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All I have to say is that Les Miles won a national championship with Nick Saban's players, and has gotten worse as time goes on...
Mason, you cite Dennis Erickson and Mike Gundy as examples of "good" coaches, while you characterize (by implication) Mark Richt and Les Miles as "pretty suspect." Erickson has been a bust the last two years at Arizona State, and Gundy has yet to win either a divisional title or even 10 games in a season while at Oklahoma State. OTOH, Richt's team has beaten Erickson's the last two seasons. In addition, Richt has two SEC titles, has coached his team to three BCS appearances, a 7-2 bowl record, and one of the best winning percentages (and number of wins) of any head coach, including non-conference opponents (again, see the bowl record). And Les Miles has won an SEC championship, a couple of divisional titles, and a national championship. None of that is "suspect," especially when compared to Erickson and Gundy.
Actually, one could make the case that the reason Ohio State makes it to the BCS every season (and two BCS title games two years in a row, where they were embarrassed by the SEC on both occasions) is for this reason -- an overall weak conference. The same could be said of the PAC-10 -- sure, USC is a great team, but they play in a conference in which there was virtually no parity until this past season. And one thing that actually hurts those two conferences (strength-wise) is that teams can win without having to play in a championship game. Ohio State can win the Big 10 without even necessarily playing the best team (other than themselves) in the conference.
Actually, the way the bowls set up, only Alabama and Florida were matched against Top 10 teams. So if Bama does win, that'll mean the SEC went 2-0 against top ten opponents. The Big Ten has done well this bowl season, but the PAC-10? Oregon State lost (to a Big-10 team). And outside of the three really good Big 10 teams, what did the rest of the conference do? 1-3.
Miles coached a 2-loss team to the MNC, which should never have been there to begin with and which is widely regarded as the worst championship team ever. Richt beats the weaklings but still does not have a win - in the regular season or bowls games - over a top level program outside the SEC.
The final word on this conversation is the following: The best team wins the National Championship game. T
So what you are saying is that you are pretty good at picking the bowl games that matter little, but those which hold more importance that have good teams playing in them you are terrible at picking???
Mason, you are cherry-picking the OOC games you are citing. You are leaving out, for instance, the fact that Alabama demolished a top-10 Clemson team last season, or that Georgia went 2-0 against Clemson earlier in the decade. Georgia plays Georgia Tech every season, and is 8-1 against them in the Richt era. You could also consider the fact that historically, Ohio State (who before this season had played a very weak OOC schedule -- I remember at least one season they took the Ohio cupcake tour for OOC games) has never beaten an SEC team, or that a team like Georgia has never lost to a Big-10 team.
What is amazing is that I went 11-0 in the first 11 and then went 10-12 the rest of the way and somehow managed to win.
Clemson finished 6-7 last year - do you really consider them a top-level team when Alabama played them? I left out rivalry games - Florida-FSU, Georgia-Georgia Tech, South Carolina-Clemson, etc, which more or less even the record out any way you slice it.
LSU isn't the worst MNC team ever because they had two losses, but because they lost to both Arkansas and Kentucky, and survived at home against Auburn and Florida while taking major gambles in each game. There is no reason whatsoever LSU deserved to be in that title game and USC did not - the Tigers were there purely because of pre-season hype, not because of on-field performance.
As for coaches - calling Richt and Miles "suspect" may have been too strong, but they certainly aren't great. When Richt consistently out-coaches Carroll, Stoops, Brown, Tressel, Paterno, Saban, and Meyer, I'll give him credit. But he hasn't even been in games big enough to play the first 5, and has a pretty bad record against Saban and Meyer. Same goes for Les Miles, who hasn't fared well against any of those coaches except Tressel. Once again, Richt and Miles are solid coaches, but they aren't any better than the 2nd level coaches in any other conference.
The SEC is no better on a yearly basis than any of the other top conferences, but I will say it is nice to have a discussion about college football without the conversation devolving into crass language and personal attacks, unlike so many other message boards. And thanks, Pastor Phillips, for the weekly pick 'em and the bowl playoff thread - lots of fun!
As for Richt - I think he is a classy guy and a good family man (and I've heard a believer), but I'm not a fan of his coaching style. I think he runs a Bowden-esque loose ship and I don't like all the sideline dancing, taunting, and antics he allows from his players. I also think his teams play very undisciplined football, which is why they are consistently one of the most penalized teams.
I'm one of those few hold-outs who favors the bowl system - it basically makes every single game a vitally important game, if not a de facto playoff..
Even though I bleed burnt orange and love all things Big XII, I have to admit that the SEC is better. They put more players in the NFL than any other conference. To me this speaks louder than any record will. For example, Texas has one of the best rush defenses in all of college, but they play in a pass happy conference where no one is dedicated to the run. So it is easy to put up good stats when no one is really trying. Now look at UT when they play a team with a serious running game, Bama walks all over them. Stats and records mean nothing. NFL draft picks should be the plumbline.