SEC Football: Why SEC Dominance Will End in 2012

The SEC has been the gold standard of college football recently. In all likelihood the conference will claim its seventh straight national championship this season.

No conference can challenge the SEC top to bottom, but that streak has to end sometime. It’s just a matter of when. Let’s look at a few reasons why SEC dominance will end in 2012. 

No Great Team

When surveying the outlook of the league for 2012, it’s difficult to find the one team that will be great.

Alabama will lose most of their veteran defense and could see similar growing pains to 2010. Arkansas loses their trio of star-studded receivers to graduation (Greg Childs, Joe Adams and Jarius Wright). LSU is said to have great young talent, but they could lose some key Juniors to the NFL Draft and must replace their quarterback.

Georgia appears to be in the best position from a returning starters standpoint but can Mark Richt lead them to a championship? Just three months ago, his job was in jeopardy.

There are plenty of options, but not one team that seems like an obvious choice.  

Parity

In the past few years the SEC has become very top-heavy as some programs have faded back a bit. Next year there should be much more depth of good teams, which might not serve the league well in its race for another national title.

Alabama, LSU and Arkansas will all be good and a young Auburn team should move its way into that group. In the East, Georgia has had an impressive season and returns almost everyone.

Florida should be much better in year two under Will Muschamp as should Vanderbilt in its second year under James Franklin. South Carolina will be solid as well.

In addition to that, Texas A&M and Missouri will also be joining the conference. With competition like that it could be difficult for one team to stand out or even get out of the league with one loss. 

SEC Hate

With the chance of an all-SEC national championship game, SEC hate is at an all-time high. There’s no doubt that fans around the country want to see something different.

Pollsters have been accused of manipulating rankings in the past to get the matchups they want. Are voters so tired of SEC dominance that they would go against the league in a close vote? 

Greater Competition

In the past couple of years, other conferences have made big strides to catch up to the SEC. The Big Ten and Pac 12 have been strengthened both by new teams and the addition of conference championship games.

New coaches will also bring relevance to other conferences. The Pac 12 made a big splash with the additions of Rich Rodriquez and Mike Leach, who have both come close to playing for national titles.

Then, of course, the addition of Urban Meyer brings instant credibility to an Ohio State program that was in flux. His team might not be ready in 2012, but he's coming for the SEC.