CircleDrill 178 Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 More evidence of ESPN vs. SEC http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/stor...ivan&id=2204147 2. Are SEC defenses this good, or are SEC offenses this average? The statistics tell a story that can be heard across the nation. Seven SEC schools rank in the top 19 in scoring defense. Six rank in the top 14 of pass efficiency defense. Seven rank in the top 23 in total defense. Ole Miss, No. 23, would lead the Pacific-10 Conference by 27 yards per game. But what is the story those numbers tell us? It might not be as simple as good ol' Southern defense. If no one knew it before Saturday, the two-quarterback situation at Tennessee has become painful to watch. Alabama hasn't been the same since wide receiver-kick returner Tyrone Prothro broke his leg against Florida on Oct. 1. The Gators' offense, trying to adjust to Urban Meyer's spread option, is in mid-August form; that is, in dire need of two-a-days. Ole Miss and South Carolina, like the Gators, are trying to learn new systems, a huddle of square pegs trying to squeeze into round holes. Mississippi State is injury-riddled, the result of playing freshmen on the offensive line. Auburn, after early struggles with inexperience, is just beginning to find itself. To get a better handle on the quality of the SEC offenses, it would help to look at their nonconference games -- if, that is, any teams in the SEC played nonconference competition that challenged them. LSU did, and the Tigers put up 35 points and 434 total yards at Arizona State, but no one disputes the belief that LSU has the best talent in the SEC. Tennessee will play Notre Dame and Memphis next month. Alabama played Southern Mississippi. Auburn played -- and lost to -- Georgia Tech. But those games are the exception. The typical SEC team would rather buy home games than play teams of a stature that would demand home-and-home -- that is, teams that could beat it. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, in a luncheon speech Monday, blamed the national media in general, and ESPN in particular, for anointing Texas and USC as the chosen ones at the beginning of the season. Blaming the big, bad national media is a tried and true method of rousing the rabble. If I believed for a minute that what Chris, Kirk, Lee or anyone else said about any school influenced a voter, I'd give Tuberville's theory credence. But I used to be a voter, and most voters I know would vote against something said on GameDay just to prove they aren't controlled by ESPN. More to the point, Auburn, and the rest of the SEC, would have a better case if it deigned to play teams from other, equal conferences. Texas proved itself nationally by winning at Ohio State. USC proved itself by winning at Notre Dame. All SEC schools have proved this year is that they don't like to play tough nonconference games. The defense in the SEC is very good; defense wins championships; etc. But let's not get carried away. The offenses are mediocre. So now it is not enough to play Top 10 teams all season long in your own conference. If you are from the SEC, you now must also play non-conference top 10 opponents to be as good as USC (the standard by which all teams are now measured...thank you ESPN). Because these teams do not have the caliber of competition within their conference and must go out of conference to play these types of games, that also now means that the SEC must follow suit and do as ESPN says in order to be any good. Give me a freaking break with this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,456 Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 The SEC is, and for the most part always has been, the BEST Conf. in America. That fact is a very sore spot for some media types. Those TWO things may never change. I, for one, can live with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgr4lfe 220 Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 OR maybe the offenses appear so mediocre b/c the defenses are so freaking good!!!! Moron. I hope UT brings the hammer down on the Notre Dame offense. Show the nation why defenses win ball games. As long as they get some offense going. ND will be one of the poorest defenses UT has seen in weeks!!! ND ranks 101st in the nation in total D !!! I didn't even think they were that bad. UT just needs to bring a steady dose of smash mouth football, with that young RB, that I can't remember the name of. I think the defenses just make the offenses look that inept. Any non-conference game against weaker Ds the offenses play well. We will see when UT plays a ND team with a very bad D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUbirdie 0 Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 thank you ivan for further proving CTT's point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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