I found it utterly hilarious to listen to the ESPN talking heads discussing the college football national championship game from last night. It's as if they were all involved in a you-got-it-more-wrong-than-I-did shouting match.
"You picked Alabama!"
"Oh yeah?!? Well, you picked them by 50!"
"At least I knew who Trevor Lawrence was!"
"I said Lawrence was a better quarterback than Tua!"
"Oh, no you didn't! You never even uttered his name!"
Then there were "experts" who went the denial route, saying, "I still can't believe it happened. I'm stunned. I woke up today and thought, 'Was I dreaming?'"
Just admit it, you drank the Nick Saban/Alabama Kool-Aid and were wrong, as Donald Trump would say, "bigly!"
I admit, before bowl season began, I thought Alabama was going to win the title. After watching the semifinal games between the Tide and Oklahoma, as well as Notre Dame and Clemson, however, I said right then and there, "Clemson is going to win the title and do it in convincing fashion." Why? I felt like Clemson had the far better defense; Alabama's was overrated; Tua, while promising, was not quite as good as his stats would indicate; the Tide's kicking game was problematic; and the Tigers just came across as wanting it more. Combine all of those ingredients and you have a 44-16 ass-whooping by the Tigers.
I think it's time for many in the media to admit Alabama, and the SEC in general, aren't as dominant as they had thought. While the four-team playoff isn't without its flaws (see Central Florida), it does condense the opportunity for bias. Before it was implemented, the two teams which passed the subjective eye-test with the highest scores were rewarded with slots in the title game. With the postseason expanding from 2 to 4, bias is less likely to impact the eventual national champion. While the SEC is without a doubt a great football conference, they tend to get by more on reputation, courtesy of the media, than actual performance. No other conference, major or minor, takes a week off by playing only FCS schools. No other conference could see a team of theirs lose the final game of the regular season, be ineligible for the conference title game, and wind up in the national title game. The SEC may have a great reputation on the field, but they should have to earn it on an annual basis just like everyone else.
Let's look at how the conference fared in bowl season. The SEC went an even 6-6 (hardly dominant). Their wins included: Alabama's semifinal triumph over Oklahoma; Texas A&M came back in the 2nd half to crush North Carolina State; Auburn dominated 6-6 Purdue; Florida beat up on an undermanned Michigan team; LSU held on against Central Florida; and Kentucky did similarly against Penn State. The conference's losses included: Alabama's 44-16 defeat at the hands of Clemson in the national championship game; Mississippi State beating themselves against Iowa; heavily-favored Georgia falling to Texas; Vanderbilt falling short against Baylor; Missouri losing to Oklahoma State; and South Carolina getting shut-out by Virginia. The only major conference that fared worse than the SEC in bowl season was the Pac-12 at 3-4. The ACC (6-5), Big Ten (5-4), and Big XII (4-3) all finished with better records than the supposed superior conference.
Not only that, but before the four-team playoff was implemented and champions were determined by the eye-test as much as anything else, the SEC had won 7 of the previous 8 titles. In the five years since said implementation, the SEC has won the title twice, tied with the ACC for the most of any conference, with the Big Ten winning the other.
I'm not saying Nick Saban isn't a great coach; that Alabama isn't a great program; or that the SEC isn't a great conference. All I'm saying is it's about time for the media to stop looking at them with rose-colored glasses, while treating everyone else as inferior, even before the season starts. The SEC should have to earn their way to the top season in and season out, just like every other conference. While they can say all they'd like that Clemson's last-second win against Alabama a couple years ago was partially due to luck; even the most ardent of Tide/SEC fans can't say that about the 44-16 route the Tigers put on the Tide last night. Roll Tide, Roll?!? Not hardly...
"You picked Alabama!"
"Oh yeah?!? Well, you picked them by 50!"
"At least I knew who Trevor Lawrence was!"
"I said Lawrence was a better quarterback than Tua!"
"Oh, no you didn't! You never even uttered his name!"
Then there were "experts" who went the denial route, saying, "I still can't believe it happened. I'm stunned. I woke up today and thought, 'Was I dreaming?'"
Just admit it, you drank the Nick Saban/Alabama Kool-Aid and were wrong, as Donald Trump would say, "bigly!"
I admit, before bowl season began, I thought Alabama was going to win the title. After watching the semifinal games between the Tide and Oklahoma, as well as Notre Dame and Clemson, however, I said right then and there, "Clemson is going to win the title and do it in convincing fashion." Why? I felt like Clemson had the far better defense; Alabama's was overrated; Tua, while promising, was not quite as good as his stats would indicate; the Tide's kicking game was problematic; and the Tigers just came across as wanting it more. Combine all of those ingredients and you have a 44-16 ass-whooping by the Tigers.
I think it's time for many in the media to admit Alabama, and the SEC in general, aren't as dominant as they had thought. While the four-team playoff isn't without its flaws (see Central Florida), it does condense the opportunity for bias. Before it was implemented, the two teams which passed the subjective eye-test with the highest scores were rewarded with slots in the title game. With the postseason expanding from 2 to 4, bias is less likely to impact the eventual national champion. While the SEC is without a doubt a great football conference, they tend to get by more on reputation, courtesy of the media, than actual performance. No other conference, major or minor, takes a week off by playing only FCS schools. No other conference could see a team of theirs lose the final game of the regular season, be ineligible for the conference title game, and wind up in the national title game. The SEC may have a great reputation on the field, but they should have to earn it on an annual basis just like everyone else.
Let's look at how the conference fared in bowl season. The SEC went an even 6-6 (hardly dominant). Their wins included: Alabama's semifinal triumph over Oklahoma; Texas A&M came back in the 2nd half to crush North Carolina State; Auburn dominated 6-6 Purdue; Florida beat up on an undermanned Michigan team; LSU held on against Central Florida; and Kentucky did similarly against Penn State. The conference's losses included: Alabama's 44-16 defeat at the hands of Clemson in the national championship game; Mississippi State beating themselves against Iowa; heavily-favored Georgia falling to Texas; Vanderbilt falling short against Baylor; Missouri losing to Oklahoma State; and South Carolina getting shut-out by Virginia. The only major conference that fared worse than the SEC in bowl season was the Pac-12 at 3-4. The ACC (6-5), Big Ten (5-4), and Big XII (4-3) all finished with better records than the supposed superior conference.
Not only that, but before the four-team playoff was implemented and champions were determined by the eye-test as much as anything else, the SEC had won 7 of the previous 8 titles. In the five years since said implementation, the SEC has won the title twice, tied with the ACC for the most of any conference, with the Big Ten winning the other.
I'm not saying Nick Saban isn't a great coach; that Alabama isn't a great program; or that the SEC isn't a great conference. All I'm saying is it's about time for the media to stop looking at them with rose-colored glasses, while treating everyone else as inferior, even before the season starts. The SEC should have to earn their way to the top season in and season out, just like every other conference. While they can say all they'd like that Clemson's last-second win against Alabama a couple years ago was partially due to luck; even the most ardent of Tide/SEC fans can't say that about the 44-16 route the Tigers put on the Tide last night. Roll Tide, Roll?!? Not hardly...
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