Why the SEC is not the Toughest Conference Anymore

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

The SEC is obviously in the top 2 conferences and that likely will not change anytime soon. They have Alabama, Georgia, and many others that constantly compete for the national title.

However, this year the SEC has struggled to dominate the college football rankings and that is even with tipping the scales. The conference that has been ranked the highest this year so far is the BIG 10.

Of course, there will be SEC fans that will lose their minds over this, but, the fact of the matter is this is not an opinion, it is a fact. The Big 10 has had many different teams ranked in the top 10 this year and showed that they are extremely tough.

Why is the SEC not the Toughest Conference and How do They Tip the Scales?

The biggest issue that the SEC has is that it is the only conference that only plays 8 conference games while all other Power 5 conferences games play 9 conference games. Obviously, we are not saying that the SEC isn’t good because they definitely are.

What we are saying is that the SEC can easily inflate the success of their conference each year while all other conferences cannot. And who would blame the teams in the SEC for scheduling teams like Western Carolina Catamounts instead of an LSU or another SEC team?

We also asked our community what they thought and this is what we got back so far.

How Does This Inflate how Good the SEC is?

If you do not have to play another conference game compared to everyone else that means your lower level team in the conference takes one less loss during the season. This means they look better and if one of their big teams lose to one of these weaker schools in their conference then the bigger team will not take a big hit in the rankings,

The SEC knows what they are doing with this. This is not a fluke and in reality, they really know what is at stake if they do the same thing as every other conference.

It helps prevent taking big hits in the ranking, keeps high-end recruits interested, and it keeps the chance of playoff hopes alive. We can see examples of this when #3 Ohio State lost to Oregon in week 2 and was dropped all the way to rank 11.

Alabama lost to an unranked Texas A&M team and was only bumped to 5th. This is great if you are an SEC fan, not really for the other 116 teams in the FBS.

The FBS decided to switch from a politically run BCS system of just the 2 best teams playing for a national title to a 4-team playoff system. The reason they did this is that the college football viewership was at an all-time low.

They were actually losing money, people do not want to see the same teams in the championship every single year. It is boring and there aren’t enough fans for up to 4 programs to bring in enough ratings to make the FBS a lot of money.

The SEC Makes More Money Because of This

There is just not a lot of attention to this and other conferences should not be okay with this. If the bottom half of your conference does not take that extra loss it gives them the ability to be in more bowl games at the end of the season.

More bowl games equal more money, more money equals better equipment, better facilities, better everything. That even goes for the other huge conference the Big 10.

If we break down the Big 10 there are 3 schools that will bring in the money regardless, they are Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. The rest of the schools drop off quickly.

And the Big 10 almost always has a spot in the playoffs. If the Big 10 followed the SEC in only 8 conference games then they would likely make more money. It might be wise for the Big 10 to copy the SEC in only playing 8 conference games. After all, if you can’t beat them, join them.

What is the SEC Afraid Of?

If the SEC is truly the best then they should want to play the best and toughest schedules. However, they actually do the opposite. When you get to escape their own conference it really makes their success as a conference voided.

Most people don’t even seem to know this about the SEC, yet we hear all the time about how dominant the entire SEC conference is compared to all other conferences. Yet they avoid what other conferences can’t and that is the extra loss. If anyone disagrees that this is an advantage for the SEC then you can see their bias bleeding through.

There should be no politics when it comes to the game of football. It should be fair, balanced, and each team/ conference should have the same chance at staying ranked.

What Does This Also Affect?

This also affects recruiting as well in a major way. If teams stay higher in the rankings then they also get more recruits. The SEC knows this and they do not want this to change.

Staying at the top of the recruiting ranks is not easy to do, there are very few schools that are constantly competing in the top 10 in recruiting. Usually, it is an SEC team, Big 10 team, or vice versa then some other schools.

If the SEC turned went to a 9 conference schedule then they would lose more games, make less money, and share even more recruits than they already do.

Doesn’t Adding Texas and Oklahoma Change This?

Yes, the SEC is adding Texas and Oklahoma. However, there is no guarantee that they will make their conference play more interconference games.

The SEC could make 4 different divisions and continue the same 8 conference games. They may always want to always try and be one conference game less than every other conference.

DodderyCribb

DodderyCribb, A.K.A. Dodds, or Doddery, has been dominating the gaming industry for over two decades. He has defied the odds in Madden by trading for “impossible” players and mastering Madden contracts to name a few. Dodds has made signature content, such as the SAR, SAT, Contract Reset Method, and much more. You can also find him playing and writing content for mobile games.

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