Has the Age of SEC Domination Started?
posted by Scott Hood, Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Translation: there’s a lot more where that came from.
As well as the SEC has performed on the national stage over the last five years or so, the conference is on the verge of taking their ‘game’ to an unprecedented level.
I predict in five years the SEC will stand alone as the lone super conference in college football as the money from the unparalleled TV deal escalates.
And to think South Carolina paid less than $100,000 to join the fiesta in 1992. After depositing countless millions of dollars into the athletic department bank account, I would say it’s been a good deal for the Gamecocks.
Being a member of the SEC is a lot like joining the U.S. Senate, often called the world’s most exclusive club. Many people knock at the door but it’s opened for only a few.
As I’ve often said, leaving the ACC was the worst decision USC ever made, but joining the SEC was the best decision USC ever made.
If it hasn’t done so already, the results of two weekends ago when three SEC teams (USC, Georgia, Florida) dominated their in-state ACC counterparts showcased the ever-widening gulf that exists between the two football conferences.
Will that happen every year? Probably not. But it signaled the large gap between the SEC and ACC.
As we enter bowl season, the SEC is preparing to show the existing gap with the other conferences as well. Ten SEC teams are going bowling and I wouldn’t be shocked if all 10 won their games, including USC over UConn in Birmingham.
If you believe most college football analysts, Alabama will beat Texas in the Jan. 7 BCS National Championship Game and deliver to the SEC a fourth straight national title. The Longhorns will discover, to their detriment, that the Crimson Tide’s defense is a little bit more ferocious than most, if not all, of the so-called defenses they faced this year in the Big 12.
Texas will learn the same harsh lesson about SEC defenses Oklahoma did last year when they stumbled against Florida in the title game.
And it’s only going to get better for the SEC. Next year, the conference picks up the Gator Bowl and, thankfully, dumps the Independence Bowl in Shreveport.
That means no less than six conference teams will play in a bowl game following the 2010 season on or after New Year’s Day – BCS, Sugar, Capital One, Outback, Cotton and Gator.
Meanwhile, after losing one of its crown jewels, the ACC picked up the Independence Bowl and Sun Bowl in El Paso, Tex.
Clemson fans in West Texas? Not a good mix.
The record TV deal shows clearly that people throughout the country love SEC football. With most conference games on prime time national TV, even people on the West Coast and Alaska have enjoyed the SEC this year, a reality not lost on Eric Hyman, who talked about it Monday night on the radio.
Here’s the latest evidence: Alabama’s win over Florida in the SEC title game Saturday afternoon drew a remarkable 11.8 overnight rating (percent of TV households in 56 urban TV markets), up 13 percent from the same teams playing in last year’s game.
It’s the highest overnight rating ever for the SEC title game, and the highest overnight rating for a non-bowl college game since Ohio State-Michigan in 2006.
To put the number in perspective, the 11.8 overnight rating tops the Daytona 500 (8.0), the final round of The Masters (8.8), the Kentucky Derby (10.2) and every game of the 2009 NBA Finals. The game nearly matched the 11.9 overnight rating for the North Carolina/Michigan St. college basketball national championship game in April.
Yeah, people watch the SEC.
I know people here like to compare the SEC to the ACC, so here goes (if you're a ACC fan, close your eyes): As reported by a number of media web sites, overnight ratings for the ACC Championship game between Clemson and Georgia Tech dropped double-digits for the second straight year.
Georgia Tech's victory over Clemson drew a lowly 1.9 overnight rating on ESPN Saturday night, down 35 percent from the 2.9 rating for last year's Virginia Tech-Boston College game and down 55 percent from the 4.2 rating for the Virginia Tech-Boston College title tilt in 2007.
Yes, the 1.9 overnight rating is the lowest in the five-year history of the ACC Championship Game, the second straight year the game has drawn a record low. Here's another remarkable number - the ACC Championship Game was outdrawn by 300 percent by the Big 12 Championship Game on ABC (7.6 to 1.9). Ouch.
Obviously, the nation was not enthralled with watching C.J. Spiller try to gain Heisman Trophy support.
And I won't even mention the raucous Georgia Dome was sold out for the SEC Championship game, while the most common phrase heard in Tampa last Saturday was "plenty of good tickets are still available."
As for the SEC, the payoff, of course, will come next June when the conference office hands out the checks to the 12 team members. With the new TV deal, each school is expected to receive a 50 percent higher payout over previous years. That translates to about $18 million per school.
Knowing how competitive the SEC is, most schools will plow that money back into building bigger and better facilities and, of course, recruiting.
The result? The SEC will attract even better players.
Mark it down. The Age of SEC Domination on a national scale has started.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
If you have any friends who are ill from all the SEC football on TV this past season, please do the right thing and inform them we just completed year one of the historic 15-year, $3 billion deal between the conference and TV partners CBS and ESPN.
Translation: there’s a lot more where that came from.
As well as the SEC has performed on the national stage over the last five years or so, the conference is on the verge of taking their ‘game’ to an unprecedented level.
I predict in five years the SEC will stand alone as the lone super conference in college football as the money from the unparalleled TV deal escalates.
And to think South Carolina paid less than $100,000 to join the fiesta in 1992. After depositing countless millions of dollars into the athletic department bank account, I would say it’s been a good deal for the Gamecocks.
Being a member of the SEC is a lot like joining the U.S. Senate, often called the world’s most exclusive club. Many people knock at the door but it’s opened for only a few.
As I’ve often said, leaving the ACC was the worst decision USC ever made, but joining the SEC was the best decision USC ever made.
If it hasn’t done so already, the results of two weekends ago when three SEC teams (USC, Georgia, Florida) dominated their in-state ACC counterparts showcased the ever-widening gulf that exists between the two football conferences.
Will that happen every year? Probably not. But it signaled the large gap between the SEC and ACC.
As we enter bowl season, the SEC is preparing to show the existing gap with the other conferences as well. Ten SEC teams are going bowling and I wouldn’t be shocked if all 10 won their games, including USC over UConn in Birmingham.
If you believe most college football analysts, Alabama will beat Texas in the Jan. 7 BCS National Championship Game and deliver to the SEC a fourth straight national title. The Longhorns will discover, to their detriment, that the Crimson Tide’s defense is a little bit more ferocious than most, if not all, of the so-called defenses they faced this year in the Big 12.
Texas will learn the same harsh lesson about SEC defenses Oklahoma did last year when they stumbled against Florida in the title game.
And it’s only going to get better for the SEC. Next year, the conference picks up the Gator Bowl and, thankfully, dumps the Independence Bowl in Shreveport.
That means no less than six conference teams will play in a bowl game following the 2010 season on or after New Year’s Day – BCS, Sugar, Capital One, Outback, Cotton and Gator.
Meanwhile, after losing one of its crown jewels, the ACC picked up the Independence Bowl and Sun Bowl in El Paso, Tex.
Clemson fans in West Texas? Not a good mix.
The record TV deal shows clearly that people throughout the country love SEC football. With most conference games on prime time national TV, even people on the West Coast and Alaska have enjoyed the SEC this year, a reality not lost on Eric Hyman, who talked about it Monday night on the radio.
Here’s the latest evidence: Alabama’s win over Florida in the SEC title game Saturday afternoon drew a remarkable 11.8 overnight rating (percent of TV households in 56 urban TV markets), up 13 percent from the same teams playing in last year’s game.
It’s the highest overnight rating ever for the SEC title game, and the highest overnight rating for a non-bowl college game since Ohio State-Michigan in 2006.
To put the number in perspective, the 11.8 overnight rating tops the Daytona 500 (8.0), the final round of The Masters (8.8), the Kentucky Derby (10.2) and every game of the 2009 NBA Finals. The game nearly matched the 11.9 overnight rating for the North Carolina/Michigan St. college basketball national championship game in April.
Yeah, people watch the SEC.
I know people here like to compare the SEC to the ACC, so here goes (if you're a ACC fan, close your eyes): As reported by a number of media web sites, overnight ratings for the ACC Championship game between Clemson and Georgia Tech dropped double-digits for the second straight year.
Georgia Tech's victory over Clemson drew a lowly 1.9 overnight rating on ESPN Saturday night, down 35 percent from the 2.9 rating for last year's Virginia Tech-Boston College game and down 55 percent from the 4.2 rating for the Virginia Tech-Boston College title tilt in 2007.
Yes, the 1.9 overnight rating is the lowest in the five-year history of the ACC Championship Game, the second straight year the game has drawn a record low. Here's another remarkable number - the ACC Championship Game was outdrawn by 300 percent by the Big 12 Championship Game on ABC (7.6 to 1.9). Ouch.
Obviously, the nation was not enthralled with watching C.J. Spiller try to gain Heisman Trophy support.
And I won't even mention the raucous Georgia Dome was sold out for the SEC Championship game, while the most common phrase heard in Tampa last Saturday was "plenty of good tickets are still available."
As for the SEC, the payoff, of course, will come next June when the conference office hands out the checks to the 12 team members. With the new TV deal, each school is expected to receive a 50 percent higher payout over previous years. That translates to about $18 million per school.
Knowing how competitive the SEC is, most schools will plow that money back into building bigger and better facilities and, of course, recruiting.
The result? The SEC will attract even better players.
Mark it down. The Age of SEC Domination on a national scale has started.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Previous Blog Entries
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 @.