DKW 86 7,440 Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 http://www.al.com/ncaafootball/lindys/inde....xml&coll=9 SEC has perception as best conference for 2006, but ... let's wait and seeCollege football notebook Sunday, August 20, 2006 Ben Cook LindysSports.com The debate about which conference plays the best college football is an unending one. It also is a question with no answer. Oh sure, you can pretty much write off any conference that is not a BCS conference, but among those six super powers you can never come up with a positive answer. One year the Big Ten might be the best. The next year it might be the Southeastern Conference. Then the Pac-10 or the Big 12 or the Atlantic Coast Conference might be the strongest. But there is no doubt about the perception starting off the 2006 football season. It is the SEC, hands down; at least, it is the SEC if you judge by the number of conference teams in the preseason Associated Press Top 25. Although the first SEC doesn't appear until the number 4 spot, with five SEC teams listed in the poll released last week the conference gets the preseason nod as the overall best in the nation. It's not that the SEC is an overwhelming choice, though. The Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-10 check in with four teams each in the first poll. So the perception is the SEC is the toughest conference this season. Of course we won't know that until the end of the season, but SEC fans can pat themselves on the back for the time being. The Big Ten, an independent and a Big 12 team top the list with Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas in the top three spots, but Auburn leads the SEC parade at the fourth spot. Following the Tigers, Florida was seventh and LSU was eighth meaning the SEC has three of the top eight teams in the country. Georgia and Tennessee also made the list. The Bulldogs were 15th and the Vols checked in at 23rd. Alabama, coming off a 10-2 season, just missed. The Crimson Tide came in at 26. Arkansas was 31st, South Carolina 33rd and Ole Miss was 40th, giving the conference nine teams in the Top 40. Now that's respect. Ohio State landed the No. 1 spot to put a feather in the Big Ten's hat, but the Big Ten doesn't have another team until 14th where Michigan checked in. The other Big Ten spots went to Iowa at 16 and Penn State at 19. The Big 12 had teams at No. 3 (Texas), No. 10 (Oklahoma), No. 20 (Nebraska) and No. 25 (Texas Tech). The ACC teams were Florida State (No. 11), Miami (12), Virginia Tech (No. 17) and Clemson (No. 19). The Pac-10 saw teams finish at No. 6 (Southern Cal), No. 9 (California), No. 21 (Oregon) and No. 24 (Arizona State). None of this really means anything other than it makes it easier for teams ranked high to stay there. All they have to do is win and hold their positions; at least that's the theory. There are some times when a team wins and falls in the polls. That usually happens when a team doesn't win big enough, which most voters will say doesn't matter, but coaches know it does. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, there is a season to enjoy, so let's enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genuinelsutiger 0 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 http://www.al.com/ncaafootball/lindys/inde....xml&coll=9 SEC has perception as best conference for 2006, but ... let's wait and seeCollege football notebook Sunday, August 20, 2006 Ben Cook LindysSports.com The debate about which conference plays the best college football is an unending one. It also is a question with no answer. Oh sure, you can pretty much write off any conference that is not a BCS conference, but among those six super powers you can never come up with a positive answer. One year the Big Ten might be the best. The next year it might be the Southeastern Conference. Then the Pac-10 or the Big 12 or the Atlantic Coast Conference might be the strongest. But there is no doubt about the perception starting off the 2006 football season. It is the SEC, hands down; at least, it is the SEC if you judge by the number of conference teams in the preseason Associated Press Top 25. Although the first SEC doesn't appear until the number 4 spot, with five SEC teams listed in the poll released last week the conference gets the preseason nod as the overall best in the nation. It's not that the SEC is an overwhelming choice, though. The Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-10 check in with four teams each in the first poll. So the perception is the SEC is the toughest conference this season. Of course we won't know that until the end of the season, but SEC fans can pat themselves on the back for the time being. The Big Ten, an independent and a Big 12 team top the list with Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas in the top three spots, but Auburn leads the SEC parade at the fourth spot. Following the Tigers, Florida was seventh and LSU was eighth meaning the SEC has three of the top eight teams in the country. Georgia and Tennessee also made the list. The Bulldogs were 15th and the Vols checked in at 23rd. Alabama, coming off a 10-2 season, just missed. The Crimson Tide came in at 26. Arkansas was 31st, South Carolina 33rd and Ole Miss was 40th, giving the conference nine teams in the Top 40. Now that's respect. Ohio State landed the No. 1 spot to put a feather in the Big Ten's hat, but the Big Ten doesn't have another team until 14th where Michigan checked in. The other Big Ten spots went to Iowa at 16 and Penn State at 19. The Big 12 had teams at No. 3 (Texas), No. 10 (Oklahoma), No. 20 (Nebraska) and No. 25 (Texas Tech). The ACC teams were Florida State (No. 11), Miami (12), Virginia Tech (No. 17) and Clemson (No. 19). The Pac-10 saw teams finish at No. 6 (Southern Cal), No. 9 (California), No. 21 (Oregon) and No. 24 (Arizona State). None of this really means anything other than it makes it easier for teams ranked high to stay there. All they have to do is win and hold their positions; at least that's the theory. There are some times when a team wins and falls in the polls. That usually happens when a team doesn't win big enough, which most voters will say doesn't matter, but coaches know it does. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, there is a season to enjoy, so let's enjoy it. You know what they say. Perception is reality. Is there really any debate about this anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nay4AU 2 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 Here's another interesting article about the strength of the SEC. http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/9613966 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleDrill 178 Posted August 23, 2006 Share Posted August 23, 2006 My pet peeve is the media issue of "SEC needs to play tougher non-conference games." Maybe this will shut them up this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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