Don't Let the Bowl Record Fool You, the SEC Is Still Incredibly Flawed

If you listen closely, you can still hear the echo of the "S-E-C" chant from bowl season off in the distance.

It existed for good reason.

The conference once known for its power in the college football world enjoyed a tremendous 8-2 bowl record over the holiday season and sent its champion—Alabama—to the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 11 against top-ranked Clemson.

The eight bowl wins is the most ever by a conference in one season, and the conference's 10 bowl teams for the third straight year is also a record.

"There is great satisfaction in hearing 'S-E-C' chanted at stadiums across the south during the last week," said SEC commissioner Greg Sankey in an emailed statement. "My congratulations to our football teams for establishing a record reflecting the focus, preparation and competitive spirit of hundreds of student-athletes and their coaches."

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

This is almost a complete 180-degree turn from the narrative coming into the season. The SEC had won just two major bowl games (BCS/New Year's Six) over the previous two seasons, and last season's 7-5 bowl record (including 2-5 from the SEC West) left a lot to be desired.

Is the SEC back after the stellar bowl season?

It's still incredibly competitive and deep, but let's hold off on elevating the bowl record into some sort of conference-wide referendum that re-establishes SEC dominance.

According to Odds Shark, eight of the 10 SEC bowl teams entered their games as favorites over their opponents. All eight of those favorites won, while the two underdogs—Florida and Texas A&M—lost. Winning eight of 10 isn't some sort of major accomplishment, it's simply meeting expectations.

Nell Redmond/Associated Press

Yes, the SEC met those expectations emphatically.The average margin of victory in those wins was a whopping 25.9 points per game.

But do emphatic wins over teams that were underdogs magically cure what ails many SEC teams?

Of course not.

As Dan Wolken of USA Today noted on Twitter, the SEC was the recipient of some ultra-favorable matchups during bowl season.

LSU quarterback Brandon Harris still looked shaky save for a couple of pinpoint deep completions in the 56-27 win over a Texas Tech defense that struggled in all aspects of defense. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 254 yards, one touchdown, one interception and sailed several passes over wide receivers' heads.

Head coach Les Miles is still on the hottest seat in America, and he still has to find a way to kick-start an offense that's been mired in futility for two seasons. 

Is Auburn suddenly a contender after beating Memphis 31-10, looking solid on defense and confusing NFL quarterback prospect Paxton Lynch? Nope.

Quarterbacks Sean White and Jeremy Johnson struggled mightily, the defense still has to undergo a transition to new coordinator Kevin Steele, and the offseason will still be unpleasant for head coach Gus Malzahn after the 7-6 debacle in 2015.

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Ole Miss throttled Oklahoma State 48-20, but it still can't run between the tackles, has to deal with the losses of several key seniors, including C.J. Johnson and Jaylen Walton, and could have several stars such as offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and quarterback Chad Kelly join defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche as early entrants to the NFL draft.

Did Georgia's seven-point victory over Penn State prove anything about its offense? Not with a patchwork staff. Did Dak Prescott's final game for Mississippi State ensure the Bulldogs won't miss a beat? Of course not. Did Arkansas' demolition of the putrid Kansas State defense prove Bret Bielema's crew won't miss a beat next year without quarterback Brandon Allen? Nope.

All of the flaws and questions that existed in the SEC going into bowl season still exist, they're still as glaring, and they still need to be fixed. 

The only thing bowl season did was make things a little more pleasant on a lot of campuses around the South. It wasn't a referendum on the conference, and it doesn't signify a return to SEC dominance.

It was just a good bowl season and nothing more.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and recruiting information is courtesy of247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.