SEC arrogance

all those Ute fans whining about weak non-con games and hoping for others in the PAC to step up their game were wrong the whole time. I’ve been saying this for years. The SEC got where they are as a conference because of their weak scheduling. SOS is not anywhere close to as important as win/loss record. People look at the SEC and see a bunch of teams that are bowl-eligible or close, and they assume they all earned it just like every other bowl-eligible team in FBS. They don’t stop to think about who those wins are against. All the teams in the SEC have winning records (or close), so they all must be decent-good.

If Utah was the only bowl-eligible team in the PAC, but they went undefeated or lost 1 game, they’d be in the playoff. If Every team in the PAC was bowl eligible, and Utah went undefeated or lost 1 game, they’d be in the playoff. Who you play doesn’t mean a damn thing.

If Utah wants to make the playoff consistently, they need to schedule as many cupcakes as possible going forward, or maybe 1 likely win against a respectable opponent, and the rest cupcakes.

Win games. That is the only thing that matters. Playing cupcakes means you win games, and you have an easier time doing it. You are healthier when the conference schedule starts, and you win more games as a result.

Our program has enough respect now that we will start most seasons ranked. All we have to do at that point is keep winning games. Playing Florida was fun, but those kinds of games won’t help us get into the playoff. It will help us get talked about as a 2-4 loss team, but if the goal is the playoff, cupcake schedules are the answer.

The SEC only wants a few good teams. Then they look good. Texas and Oklahoma prove my point.

I’ve never thought of it like that. I actually like that opinion as it was exciting to get to see the Utes go into the swamp and have them here this year vs a cupcake

Chattanooga in November while you play for a title in January. I think they will always prefer that.

The 8/9 conference game debate often drives fan conversation, but the causation is where the rest of college football should be scrutinizing past decisions. We know ESPN, CBS and the NCAA all benefit from a strong college football presence in the largely pro sport void SEC footprint. Rabid sports fans with limited other sport opinions, allow for Alabama vs Arkansas Central to still draw interest, low supply/high demand, but so what?

The problem for the other conferences isn’t that Alabama destroys Jackson St in November, it’s that LSU losing to a 3-5 Miss St team in Oct isn’t catastrophic allowing LSU to remain a top 15 team when they play Bama…see any A&M team, they benefit from “high” floor losses every season. So when Minnesota wanders out to Laramie and loses, that eventually trickles up to Wisconsin, then Penn St and upward.

But here’s where this becomes the chicken or the egg conundrum…and while the SEC hype media is easy to blame, so are the other power conferences. The SEC is rarely exposed as being overrated because programs like USC, Oregon…etc continue to schedule non conference games with the SEC at “neutral” sites like the Georgia Dome or Jerry World. A couple years ago I took the time to review the SEC non conference schedule and it was shocking how infrequently the conference as a whole left it’s geographic footprint. When they do they look pedestrian just like any other conference. Great teams win on the road, everyone else struggles. So whether this is TV driving the “neutral” site narrative or if it’s poor vision by ADs I do not profess to know, but this is, in my opinion why the SEC is the SEC. Florida going to North Carolina, G Tech are more winnable games for the Gators than coming to Utah, UW or even the Pac12 murderers in LA.