Congratulations to the LSU Tigers -- College Football's 2007 BCS National Champion!!
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The Tigers' win was big for LSU and really big for SEC football. Not sure how anyone can any more doubt that SEC football is #1. Perhaps the SEC vs Big Ten Debate is finally settled. But, I doubt it.
LSU's victory over Ohio State gave SEC football its second straight College Football National Championship. It also gave the SEC it's record 7th bowl win in the 2007-2008 bowl season.
The SEC has now won 2 straight BCS Championships; 3 of the past 5; and 4 in total since the BCS system began 10 years ago. That's twice as many as any other conference. You can get the complete conference bowl standings at Top College Football Bowl Conference.
Auburn's Jordan Hare Stadium .
Thanks to Carolina Hornig at flickr.com for the picture .
SEC football is always spectacular. In fact, Southeastern Conference football games are simply the most exciting sports events in America. Especially this year. It seemed that every weekend there were several amazing games. I know ESPN was very happy to have the Saturday night SEC contract. Incredible games almost each week.
I do have to toot our horn just a bit because back in August, before the first coin flip, we predicted LSU would win the SEC West rather comfortably and TENNESSEE would eek out first place in the SEC East -- in a 2 or 3 way tie. We said 4, maybe 5, teams would have a legit. shot at winning the SEC East.
DEAD on with all of those predictions.
We also predicted LSU would win the National Championship. Right on again.
We predicted that South Carolina would have a down year and Vanderbilt would have an up year. [Now, to be honest, we thought South Carolina would finish last (caught lots of flack for that) in the SEC East (they finished 5th, ahead of Vandy) and we thought Vandy would get a Bowl bid (they just missed out on that). Still the Gamecocks were down this year and the Commodores were up.
And, we were pretty much on the mark with our rankings of all the teams (for instance, we had Ole Miss last). So, it's pretty obvious that NO ONE touched SEC Sports Fan's2007 SEC football predictions.
As it should be. And shall always be :)
See the bottom of this page for links to many, many more pages about SEC football.
The SEC is the best college sports conference because of its football. Football is the #1 college sport in America. Nothing compares to the fan interest and support that football receives. It has become our national sport. SEC football is simply the best spectator sport in America -- if not the world.
For this reason, in ranking the conferences, we have given extra weight to football. And it is the SEC's supremacy of college football, that, in the end, makes the SEC the #1 college sports conference.
How do we know SEC football is the best college football in America?
You can begin by checking out the headline on page 3C of the Nov 21, 2007 USA Today sports page: "SEC Football Best College Has To Offer". On that page are a wealth of statistics confirming our view that Southeastern Conference football is the best!
Then, look at the October 16, 2006 issue of Sports Illustrated – the premier sports publication in America. The cover story is titled "SEC Power: On Any Given Saturday the Southeastern Conference Proves It's the Toughest in the Country."
You can also look at College Football Data Warehouse which consolidates tons of data to rank the SEC as the top college football conference.
The SEC has the most alumni playing in the NFL. The 2007 NFL opening day active rosters showed 263 former SEC football players on NFL rosters. The ACC was second with 238 players; the Big Ten was third with 234; Pac-10 -- 183; Big 12 -- 176; Big East -- 84. (FYI -- Tennessee is the top SEC team with 36 players in the NFL; Georgia second with 35.)
The SEC has led the nation in football attendance for 9 straight years – averaging 75,706 fans per game in 2006! Amazing. Really, that fact alone says it all.
Thanks to ukathletics.com for photos 2 and 8 above. Thanks to flickr.com/photos/bjmillican for photos # 5, 7, and 9; flickr.com/photos/alabamageographer for photo 3; flickr.com/photos/royce58 for photo 4; flickr.com/photos/motionblur for photo 6; flickr.com/photos/e-moose7 for photo 10; and flickr.com/photos/slarche for photo 11. Some or all rights are reserved for these photos.
In 2006, the SEC led all conferences in winning percentage vs. non-conference opponents with an incredible .854 winning percentage. In 2007, the SEC was tops again with a 47-10 non-conference record.
According to the 2005 SEC Football Fan guide the SEC holds an all-time 72.4% non-conference winning percentage. That all-time percentage obviously went up after 2006.
If you are interested in head-to-head comparisons between the SEC and each of the other major college football conferences, check out:
Check out this blog for a great study on why SEC football is simply tougher than football in other conferences. And this comment by a visitor to this site gives a nice preview of the college football conferences in 2008 -- South Shows Intelligence.
And -- to see the future of SEC football, we need only look at current recruiting. There, again, the SEC not only leads -- it dominates. Last year, most scouting services ranked 6 SEC schools in the top 10 nationally. Rivals.com, for instance, had Florida #1 and Tennessee #2.
This year (2008), Rivals.com ranked only 3 SEC schools in the top 10 in recruiting. But, that was still more than any other conference. Alabama was ranked #1; Florida #3 and Georgia #5. Plus, the SEC also led with 6 of the top 25 2007-2008 college football recruiting classes.
Year in and year out the SEC has more teams than any other conference ranked in the Top 25. They ended the 2007-2008 season with an incredible five teams ranked in the AP Top 15! The Big 12 had 4; ACC had 2; Big 10; Pac-10; Big East; and, Mountain West each had 1. AND, the SEC held down both #1 (LSU) and #2 (GA).
Simply put, no conference compares to the SEC for its depth, competitiveness, talent, football history and football culture.
When you are in a state with an SEC football team and that team is playing a home game – you probably know about it because it is probably the biggest thing going on in the entire state.
During every home game at Tennessee – Neyland Stadium becomes the 5th biggest city in the state. Actually the 4th biggest because, during the game, there are actually more people in the stadium (110,000 or so) than in the city of Knoxville.
In the end, it is all about the fans. Ultimately, the conference with the best fans will have the most support for its football program and over time that is the key to why the SEC is #1.
How do we rank the other conferences in Football?
#2 -- Big 12 -- Very strong conference. Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska (historically). Kansas and Missouri now. Good schools, great history. Look to be tough in 2008.
#3 -- Big Ten -- It has Ohio State and Michigan, then Penn State and Wisconsin. But not much else. Still, the Big 10 has a great football tradition and a few very strong programs.
#4-- ACC -- The addition of Miami, Florida State, Boston College, and Virginia Tech greatly strengthened ACC football. The conference has been off the past two years though. Also, the ACC lack's the history and tradition of the 3 conferences ranked above them.
#5-- Big East -- Big East football has certainly arrived. West Virginia, South Florida, Rutgers, even Connecticut. Lots of exciting talent now in the Big East. Obviously, not the tradition and history of the others.
#6 -- Pac-10 -- They have USC, but that's about it. A few other Pac-10 schools rise up and then fade every now and then (i.e. Cal, UCLA, Oregon). But, there are just no football powers in the Pac-10 other than USC. Sorry, not a deep enough football programs to rank higher. The Pac-10 is a great sports conference and dominates some sports -- see SEC Tennis and SEC Volleyball for instance. But, the Pac-10 is just not top-to-bottom a great football conference. Also, football just doesn't mean as much on the West Coast as it does in other areas. Pac-10 fans can take college football or leave it. If that's how they feel, I have no problem feeling the same way about Pac-10 football.
#7 -- Mountain West -- The MWC is new to our list. They have not traditionally been considered a major college football conference. And, they still aren't really. But, they did go 4-1 in the 2007-2008 bowls (including BYU's win over UCLA). However, they didn't play in any of the major bowls.
Sports Writers Wanted We are looking for writers to cover each SEC team. If interested, go to SEC Sports Writer
Now, back to 2007 SEC Football.
Click on the team name to get detailed information about that school's football program.
LSU Tigers -- What a season! SEC-West Champs; SEC Champs; National Champs. What more can you say? Came back from 10 points down to win -- 4 times! Only two losses came in conference (Kentucky and Arkansas) in triple OT. And Les Miles turned down the Michigan job and is staying on at LSU. The Tigers will have a tough time repeating next year, but for now -- they are #1!
Georgia Bulldogs -- Many think Georgia was playing better than anyone in the country (including LSU) at the end of the year. And, the Bulldogs dominating performance in the Sugar Bowl against Hawaii supports this. They ended up ranked #2 in the nation by the AP. Look out for the Dogs next year. They are our early pick to win the SEC and, naturally, the National Championship in 2008.
Tennessee Volunteers -- Great year for Tennessee. God was clearly on their side. How else do you explain their good luck. First, they have 3 big losses; yet still win the SEC East because they beat Georgia and thus win the tie-breaker against Georgia (who only has 2 losses, but both in conference). Then, never has a team been luckier than the Vols were against South Carolina. Take that back. The Vols were luckier a couple weeks later against Vandy as the Commodores winning field goal strikes the goal post; and luckier still (by a factor of 10) against Kentucky -- winning in 3 OT's with more breaks than a fleet of 18 Wheelers. You've heard it said: "Better to be lucky than good." Never has a truer statement been made. They closed it out with a very nice win in the Outback Bowl against Big Ten foe Wisconsin. Again, UT was fortunate, managing to bat away a potential game winning last minute Wisonsin pass into the end zone. Next year looks to be tough for the Vols. But, for now, we'll let them enjoy being ranked #3 in the SEC.
Florida Gators -- This team says it all about the SEC. The 2006 National Champs, come back in 2007 and see their QB, Tim Tebow -- superman -- win the 2007 Heisman Trophy. YET, they finish 3rd in the SEC EAST! They lost 3 conference games -- Georgia, LSU, and Auburn. Then they lost to Michigan in the Capital One Bowl. Bummer. But, with Superman returning to lead the Gators next year, they'll challenge Georgia for the SEC East!
Auburn Tigers Started out really, really bad with losses to South Florida and Miss. State at home. Crazy! But, the Tigers turned it around in time to salvage their season. Oh, and a 6th straight win in the Iron Bowl. They finished it off with a nice win against Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. They also ended up ranked 15th nationally by the AP.
Arkansas Razorbacks -- All in all, a disappointing season. The Razorbacks were a hair away from a great season as they lost really close games to Bama, Kentucky and Auburn. Then, their performance in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri was simply bad. But, oh what a win against LSU in the last regular season game. And, Darren McFadden was great. Look for him to be the top pick in the 2008 NFL draft. With a new coach and the loss of key players, look for 2008 to be a rebuilding year for the Razorbacks.
Kentucky Wildcats -- We like what Rich Brooks is doing in Lexington. They are winning in the SEC which is impressive. And, the games they lost were almost all very, very close (i.e. triple OT to Tenn.) Oh, and they beat LSU in triple OT. Kentucky got its first bowl win in 22 years in 2006. And, followed it up with a second straight Music City Bowl win -- this time against Florida State.
Mississippi State Bulldogs -- Wow, what a great year. A huge win early at Auburn. Later, beat Alabama -- again. And finally, beat Ole Miss to win the "Golden Egg." Sylvester Croom's team then went on to beat Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl. Croom played for Bear Bryant, coached on his staff, and is molding the Bulldog's into a Bear Bryant type team. After three losing seasons, Sylvester Croom and Mississippi State (including the A.D. who stuck with him) deserve so much credit for building the program the right way. What's happening in Starkville is truly an inspirational story. Might make a great movie some day.
Alabama Crimson Tide -- Nick Saban and the Tide started out with such promise. Just made the 4 straight losses to end the year that much tougher. But, importantly, the Tide bounced back to beat Colorado in the Indpendence Bowl. That should make the off-season bearable for Nick Saban. Alabama Crimson Tide football will be back.
South Carolina Gamecocks -- Steve Spurrier has made Gamecock football a force to be reckoned with. They got a great win at Georgia. But, as the season wore on, the Gamecocks BRUTAL schedule caught up with them. They may be a top-50 team nationally. But, they ended up with a 3-5 record in the SEC. That tough loss to Tennessee was the dagger through the heart.
Vanderbilt Commodores -- So sad. They played so well, in so many games. But, they ended up one win short of qualifying for the Commodores first bowl game in a quarter century. Still, good job guys.
Ole Miss Rebels -- Sorry, Ole Miss fans (and fired coach Ed Orgeron) – the SEC is just too tough....
If you want more information, opinion or discussion about the football programs of any of the SEC schools, click on the name of the team (above) and that will take you to their page.
We'd love to hear your comments and/or opinions. If you submit them here, other visitors can read them, rate them and comment on them. An e-mail address is not required.
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