Over the past decade, brainwashed college football fans have been tricked into believing that the SEC is the best football conference in the country.
I have heard it all: The competition is harder week in and week out, the SEC atmosphere drains the players' bodies more, SEC teams play harder when it's a conference game, there's more speed in the SEC, among many others.
But when it comes down to it, speculation doesn't mean anything. Claiming a certain team will beat another team doesn't mean anything unless they play. If you try and speculate, you can come up with any opinion you want.
For example, I could say that Texas State would have beaten Georgia last year if I were to use speculation. Appalachian State lost to Georgia Southern (who lost to Texas State), but beat Michigan. Michigan beat Florida who beat Georgia. So by that logical series of thoughts, I can claim Texas State would have beaten Georgia last year.
Obviously, I don't think that this is true, but it's an example of how speculation can lead you wherever you want to go.
The only true way you can determine if a football team is better than another football team is to match them up.
Don't talk about national titles—those are subjective. Don't talk about Top 25 rankings—those are subjective.
Talk about when these teams actually played each other.
Listed below is every SEC versus Pac-10 head-to-head matchup going back to the year 2000.
2000
Alabama 24, UCLA 35 {PAC10}
2001
UCLA 20, Alabama 17 {PAC10}
2002
Auburn 17, USC 24 {PAC10}
Mississippi State 13, Oregon 36 {PAC10}
2003
USC 23, Auburn 0 {PAC10}
LSU 59, Arizona 13 {SEC}
Oregon 42, Mississippi State 34 {PAC10}
2004
Oregon State 21, LSU 22 {SEC}
2005
Arkansas 17, USC 70 {PAC10}
LSU 35, Arizona State 31 {SEC}
2006
USC 50, Arkansas 14 {PAC10}
Washington State 14, Auburn 40 {SEC}
Arizona 3, LSU 45 {SEC}
California 18, Tennessee 35 {SEC}
2007
Tennessee 31, California 45 {PAC10}
The Pac-10 ends up with a 9-6 record against the SEC. So much for the speed and athleticism of the SEC catching up with them.
The most alarming part is that if we take the two powerhouses, USC and LSU, out of the equation, the Pac-10 is 5-2 against the SEC.
It's interesting how every SEC fan who wants to derail the "Pac-10 Football Is Better Than SEC Football" argument claims the Pac-10 proponents only lean on USC. Well, we took them out of the equation—and the Pac-10 still rules the day.
There's not much else to say on this topic: The Pac-10 is better against SEC opponents than the SEC is against Pac-10 opponents.
I don't know what SEC fans are going to do to explain this one. Maybe they'll claim that the SEC doesn't try out of conference, or that the game wasn't big enough so they probably just threw it.
Whatever excuses are made by SEC fans, the fact remains that the Pac-10 has a 9-6 record against the SEC since 2000. If you take out USC and LSU, the Pac-10 owns a 5-2 record.
THE LIST IS BUILDING:
5. The Pac-10 has a 9-6 record head-to-head against the SEC since 2000.
4. The Pac-10 has just as much, if not more, parity top to bottom than the SEC.
3. The Pac-10's best team is better than the SEC's best team.
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3 months ago
National titles are subjective? Hmm...isn't that...drumroll...speculation? Around in circles we go.
Since arguing with you is useless, please answer the following questions:
How would Cal do if they played in the SEC East?
How would Arizona State do if they played in the SEC West? How about Oregon (cue the Dixon injury comment, as if other teams don't have injuries)?
Would USC go undefeated every year if they played in the SEC?
from 3 months ago
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/34980-pac-10-versus-sec-football-tim-pollock-qa
3 months ago
Congratulations. It is settled.
Meanwhile, SEC fans will rest comfortably knowing the true strength of their conference is a result of better coaches with more national championship rings than any other conference (Miles, Meyer, Spurrier, Saban, and Fulmer all have one), barking orders to higher ranked recruiting classes year in and year out. Yes, USC is always a power, but it drops off severely after them. Go to Rivals.com. Check the team rankings year after year. See how many SEC teams are in the top 10, let alone the top 20. Compare it to the Pac-10. See what happens.
And going off head-to-head records is great as long as the teams are evenly matched within their conferences. Think Big-10/ACC challenge in basketball. Top team plays top team, bottom plays bottom, etc. If that were always the case and the Pac-10 held a big advantage, I'd concede your point. Until then...
from 3 months ago
My thoughts exactly...for instance, Mississippi State was 3-9 and 2-10 the two years they played Oregon, and Arkansas was 4-7 when they lost to USC in '05 (though they were better the next year).
Those numbers prove that UCLA has bragging rights on Alabama, USC on Auburn and Arkansas, and LSU on the state of Arizona. That's about it. If Oregon wants to brag about beating two incredibly bad Miss. State teams, they're welcome to join in.
If Thomas is just going to throw out things like National Championships and the final AP Top 25, which matter more than anything in college football, you're just picking and choosing the information you like instead of looking at the enitre picture.
from 3 months ago
Hold on here, Will. Do some research before you go spouting off about other teams. Alabama went 3-8 the first year they lost to UCLA and then 7-5 in 2001. Congrats to UCLA for beating a team that went 10-13 in the two years they played them and were then stuck on probation.
3 months ago
I don't know Thomas. The SEC has a lot of strong points for them..
Maybe they can do a OOC rotation like the pros....
Have every team in the conf play at least 1 team in another BCS conf.
Something like
2010 - SEC/Pac10, Big 11/Big 12, Big East/ACC
2011 - SEC/Big 11, Pac 10/Big East, Big 12/ACC
2012 - SEC/Big East, Pac 10/Big 11, Big 12/ACC
2013 - SEC/Big 12, Pac 10/ACC, Big East/Big 11
and so on......
3 months ago
Another great article in the series!
3 months ago
TB, the sympathy for you is continually growing. Now you are speculating that these teams were even when they played each other. I think your motto was thrown in this article around the 3rd paragraph...
"If you try and speculate, you can come up with any opinion you want."
Speculate what you want these numbers to mean in yet another article please. Twist them around and around until they make sense to you and only you. My entertianment level with these is continually growing from "article" to "article".
about 1 month ago
Umm, Florida did not beat Georgia last year. Georgia beat Florida. So much for your knowledge of the SEC.
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