How the SEC Changed College Football's Landscape

For five BCS conferences, the SEC is a thorn in their respective sides.

The constant chants, excessive bragging and four straight BCS championships are enough for most of football nation to yell, "Enough!"

And yet, we continue to secretly covet their success. We hate that they are winners. We hate that they "share" a team's championship with the entire conference. And yes, we hate the fact that they benefit more in voting than most other teams.

Don't fight the rip tide, just swim with it. The SEC has changed college football in so many ways, you have to stop and admire what they have done.

Marketing Their Brand

It's on every field.

It's on every jersey.

And it's on everyone's lips when their conference's team wins a game.

The "S-E-C" chant is synonymous with powerhouse football. Sure it's annoying, but deep, deep, down, aren't you just a little bit jealous?

Influencing Rankings

Credit LSU coach Les Miles' wife for the "undefeated in regulation" marketing campaign that got his Tigers into the 2007 BCS Championship.

A massive email campaign, constant lip service from Les Miles and unsure voters have all contributed to the beginning of recent SEC dominance in college football.

In other words, if you have a coach with a set of opinions, he can change the way pollsters vote.

When an SEC Team Wins, Everyone Wins

Mississippi State hasn't had much to shout about in the last fifty years, but if you talk to their fans, they've won four straight crystal trophies.

When an SEC team wins a championship, the whole conference wins.

Weird? Yep. Irritating? Totally, especially when you consider the fact that no other conference practices this sort of philosophy.

Cats and dogs don't get along, much like Buckeyes and Wolverines, Trojans and Bruins, and Sooners and Longhorns.

In fact, the only two teams who share that "camaraderie" are the service academies' Army and Navy.

Forcing Other Conferences to Become More United

If you asked a Bruins fan five years ago if he would root for the Trojans in the Natty so that the Pac-10 would get the win, you'd be met with glazed eyes and utter disbelief.

That was then. This is now.

While the five other BCS conferences haven't reached the unity of the SEC's, most fans have started to root for their own conference foes just so their conference can get bragging rights.

It's a Southern thang.

Schedule Apologists

Sure the SEC, for the most part, schedules fluffy non-conference games.

Their reasoning a few years ago, "our conference schedule is already tough enough," fell on deaf ears and angered a large majority of college football fans.

But after four straight BCS Championships, the critics can eat crow.

Ohio State had Texas on its schedule in 2006 and beat them as well as Cincy and Bowling Green. The Buckeyes still got beat by Florida, 41-14—the same team who had Southern Miss, Central Florida, Western Carolina and Florida State for its non-conference games.

You can rip the SEC's cupcake non-conference games all you want, but the bottom line is that they still beat the teams with tougher non-conference games.

Let them eat cake.

Fanatical Behavior Increases TV Coverage

ESPN's College GameDay loves to travel to the South.

Why?

The fans show up behind the stage rowdy, loud and crazy. There are no empty seats when the TV camera crews scan the stadium. Their signs are also the most imaginative, much to the dismay of TV censors.

It makes for great TV.

Sure it's like a shark frenzy, but who cares? The SEC fans epitomize the complete college football fan and there is nothing like it anywhere else.

It's the exact reason why CBS and ESPN have contracts with the SEC.

The game may be boring—remember Auburn's 3-2 win over Mississippi State two years ago?—but the fans will make you think this is the most exciting game on the face of the planet.

Contempt Brings Better Competition

The Big Ten and Big 12 fans aren't too fond of the SEC fans the last four years— Oklahoma, Texas, and Ohio State (twice) were beaten by Florida, LSU and Alabama in BCS Championship games.

The SEC leads the Big Ten in head-to-head games, but the Big Ten still leads in head-to-head bowl victories (at least through 2008).

That little known fact still means those damn Yanks are better, despite all the spin from the South.

It's also why SEC teams salivate over playing Big Ten teams, while Big Ten fans get wildly uncomfortable in December.

The rivalries are more intense, the games are getting more competitive and that all means a huge win for college football in general.

Coaches Are No Longer Shy in front of the Mic

Some of the most colorful coaches have been—or still are—in the SEC.

Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Phil Fulmer, Urban Meyer, Houston Nutt and Bobby Petrino have all had their moments in the spotlight.

The trickle-down effect has now spawned some more colorful coaches in the "quieter" conferences.

Jim Harbaugh, Rich Rodriguez, Lane Kiffin, and Jeff Gundy have started to overshadow the SEC coaches in grand style with perceived outrageous quotes, actions or conduct.

It isn't pretty at times, but its entertainment factor keeps college football fans glued to the Internet and television 24-7, 365 days a year.

The South May Still Rise Again?

There's that Civil War defeat that still gnaws at Southerners. The war is over, but the battle is still being fought—on the gridiron.

Don't think for a minute that this still isn't about the North vs the South.

It is.

The history books may have closed the chapter on how the South lost the war, but SEC football reminds us how there is still an agenda left.

And it's a glorious spectacle to watch every Saturday.