I've never been a part of the "in" crowd. I've never been hated "because I'm beautiful." But being a fan of the SEC these days is starting to feel just that way. It seems that jealousy abounds among fans of the other conferences, and the potshots are coming faster and harder than ever before.
For a while, Big-10 fans thought that they were the ones that were the SEC's top rival for the mantle of college football's (and arguably college athletics as a whole) top conference. Then, with two consecutive drubbings of their top team in the national championship game, they have gotten much quieter. And it didn't help the matter that Florida beat Ohio State for the NCAA basketball tournament (on their way to a second straight title) either. Yes, the rumblings from the Big 10 have fallen to a hush.
The Big-12 fans flexed their muscle a couple of years ago when Oklahoma, and then Texas, had won the BCS championship within a couple of years of each other. The problem now is that Oklahoma is the not-so-proud owner of a four-game (and counting) bowl-losing streak, and Texas hasn't been the same since Vince Young left.
Yes, Missouri is an up-and-coming program, but it can be argued that their rise is partially due to the vacuum that has been caused by Nebraska's fall, so, from a conference standpoint, that is a wash. And Kansas didn't play anybody last year and then lost to the only decent team they played (Missouri).
Big-East fans seem more obsessed with trying to convince the Big 10 (their closest neighbors) that they are their equals instead of trying to make any convincing arguments that they are better than the SEC. And there is some merit to being realists. They do seem to revel in the fact that they are faring better than the ACC (who thought they were going to kill the Big East with their ill-timed raid).
And, speaking of the ACC, they are the losers of every BCS game they've been in since the Florida State win in the 2000 Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech. And since Virginia Tech is now a conference member (and with that go all records too), they didn't just win that BCS game, but they get credit for losing it also. To make matters worse, since they raided the Big East and formed a "mega-conference," they have won exactly zero BCS bowl games. Therefore, there has been no challenge from ACC fans.
Recently, I've been reading a series on here by some clown who is purporting that the Pac 1 (not a typo) is better than the SEC. His arguments have mostly to do with head-to-head matches and out-of-conference games. To this, there are points to easily dismiss both arguments.
As far as head-to-head matches go, USC is involved in more of those wins than any other Pac-10 team by far. The author even admits this and gives a second conference matchup record, which takes USC out (and LSU for some counterbalance).
In that standing, the Pac 10 is 5-2 against the SEC since 2000. Now, consider that Mississippi State (a perennial SEC cellar dweller) and 'Bama (during their NCAA probation and coaching-carousel years) account for four of those five losses and you get a different story.
As far as the out-of-conference schedule goes, three things must be considered. The first is that the SEC plays a championship game, so two of the SEC's teams are adding another game each against a top-10 opponent.
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