Over the past week at Pregame, Pauly Howard has been generating a lot of debate on the forums regarding just how good the SEC is. His video rant started the controversy, then he and Steve Fezzik debated it on First Preview. Fezzik followed it up with a challenge for Pauly, then Pauly accepted today.
These two guys aren’t the only ones getting in on the argument though. Several Pregame.com Pros weighed in on the subject matter and the opinions really ran the gamut.
There were certainly people who agreed with Pauly. The point isn’t that the Southeastern Conference is bad, but more that they get some passes other conferences don’t when it comes to how the media evaluates them. As Ken Thomson points out, “the way [the SEC] schedule FCS teams late in the SEC Conference season is a joke.” Ken does give the conference its props though. “The talent is outstanding, but I would like to see more non-conference games that have meaning like this season's opener with Bama playing Wisconsin.”
The SEC/Big 10 showdown to start the season will be an interesting one, considering the Big 10 hasn’t gotten a lot of respect up until Ohio State won the title earlier this year. “ There were many from the South who said, ‘No Big Ten’ team could hang with the top of the SEC. After Ohio State dominated Bama in the playoff game last season, that myth is no more, as every pre-season publication has Ohio State winning the whole enchilada again,” Ken explains.
JR O’Donnell echoes Ken’s sentiments, citing his team, Penn State’s, ability to succeed. “The Valley boys can and did hold its own in years past, as Joe Pa ruled the sidelines with a no nonsense and hard-nosed approach to CFB.” For him, there are spots in the SEC that are bright, but there are plenty of others that are going to likely come up short this season. “I feel that this year the planets do align and Mississippi St and Mississippi, last year’s darlings who faded down the stretch, will not be there. Gus Malzahn's Auburn Tigers seem to be the chalk this season and the Tide will also make some waves with that recruiting class,” JR adds. “All in all, I look for the SEC to remain an over-hyped conference. Two words: Urban Myer.”
Goodfella also invoked Urban Meyer’s name when he admitted the Big 10 and Pac-12 are closing the gap, but he isn’t willing to go so far to say that the SEC isn’t the clear-cut favorite. “ The facts are that NO CONFERENCE produces more NFL talent and, in my opinion, no conference is more "top heavy" i.e. the conference’s top 4-5 schools are [more talented] than the SEC is,” says Goodfella. “The SEC still has the overall best players/deepest rosters & also the best overall coaching of any conference, in my opinion.”
The guys cite the intangibles of the SEC, but the clear-cut numbers favor them to, according to Joe Gavazzi. “To the extent that the media influences public perception, which in turn influences the linemaker odds, the SEC appears to be accurately rated. Consider combined SEC ATS records of previous three years, which are 79-82 ATS (2012) 82-82 ATS (2013), and 90-77 ATS (2014). That is 249-241 ATS! And isn't that all, as sports betters we really care about?”
The media is an oft-invoked aspect of the hype, and one Pauly spoke about more than once in his videos. Sure, the media has their bias, especially on the local level. Spartan experienced first-hand living in Mizzou’s home of Columbia. “It has been fascinating to hear the tune change so dramatically almost overnight. When the Tigers were in the Big-12 the local talking heads could not thump their chests enough and bellowing that the Big-12 was much closer to the SEC in football than anyone seemed to realize or give them credit for. Then when the switch is made to the Darth Vader Conference of college football, the tune abruptly changed,” Spartan observes.
Really though, the truth of the SEC does seem to lie somewhere between the extremes. Dave Essler sums up the highs and lows quite well:
I could go on, citing the coaches’ salaries, recruiting edges, NFL players, BSC Titles, and all the other gaudy numbers. BUT, it's those gaudy numbers that have given people reasons to devote entire websites to debunking the myths of the Southeast Football Conference. If you want to dig far enough, you can make numbers or a few games saw whatever you need to support the argument. You can find scheduling flaws, Bowl losses (Bowl games are nearly all based on motivation and if a good SEC team doesn't play in the biggest spotlight in January, they just don't care - just like every other team with high expectations playing a Bowl game in Memphis in the cold), or whatever other numbers suit your case. Teams playing AGAINST the SEC are that much more motivated to beat the SEC, because they're tired of hearing it. Put $10 million on the line and see if the motivation changes. Oh wait, that is only one-third of what each school gets from the new ESPN deal, so perhaps it needs to be a bigger prize. And that television money only assures the revenue exists for the SEC to continue to have the target on their backs, and continue to be the most relevant conference.”
They are the most relevant conference, it does seem, but with great power comes great expectations. "The SEC is taking a hit because it hasn't had a national champion during the past two years. Wow, talk about a high bar,” Stephen Nover jokes.
It may be a down year for the SEC. It may be a third year without a national title too. But the fun of college football is debating the SEC’s merits and seeing how they pan out all season long.