Is it really a surprise to anyone that the SEC is above the rest?

[WizardHawk]

The conference that has hindered the college football progress for decades doesn't really get to complain and say other conferences have all the power and need to make things happen. It's time for the Pac12 to finally actually do something that helps, then you can complain about other conferences.

And he's STILL putting words in my mouth.

You never quit do you?

Seems you do have an agenda against the Pac while you chastise the masses over your perception of them doing it to the SEC. I could give a shit less what they did 70 years ago, but I do think it should be at least told accurately.

No one complained about anyone having power. Didn't happen.
Never suggested there was any other agenda into why there are no SEC/Pac bowls. Said it was clearly geography and money if there were any reasons at all, but that's not good enough for you. No, damn it. I'm going to force those words down his throat until they stick!

It's not working.

 

[Deep Creek]

I always thought that stadium sitting up in the mountain was cool, also had no idea that bowl game was that old.

It is a nice setting. BYU's stadium is another great setting.

One of the years my Miners only won a game or two (and there have been several of those over the years unfortuntely), one of the players said something like "One of the ugliest teams playing in one of the best looking stadiums."

The current Sun Bowl stadium wasn't built until the early 60s. I'm guessing the original Sun Bowls must have been played just East of the stadium at Kidd Field which is now the Track&Field Facility.

 

[Deep Creek]

The conference that has hindered the college football progress for decades doesn't really get to complain and say other conferences have all the power and need to make things happen. It's time for the Pac12 to finally actually do something that helps, then you can complain about other conferences.

Sorry 4d. PAC wasn't the worst. I'd say the B1G was the most conservative/most resistant to change and possessed the most cigar smoking, back room powers that were the biggest hindrance. And for years they were very arrogant about it. JMO.

 

[Wild Turkey]

So many people arguing for less bowl games which:

1. Means less football for us to watch = Bad
2. Less players get rewarded for their efforts = Bad
3. Less teams get additional practice time for developing players = Bad
4. Less money coming into the conferences = Bad

I see zero upside in playing less bowl games only great sadness if we do.

 

[belcherboy]

So many people arguing for less bowl games which:

1. Means less football for us to watch = Bad
2. Less players get rewarded for their efforts = Bad
3. Less teams get additional practice time for developing players = Bad
4. Less money coming into the conferences = Bad

I see zero upside in playing less bowl games only great sadness if we do.

The only upside I see is that we can quit celebrating and rewarding 5-7 and 6-6 teams by giving them a bowl game. If you got .500 or worse, you should be embarrassed, and hopefully motivated to change that in upcoming seasons. Regardless, if I had my way, I'd rather see my team play a bowl game...even if they had a sucky season...than for them to not play one. Hopefully Michigan won't have another sucky season for a long time!

 

[Runeman]

Kinda like how last year everyone was talking about how amazing the SEC was, especially the SEC West, and then their top teams went out and pooped the bed in their bowl games? It's a total crapshoot.

Schools like Iowa over-perform in conference play every year (I'd attribute it to familiarity with the opposing coaches, personnel, and tendencies). Sometimes they get into a bowl game vs a team that completely outclasses them and they get their doors blown off and sometimes they keep the momentum up. Much of the time bowl games are completely unpredictable due to coaching changes, injuries, people leaving for the draft, etc. In the end, things typically even out. If your conference has a really good bowl season like the SEC did this year, congrats. I guess yall were the best this year.

A few years back the B1G had a terrible bowl season and they were proclaimed dead. Now, I'd argue that they are in the top 2 conferences with lots of future promise.

Sure, I can agree with that. I'm just saying that all season long many folks on here were constantly making remarks on how shitty the SEC is; especially the SEC East. I never stated the SEC was better, I think we all thought Ohio State was going to win easily. Probably should have, given the size and talent. At any rate, Turns out both the SEC East and West did rather well. The only two teams that lost played without their best quarterback...especially Florida which really has no quarterback this year. Hopefully next will be better.

 

[Tharvot]

Sure, I can agree with that. I'm just saying that all season long many folks on here were constantly making remarks on how shitty the SEC is; especially the SEC East. I never stated the SEC was better, I think we all thought Ohio State was going to win easily. Probably should have, given the size and talent. At any rate, Turns out both the SEC East and West did rather well. The only two teams that lost played without their best quarterback...especially Florida which really has no quarterback this year. Hopefully next will be better.

Yeah, it was a good bowl season for sure for the conference. I typically don't care a whole lot about how the rest of the B1G does in their games so long as Ohio State wins. I would have liked to see MSU and Iowa at least play competitive games though...losses like that inevitably lead to knee jerk reactions on the quality of the conference.

 

[Wild Turkey]

The only upside I see is that we can quit celebrating and rewarding 5-7 and 6-6 teams by giving them a bowl game. If you got .500 or worse, you should be embarrassed, and hopefully motivated to change that in upcoming seasons. Regardless, if I had my way, I'd rather see my team play a bowl game...even if they had a sucky season...than for them to not play one. Hopefully Michigan won't have another sucky season for a long time!

There isn't a team in the country that is celebrating 5-7 or 6-6 season it just isn't happening. Now what does happen is that kids on 5-7 or 6-6 teams work just as hard as the 13-0 teams. They get up early in the morning for workouts & treatments, they stay on campus during the summer for workouts and they work a full academic load.

Even players on losing teams work their ass off and deserve some type of reward for that work and sacrifice but not everyone can play in bowls and shouldn't. However I have no problem with Nebraska or other teams getting in a bowl when 5-7 especially when they earn that right through academic achievement.

Everyone needs to just chill on this issue and let as many bowl games be played as ESPN is willing to finance. It isn't going to last forever at some point the will roll some of these bowls back as it will become uneconomical to play them.

 

[Deep Creek]

There isn't a team in the country that is celebrating 5-7 or 6-6 season it just isn't happening. Now what does happen is that kids on 5-7 or 6-6 teams work just as hard as the 13-0 teams. They get up early in the morning for workouts & treatments, they stay on campus during the summer for workouts and they work a full academic load.

Even players on losing teams work their ass off and deserve some type of reward for that work and sacrifice but not everyone can play in bowls and shouldn't. However I have no problem with Nebraska or other teams getting in a bowl when 5-7 especially when they earn that right through academic achievement.

Everyone needs to just chill on this issue and let as many bowl games be played as ESPN is willing to finance. It isn't going to last forever at some point the will roll some of these bowls back as it will become uneconomical to play them.

How about having a minimum attendance percentage in order to maintain a bowl? (And not just tickets sold but butts in seats.) If a stadium can't be substantially filled by a combination of fans and locals, then the fans don't want to/can't afford travel to that destination, or the local community doesn't want to support the game.

 

[006]

Every team matched up with good teams and basically outclassed them. Yes, Ole Miss and Miss State are "out classing" people in talent. It's a terrible time in college football to be honest. The majority of the conference has been getting top 20 recruiting classes with success nationwide for 5+ years. I realize calling out the recruiting tactics has a political correctness feel to it with the fear of being called a bitter fan but it's getting to apparent. If any blue blood did what A&M did, they would probably average 2+5*'s every year on the rivals standards. It's getting ridiculous and to be honest, it's killing college football.


Barkley is a proud donor in the SEC, and a pretty straight up honest person. I actually like him quite a bit. He tells it like it is and doesn't care what anyone has to says about it. He straight up says that he thought Auburn got a great deal on Cam and offered to buy Dirk. He also says that we take care of our own in the SEC.
Lets not forget just last year Stephen Garcia claimed that Alabama offered him a corvette to be an elephant.

Since I graduated highschool, teams like Tennessee, Ole Miss, Miss St, Vandy, Kentucky, UGA(7-9 wins average), Arkansas, South Carolina, EVEN Alabama and Auburn(pre-Saban) were out recruiting most teams not named USC, ND, OU, tOSU,Mich with 4-7 win seasons. It almost seems like the only way to beat the SEC is having an element that is to challenging to stop, like a Ben Watson at Clemson or Manziel at A&M.

I will always love college football regardless of the increasing lack of parity but when are we going to change the rules. It's either we make it legal to pay players or the NCAA goes Joseph McCarthy on college football and cracks down hard on any type of illegal compensation.

The Arkansas coach is right. If any team played in the SEC right now with their current squad, the odds are they have more losses. It's only logical. If teamA(bottom half SEC team) is getting a top 10 class every year and teamB is getting top 15-20, i think its fair to say that teamA has an advantage as far as depth and talent. I know this isnt a shared thought or statement in the realms of fans in the SEC but it's becoming intellectually dishonest to not even contentiously notice it or discuss the possibilities.

Too much to read I know but just some thoughts.

Call me crazy, but I feel there is much more parity in college football than at any other time during my years of watching the game. USC, Alabama, Ohio St., Oklahoma, and ND will with tradition continue to reload, but the "so called" weaker programs of the past have continued to get better players than in they used to. This has made it harder on the solid programs like a Tennessee, Michigan, Texas, Penn St. etc. Just my opinion though.

Edit: there are a lot more solid programs you could throw in with my examples, I'm just to lazy and used those as an example to my point.

 

[Deep Creek]

Call me crazy, but I feel there is much more parity in college football than at any other time during my years of watching the game. USC, Alabama, Ohio St., Oklahoma, and ND will with tradition continue to reload, but the "so called" weaker programs of the past have continued to get better players than in they used to. This has made it harder on the solid programs like a Tennessee, Michigan, Texas, Penn St. etc. Just my opinion though.

Edit: there are a lot more solid programs you could throw in with my examples, I'm just to lazy and used those as an example to my point.

100% true. Who'd have ever thunk Baylor would be considered a top 25 team?

 

[WestEndVol]

Yeah, and Stanford. Crazy to think that they are among the best teams in college football right now.

 

[Wild Turkey]

How about having a minimum attendance percentage in order to maintain a bowl? (And not just tickets sold but butts in seats.) If a stadium can't be substantially filled by a combination of fans and locals, then the fans don't want to/can't afford travel to that destination, or the local community doesn't want to support the game.

How about we let the networks and bowl committees hold as many bowls as they want and we sit home and watch on TV and not stress about it?

This isn't world hunger we are talking about and we get to watch football and post on game threads so it is a win for everyone. No need to change anything or try to eliminate anything...it's just crazy talk.

 

[UNA Lion]

100% true. Who'd have ever thunk Baylor would be considered a top 25 team?

Still remember the commercial in the 1990s, making fun of who would be selected to play for the bowl awarding the NC trophy. They used a dart board, and one of the darts landed on Boise State, to much laughter and outrage.

 

[belcherboy]

There isn't a team in the country that is celebrating 5-7 or 6-6 season it just isn't happening. Now what does happen is that kids on 5-7 or 6-6 teams work just as hard as the 13-0 teams. They get up early in the morning for workouts & treatments, they stay on campus during the summer for workouts and they work a full academic load.

Even players on losing teams work their ass off and deserve some type of reward for that work and sacrifice but not everyone can play in bowls and shouldn't. However I have no problem with Nebraska or other teams getting in a bowl when 5-7 especially when they earn that right through academic achievement.

Everyone needs to just chill on this issue and let as many bowl games be played as ESPN is willing to finance. It isn't going to last forever at some point the will roll some of these bowls back as it will become uneconomical to play them.

So everyone works just as hard on every team? Not sure if I buy that whole argument.

Regardless, I don't care either way. It would be nice if my team had a down year, and in spite of it, I had a chance to watch them play a bowl game. I still think a bowl should be an "end of the season reward", and if you can't win more than half your games, you probably shouldn't be rewarded with a vacation game.

 

[Deep Creek]

How about we let the networks and bowl committees hold as many bowls as they want and we sit home and watch on TV and not stress about it?

This isn't world hunger we are talking about and we get to watch football and post on game threads so it is a win for everyone. No need to change anything or try to eliminate anything...it's just crazy talk.

Let's go the other way and get it up to 64 total bowl games. That way my Miners and the other 127 teams would all get to go bowling! Everyone gets a reward.

 

[TexasExes98]

The year we played lsu for a national title was a home for them.. right in their backyard. But we've been getting fucked for years anyways by the rose bowl. Maybe some of you don't wanna travel up north, but people like me never see major bowl games and never will. There's a reason why nfl teams like the packers play hard for home field advantage.. and if we go to a playoff system, top teams should get HF advantage. Also, all bowl games should be 100% neutral.

Nobody wants to play bowl games up in the Midwest in the winter. Hell, even the B1G prefers not to play in the cold, seeing how their CCG is held indoors. Get over it......

 

[4down20]

And he's STILL putting words in my mouth.

You never quit do you?

Seems you do have an agenda against the Pac while you chastise the masses over your perception of them doing it to the SEC. I could give a shit less what they did 70 years ago, but I do think it should be at least told accurately.

No one complained about anyone having power. Didn't happen.
Never suggested there was any other agenda into why there are no SEC/Pac bowls. Said it was clearly geography and money if there were any reasons at all, but that's not good enough for you. No, damn it. I'm going to force those words down his throat until they stick!

It's not working.

The Rose Bowl shutting everyone out isn't what they did 70 years ago.

It's what they are still doing today, it just started 70 years ago.

 

[WizardHawk]

You aren't over this yet?

At least you are correctly saying the RB is shutting out others. I mean that is still mischaracterizing it, but you aren't saying it's the Pac and B1G anymore. That's progress. Maybe given enough time you will figure out the rest of where you are wrong.

I mean the Sugar is in the exact same position as the RB. Those mean bastards are not allowing anyone else access to that game!!!

AND the SEC has a chance at the Orange bowl where the Pac does not. UNFAIR!! Right?

 

[TexasExes98]

100% true. Who'd have ever thunk Baylor would be considered a top 25 team?

or TCU, the Mississippi schools, Stanford, Oregon, etc, etc