SEC Flexes Its BCS Muscles Again
posted by Scott Hood, Tuesday, January 08, 2008
At this rate, the SEC could rightfully be charged with assault and battery upon their brethren from the snowy Midwest.
But it’s only the beginning. You can expect the SEC will continue to dominate recruiting, as well, when the final rankings are released after Signing Day.
Last year, it was Florida 41, Ohio State 14. This year, LSU 38, Ohio State 24. Next year? Let’s hope the Buckeyes have the dignity to refuse the invitation if they make it that far.
As ESPN’s Pat Forde suggested, OSU stands for Overmatched State University. Wait, make that THE Overmatched State University. Yeah, an 0-9 record in bowl games against the SEC will do that.
As for this season, I thought Ohio State was supposed to have the nation’s best defense. That’s what I kept hearing, anyways.
As it turned out, it was just more propaganda from ESPN’s Lee Corso and the media in the large Midwest markets like Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland.
I guess Ohio State found out that trying to stop LSU’s multi-dimensional offense was a whole lot more difficult than stopping Youngstown State, Akron, Washington, Northwestern, Minnesota and Kent State, to name six of the first seven Buckeye opponents this past season.
Cupcake schedule? With cream filling.
Let’s see if Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delaney has the guts to write another open letter criticizing the SEC for, essentially, compromising its academic integrity in exchange for athletic success.
Incredibly, the much-scrutinized letter Delaney wrote last year is still up on the conference’s web site. Even more incredible, the league stands by the letter, according to an article by Dan Wetzel on Yahoo sports.
Obviously, the SEC’s success on the national level is galling to the Big 10. The SEC owns the last two national championships in football AND basketball, the first love of most schools in the Big 10.
When it comes to the SEC, the statistics don’t lie:
-- LSU's 2007 BCS National Championship is the SEC’s fourth in the 10 years of the BCS. Tennessee won the BCS National Championship in 1998, LSU in 2003 and Florida in 2006.
-- The SEC is the first conference to win back-to-back BCS titles.
-- The SEC is 11-4 all-time in BCS bowl games, including four BCS bowl wins in the last two seasons.
-- The SEC's seven bowl wins this season set a new high water mark for one conference. The SEC had six bowl wins
-- The SEC now has 184 bowl wins in its history, which is tops in Division I.
What does all of this mean for South Carolina? LSU’s performance Monday night at the Super Dome shows what SEC teams encounter on a weekly basis.
While LSU is the most talented team, the intensity they brought with them isn’t unique to the SEC. Most of the teams in the league play with that ferocity every week.
Unfortunately, I can’t say that about USC.
It’s important to note that of the seven SEC teams that won bowl games this year, the Gamecocks faced five of them during the regular season – LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State.
Name the sport, and the SEC is the toughest, most competitive league in the country. I’ve often referred to it as hyper-competitive.
The impressive performance of the SEC during bowl season raises the stakes for USC. It just shows that when you don’t bring your ‘A’ game every week, you lose. You hear that a lot, but it's true. That didn’t happen often enough for the Gamecocks this past season.
Be assured, Steve Spurrier understands what it takes to prevail in the SEC since he’s been coaching in the league for a long time. Will the message get through to the players?
Any future success of the Gamecocks depends on it.
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Another year, another Big 10 beatdown in the BCS Championship game.
At this rate, the SEC could rightfully be charged with assault and battery upon their brethren from the snowy Midwest.
But it’s only the beginning. You can expect the SEC will continue to dominate recruiting, as well, when the final rankings are released after Signing Day.
Last year, it was Florida 41, Ohio State 14. This year, LSU 38, Ohio State 24. Next year? Let’s hope the Buckeyes have the dignity to refuse the invitation if they make it that far.
As ESPN’s Pat Forde suggested, OSU stands for Overmatched State University. Wait, make that THE Overmatched State University. Yeah, an 0-9 record in bowl games against the SEC will do that.
As for this season, I thought Ohio State was supposed to have the nation’s best defense. That’s what I kept hearing, anyways.
As it turned out, it was just more propaganda from ESPN’s Lee Corso and the media in the large Midwest markets like Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland.
I guess Ohio State found out that trying to stop LSU’s multi-dimensional offense was a whole lot more difficult than stopping Youngstown State, Akron, Washington, Northwestern, Minnesota and Kent State, to name six of the first seven Buckeye opponents this past season.
Cupcake schedule? With cream filling.
Let’s see if Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delaney has the guts to write another open letter criticizing the SEC for, essentially, compromising its academic integrity in exchange for athletic success.
Incredibly, the much-scrutinized letter Delaney wrote last year is still up on the conference’s web site. Even more incredible, the league stands by the letter, according to an article by Dan Wetzel on Yahoo sports.
Obviously, the SEC’s success on the national level is galling to the Big 10. The SEC owns the last two national championships in football AND basketball, the first love of most schools in the Big 10.
When it comes to the SEC, the statistics don’t lie:
-- LSU's 2007 BCS National Championship is the SEC’s fourth in the 10 years of the BCS. Tennessee won the BCS National Championship in 1998, LSU in 2003 and Florida in 2006.
-- The SEC is the first conference to win back-to-back BCS titles.
-- The SEC is 11-4 all-time in BCS bowl games, including four BCS bowl wins in the last two seasons.
-- The SEC's seven bowl wins this season set a new high water mark for one conference. The SEC had six bowl wins
-- The SEC now has 184 bowl wins in its history, which is tops in Division I.
What does all of this mean for South Carolina? LSU’s performance Monday night at the Super Dome shows what SEC teams encounter on a weekly basis.
While LSU is the most talented team, the intensity they brought with them isn’t unique to the SEC. Most of the teams in the league play with that ferocity every week.
Unfortunately, I can’t say that about USC.
It’s important to note that of the seven SEC teams that won bowl games this year, the Gamecocks faced five of them during the regular season – LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State.
Name the sport, and the SEC is the toughest, most competitive league in the country. I’ve often referred to it as hyper-competitive.
The impressive performance of the SEC during bowl season raises the stakes for USC. It just shows that when you don’t bring your ‘A’ game every week, you lose. You hear that a lot, but it's true. That didn’t happen often enough for the Gamecocks this past season.
Be assured, Steve Spurrier understands what it takes to prevail in the SEC since he’s been coaching in the league for a long time. Will the message get through to the players?
Any future success of the Gamecocks depends on it.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.