SEC Bias discussion

[Sirhornsalot]

With some sort of rearrangement of college football conferences on the distant horizon and a possible separation from the NCAA still a possibility, it makes me wonder if another change might be forthcoming.

We've talked a lot on this board about a perceived SEC bias. Sometimes good evidence is presented in these threads/posts, sometimes it's knee-jerk stuff after we hear/see what is sometimes so painfully obvious.

It's no secret that ESPN is behind the bias and has been cultivating this line of thinking for quite some time, perhaps since they proclaimed the 2005 USC Trojans to be the best college football team of all time.

If the perception by non-SEC conferences becomes that the bias is unfairly working against them, could it be possible that at some point we see a split as a result of that? I mean, why hang around and play a schedule if the powers that be are working to arrange an unfair result?

OU strummed Bama last year in one of the last games played last season. I hate OU like anyone else, but the game left me hopeful that the heat of the SEC bias would die down. OU has two losses. LSU has two losses. Don't look now but ESPN is working to get LSU back into the thick of it all. They ran a story on it just today.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

SEC bias is real, IMO, and ESPN is the drum major due to their big investment in SEC Network.  LSU being promoted for anything right now with that offense is a joke, surprising Ole Miss win notwithstanding.

Y'all need to follow @SEC_Exposed on Twitter for both well-thought and juvenile opinions on SEC bias.  It's both informative and entertaining.

http://secexposed.wordpress.com/

 

[Chris Flanagan]

Of course they will. They have to pump LSU as being this awesome team (which it isn't) because Mississippi State is going to lose two games at least. Auburn will lose again and Alabama will likely lose again. So they would want 3 2-loss SEC teams in the playoffs because "SEC toughness" and it's not fair that undefeated and 1 loss teams go to the playoffs and they don't!

The only way this is going to change is if the other conferences get the balls to pull ESPN's media credentials for non-TV personnel. Say they want reporters who are objective and fair covering their teams. Doubt it will happen because likely in their TV deals, there is a clause that say doing so would be a breach of the contract. The conferences helped create the monster that is ESPN.

 

[streettopeschel]

i think worrying about sec/espn bias is more of an insecurity thing by other fanbases.

do they spend a lot of time talking about them? yeah, i suppose. but the sec DID win 7 NCs in a row and damn near made it 8. They DO produce more NFL draft picks than anybody else, especially high draft picks. neither of those facts is a result of bias.

they've been consistently better as a whole and consistently have more good teams and good players. that's not manufactured. it is what it is.

 

[Chris Flanagan]

i think worrying about sec/espn bias is more of an insecurity thing by other fanbases.

do they spend a lot of time talking about them? yeah, i suppose. but the sec DID win 7 NCs in a row and damn near made it 8. They DO produce more NFL draft picks than anybody else, especially high draft picks. neither of those facts is a result of bias.

they've been consistently better as a whole and consistently have more good teams and good players. that's not manufactured. it is what it is.

But they have ASSUMED every year that they are better, leading to 2011 championship being LSU-Alabama. So the SEC plays no one of equal caliber OOC (MS State played no one out of conference), beat each other and then get a month prep for a usually weaker bowl team and then claim "Greatest ever".

They gamed the system and the refusal of other to recognize how they are doing it is the biggest problem.

 

[streettopeschel]

But they have ASSUMED every year that they are better, leading to 2011 championship being LSU-Alabama. So the SEC plays no one of equal caliber OOC (MS State played no one out of conference), beat each other and then get a month prep for a usually weaker bowl team and then claim "Greatest ever".

They gamed the system and the refusal of other to recognize how they are doing it is the biggest problem.

i don't know what that means.

big 12 fans (or any fans for that matter) complaining about the sec come across and whiny and jealous. jmo.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

i think worrying about sec/espn bias is more of an insecurity thing by other fanbases.

do they spend a lot of time talking about them? yeah, i suppose. but the sec DID win 7 NCs in a row and damn near made it 8. They DO produce more NFL draft picks than anybody else, especially high draft picks. neither of those facts is a result of bias.

they've been consistently better as a whole and consistently have more good teams and good players. that's not manufactured. it is what it is.

And who helped them get to those 7 in a row? ESPN and the media. Were you asleep during the controversies?

Totally disagree with your last sentence. From top to bottom, they're one of the worst major conferences there is. The Big 12 and Pac 12 have much more depth in their winning teams. With the SEC, Vanderbilt sucks, Tenn sucks, Florida sucks, Kentucky sucks, and even LSU sucks. Most of the OOC games are against little sisters of the poor.

Their trick is their ability to pump up the bottom of the conference and control the polls. 

I'm not sure you're not a good example of how effective the ESPN bias can be. And I think you're going to have a hard time telling a Texas fan he's insecure about anything.

 

[bcherry168]

The best way to go about this is to beat them on the field of play. That means they have to be scheduled. They only schedule pansies outside the conference for the most part, so it has to be in bowl games. A lot of the bowl tie-ins don't get them real tough teams, but the new playoff system should do that.

Then we will see.

 

[drgilbert]

I know Texas just scheduled a home/home with Lsu, but I wish we would schedule a top tier sec school every year. We kick their butt and we shut them up.

 

[monarch]

I know Texas just scheduled a home/home with Lsu, but I wish we would schedule a top tier sec school every year. We kick their butt and we shut them up.

well, you are hereby correct doc.  however, we need to get to the very point of actually being able to kick someone's but first.  especially, a top tiered team...

 

[streettopeschel]

And who helped them get to those 7 in a row? ESPN and the media. Were you asleep during the controversies?

Totally disagree with your last sentence. From top to bottom, they're one of the worst major conferences there is. The Big 12 and Pac 12 have much more depth in their winning teams. With the SEC, Vanderbilt sucks, Tenn sucks, Florida sucks, Kentucky sucks, and even LSU sucks. Most of the OOC games are against little sisters of the poor.

Their trick is their ability to pump up the bottom of the conference and control the polls. 

I'm not sure you're not a good example of how effective the ESPN bias can be. And I think you're going to have a hard time telling a Texas fan he's insecure about anything.

nope. wide awake. you seem to think they played for and won championships because of media attention. i think they get media atention because they're playing and winning games. what was espn's 'bias' motivation 7 years ago which was 7 years before the SEC network and when the main SEC game was saturday afternoon on CBS? that defies any reasonable logic.

how do THEY control the polls? jeff sagarin's ratings have sec teams in the top 5 spots. are they controlinng his computer too ?

11 of the 32 first round picks were sec guys. are nfl teams victims of 'how effective the espn bias can be' too ?

and texas fans are amongst the MOST insecure. EVERYBODY hates us. andre ware, lou holtz, tim brando, mark may, john saunders etc. you read the same boards i do. somebody, in our fans minds, is always hating on Texas.

i'm sick of it too. i get it. i hope to hell they don't get two teams in the playoffs and i'd lmao if by some quirk they got shut out. but there's fact and there's emotion. i've presented facts. most of your arguement seems emotional.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

i'm sick of it too. i get it. i hope to hell they don't get two teams in the playoffs and i'd lmao if by some quirk they got shut out. but there's fact and there's emotion. i've presented facts. most of your argument seems emotional.

No way in hell the SEC is getting shut out, but we can dream, right?

Look, I get your assertion that we all sound like whiny bitches for not accepting the SEC's superiority.  There's definitely some envy and insecurity in the UT fan base (among others) right now.  Only a complete retard wouldn't acknowledge that the SEC is a very strong league with arguably the largest, most passionate fan bases.  

But, who did Ole Miss and Miss State play OOC?  How did they build their reputations?  MS win over Bama was impressive and I guess Miss State's was over paper tiger, Auburn.  But both benefited way too much from a win over aggie.  Hell, A&M was still ranked #21 after embarrassing losses to both MS teams!  WTF...over?

I don't think ESPN controls the polls, per se, but they do influence them heavily.  Frankly, I'm surprised the networks haven't colluded to ensure that an all-SEC CFB Championship never happens again.  Bama vs LSU was the lowest rated of the BcS Era - that, too, is a fact.  

It's a shame we don't have either 4 super-conferences or an 8-team playoff, but hopefully we're moving in that direction.  IMO, it would eliminate the human prejudices and poll errors that we spent an inordinate time arguing about.

 

[drgilbert]

My biggest gripe is that the 2nd tier teams in the sec seem to get ranked higher than they should. The big dogs in the sec have earned(by winning) a certain level of bias. But the rest of the teams have yet to do squat. They need to classify the sec in two groups. The sec contenders and the sec pretenders.

 

[streettopeschel]

No way in hell the SEC is getting shut out, but we can dream, right?

Look, I get your assertion that we all sound like whiny bitches for not accepting the SEC's superiority.  There's definitely some envy and insecurity in the UT fan base (among others) right now.  Only a complete retard wouldn't acknowledge that the SEC is a very strong league with arguably the largest, most passionate fan bases.  

But, who did Ole Miss and Miss State play OOC?  How did they build their reputations?  MS win over Bama was impressive and I guess Miss State's was over paper tiger, Auburn.  But both benefited way too much from a win over aggie.  Hell, A&M was still ranked #21 after embarrassing losses to both MS teams!  WTF...over?

I don't think ESPN controls the polls, per se, but they do influence them heavily.  Frankly, I'm surprised the networks haven't colluded to ensure that an all-SEC CFB Championship never happens again.  Bama vs LSU was the lowest rated of the BcS Era - that, too, is a fact.  

It's a shame we don't have either 4 super-conferences or an 8-team playoff, but hopefully we're moving in that direction.  IMO, it would eliminate the human prejudices and poll errors that we spent an inordinate time arguing about.

i agree with most of your take.

you're right...the bama/lsu game was poorly rated. since ESPN has the tv rights for the playoffs for the next 12-years, it doesn't make business sense for them to want an all sec final so the whole bias arguement doesn't make logical sense. if you could get them on truth serum, their dream final-4 from a ratings standpoint would be Texas, USC, Notre Dame and fill-in-the-blank.

i would add that the paper-tiger auburn is the only team to beat big 12 leader K state and they did it in manhattan. yeah, i know...missed FGs, dropped passes...blah, blah, blah.

 

[North Texas Golfer]

The only way to truly settle it on the field is to have 4-5-6 super conferences, or whatever they will be called, and for everyone to play some sort of balanced schedule similar to the NFL. 

 

[streettopeschel]

The best way to go about this is to beat them on the field of play. That means they have to be scheduled. They only schedule pansies outside the conference for the most part, so it has to be in bowl games. A lot of the bowl tie-ins don't get them real tough teams, but the new playoff system should do that.

Then we will see.

it doesn't help that the sec has beaten the big 12 #2 team in the cotton bowl 3 straight years by double digits.

 

[Chris Flanagan]

My biggest gripe is that the 2nd tier teams in the sec seem to get ranked higher than they should. The big dogs in the sec have earned(by winning) a certain level of bias. But the rest of the teams have yet to do squat. They need to classify the sec in two groups. The sec contenders and the sec pretenders.

This wraps my point up well.

It's not that Alabama doesn't get recognized as a great team because they are. Saban is a living legend and Alabama is a proven program.

The issue with many is that Mississippi State goes from unranked to #1 in 4 (or 5) weeks.

Week 4, the Bulldogs were unranked. Week 5 ranking saw them jump from unranked to #14, then to #12 in Week 6, then to #3 in Week 7 (based on beating A&M), then to #1 in Week 8.

And it's the complete ignorance of looking at their schedule and seeing they (until this past ranking), beat 1 currently ranked team (Auburn).

No other team in any conference is able to do that but one in the SEC. I mean there are some VERY mediocre teams in the SEC this year if Mississippi State is your best team. My alma mater is included in that discussion. But it's the subscription to the notion that AT LEAST 2 SEC must be in the playoffs.

We'll see if there is no SEC bias on the playoff committee but that circular logic is frustrating.

"SEC is the best conference ever!"

Why?

"Because we had 7 straight national championships!"

How did that happen?

"Because the voters picked us."

Why?

"Because it's the SEC and we are the best!"

Why?

Rinse and repeat.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

i agree with most of your take.

you're right...the bama/lsu game was poorly rated. since ESPN has the tv rights for the playoffs for the next 12-years, it doesn't make business sense for them to want an all sec final so the whole bias arguement doesn't make logical sense. if you could get them on truth serum, their dream final-4 from a ratings standpoint would be Texas, USC, Notre Dame and fill-in-the-blank.

i would add that the paper-tiger auburn is the only team to beat big 12 leader K state and they did it in manhattan. yeah, i know...missed FGs, dropped passes...blah, blah, blah.

One question for ya.

ESPN was behind both the LHN and SEC Network.

We got L. Gallindo.

They got virtually the whole ESPN staff.

You sink your money into your priorities. ESPN/LHN is a control thing, meanwhile they are able to more freely do what they want over at the SEC.

 

[Chris Flanagan]

i agree with most of your take.

you're right...the bama/lsu game was poorly rated. since ESPN has the tv rights for the playoffs for the next 12-years, it doesn't make business sense for them to want an all sec final so the whole bias arguement doesn't make logical sense. if you could get them on truth serum, their dream final-4 from a ratings standpoint would be Texas, USC, Notre Dame and fill-in-the-blank.

i would add that the paper-tiger auburn is the only team to beat big 12 leader K state and they did it in manhattan. yeah, i know...missed FGs, dropped passes...blah, blah, blah.

Yes, the Big 12 screwed the pooch on that. 100% agree. They had multiple opportunities in September to end the SEC dominance and couldn't do it. But the transitive property of "Well this one game with this one team that lost means EVERYONE in the Big 12 is WORSE than everyone in the SEC" is nonsense.