SEC Football: Better Teams and Better Fans, Overall The Best Conference

The SEC, the South Eastern Conference.  Not only does the SEC have at least one team every season that challenges for a national championship but even fans for teams that have been mediocre still sell out their home games.  For the fans, football is much more than a game, more than a religion, it's a way of life.  These fans follow their team year round. 

I'll get back to the fans, but first I want to talk about the teams in the SEC.  People may argue that if the SEC is the best conference then why don't they have a team in the national championship every year.  The answer is simple, they have to play each other in the regular season.  When the SEC does play for the national championship, they win.  Since 1998, when the BCS was created, the SEC has played for the national championship five times, the SEC won every time.  No other conference has a winning record, and only the PAC-10 (USC) doesn't have a loosing record. 

A title is won over night (technically it is by winning the game) it starts with the pre-season and the guys busting their asses because they know they will be playing the best of the best this season.  A quote that descibes the SEC is, "I'll put you through hell, but at the end of it all we'll be champions." Those were the words by one of the greatest coaches ever, Paul "Bear" Bryant.  When the ball is kicked off on the first game day, the war starts all over again after pausing from the end of the previous season.  So why don't they make the national championship every season?  It's because every team goes out and beats the living day light out of every team and most years every team looses a game or two.  Almost every season, the SEC puts the most teams in a bowl game.  The team that has been in the most bowl games and won the most bowl games comes from the SEC (Alabama). 

The top recruits want to come play in the SEC from places like California, Oregon, and other places outside of the south.  According to rivals, ten out of the twelve teams were among the twenty five best recruiting classes.  

The fans help make the SEC the top conference in the country.  For the 2007 season, the Southeastern Conference set the NCAA conference record for total attendance while topping all conference in average attendance for the 10th consecutive year.  The fans  are so loyal to their teams, that even after a "bad" season they still make the trips back to see their team play the next season.   The best quote that can describe the fans of the SEC is said by Bear Bryant, "Loosing doesn't make me want to quite.  It makes me want to fight that much harder."  Bear Bryant was talking about his players but, you can put it towards the fans.  Even when their team looses, they come back expecting the win the very next week (or week after if it's a bye week).  For an SEC fan, there's four different seasons of the year, 1. The Regular Season/Bowl Season 2. Recruiting 3. Spring Football 4. Summer workouts/Pre-Season practice.  The fans travel around the south to see their teams play, they travel all around the country to see their bowl game.  These fans would graciously take their shirts off, if someone from their team wanted it.  The fans love the rivalries.  Alabama hate Auburn.  Tennessee hate Florida.  These are the fans that start tailgating at 6 in the morning and resume tailgating once the game is over.  

So why is the SEC the best conference.  No other conference is as dedicated to football as the SEC is, and it always shows at the end.  Which conference had seven teams in the Top 10 of recruiting for 2007? The SEC.  Which conference regularly has at least four teams ranked, (including 7 at one point in the 2007 season, 3 in the top 10!)? The SEC. In what other conference do 9 of 12 teams (75%) make it to bowl games.  None!  What conference led the NFL Draft for most first round picks for the sixth year in a row?  The SEC!  If this isn't enough proof, then you should probably hit yourself in the head with a frying pan.