC doesn't need to schedule aggressive bc "their conference is already so tough", proven by those few big OOC games they win. Its kind of circular logic for them. Credit them for making sure they give themselves every advantage they can. I won't disagree that the SEC is the best until proven otherwise, but this massive gap that used to exist doesn't. Its a lot closer than it once was.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

No SEC West games lost OOC games this year. Went a perfect 28-0. The SEC East hasn't been quite as good, but still went 20-3 for a total SEC non-conference record of 48-3. For comparison's sake, the ACC went 38-14 in non-conference. Not exactly on the same level.[/QUi
I was speaking historically. LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, among others, have all lost within the last couple of years or so to OOC opponents and it had no impact on SEC status. Meanwhile losses to each other never seem to drop them very far in the polls. This year you would hardly know that the ACC has a team with a 28 game winning streak against all comers.

 

[iggymcfly]

I won't disagree that the SEC is the best until proven otherwise, but this massive gap that used to exist doesn't. Its a lot closer than it once was.

The ACC might have improved some but it's not a ton, and the SEC is at an all-time level of dominance this year. Here's a link to Vegas power rankings for all the SEC teams and ACC teams in the Top 50:
http://stats.inpredictable.com/rankings/ncaaf.php

(ACC teams in bold)
1. Alabama
4. Georgia
5. Auburn
7. Mississippi State
11. Florida State
15. Ole Miss
16. LSU
20. Arkansas
21. Florida
23. Louisville
24. Miami (FL)
25. Georgia Tech
28. Missouri
29. Clemson
30. South Carolina
32. Texas A&M
33. Tennessee
39. Virginia
43. Boston College
44. Pittsburgh
46. Duke
47. North Carolina
49. Virginia Tech

I mean they have 4 teams rated better than our best team, 8 teams rated as better than our 2nd best team, and 12 teams rated better than our 6th best team. That's pretty dominant. Now granted, there haven't been a lot of competitive non-conference games to rate the teams on so if things go well this weekend, we should be able to flip the script pretty well, but there's no sign so far of much narrowing of the gap.

 

[WreckinGT]

Any poll that has Auburn at #5 right now is a pretty useless poll.