Re: Atlon's Top 15 SEC Football Teams In The BCS Era
I really didn't like this list much but I wanted to think about some before posting.
1. 2009 Alabama
2. 2008 Florida
3. 2011 Alabama
4. 1998 Tennessee
5. 2003 LSU
6. 2012 Alabama
7. 2004 Auburn
8. 2006 Florida
9. 2011 LSU
10. 2009 Florida
11. 2010 Auburn
12. 2007 LSU
13. 2007 Georgia
14. 2006 LSU
15. 2002 Georgia
'08 Florida and '09 Alabama, in my opinion, are probably the two most talented and balanced teams in the era. 2011 and 2012 Alabama may have more talent overall but those two teams were flawless in all three phases. '08 Florida is probably better offensively than '09 Alabama, but '09 Alabama has the defense and special teams edge (Javier Arenas is one of the best returners in college history; Tiffin was hitting 40+ yard FGs with ease).
'11 Alabama was a step below these teams offensively and on special teams but the defense was otherworldly. '98 Tennessee gets lost in history right now but that team was a dominant force on the ground and their defense was elite. They also had a knack for making clutch plays that simply can't be understated. '03 LSU was the first taste the SEC and nation got of what a Saban defense would be like long-term. I remember their game in Tuscaloosa and how hopeless the game felt from the kickoff.
This year's Bama squad was as fine of a unit you could hope for at most schools and conferences, but there was that missing piece of consistently suffocating defense. They shutout people and turned out fine statistically but those teams above '12 Alabama had a defense that made it feel like a win on offense to just net a first down. 2004 Auburn is in a group along with '66 Alabama as most deserving non-national champions in SEC history. 2006 Florida rounds out the top 8...they weren't a title team in September but they grew into a force by the end of the season.
Minor quibbles by my other rankings. Pure and simple, '10 Auburn and '07 LSU wouldn't beat any of those teams above them. Auburn had a terrible defense in 2010 but they caught the fortunate roll of the dice that defense as a whole was down in the SEC that season. It allowed the only true offensively-focused SEC national champion in the BCS era. '07 LSU was a Sugar Bowl participant in any other season but that year. If Dennis Dixon didn't get hurt, Oregon plays - and wins - the national title against Ohio State. Didn't Pat White get dinged up in their loss to Pitt? I think '11 LSU and '09 Florida beats both of those Auburn and LSU teams. In fact, '11 LSU may very well be much better than where I ranked them. They did beat three teams in the regular season who won a BCS bowl game (unfortunately one of those teams beat them in the BCSCG). '11 LSU was closer to being #3 team of the era with a legitimate argument for #1 than where they are now because of the shutout we handed them in the rematch.