In Defense of "Weak" SEC Scheduling
By GatorChomp on June 10 2009 6:45 AM
With all due respect to Pat Forde, he's wrong. Earlier this week, he wrote quite the incendiary article perpetuating a common misconception: weak SEC scheduling. Clearly, he does a good job echoing the hackneyed perception that the SEC schedules numerous weak OOC opponents to avoid playing the big boys. His omissions in the article, however,
tell an entirely different story.
Five. Five is the number of teams finishing in the top 25 last year that Florida had to play to win the national championship (be it mythical or otherwise). Interestingly enough, those five teams don't include these others that the Gators had to beat: Miami, LSU, Arkansas, South Carolina. LSU was ranked 4th when UF played them, South Carolina was 25th. Florida finished with the #2 strength of schedule in the nation when all was said and done, including back to back games against the #1 teams in the land: Alabama and Oklahoma.
What's considered fair? Forde starts his article congratulating Bama and Florida for their OOC efforts by playing Virginia Tech and FSU respectively. Then uses the next few paragraphs to rail against them for a few lesser opponents out of conference. Let me get this straight: Alabama has to open with a top 5 opponent (away from home) with Virginia Tech, play LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, South Carolina, Auburn, and if they're lucky finish the season with a top 5 opponent in the SEC title game. Meanwhile, the two most prominent whiners about SEC scheduling are the PAC 10 and Big 11. Neither of which even play a conference title game, and in MOST years the winner of those conferences avoids even having to play the other best team in the league.
It's no mystery why Ohio State gets walked every year in the bowls, inevitably by an SEC team.
The Buckeyes have a BCS title seat earmarked for them every season, essentially due to them winning their league by default. They absorb the one decent OOC opponent (loss) on their schedule, and coast through an ocean of Indianas and Minnesotas into a football free December. And in the most blatant display of irony possible, OSU fans sit on their couches watching Florida play a top 5 team in the SEC title game, while at the same moment whining that the Gators also played the Citadel. There's a reason OSU hasn't won a significant bowl game against the SEC since they stopped wearing leather helmets.
In 2008, according to the NCAA's strength of schedule rankings, 3 of the top 5 toughest schedules were in the SEC. The first one you see in the PAC 10, is Oregon St at 12. The worst SOS ranking for an SEC school was Tennessee at 68. But don't blame them, they picked a PAC 10 school to open their season.
Want a more telling statistic? In 2008, the average strength of schedule for the SEC was 31st, while the PAC 10 was 54th. USC's strength of schedule was 38th, 7 spots higher than the SEC's composite ranking. Is it fair that the SEC's schedule, even with cupcakes out of conference, is exponentially tougher than the PAC 10s, yet you want us to play MORE tough OOC opponents? Is it fair that the average SEC team has four ranked opponents baked in, a potential extra top 5 opponent in the SEC title game, schedules a single tough OOC opponent, and you STILL want more?
The en vogue thing to do these days is bag on the SEC. Because they're the best. Remember when the ACC was supposed to be the "super conference" destined to overtake the SEC? Do you remember what happened to their best last year against Alabama in the opener? They weren't even playing the same sport. Last year, according every talking head around, the SEC endured a severely down year. Yet they still managed a 6-2 bowl record. PAC 10 fans, don't gimme that "we went 5-0" crap. Your bowl opponents outside of the Rose Bowl were: Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Miami, and BYU.
It's always frustrating when a trend becomes popular based on hyperbole and improper perspective. Big 10 and PAC 10 guys love to bash the SEC OOC schedules, because they can't beat us on the field. They want a weaker SEC and the only way to do that is to marginalize a grueling SEC regular season schedule and SEC title game...then pick on a weekend here or there where they got to "take a Saturday off." Funny, I always feel like they get to take plenty of Saturdays off during their regular season in the PAC 10. In 2004, Auburn was bashed for playing the Citadel, and because of it, left without a title shot. Not a single person stopped to notice that Auburn had the 5th toughest schedule. Oklahoma, meanwhile, had the 11th toughest, and played like the Citadel against the Trojans in the title game. What does it say about how tough it is to traverse an SEC regular season gauntlet? When you can absorb a game like the Citadel, and finish with the 5th toughest schedule, it says a lot.
Bottom line? The PAC 10 and Big 10 fans should stop whining. Because you may find yourself unhappy in the near future. We may call your bluff, and we might just start scheduling YOU when we are looking to fill our empty out of conference cupcake slots.
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Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Scheduling,PAC10,Big10
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