JessN: Is the SEC’s future too tied to a single ship?

JessN

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Is the SEC’s future too tied to a single ship?
by Jess Nicholas
TideFans Editor-In-Chief
June 26th, 2017 12:49 AM

Most of the time, the football offseason is spent dissecting recruiting classes and picking nits over changes in rules and penalty enforcement. This year, at least in the SEC, the tenor of the discussion is a bit different. Alabama lost to Clemson in the College Football Playoff […]
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selmaborntidefan

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Awesome. Just one nit - didn't Kiffin beat UT three times or did I miss a context?

So true though.
 

Bazza

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It's a great question to ask, Jess.

Especially a good topic to discuss during the off season, for sure.

Personally, while I understand the argument, in my humble opinion...I don't see a problem.

In the big picture...Bama's football success has helped...not hurt...our conference.

Of course...I would bet dollars to doughnuts that opinion is probably not shared by a whole bunch of others...;)

The presence of a coach like Nick Saban has influenced our sport in a tremendously positive way. Not only for the programs he has coached at but for the flourishing coaching tree he has grown through the years. Not to mention all the young men (and women - see his TD commercial :)) he has made a positive impact on through the years.

Those are contributions to society as a whole.

That's a good thing for the sport no matter how you slice it.

No doubt though....one could argue our conference's football segment is running like a V8 - but with only a couple-few cylinders firing.

But, while we all recognize football as the standard bearer, it's not the only sport that brings recognition to the conference. Right now we have 2 SEC programs in the college world series about to compete for a national championship. And look what has happened in softball, gymnastics, basketball, track and field, swimming, soccer, and many other sports our conference competes in.

As the commercial says....the SEC just means more.....

I wish Bama continued success with it's football program but can't help but think about the cyclic nature of all things.

In the big picture...Bama's football success has helped...not hurt...our conference.
 

CaliforniaTide

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What was the status of the SEC in regards to all of the non-football sports in the 1980s, 1990s? I feel that the SEC has become a much more sports-balanced conference than it was in the past. Football is still the by-far-and-away driver of the conference, but other SEC schools are much more proactive about celebrating their other sports if their football isn't where Alabama is currently in football. But like Bazza said, it's all cyclical. I know Pac-10 fans felt the same way in the 2000s with Pete Carroll and USC, and in football, it turned into USC and 9 dwarfs. It'll be very interesting to see how Alabama moves on once CNS decides to coach the ducks at Lake Burton - have they learned the lessons of following up Coach Bryant and Coach Stallings?
 

selmaborntidefan

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What was the status of the SEC in regards to all of the non-football sports in the 1980s, 1990s? I feel that the SEC has become a much more sports-balanced conference than it was in the past. Football is still the by-far-and-away driver of the conference, but other SEC schools are much more proactive about celebrating their other sports if their football isn't where Alabama is currently in football. But like Bazza said, it's all cyclical. I know Pac-10 fans felt the same way in the 2000s with Pete Carroll and USC, and in football, it turned into USC and 9 dwarfs. It'll be very interesting to see how Alabama moves on once CNS decides to coach the ducks at Lake Burton - have they learned the lessons of following up Coach Bryant and Coach Stallings?
Well, we've won some b-ball titles (94 Arky, UK a few times, Florida twice) and even saw Miss St make the Final Four one year (and didn't two SEC teams make it this past year? Wasn't really paying attention).


Baseball
Georgia (90), LSU (five times and maybe counting), and S Carolina (twice) have won it while Alabama, Vandy, Miss St, Georgia, and S Carolina have made the title game and lost it. In fact - I think in 1997 - the SEC had four of the final eight teams, forcing a rules change.

And there are other "lesser" sports that folks are doing well in so I agree with you.
 

Bamabuzzard

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Alabama is the anchor store of the shopping mall called the SEC and there's nothing wrong with it. I think it's actually a good thing for the conference overall. It ensures conference relevance year end and year out. I've been told by my resident LSU fans that if it weren't for Alabama they would have carried the conference just like Alabama and have won several more NC's. Alabama's just been in their way. I think that's a wrong assumption. I don't think LSU's program has reached that type of sustainability. Granted, I think in 2011 LSU would have won another title. But carry the conference? I don't think so. Granted, I'm biased, see through Crimson colored glasses and such. But if it weren't for the University of Alabama, the SEC's dominant run would have ended long before it did.
 

JessN

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What was the status of the SEC in regards to all of the non-football sports in the 1980s, 1990s? I feel that the SEC has become a much more sports-balanced conference than it was in the past. Football is still the by-far-and-away driver of the conference, but other SEC schools are much more proactive about celebrating their other sports if their football isn't where Alabama is currently in football. But like Bazza said, it's all cyclical. I know Pac-10 fans felt the same way in the 2000s with Pete Carroll and USC, and in football, it turned into USC and 9 dwarfs. It'll be very interesting to see how Alabama moves on once CNS decides to coach the ducks at Lake Burton - have they learned the lessons of following up Coach Bryant and Coach Stallings?
I kind of fooled around with the idea of throwing this in the original piece, but I really don't pay attention to conference rankings much beyond the revenue sports (football, men's basketball, *maybe* baseball). I'm not saying the others aren't important; I just don't consider them when ranking conferences. The minor sports and women's sports get extremely unequal love from conference to conference, depending on what it is. And then you have things like Alabama's rowing team -- it plays in the Big 12. Along with Tennessee and Old Dominion. Ergo, I just have to throw all that out.

I agree that Alabama will have work to do to maintain position in a post-Saban world, but when you consider the advantage in both resources and prestige that Alabama enjoys over most of the rest of the SEC schools (if not all of them), one would think that Alabama will properly leverage its assets this time rather than going with a safe hire. Especially with Greg Byrne calling the shots, which is another aspect of this situation I left out of the piece.
 

B1GTide

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If the rest of the SEC has suffered, it has suffered as a result of unrealistic expectations, not Nick Saban or Alabama.

While Alabama may be the only SEC team winning national championships right now, it is not the only SEC team in contention. The SEC has had many other teams in the hunt for a national title since Saban arrived, with 3 other teams actually making the title game (Florida, LSU and Auburn), and Georgia's 2012 team is worthy of a mention as well since they would have smoked ND in the title game had they not lost in heart breaking fashion to Alabama in the SECCG.

So, IMO, no - the SEC is not tied to a single ship in any fashion. As soon as Saban retires, and probably before, other SEC teams will start winning championships again. There is just too much football talent in the South.
 

BamaMoon

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I agree that Alabama will have work to do to maintain position in a post-Saban world, but when you consider the advantage in both resources and prestige that Alabama enjoys over most of the rest of the SEC schools (if not all of them), one would think that Alabama will properly leverage its assets this time rather than going with a safe hire. Especially with Greg Byrne calling the shots, which is another aspect of this situation I left out of the piece.
Jess, I know it would be controversial to some extent and none of us want to see CNS retire to the lake anytime soon, but I'd be fascinated with your thoughts (in a future article) that explores the direction you think we go in after CNS is done.

I know it's impossible to say because we don't know when this will happen and what might happen in the years in between. But would Bama try to get the next best coach like CUM or would it be a next level guy like Fisher or Dabo or possibly a guy like McElwain or Smart if they were to win a NC in the next few years?
 

Redwood Forrest

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Showing my age here but this is the first thing that comes to mind in a word association:

ACC: Florida St/Miami & the rest
Big 10: Ohio State/Michigan & the rest
Big 12: Texas/Oklahoma & the rest.
Pac12: Southern Cal & the rest
SEC: Alabama & the rest.

Of course now it is Florida St and Clemson in ACC.
 

BamaInCummingGA#1

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The other schools, in football for sure, have had kind of a knee jerk reaction and have gotten rid of some decent coaches in hopes of finding a coach equal to or greater than CNS. It ain't gonna happen. MSST has been the smart school in keeping CDM who is a pretty good coach and if not for CNS he would probably get a little more upper talent from Miss and possibly do better than what he already is. The other programs who have recently hopped on the coaching carousel in hoping to find kryptonite (in my opinion) have damaged their programs by the lack of continuity. Can't beat CNS in three or four years? You gotta go........
In sports across the board, I actually think the conference is up. Baseball, softball, basketball, gymnastics, etc are nationally very competitive and thriving.
 

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