SEC Football: 5 Reasons the Conference Will Dominate Bowl Season
After posting a combined 13-6 record in the previous two postseasons, the SEC is set to once again dominate in 2014-15.
In fact, coming up with a list of reasons as to why the league wouldn't dominate is a much tougher challenge, because it's hard to believe history isn't set to repeat itself.
There's no disputing the SEC has been the best college football league for nearly a decade despite having its championship streak broken last year when Auburn lost to Florida State on a last-minute touchdown. Florida began the streak, LSU chipped in, Auburn played a role and Alabama has reached a near-dynasty.
If or when the gap between the SEC and whatever conference you think is second—the Pac-12 or Big 12—disappears, we'll look back on the era and marvel at how many great coaches, players and games we saw helping to build the league's legacy.
But a legacy doesn't exist unless it proves itself when it matters most—and for the sport of college football, that's bowl season.
Click ahead to find out why the SEC is poised to come out on top.
All odds via oddshark.com. Recruiting info via 247sports.com.
The SEC Has a Spot in Half of the Major Bowl Games
1 of 5
As we enter the playoff era of college football, the term "New Year's Six"—which signifies the six major bowl games, including the two semifinal playoff matchups—replaces the previous term, "BCS game."
A surefire way to come out on top during bowl season is to win the biggest games, and they don't get bigger than the New Year's Six. The SEC has three teams in these contests—one more than any other league.
While you could argue that means more chances to put a dent in the conference's armor, the glass-half-full approach is to see it as more chances to shine on a national stage.
No offense to all the other bowl games, but what happens on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day is what will become water-cooler talk, not some game you sat through with your in-laws so you weren't forced to strike up a conversation.
Two of the games the SEC is involved in are on New Year's Eve, and they pit Mississippi State against Georgia Tech and Ole Miss versus TCU. A day later, Alabama will take on Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl for the right to go to the national championship.
Three wins here and it wouldn't matter how the other nine schools fared, but even two wins will give the SEC as many as any other conference. If Alabama manages to win a national title, the argument for playing well in primetime becomes even stronger.
While the strongest collection of teams belongs to the SEC, the league is set up for massive success with the bowl schedule. By being a huge part of the New Year's Six festivities, the SEC gives itself the best chance to shine.
Alabama Looks Like the Strong Favorite to Win It All
2 of 5
When you talk about winning bowl season, the first topic of discussion is the national title.
The strongest argument the SEC has for being the top conference in the land is the streak of seven straight championships between 2007 and 2013. Even with quarterback Jameis Winton and Florida State coming back to beat Auburn in the 2014 finale, the streak still holds weight.
Without a national title, it would be hard to consider the SEC as the main winner of bowl season. It has a reputation to uphold, and failing to bring the trophy back to Tuscaloosa would not only mean Alabama has gone two years since its last title, but it would also mean two years since the league wore the crown.
But did we mention the SEC's hopes lie with Alabama?
The Crimson Tide are no stranger to playing in epic games with everything on the line, so there will be little fear when the ball is kicked off in the Superdome against Ohio State on Jan. 1.
Oddshark currently sees the Crimson Tide as 9-point favorites over the Buckeyes, a reasonable number given that Urban Meyer's squad will be starting a third-string quarterback and Saban and Co. just emerged from the rubble of the mighty SEC West.
Should Alabama win the Sugar Bowl, it will go on to face either Oregon or Florida State.
To the naked eye, the Seminoles look like the easier matchup given their struggles against mediocre ACC competition. That's not a shot at the league, but close games against teams like Boston College, North Carolina State and Miami weren't pretty. Then again, if Florida State beats Oregon the viewpoint on the 'Noles could change.
If the Ducks take care of business with reigning Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota at the helm, Alabama could face its toughest challenge to date in a title game. But you still like the Tide's combination of physical, battle-tested defense with a steady, balanced offense capable of highlight-reel plays.
Because Alabama is the strongest team in the playoffs, the SEC has great odds of bringing back another national title—which is what it's really all about.
Matchup Advantages Favor the SEC
3 of 5
Of the 12 games the SEC is taking part in during bowl season, the conference is favored in nine, has even odds in one and is the underdog in the remaining two.
Even odds are what you'll see for South Carolina and Miami in the Independence Bowl on Saturday, and that's understandable with the enigmatic nature of the Gamecocks and Hurricanes.
The two schools facing an uphill battle according to the betting line are Texas A&M and and Ole Miss, which will play West Virginia and TCU, respectively.
The Aggies have had some well-known swing-and-misses in 2014, most notably a 59-0 shellacking at Alabama, but quarterback Kyle Allen is maturing rapidly. After throwing four touchdowns and three interceptions in his first five appearances, he's thrown for eight scores and three picks in the last three contests, which includes a 41-38 win at Auburn.
A&M will have a great chance to beat a West Virginia team that lost three out of its final four games.
Ole Miss won't have it quite as easy with TCU, but the Rebels lead the nation in scoring defense at just under 14 points per game, and the best way to stop a frightening offensive team is shut 'em down as opposed to trying to outscore 'em.
After that, it's nine games in which the SEC is favored.
And while that doesn't mean going 9-for-9 is a given—Texas and Arkansas could be considered a toss-up—you have to like the chances of winning at least seven. If either Texas A&M, South Carolina or Ole Miss can also win, you're staring at eight or nine wins by a single conference.
If the SEC has more bowl victories than any other league has bowl games played, there will be little doubt as to who wears the conference crown come January.
.jpg?w=256 "NFL Draft Football")
It's the Most Battle-Tested League
4 of 5
No offense to Minnesota, but when Missouri lines up across from the Golden Gophers in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, it will be a welcome sight to players coming off an SEC championship game against Alabama—not to mention previous contests with Georgia, Texas A&M and even Arkansas.
The same can be said for every SEC team during bowl season.
Those earning the extra game will likely have played at least two or three teams better than the one they're set to face. That kind of experience should prove invaluable, even against unfamiliar opponents.
The lone exception is Ole Miss taking on TCU, because the Horned Frogs have an offense that has played on another level for much of the season. Then again, the Rebels were the only team to take down Alabama and also notched a 31-17 win over Mississippi State. And while no one brags about losses, Ole Miss played LSU and Auburn in back-to-back weeks—losing both in the final seconds.
Who can say the Rebels aren't ready for TCU?
And when you take the conference ringleader, Alabama, and look at its matchup with Ohio State, SEC fans should be smiling.
As talented as the Buckeyes are, the Crimson Tide have faced Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas and Missouri, and that's still one of the weaker conference schedules, at least compared with the slate the Razorbacks were up against.
So no offense to Urban Meyer, Cardale Jones and a strong Buckeyes team coming off an impressive 59-0 victory over Wisconsin, but this isn't something new for the Tide to chew on.
On the other hand, the Buckeyes haven't seen anybody like Alabama. Florida State and Oregon will find in each other absolutely nothing like what each squad saw during the regular season.
The SEC is once again the most battle-tested league, and its bowl participants are better equipped to handle postseason challenges because of it.
The SEC Has Talent and Coaching Advantages
5 of 5
The team with the better coaching doesn't always win, but if that team also has the most talent, the chances of coming out on top are significant.
The Pac-12 has made a run at the SEC as far as head coaches go, but the latter still boasts Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Mark Richt, Gus Malzahn, Les Miles, Dan Mullen and others whose reputations are already set in stone.
Several years ago, an argument could be made that much of the league was still stuck in the Stone Age. Because teams didn't face a variety of offenses throughout the year, coaches were liable to be surprised or unprepared for a different style of play in bowl season.
But now, even the SEC has nearly all of its teams running some form of the spread here and there—and in the case of Auburn, it's all game long. That can only benefit a legendary group of coaches, but the other part of the winning equation in bowl season, as mentioned, is talent.
Recruiting based on stars alone is a fool's mission, but recruiting rankings do tend to highlight the haves and the have-nots fairly well.
Just take the current 2015 class rankings for example: Alabama is first followed by Florida State, with Ohio State sitting in fourth. All three schools finished in the Top 10 in recruiting in each of the last three seasons, and if you've suddenly forgotten who's in the playoff, take a look and see the connection.
The lone outlier, of course, is Oregon but the Ducks have routinely outplayed their recruiting rankings and are the exception to the rule.
The SEC dominates in recruiting because it puts tons of players in the NFL, plays in the biggest games each season and nearly every school resides in or near a hotbed of prep talent.
That talent combined with the aforementioned group of future Hall of Fame coaches gives the SEC another unique advantage over everyone else heading into bowl season.
.jpg?w=480 "NFL Draft Football")
.JPEG?w=600 "Best Late-Round Draft Steals ‼️")
.jpg?w=600 "Undrafted Free Agent Tracker ✍️")
