SEC Football: Kevin Bacon-Style

SEC fans have made the ACC, and every other conference for that matter, the butt of their jokes.
 
Ask any SEC fan and they’ll tell you that their conference is supreme. Whether they pull for Kentucky, Ole Miss, LSU, or Tennessee, the theme will always be the dominance of SEC football.
 
The fact remains, however, that the only reason the SEC is perceived as the best conference in the land is because its top two teams are undefeated. The SEC championship game has become a de facto play-in game for the BCS National Championship; year-in, year-out.
 
Does that really make the SEC the best league?
 
Consider that the three through 12 spots in the league are merely average. Consider that the Big 12, outside of the top team, Texas, looks almost identical to the SEC. Consider that the ACC, which has one really good team in Georgia Tech, closely resembles the SEC on a weekly basis. 
 
It has been the running joke in my picks league for over a year now that all you do is flip a coin on ACC games to achieve success on picks from that conference. The SEC has quickly become no stranger to that method either.
 
Just look at the results to this point in the season.
 
Ole Miss started out the season ranked in the top 10. The Rebels actually made it all the way up to No. 4 before South Carolina’s defense stymied them in a 16-10 win in week four—the same South Carolina team that later lost 31-13 at Tennessee, who two weeks later got blipped by Ole Miss 42-17.
 
Georgia got walloped at Tennessee 45-19, one week after Tennessee was completely outplayed in a home loss against Auburn—the same Auburn that lost at Georgia last weekend 31-24.
 
Want more? Auburn was beaten by Kentucky two weeks before Kentucky lost to Mississippi State, which lost 49-24 to Auburn in week three. Arkansas defeated Auburn by three touchdowns, two weeks before the Razorbacks lost by 13 at Ole Miss, who lost to Auburn the following week by the same margin.
 
So what does all this mean? Does it mean that the SEC doesn’t fall in natural sequence of life as illustrated in every SAT test ever taken? (If A+B=C, then C is greater than A. True or False?) It completely defies logic.
 
As a result of the topsy-turvy nature of the SEC this season there could potentially be seven 7-5 teams at season’s end. Seven SEC teams at 7-5 would be unprecedented.
 
The next closest resemblance to SEC wishy-washiness is the Big XII. Outside of No. 1 Texas, the league has been an absolute free-for-all! That’s nothing new to the Big XII North, but even the South division has been affected this year.
 
In week five, the north division got off to an interesting start when Bill Snyder’s Kansas State Wildcats defeated Iowa State by one. The following week, Texas Tech, from the Big XII South, defeated Kansas State 66-14. In week seven, Kansas State spanked Texas A&M 62-14. The very next week Texas A&M throttled Texas Tech 52-30!
 
Oklahoma lost to Nebraska, who lost to Iowa State, who beat Baylor, who beat Missouri, which lost to Nebraska. Oklahoma became the fourth team to put up 60-plus on Texas A&M, which beat Iowa State by 25. Iowa State lost to Kansas before the Jayhawks lost to Colorado who lost to Iowa State.
 
It’s the six-degrees of Kevin Bacon-football style!
 
I know the Big XII North is traditionally much weaker than the Big XII South, but this is just ridiculous!
 
The ACC is much the same way. Clemson lost to Georgia Tech, which lost to Miami, which lost to Clemson. Virginia Tech beat Miami handily before losing to North Carolina, who lost to Virginia, who lost to FCS William & Mary.
 
So is it fair to laugh at these conferences if you are an SEC fan? I think not. Your conference has the same instability and parity as any other conference in America.
 
The only supremacy that the SEC can claim this season is the top two teams. Whichever team wins the SEC Championship will have taken part in two straight No. 1 vs. No. 2 match up’s when all is said and done. That’s a testament to two incredible teams at the top of the conference. But don’t get those two teams confused the rest of the SEC.
 
The other conferences are catching up quickly. It’s time to start giving the other conferences their due, SEC fans, because our conference is not what it used to be.

SEC Week 12 Picks

After two weeks, I am 12-3 picking SEC games.

Chattanooga @ Alabama: Chattanooga is my hometown. I love going to Mocs basketball games. I do that because they are competitive. The football Mocs? Not so much, until this year at least. Still 6-5 vs. mostly Southern Conference foes does not translate well against SEC foes. - Alabama wins 60-0.

Florida International @ Florida: Hmm... yeah... um... - Florida 59-3

Mississippi State @ Arkansas: State has definitely shown improvement this year, so has Arkansas. Both programs still have a tough hill to climb in the SEC West. LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Auburn will be good for a while. - Arkansas 37-18

Vanderbilt @ Tennessee: The Vols need some good news. The 'Dores need sharp object. Those two storylines will likely converge in Neyland Stadium as Tennessee trounces 2-9 Vandy. - UT 41-9

Kentucky @ Georgia: The key to the Wildcats chances lies in the injury report. If Randall Cobb can go, Kentucky can compete. If he can't Kentucky can't. I am going to fall somewhere in between on it since we won't officially know until gametime. - UGA 31-23

Game of the Week

LSU @ Ole Miss: Before the Rebels took advantage of a lackluster defensive performance by Tennessee last week many of us thought 7-5 was a possibility for the preseason top 10 pick. With LSU's recent offensive struggles and the Rebels apparent resurgence things look much different. Ole Miss finishes strong with a win over a big rival. - Ole Miss 27-17

Random Musings from Around the Nation

• Kudos to Jim Harbaugh. Pete Carroll didn't seem to mind running up the score on virtually every team he's ever coached against.
• Brian Kelly is my coaching hero. Enjoy the off week, coach. You deserve it. Oh, and please, please, please don't go to Notre Dame.
• The new BCS Director, Bill Hancock is a hoot. Dan Patrick interviewed him on his national radio show Wednesday. In the interview, Hancock sounded like a Washington spin doctor. Dan repeatedly pressed him about a playoff and the fairness of the BCS. Hancock's resolution for an undefeated TCU, Cincinnati, or Boise State being left out of the national title picture? A hearty pat on the back, and a congratulatory comment for the team having a great year. Yes, he actually said that.
• Anyone else think Rich Rodriguez could be in trouble if Ohio State wins by more than 30?
• UGA VII has died. This is Georgia's second mascot to pass away in two seasons. Sad, indeed.
• Why would Mike Shanahan want to coach at Colorado when he's likely to become the most sought after coach in the NFL after the season?
• I continue to marvel at the job Nick Saban has done at 'Bama. He's easily the national coach of the year, if the Tide wins it all.
• Congratulations to new head coach Russ Huesman at UT-Chattanooga. 6-5, considering how bad this team was a year ago, is a tremendous turnaround. Collect that $400,000 from Alabama with pride this weekend, coach.

Non-college football thoughts

• Thank you, Bill Belichick!
• If the Braves trade Javier Vazquez and do not get a ton in return, I will be rather ticked.
• Cant wait to see The Blind Side this week. The previews look great!
• Is Sarah Palin still talking?
• Congrats to Bruce Pearl and the BasketVols. Tobias Harris, highest rated prospect to ever sign at UT.

'Til next week!