Question: How Good Was the SEC in 2024???

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
22,534
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Did we just cannibalize each other (every team was pretty good, even Vandy)?

Did the league suddenly fall into mediocrity, and there were no great teams, so Vandy won 6 games and competed against top teams Texas and Georgia?

I thought it was #1 all year, but I'm leaning toward nobody was really elite this year.
 

lowend

All-SEC
Feb 20, 2005
1,413
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I'm on the "no elites" side. A lot of the losses of the supposed good teams were where one team just didn't show up -- they weren't good games. But, I also think this is the new norm. Having to remake a team and restart building culture every year is going to make it hard to develop consistency and buy-in.
 

denver

All-American
Nov 11, 2017
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it was definitely a down year...NIL/TP has reduced the depth chart so injuries now hurt more than before...the next man up isnt another 4/5 star with experience..it may be a 4/5 but more likely its a FR or redshirt or transfer etc...i think that is why we are seeing more parity...it definitely hurt UGA this year. We are currently in a situation where each team is a snowflake...a one-year project...so dynasties are gone..and any team can catch lightning in a bottle and potentially win it all. On the plus side..OSU has shown you can pay EXISTING players to keep them and build experience..it just costs more...then add in specialists in areas of need ( Downs, Judkin, Mclaughlin etc) and this recipe works once they are all on the same page. I think conference dominance then goes to the SEC/B10....and the rest are just picked apart by this strategy. Just my thoughts.
 

tusks_n_raider

Hall of Fame
May 13, 2009
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Did we just cannibalize each other (every team was pretty good, even Vandy)?

Did the league suddenly fall into mediocrity, and there were no great teams, so Vandy won 6 games and competed against top teams Texas and Georgia?

I thought it was #1 all year, but I'm leaning toward nobody was really elite this year.
I don't know about mediocrity but there is for sure more parity in the SEC and every other conference.

I think what's also clear is that both the SEC and B1G are more or less on par with each other and each had about 4-5 teams that Computer metrics say are Top 10 teams.

Then there is a Massive drop off in strength to the Big12 and ACC and then another big drop in quality to the G5 leagues.

But because of NIL and the Portal there could be wild swings year to year going forward on which individual teams are the best because of so much roster movement and changes.

It's become a game of which programs are willing to spend the most money and which teams get lucky by taking the right free agents and the chemistry coming together.

It feels like coaching is going to be a less reliable gauge of which teams will be among the better teams.

There are just so many variables now.
 
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jthomas666

Hall of Fame
Aug 14, 2002
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I don't think we'll ever see a truly dominant conference (or dynasty) again. Those were built slowly, by developing players over the years. IIRC, the lst two times Auburn played for the NC, they were massively flawed teams, but their OL was packed with 3-4 year starters.

But with NIL, elite players won't accept waiting their turn. The best coaches will be those with a lot of NIL cash and the ability to piece jigsaw puzzle teams through the portal.
 

tusks_n_raider

Hall of Fame
May 13, 2009
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Poor overall QB play across the league and increased parity resulted in no elite teams. Top to bottom it’s still the best conference, but Ohio State and Oregon were probably better than any SEC team this year.
I'm not the biggest believer in 'Computer Metrics' but they currently say PSU and IU are Top 8-10 teams.

But by the eye test they would probably be anywhere from 8-4 to 10-2 in the SEC.

Though imo ND has looked like one of the better coached teams and from the point they lost to NIU have been one of the most improved and they might have been 10-2 or 9-3 in the SEC.

It's difficult to judge because there truly hasn't been an Elite looking team other than tOSU the last few weeks.
 

colbysullivan

Hall of Fame
Dec 12, 2007
19,170
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Gulf Breeze, FL
Overall the SEC was still the best conference from top to bottom. There’s not any elite SEC teams though. In fact, I’m not sure there’s any elite teams in college football this year. NIL and the portal have fundamentally changed team dynamics. Does anyone here think 2019 LSU or 2020 Bama wouldn’t wipe the floor with any 2024 team?
 
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DrollTide

All-SEC
Oct 18, 2008
1,668
1,007
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Hunts Patch
The league is down. Its depth is being hollowed out by the portal and NIL.

There isn’t a team in the SEC that would do any better than Texas did last night against Ohio State.

Is this a long term development? We will find out.
I wanted to disagree with you, and construct a scenario in which we get Good Milroe (or Georgia gets Good Beck etc) and we win that game ... but, coulda, shoulda, didnt.

I think it is fair to say there are no really elite teams this year, but OSU is probably the closest. There were no elite teams in the SEC, and there was a much closer parity from the top to the bottom across our league. The elimination of divisions put Georgia (probably the best team in the SEC) in a tough spot, meanwhile the league gifted Texas (not particularly good) a route to the playoffs.
 

Bamabuzzard

FB Moderator
Staff member
Aug 15, 2004
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Bad to mediocre QB play was prevalent throughout the entire conference. There werent any Johnny Manziels, Tim Tebows, Joe Burrow, Tua, Mac Jones, etc types of QB''s. Heck, we didn't even have an AJ McCarron type of QB.

Couple that with teams like Alabama, LSU, UGA struggling with OL play and overall you have a good but not great conference.
 

RollTide_HTTR

Hall of Fame
Feb 22, 2017
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Bad to mediocre QB play was prevalent throughout the entire conference. There werent any Johnny Manziels, Tim Tebows, Joe Burrow, Tua, Mac Jones, etc types of QB''s. Heck, we didn't even have an AJ McCarron type of QB.

Couple that with teams like Alabama, LSU, UGA struggling with OL play and overall you have a good but not great conference.
Tbh QB play across college football was down IMO.
 

tusks_n_raider

Hall of Fame
May 13, 2009
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Mobile, AL
Bad to mediocre QB play was prevalent throughout the entire conference. There werent any Johnny Manziels, Tim Tebows, Joe Burrow, Tua, Mac Jones, etc types of QB''s. Heck, we didn't even have an AJ McCarron type of QB.

Couple that with teams like Alabama, LSU, UGA struggling with OL play and overall you have a good but not great conference.
Dart had the best season by far statistically but even he had some rough games and moments.

But yeah there wasn’t a Heisman Caliber QB this year in the SEC.

I guess going into next year Lagway and the Sellers kid have shown they could be problems for teams going forward.

Arch Manning might be really good too.
 
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Bamaro

TideFans Legend
Oct 19, 2001
28,156
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I'm not the biggest believer in 'Computer Metrics' but they currently say PSU and IU are Top 8-10 teams.

But by the eye test they would probably be anywhere from 8-4 to 10-2 in the SEC.

Though imo ND has looked like one of the better coached teams and from the point they lost to NIU have been one of the most improved and they might have been 10-2 or 9-3 in the SEC.

It's difficult to judge because there truly hasn't been an Elite looking team other than tOSU the last few weeks.
Computer metrics are only as good as the person/people developing those metrics.
 
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