SEC vs ACC
The deadseason of the football crazy south is in full drought. So, to wet the whistles of the maniac contingency-myself included-I want to try and settle the debate of which conference is better in football, because this argument deserves to be settled. Plus, we have three months to kill.
First, let's examine-using alphabetical order-the ACC. The conference still has the slight hint of that new car smell, as it expanded into two divisions, the Atlantic-made up of Boston College, Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida State, NC State, and Maryland-and the Coastal-made up of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Duke, and Georgia Tech. Clearly, the conference has some academic juggernauts in Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, GT, and VT (all merit academia esteem, just those seem to be the premier institutions).
Of course the top teams right now are VT and Clemson (this should be the 2009 ACC Title game on paper) and have rising teams in Miami, FSU, Virginia, and UNC; consistent tough teams like WF, BC, Maryland, NC St., and GT; and bottom feeder Duke. Just like any conference, it has it's top teams, middle tier competitors, and 1 or two consistently last place teams.
Divisional wise, they stay pretty balanced, so in that sense, the conference is competitive with itself.
The SEC also has the two division system-which has been in place since the 1990s-with the East-Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt-taking on the West-Louisiana State, Miss. State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn.
The top teams are probably Florida and Georgia in the East, and LSU in the West. Middle tier teams include USC, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Auburn. Risers are Arkansas (probably more of a faller since they essientially lost their offense to the draft) and Miss. State, with bottom feeders Ole Miss (who signed Houston Nutt to coach) and Vandy.
Really, the best way to look at this is bowl records and final rankings in my opinion, as well as head-to-head inter-conference competitions between the ACC and the SEC.
First, notice the amount of teams who went to bowls (different from being bowl eligible) from each conference. The ACC sent 8 teams; Boston College (winner of Champs Sports ), Maryland (lost Emerald ), Wake (winner of Meineke), GT (lost Humanitarian), FSU (lost to Kentucky in Music City), Clemson (lost Peach to Auburn), Virginia (lost Gator), and VT (lost Orange). So 8 teams, who went a combined 2-6, and 0-2 against SEC schools, and lost its BCS tie in game.
The SEC sent 9 teams; MSU (won Liberty), Alabama (won Independence), Kentucky (beat FSU in Music City), Auburn (beat Clemson in Peach), Tennessee (won Outback), Arkansas (lost Cotton), Florida (lost Capital One), Georgia (won Sugar), and LSU (won National Title).
So 9 teams went a combined 7-2, going 2-0 against the ACC, and winning their tie in bowl, as well as the National Title.
Bowl season goes to the SEC. 1-0.
Second, teams in the top 25. It is subject to scrutiny, but the gauge of how tough a conference is how many teams it has in the final top 25, and what rank those teams are. Using the AP, the ACC has 3 (VT at 9, BC at 10, and Clemson at 21) while the SEC has 5 (LSU at 1, Georgia at 2, UT at 12, UF at 13, Auburn at 15). The SEC takes this one, having 2 teams in the top 5, and 5 in the top 15; over the ACC's 2 in the top 10.
SEC takes commanding lead 2-0.
Third, inter-conference games throughout the season. Adding in the bowls, the SEC starts with a 2-0 advantage. LSU topped VT earlier in the season in week 2, FSU topped Alabama in week 5, USC topped UNC in week 7, Florida topped FSU, while Clemson topped USC in week 13, cancelling each other out. So, adding in the 2-0 already, the total comes out 5-2 in favor of the SEC (or 2-5 from the ACC perspective).
SEC goes up 3-0 with win in head-to-head competition.
So, this, with numbers manipulated to my advantage as some will say, proves which conference ins stronger. The SEC wins in bowl game win percentage as well as teams in bowls, top 25 teams by end of season, and in season head-to-heads.
So I have put the 2008 version of this issue to rest in regards to football. What 2009 has in store remains to be seen. I can rest assured that the issue of which is better will arise again, come closure of 2009.
Until then, stay hydrated, enjoy baseball, and remember, football is 4 months away.
First, let's examine-using alphabetical order-the ACC. The conference still has the slight hint of that new car smell, as it expanded into two divisions, the Atlantic-made up of Boston College, Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida State, NC State, and Maryland-and the Coastal-made up of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Duke, and Georgia Tech. Clearly, the conference has some academic juggernauts in Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, GT, and VT (all merit academia esteem, just those seem to be the premier institutions).
Of course the top teams right now are VT and Clemson (this should be the 2009 ACC Title game on paper) and have rising teams in Miami, FSU, Virginia, and UNC; consistent tough teams like WF, BC, Maryland, NC St., and GT; and bottom feeder Duke. Just like any conference, it has it's top teams, middle tier competitors, and 1 or two consistently last place teams.
Divisional wise, they stay pretty balanced, so in that sense, the conference is competitive with itself.
The SEC also has the two division system-which has been in place since the 1990s-with the East-Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt-taking on the West-Louisiana State, Miss. State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn.
The top teams are probably Florida and Georgia in the East, and LSU in the West. Middle tier teams include USC, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Auburn. Risers are Arkansas (probably more of a faller since they essientially lost their offense to the draft) and Miss. State, with bottom feeders Ole Miss (who signed Houston Nutt to coach) and Vandy.
Really, the best way to look at this is bowl records and final rankings in my opinion, as well as head-to-head inter-conference competitions between the ACC and the SEC.
First, notice the amount of teams who went to bowls (different from being bowl eligible) from each conference. The ACC sent 8 teams; Boston College (winner of Champs Sports ), Maryland (lost Emerald ), Wake (winner of Meineke), GT (lost Humanitarian), FSU (lost to Kentucky in Music City), Clemson (lost Peach to Auburn), Virginia (lost Gator), and VT (lost Orange). So 8 teams, who went a combined 2-6, and 0-2 against SEC schools, and lost its BCS tie in game.
The SEC sent 9 teams; MSU (won Liberty), Alabama (won Independence), Kentucky (beat FSU in Music City), Auburn (beat Clemson in Peach), Tennessee (won Outback), Arkansas (lost Cotton), Florida (lost Capital One), Georgia (won Sugar), and LSU (won National Title).
So 9 teams went a combined 7-2, going 2-0 against the ACC, and winning their tie in bowl, as well as the National Title.
Bowl season goes to the SEC. 1-0.
Second, teams in the top 25. It is subject to scrutiny, but the gauge of how tough a conference is how many teams it has in the final top 25, and what rank those teams are. Using the AP, the ACC has 3 (VT at 9, BC at 10, and Clemson at 21) while the SEC has 5 (LSU at 1, Georgia at 2, UT at 12, UF at 13, Auburn at 15). The SEC takes this one, having 2 teams in the top 5, and 5 in the top 15; over the ACC's 2 in the top 10.
SEC takes commanding lead 2-0.
Third, inter-conference games throughout the season. Adding in the bowls, the SEC starts with a 2-0 advantage. LSU topped VT earlier in the season in week 2, FSU topped Alabama in week 5, USC topped UNC in week 7, Florida topped FSU, while Clemson topped USC in week 13, cancelling each other out. So, adding in the 2-0 already, the total comes out 5-2 in favor of the SEC (or 2-5 from the ACC perspective).
SEC goes up 3-0 with win in head-to-head competition.
So, this, with numbers manipulated to my advantage as some will say, proves which conference ins stronger. The SEC wins in bowl game win percentage as well as teams in bowls, top 25 teams by end of season, and in season head-to-heads.
So I have put the 2008 version of this issue to rest in regards to football. What 2009 has in store remains to be seen. I can rest assured that the issue of which is better will arise again, come closure of 2009.
Until then, stay hydrated, enjoy baseball, and remember, football is 4 months away.
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