NCAA Football '11-'12

[dps]

Bandwagonners, man your bandwagon!

Don't be hatin'.  It's just good, quality football.  Bigger, stronger, faster.  Can't say the same for the ACC or some other conferences out there.

I still have love for the Big Ten, man.   They better take this fucking Rose Bowl.  I don't want to see Berkut have an aneurysm to start off the new year.

I'm not going to argue against the SEC's recent superiority, but while it's a good league, the article that Timmay linked to was crap.

[jimmy olsen]

Bandwagonners, man your bandwagon!

Don't be hatin'.  It's just good, quality football.  Bigger, stronger, faster.  Can't say the same for the ACC or some other conferences out there.

I still have love for the Big Ten, man.   They better take this fucking Rose Bowl.  I don't want to see Berkut have an aneurysm to start off the new year.

I'm not going to argue against the SEC's recent superiority, but while it's a good league, the article that Timmay linked to was crap.

Que?

[Berkut]

Why would I be rooting for the Big-10 in the Rose Bowl?

I mean, maybe if ASU was playing...

I know your hatred for Oregon goes beyond PAC-10 loyalty.  I can tell.

Oh no, not even close.

[dps]

Bandwagonners, man your bandwagon!

Don't be hatin'.  It's just good, quality football.  Bigger, stronger, faster.  Can't say the same for the ACC or some other conferences out there.

I still have love for the Big Ten, man.   They better take this fucking Rose Bowl.  I don't want to see Berkut have an aneurysm to start off the new year.

I'm not going to argue against the SEC's recent superiority, but while it's a good league, the article that Timmay linked to was crap.

Que?

Oh, it was grumbler.  I saw a link to a crappy article and just assumed that you were the one that posted it.

[grumbler]

Oh, it was grumbler.  I saw a link to a crappy article and just assumed that you were the one that posted it.

Too many big words, huh? 

[grumbler]

Don't be hatin'.  It's just good, quality football.  Bigger, stronger, faster.  Can't say the same for the ACC or some other conferences out there.

Michigan has an excellent record against the SEC (20-6-1).  I'm not convinced that the SEC overall is any bigger, stronger, or faster than, say, the B10, Pac12, or B12.  Their top teams have been very impressive in the last decade, but USC was as dominant for as long as the top SEC teams, and didn't take JuCo transfers or over-sign recruits.

I think the main things the SEC teams have going for them lately are
(1) they spend money on coaches.  The rest of the NCAA is going to have to catch up
(2) success breeds success - good records bring good recruits, which get drafted because they are well-coached (see #1), which brings more good recruits.

The oversigning of recruits, and the willingness to take anyone with a minimum of academic qualifications, have been perennial issues with the SEC, so I don't see them getting so much better lately based on those issues, though they are certainly advantages many other schools don't have.

[Valmy]

Oklahoma and Texas lost in hard fought games to Florida and Bama in 2008 and 2009.  Both of those games could have gone the other way.  The SEC is the best but the Big 12 can produce teams that can beat them.  I think people are overstating the gap between the leagues.

[dps]

Don't be hatin'.  It's just good, quality football.  Bigger, stronger, faster.  Can't say the same for the ACC or some other conferences out there.

Michigan has an excellent record against the SEC (20-6-1).  I'm not convinced that the SEC overall is any bigger, stronger, or faster than, say, the B10, Pac12, or B12.  Their top teams have been very impressive in the last decade, but USC was as dominant for as long as the top SEC teams, and didn't take JuCo transfers or over-sign recruits.

I think the main things the SEC teams have going for them lately are
(1) they spend money on coaches.  The rest of the NCAA is going to have to catch up
(2) success breeds success - good records bring good recruits, which get drafted because they are well-coached (see #1), which brings more good recruits.

The oversigning of recruits, and the willingness to take anyone with a minimum of academic qualifications, have been perennial issues with the SEC, so I don't see them getting so much better lately based on those issues, though they are certainly advantages many other schools don't have.

I don't disagree with that.  The main issue I took with the article was the #1 point about the title game.  I just don't see it as really being an important factor--having a title game hasn't done the ACC much good--and someday a title game loss is going to keep a team out of a BCS title game (if the BCS continues in anything remotely like its current form).  I also don't think that population trends are really a big part of why the SEC has been so successful, and I'm not quite convinced that the SEC defenses are really all that great year in and year out.

[CountDeMoney]

having a title game hasn't done the ACC much good

Neither has expansion.  The whole point of adding FSU, VT and Miami was to increase the chances of the ACC winning the National Championship.  Pfft.

[Eddie Teach]

The ACC has really been underperforming the last decade or so and that's helped a lot with recruiting I think.

[Valmy]

having a title game hasn't done the ACC much good

Neither has expansion.  The whole point of adding FSU, VT and Miami was to increase the chances of the ACC winning the National Championship.  Pfft.

What the heck happened to FSU and Miami?  Back in 1999 I would have found their recent mediocrity spells unconcievable.

[CountDeMoney]

What the heck happened to FSU and Miami?

Bobby Bowden checked out long before he retired, and Ken Dorsey graduated.

[Berkut]

Man, back in the day, Miami was so good. They could have beaten some NFL teams.

[katmai]

Only if you aged the players.

[CountDeMoney]

Now see, this is nice;  it's a Monday, but still a holiday, so we get buried in the beauty of college football.  Squee.

Only annoying thing is the traffic jam at 1pm, with three great games at once.