Twitter is awesome.
I just started my account (Follow me at Jockpost22), and already it has provided a way to communicate on a more personal level with sports fans that I never would have otherwise been connected with. Good or bad, everyone’s opinion can be heard thanks to the magic of the inter-web.
A few days ago, I got into a discussion about college football via Twitter. I defended my stance on taking TCU or Boise State over any team in the Big East or the ACC. Speaking with a self-proclaimed SEC homer, the conversation naturally gravitated to the all-mighty South Eastern Conference. So predictable.
My digital pal asked me if I thought that TCU or Boise State could hang in such a tough conference. He wondered if the Frogs or Broncos could withstand Auburn’s three game stretch of Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU… (Really? You’re going to throw Kentucky in there? C’mon home boy.)
As preposterous as Kentucky made the argument sound, it got me thinking about conference bias. It’s not just fans that believe the SEC is superior to other conferences; it’s the pros on ESPN that get paid to give their opinions that declare it as well.
Why would the national media proclaim that a 1-loss SEC team would make it to the BCS title game before an undefeated Boise State squad? Would a one-loss Auburn team really be that much more deserving?
Furthermore, why a 1-loss SEC team rather than a 1-loss team from another BCS conference? Does a team like Auburn have such a daunting schedule that it would be foolish to overlook them, even with a blemish on their record? With out-of-conference games against Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, and Chattanooga, I certainly don’t think so.
The last few years, the national media has throated the SEC as being the most dominant conference in the land… but this year I’m not sold. Alabama is the only *real* threat to win the national title, and they got up ended by Stephen Freaking Garcia. Find me an SEC fan outside of the Carolinas that thinks Garcia is worth his weight in tobacco, and I’ll find you a liar.
Auburn fans, take a breath. You have a fine program and you should be very proud of the year you’re having… but Clemson took you to overtime, Arkansas hung half-a-hundred on you without their quarterback, and you still have Georgia and Alabama back to back to end the season. Book your tickets to the Capital One Bowl, and thank the Lord that LSU and Alabama are going to take your BCS spot… because that could have been embarrassing.
I, for one, am tired of the SEC propaganda. If we are being honest, the Big 10 is the cream of the crop this year. Let it be known that I am NOT a Big 10 apologist like many others that write for this site, but that is why I can write this with confidence. Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio State are 4 of the top 10 teams in the country right now, and if you don’t agree, you are wrong. It’s as simple as that.
Four top ten teams. No other conference can make that claim, so why are we so inclined to believe Mark May and company when they say that a one loss SEC team will be in the National Title Game? Why is a 1-loss Big 10 team not being touted as a shoe-in for the Championship game?
I am not an idiot. I understand the disparity between conferences, and that is why I feel that the “BCS conferences” are a joke. If there isn’t a team from the ACC worthy of playing in a BCS game (Christian Ponder, I’m looking at you), then why should they be there?
My point is that teams like Utah, Boise State and TCU can only beat the teams that line up across from them, and that’s exactly what they do. And they do it very well. If any of them run the table and don’t get the invite to the big dance, it will be an absolute travesty.
Like it or not, there is a conference bias out there. Whether you bang the drum for the SEC, honk the Big 10 or carry a Pac 10 flag, the current system may let you down… but not nearly as badly as it is going to let down the Frogs, Utes, and Broncos.
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the SucKeyEz are no good. watch a game or too once on a wile.
Brent, an opinion of an obvious mental giant. The best part about your post is the upper case letters in the middle show that you do indeed know how to use that key on the computer, you are just too stupid to do so when required. I am not sure how you watch a “game or too” but I would love for you toOOoo explain how. Perhaps you can describe what that is WHILE sitting ON the piece of furniture you describe as a “wile” above. I have never come across one, but I am picturing it fitting beautifully with the undoubtedly full mahogany bookcases in your home. With such a great analytic commentary offered I am truly sitting on the edge of my seat, as I do not have the luxury of owning a wile, for your thoughts on the Middle East. Please share, such daring viewpoints should not be kept to one’s self.
first or all greek People smell like cheese and olivs so u can stick a gyro up your ass and then second of All you must be a SUckEyE fan if that s the way I think. WTF r u talking about a book shelf? i Think u might need to stop drinking all that Greek vodka and get a job loser and then learn wut ur talkin bout in football. stick to ice dancing Regis and Kelly
my dear brent, i’m happy for you that your pedestrian job affords you the time to come here and grace us w/ your wisdom and grammar. that said, you are a f**king moron who needs to catch aids from your regular rest stop hangouts and die immediately please ty.