Excuses, Distractions and the SEC's Loss of the Benefit of the Doubt
That sound you heard coming from Hoover, Alabama, and Bristol, Connecticut, this month isn't the SEC trumpet being blasted all over the college football world; it's the sound of its coaches saying, "Hey, look, don't forget about us!"
"Talkin' season," as South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier calls it, has turned into "complaining season" as we get closer to the start of fall camp.
At SEC media days earlier this month, Alabama's Nick Saban took to the podium and complained about the NFL's draft calendar, which returns draft grades to underclassmen prior to most major bowl games.
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"We had six guys in this situation this past year and 11 the year before," he said. "So we're trying to get ready for a game, and all of a sudden, a guy finds out he's a first-round draft pick or a guy that thought he was a first-round draft pick finds out he's not a first-round draft pick, and we're trying to get ready to play a playoff game."
Is that an excuse? It certainly got portrayed as one nationally. The truth is that it can be part excuse, part complaint and part political stance at the same time. However you viewed Saban's comments, though, it's pretty silly to give players their draft grades prior to the College Football Playoff.
Fast-forward a week, and Auburn's Gus Malzahn is now the SEC's new "whiner."
While going through the ESPN car wash on Tuesday, Malzahn was asked about the success of other conferences in major bowls over the last two seasons. His answer, according to ESPN's Brett McMurphy and Travis Haney, was bizarre.
Not surprisingly, those comments spurned a strong reaction from national media members.
The SEC simply can't have it both ways.
When the conference was ripping off seven straight national titles, the strength of the conference was one of the primary reasons that its best teams were "battle-tested" for those big games.
Now, suddenly, it's a liability? Come on.
On top of that, SEC coaches have suddenly become big-time proponents of expanding the playoff to eight teams. That's not the most shocking thing in the world, considering they all get a little bump in salary for making the meaningful postseason.
All of these things, though, point to a bigger issue: The SEC has lost the benefit of the doubt nationally. Its coaches know it and they don't like it.
Two straight bowl seasons without a single major bowl win has chipped away at the perception that SEC teams in the playoff mix are unquestionably worthy of not only a spot, but the top spot.
If the exact situation that presented itself last year came up this year, would Alabama be the unquestioned No. 1 seed? I'm not sure, especially with the resume Oregon posted prior to the playoff.
Instead of that SEC patch on a team's jersey carrying the weight, teams are more likely to be judged on their specific resumes now.
That means lingering issues like Alabama's secondary, Auburn's defense and other teams' problems will be placed under even more of a microscope and could knock them down a peg or two.
SEC coaches are going to be labeled whiners based on their offseason comments, and that's fine. I'm not so sure they care all that much.
What is important, though, is that their comments underscore their recognition that the benefit of the doubt the conference once enjoyed is long gone.
That should make for an interesting Selection Sunday in year two of the College Football Playoff.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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