Food for Thought

A little something to munch on intellectually when some Big 10 idjit starts harping on how good Northern football is, or when HYPEspn starts sniffing Trojan hind end again.

In the last twenty years, the national championship count goes like this:

Big 10: 2 (Michigan 1997, Ohio State 2002)
Big East: 2 (Miami 1991 and 2001)
Big Eight: 3 (Colorado 1990, Nebraska 1994-95)
Big Twelve: 3 (Nebraska 1997, Oklahoma 2000, Texas 2005)
Pac-10: 3 (Washington 1991, USC 2003-04)
ACC: 3 (Georgia Tech 1990, Florida State 1993 and 1999)
Independents: 2 (Notre Dame 1988, Miami 1989)

But the Southeastern Conference, my friends, has SIX:

Alabama 1992, Florida 1996 and 2006, Tennessee 1998, and LSU 2003 and 2007. Not to mention Auburn's undefeated year in 2004.

Not one other conference comes close, with four tied at three championships apiece. I know you're doing the math and saying \"But dapolla, Nebraska and Colorado are in the Big Twelve now, doesn't that mean that the Big Twelve also has six championships?\" I'd agree with you if it weren't for the fact that the Big Twelve Conference, formed in 1996, officially does not recognize the Big Eight's history as its own. Hence SEC domination.

Not to mention the fact that of those conferences, the Big Ten splits one of its titles, the Big East splits one, the ACC splits one, the Pac-10 splits two, and the Big 8/12 splits two. The SEC, out of six championships, won five outright.

There's an important name missing from that championship list. Dawgs, this is our year. THESE are our YEARS. Let's bring a couple more home to the SEC, paint 'em red and black, and KICK SOME TAIL ON THE ROAD AND BETWEEN THEM HEDGES! GO DAWGS!!!

whooo, I'm full!! I'm with you dapolla, it's our turn for the glory.

Yeah, it's time to add UGA to the list of NC SEC teams.
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm all for the SEC, Dapolla, but there are still several holes. First, and most importantly, NO ONE has EVER won a national championship in NCAA D1A/FBS football. Why? Because the NCAA doesn't crown a champion. It is voted upon by independent organizations.

Second, you said you wouldn't count the Big 8/12 championships together, and then you do precisely that when you say \"the Big 8/12 splits two.\" Either you are going to count them together or you aren't. The fact of the matter is that the Big 8/12 has six MNC's in the past 20 years and has played in the BCS championship game five times, more than any other conference.

Third, your analysis is much better if you only count the BCS era, because you at least have a game for the pollsters to hang their votes upon and it isn't entirely driven by opinion. You also aren't talking about split championships (with the lone exception of the ridiculous LSU/USC split which we can all agree was an abomination). Pre-BCS and Post-BCS championships aren't comparable because of the problem with multiple polls crowning multiple champions (what, does Alabama count, like, 20 championships because of all the polls?).

The SEC has played in 4 BCS championship games and won them all. That's unmatched by any other conference. The Big 12 is second best having played in 5 BCS championship games and won 2. The PAC-10 is 1-1 in BCS championship games. I'll say this also for the SEC, both Oklahoma and Nebraska have snuck in the back-door to the BCS championship game, both having reached that game without having won the conference championship. Though there was a possibility that Georgia could have snuck into the game this past year, I think all should be proud that all SEC BCS champions have also been conference champions.

The SEC is, by far, the strongest conference by most, if not all, indicators:
strength of schedule- we beat each other up every week. you beat Ga., you beat Fla., you beat LSU, Tn.,etc., you have nothing left in the tank at the end of the year. case in point- the WV/UGA game a couple years ago, we didn't start playing until halftime and still almost pulled it out. okay Mountaineers you beat us, congratulations, c'mon over to the SEC, play us every year and see how you fare. it's interesting that other conferences measure themselves by SEC competition. we play the toughest schedules in the country.
NFL players- it's intersting that the last 2 superbowl champions were quarterbacked by the Mannings, SEC players. look at the NFL rosters.
History- it's okay to talk Texas/Ok, or Mich/OSU but we have SO MANY rivalries, every game is steeped in tradition and sometimes hatred. where else do you see 80,000+ people screaming their heads off for a mascot. UGA is the worldwide symbol of college football.
Coaches- Dooley, Butts, Richt, Bryant, Dye, Spurrier, Neyland, Jordan, Stallings, etc., etc. the best coaches in college football.
Summary- okay you got the best games, the best players, the best coaches and the most tradition. I could go on and on and on.
Go SEC!
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The best damn school in the SEC.

averagedawg wrote:

The SEC is, by far, the strongest conference by most, if not all, indicators:
strength of schedule- we beat each other up every week. you beat Ga., you beat Fla., you beat LSU, Tn.,etc., you have nothing left in the tank at the end of the year. case in point- the WV/UGA game a couple years ago, we didn't start playing until halftime and still almost pulled it out. okay Mountaineers you beat us, congratulations, c'mon over to the SEC, play us every year and see how you fare. it's interesting that other conferences measure themselves by SEC competition. we play the toughest schedules in the country.
NFL players- it's intersting that the last 2 superbowl champions were quarterbacked by the Mannings, SEC players. look at the NFL rosters.
History- it's okay to talk Texas/Ok, or Mich/OSU but we have SO MANY rivalries, every game is steeped in tradition and sometimes hatred. where else do you see 80,000+ people screaming their heads off for a mascot. UGA is the worldwide symbol of college football.
Coaches- Dooley, Butts, Richt, Bryant, Dye, Spurrier, Neyland, Jordan, Stallings, etc., etc. the best coaches in college football.
Summary- okay you got the best games, the best players, the best coaches and the most tradition. I could go on and on and on.
Go SEC!
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The best damn school in the SEC.

AMEN!!!