SEC this bowl season

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
I thought LSU would win but it is fitting they lost a game by bad game management considering Les Miles has made a career off doing absurd things that somehow work. I thought Florida would win but you can't give any team a TD immediately at the start of each half and hope to win. That errant throw on their first offensive play and the botched onside kick to start the 3rd quarter - mitigated by a player coming undone - absolutely did Florida in tonight. They weren't stopping UL or moving the ball consistently but they put themselves behind the 8-ball with their own mistakes: the pick 6, the INT in the endzone, the penalty implosion near the goal line, three bad onside kicks. They made enough mistakes to lose to any team in the top 25 tonight.

The funny thing is that these things were kinda exposed in SEC play. Chavis has been a great coordinator but his defense have a notoriously bad reputation for handling 2-minute situations. Vols - and now some Cajuns too - cry "3rd and Chavis" for a reason. Alabama absolutely dissected them with comeback routes and Clemson got in the position to win with several themselves. Florida imploded offensively when they played teams they felt could move the ball on them like against UGA. They got out of their identity and made mistakes all over the field that day in Jacksonville. The same thing happened against Louisville tonight.


MSU was just bad and their record was inflated by the lucky bounce of the schedule. I thought Ole Miss was better than them after playing MSU in late October. Ole Miss just had the misfortune of drawing Vandy and Georgia along with playing Texas out of conference instead of playing weak East teams and nobody OOC. I had Northwestern picked pretty high in my pick'em and wasn't surprised by the outcome. The biggest joke was Jonathan Banks winning the Thorpe when he may be the 3rd or 4th best corner in the conference.
 
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bamadp

All-SEC
Sep 24, 2006
1,023
0
0
Sheffield, Al.
Me too...I am a Bama fan. If the rest of the SEC does good...well good, but if they don't ...well too bad for them.
Count me in!!! :BigA:

When we were hit by that bus a few years back...wasn't the SEC driving? This elephant won't forget. A few years ago, amid our troubles, I don't recall many gators, vols, or tigers shedding tears for the SEC.
 

KrAzY3

Hall of Fame
Jan 18, 2006
10,615
4,540
187
44
kraizy.art
I thought about writing something earlier in the year when we saw a few SEC teams struggle against what should have been inferior competition.

I believe the signing limit is already having an impact. That's not the only issue, but it is an issue. Remember, the SEC put the 28 signing limit in place before the NCAA did, and then dropped it down to 25, making them the only conference to effectively lower the scholarship limits. If you want an example, Alabama has EE spots this year in part because they weren't able to fill them up last year (due to the signing limit). This means if a guy doesn't make the grades, plays baseball, or what ever, you lost a roster spot.

This obviously doesn't change everything, but 85 scholarships, when you consider freshmen, injuries, redshirts, and all of that really isn't as much as it might seem. You lower that number, and add to it the difficulty of an SEC schedule and I think a team can be feeling the loss of a couple of players. The signing limit makes it harder to create depth, football has a high attrition rate, and I said it when it happened. I feel like the SEC was undermining their dominance. It's also taken away a lot of the SEC's ability to pick first, forcing them to back off on recruiting players who might have grade issues or the like.

The SEC is good, but they're not good enough to say we can have less scholarships than everyone else and still win. That doesn't generally work well for a team on probation does it?
 

TideRush

Scout Team
Jan 4, 2011
191
0
0
Players come to the SEC to play SEC schools, for SEC titles and NC's. Not the Outback Bowl. After a heavy SEC grinding schedule, it's tough to get up for these bowls while the other teams take it very seriously and give their best shot. It is a little embarrassing though. LSU lost the same way they always do, the Hatter's poor clock mgmt. Miss State is still Miss State. Florida? No excuse there, the way the defense played all year. Pathetic.
 

MOAN

All-American
Aug 30, 2010
2,420
226
87
Swearengin, Alabama, United States
I think the way the SEC has panned out disappointingly thus far in the bowls is a blessing in disguise for Bama. Should not be any big head by our guys after watching the bowls so far, not that there would have been anyway, see the process. But if the SEC was romping and rolling through the bowls, complacency could sneak in.

Either way these other schools and conferences are slowly closing the gap between themselves and the SEC whether we like it or not. Florida and LSU have great talent, above 95% of the country, but both those teams have shown times of inconsistency and their losses are not really all that surprising if you go back and look at their schedule results. Lots of inconsistent play and close calls.

Bama went through a rough period as well, where we didn't execute with the same focus as we started out the season and ended it. But with the way we ended and the month layoff to get healthy and refocused I am not to worried that we will not be ready when game time comes especially with whats at stake. But that doesn't mean winning is a lock! Notre Dame will not give it to us without a fight for sure! ;)
 

GCtidefan

1st Team
Sep 23, 2010
380
93
52
Adger, AL
The LSU and FL games were disappointing performances for sure, but the SEC is 3 and 3 with ATM, Ole Sis and Bama to go.
Last year the SEC went 6 and 3 which was an improvement over the 5 and 5 2010 bowl season. IMO, the SEC will have a good showing in the end. RTR
 

TiderMan

All-SEC
Feb 5, 2005
1,360
113
87
55
Moody, AL.
We lost to Utah in the Sugar Bowl after the 2008 season and the last four years have been phenomenal. For alot of teams, a bowl game is a meaningless game and for some like Vandy, Louisville, Northwestern, etc. it is a championship type game . Some teams get up for it and some do not. I do not read alot into bowl games unless something is on the line. There is really only one bowl game that matters and that is the one we are plaing in.
 

BigBama76

Suspended
Oct 26, 2011
1,002
0
0
Atlanta, GA
I must admit I'm alarmed at the relative success non SEC teams have had vs SEC teams this bowl season. Don't get me wrong I believe that Alabama is rightfully ranked as 1b, but I must say this bowl season has been a surprise even to me. Is it possible that the pundits that have predicted an Alabama blowout win will adjust to an Alabama close win? Does this give confident Bana fans that are certain of a blowout a little more to think about? All we've heard about from SEC fans is how unbeatable their conferences top teams are. To a point where rivals on mist days will root each others teams on for the sake of the conference. I'll admit,I find it weird to root for a conference and for rivals but such is the SEC.
Somehow I don't think you're all that "alarmed".

My opinion on Florida and LSU in particular is they've lived and died by their defense this year and probably have been over-hyped based on who they are. Neither has much of an offense, anybody can see that.

Actually both Florida and LSU remind me a lot of Notre Dame, good defense, no offense. I'd put Stanford in that category as well. Standford got lucky in playing a poor Wisconsin team.
 

GADAWG1980

Scout Team
Sep 26, 2011
155
0
0
Between the hedges
What many people fail to understand is the more time teams have to practice and prepare for an opponent the greater there chances are of being successfull. I always laugh at these fans from the big ten and these other conferences during bowl season. Whenever they pull an upset against a team from our conference they always say the same thing. The sec isnt that tough,wheres the big,bad sec now?? They talk about how every team in our conference is overrated and blah,blah,blah. They never take into account how much time they get to prepare for ONE opponent!! Of course(in most cases)the games are going to be a lot closer and more competive. Not only that teams from our conference are going to get theyre opponents best shot. They know beating an sec team in a bowl game is huge for them,especially for recruiting. Myself i always pull for the teams from our conference to win their bowl game. The main reason being,it doesnt matter who you are or whether you play in the sec east or west. The majority of the rest of the country looks down on us as a bunch of dumb rednecks that cant even spell our own name. Thats the main reason i love to see the teams from our conference dominate their opponents during bowl season. It really irritates the fans from these other teams to see their teams get it handed to them every year during bowl season(especially if its at the hands of one of these teams from the dreaded sec):biggrin:
 

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