How Strong is the SEC?

I don’t think Boise State deserves to play in the National Championship game, and frankly I’m not too comfortable with the idea of TCU doing so, though I prefer them over Boise.  This is the fight I’ve been preparing for since the pre-season rankings were released, and now consensus in the sports media (led by ESPN) is that a WAC or MWC schedule has nothing to do with whether a team deserves to play for the Championship.  Arguing that the quality of a College Football team is not dependent on the quality of it’s conference is not only wrong, but it also contradicts the idea that SEC teams merit special considerations because of their schedule.

For years now there seems to be only one thing that College Football analysts and commentators unanimously agree on: the Southeastern Conference is hands down the premier conference in College Football.  That belief went as far as to vault a 2-loss LSU team from #7 to #2 and into the BCS Title Game after winning the SEC Championship against an unranked Tennessee team.  As of right now there are three SEC teams in the Top 10, however the likelihood of an undefeated team coming out of the SEC is slim; only Auburn remains unbeaten with a trip to Alabama still on their schedule. 

If the SEC is indeed the best conference then it follows that a win versus an SEC opponent carries more significance than a win versus a WAC or MWC team. The idea of equality is nice, but not all wins are created equal, and that is what fuels rankings, both human and computer.  Yet the sports media insists on measuring teams based on the 'eyeball' test!  

I don’t believe the SEC is the best conference this season, my pick is the Pac-10, but it is a toss-up for second best conference between the Big Ten and SEC.  An SEC win should remain more valuable than than a WAC win.

Saying that a team like Boise State deserves to play for the National Championship regardless of their schedule, after years of insisting on the idea of the SEC’s superiority, makes about as much sense as “Keep Your Government Hands Off My Medicare!”

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-Kanan