[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Here's another good article from nbcsprots.com, discussing how and why the SEC is faster and better than the Big Ten. Short answer, they train speed instead of just strength.

http://nbcsports.msn.../site/21683474/

[paladin]

Big Ten suffers from being in colder climates. It's not difficult for the Pac10 to have great passing offenses and the SEC to showcase speed when it's sunny all the time and rainy at the worst.

Football being played in winter in states like Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin sort of forces their card into running those Bears style running heavy strength offenses. Brett Favre was a freak that could do well in cold conditions as a QB. Some 20 year old kid isn't going to be Brett Favre though. It's also why I think that Rich Rodriguez will have a tough time in Michigan. When the cold weather hits the basic I-formation running game rules the day, not the spread-option.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

That probably plays into it, but I think that it's more important how they are training, and what is being emphasized.

[paladin]

football teams from the region base their offense on it as well, the bears being the prime example.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Yeah, but the packers run a west coast. But this is the college thread.

[Optimus Prime]

Let's not forget that the SEC has the best coaches as well.

Spurrier--National Title
Fulmer--National Title
Saban--National Title
Les Miles---National Title
Tuberville---13=0 season and other 10 win season
Mark Richt--5 10 win seasons and 3 BCS bowl game appearances, 2 wins, top 5 program the last 8 years.

We got it all guys....don't hate

[paladin]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;338319 said:

Yeah, but the packers run a west coast. But this is the college thread.

because of favre though. name a qb other than him in the region thats been nearly as successful in passing situations in cold weather throughout history as favre. power offenses thrive in that weather.. passing and options have much more risk

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

paladin;338324 said:

because of favre though. name a qb other than him in the region thats been nearly as successful in passing situations in cold weather throughout history as favre

I'd be hard pressed to name ANY modern QB as successful in cold weather on a consistent basis. However, he's retired, and the Packers are still running the west coast. I don't think they'll change once the weather gets cold.

Anyways, how many QBs besides Favre even have the chance to play in cold weather as much? Half the NFC North play in domes, and the bears have had some shitty QBs who would suck anywhere.

Back to college ball: Xander, we all admit the SEC is good. Your constant gloating about that fact makes you look like a Boston sports fan.

[Optimus Prime]

Quote

Back to college ball: Xander, we all admit the SEC is good. Your constant gloating about that fact makes you look like a Boston sports fan.

Typical loser response

Just kidding, sorry, all I hear out west is how the SEC is overrated. I guess I've got a little pent up aggression. I'll rest my case and move on to other topics.

So who is the dark horse surprise team this year?

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I think part of the reason why people hate on the SEC is a reaction to how much they have to hear about how good the SEC is. As I said before, I think they're the best conference in football, but to hear some fans tell it, every team in the SEC is better than every other team in the country. Not true.

I'm not sure who the dark horse is this year. I'd like to see Mizzou go on a tear, and Chase should be in the running for the Heisman.

[Optimus Prime]

Yeah I can understand that. Though SEC fans don't think that really. We know Vanderbilt isn't that good, we know Kentucky (while better) will be down at least this year. We also know that while we're the best....the Pac 10 has a strong upper tier, as does the Big 12 normally. Now the rabid morons think the SEC is the best at everything....but there are rabid idiot fans in every conference.

I have a feeling Mizzou will be a decent team but not a 12 win team. Maybe 9 wins....

I'll say.....awww what the hell.....Oregon State.

[paladin]

sec talks about how awesome they are but doesnt challenge top flight national teams on a consistent basis. thats why people out west dont give a shit about the sec. if schools like lsu(with les miles the driving media force behind this sec supremecy shtick) would schedule michigan, usc, texas, etc instead of louisiana-lafayette x 5 maybe you'd see a different sentiment

[Optimus Prime]

Sigh...you're clearly a hater, so let's change topics.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Let's talk playoffs.

[cjd262e]

Xander;338320 said:

Let's not forget that the SEC has the best coaches as well.

Spurrier--National Title
Fulmer--National Title
Saban--National Title
Les Miles---National Title
Tuberville---13=0 season and other 10 win season
Mark Richt--5 10 win seasons and 3 BCS bowl game appearances, 2 wins, top 5 program the last 8 years.

We got it all guys....don't hate

You left off Urban Meyer, who took Bowling Green from a no-name team to nationally ranked in two years, then went to Utah, where he became the first coach of a Mid-Major to win a BCS game (once again in two years), followed up by a national title at Florida (am I getting repetitive... in two years). Amazing coach.

Also, just to further your Mark Richt point, he was the O coordinator in the 90s at Florida State where they won 3 national championships and appeared in 6. After he left, the program has fallen on its ass.

[cjd262e]

paladin;338348 said:

sec talks about how awesome they are but doesnt challenge top flight national teams on a consistent basis. thats why people out west dont give a shit about the sec. if schools like lsu(with les miles the driving media force behind this sec supremecy shtick) would schedule michigan, usc, texas, etc instead of louisiana-lafayette x 5 maybe you'd see a different sentiment

SEC has to schedule patsies early because their conference schedule is so tough. I hate the SEC. But their out of conference schedules are still reasonable considering how rough their in-conference schedules are. Florida always plays Florida State, last year Georgia played OK State and they always play GA Tech (who has a solid program), and Alabama played Florida State last year (those are just the ones I can remember). A successful team in the SEC will always have a higher RPI than a successful team out of the PAC-10, no matter how tough their non-conference opponents.

Keep in mind USC played Idaho last year, a horrible Notre Dame team, and a weaker than average Pac-10 schedule. UCLA was blown out 41-0 by Utah.

If I'm an SEC coach, I don't want to be putting my season at risk by playing an Oklahoma early in the year. There is so much pressure on those guys to put together bowl seasons, it just doesn't make sense. Especially when even if they don't schedule tough non-con opponents, their RPI will be ridiculously high.

Bottom line is that if USC (as good as they have been over the last several years) played in the SEC, they would have maybe made it to one title game. They always have a struggle in the Pac-10 with teams that are nowhere as good as the teams in the SEC. I.E. Cal, UCLA, Stanford.

I totally disagree with the fact that people out West don't care about the SEC. I'm out West, and I still think the center of college football is the SEC.

Also, look back on the last 5 years of bowl games. I think you'll find the SEC has done better than anyone else in their bowl games against better opponents. The Pac10, Big12 definitely haven't had as much success.

I know it sounds like I love the SEC, I don't. I hate that they dominate the college football landscape, are unwilling to allow other teams the opportunity to win, and that the fans of every team in that conference look down on everyone else. However, lets be honest, they play the best football in that conference.

[paladin]

its not a season risk to play a top 15 team early. hell, you can lose your conference championship game and still make the title game. unless there is an undefeated team, there is no reason an early loss will hold you back. recent history has demonstrated that again and again

pac10 had the hardest schedules in the nation last year according to the sagarins on the whole and a whole bunch in the top 10, and even the crappy teams ended up with okay records. sec had much less. sec has the best teams for a conference, sure, but the pac10 was second last year and they play everyone in the conference. last year lsu avoided georgia and tenn(until title game). tell me how that makes their conference schedule tough when they only played one great team(florida) in conference play. usc played cal and oregon when they were hot and az state after they had a very good run of games due to tough defense and were highly ranked. i still think oregon would have been #1 overall at the end of the year if dixon didnt get hurt.

bottom line, sec's conference schedule is not much more difficult than other conferences. its not the majors vs the minors.

usc played notre dame yes, but they play them every year and noone expected notre dame to be that terrible last year. they also clobbered nebraska before they fell off the table. you cant say they dont try to schedule when they have notre dame every year and nebraska who is a traditional football powerhouse. cal whooped up tennesse. washington state challenged wisconsin. washington beat boise state and lost to ohio state. year in and year out you see at least half the pac10 challenging good ooc teams. this year the first week is usc/texas. where is lsu? oh they're at app state, troy, and north texas. i guess tulane has a good offense though. they best players combined off all those teams wouldnt equal usc or texas.

over the past 6 years the pac10 is 7-6 against the sec. not as bad as you think

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Weren't we done discussing the SEC?

[Optimus Prime]

cjd262e;338662 said:

You left off Urban Meyer, who took Bowling Green from a no-name team to nationally ranked in two years, then went to Utah, where he became the first coach of a Mid-Major to win a BCS game (once again in two years), followed up by a national title at Florida (am I getting repetitive... in two years). Amazing coach.

Also, just to further your Mark Richt point, he was the O coordinator in the 90s at Florida State where they won 3 national championships and appeared in 6. After he left, the program has fallen on its ass.

Good Points, I can't believe I left Meyer off...my hatred for Florida shows through Man's a damn good coach though.

@RLY, the playoff won't happen until we get some new conference leaders and school officials that are open minded.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I'm not expecting it to happen anytime soon, I'm just stating the need for it. And I congratulate you on your hatred of Florida. Good man.