2,915.
That is the number of days that the SEC dominated college
football.
We all know that for the past few years, ESPN and other
media outlets have been accused of being biased, because they have been telling
the entire country what we in the South have grown up knowing. The very best
football is played below the Mason-Dixon Line.
National confirmation of this fact began back in 2006.
Ohio State was undefeated and playing their biggest rival,
Michigan. The Wolverines were ranked number two, and the winner of the game
would secure a spot in the BCS title game. Ohio State won a thrilling game, and
afterwards, there was much discussion about whether or not there should be a
rematch for the BCS title. Clearly, these were the two best teams in the
country, so why even allow another team an opportunity to challenge the Buckeyes for
the title?
Florida won the SEC title game over Arkansas, and that win
helped the Gators move past Michigan in the final BCS rankings by a margin of
.0101 points.
It was just a formality anyway; Ohio State was clearly the
best team in the country.
When Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff for a
touchdown, it seemed that the Buckeyes would run the Gators off the field.
But things would change after the opening kick. Florida dominated
the game on both lines of scrimmage and took a 34-14 lead into half time. The
final score was a shocking 41-14, with the Gators defense holding the vaunted
Ohio State offense, which averaged 36.3 points per game, to only one offensive
touchdown.
That was January 8, 2007. It was my 22 birthday, and the
birthday of SEC dominance.
One year later, there was total chaos in the BCS.
Going into the final week of the season, Missouri was ranked
number one and West Virginia was ranked number two.
The Tigers fell to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, while
West Virginia inexplicably fell to rival Pittsburgh in their final game of the
season. Number three Ohio State moved up to number one, but there was much
debate about who would be number two.
Heading into the SEC title game, LSU was ranked 7th
in the BCS. On the morning of the title game, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreet reported
that Tigers’ coach Les Miles would be leaving Baton Rouge after the SEC title
game to become the next head coach at Michigan. Miles held an impromptu press
conference to announce that he was not interested in any other job than
coaching his team, and told everyone to have a great day (Google it, it’s worth
a Google).
His Tigers won the SEC that day, and with all the other
chaos that happened around the country, LSU managed to sneak into the number
two spot to face Ohio State.
While the 2007 National title game was closer than the 2006
edition, the result was the same. LSU beat Ohio State 38-24.
The result of the consecutive losses was that Ohio State,
and the Big 10 in general, were written off as second rate. The conference was
too old school, too slow, and not talented enough to compete with the bigger,
stronger, and faster players from the SEC. Who wants to play in the cold
weather anyway? All of those narratives were the direct result of the Buckeyes
dropping two straight BCS title games.
With the Big 10 out of the way, the SEC turned its attention
to the Big 12.
In 2008, the Gators were back in the title game, this time,
facing off with “Big Game” Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners. A year earlier,
“Big Game” and his boys has dropped the Fiesta Bowl to Boise State, but they
were back and ranked number one behind quarterback Sam Bradford.
Although the Sooners were ranked higher, the Gators were
favored to win the game by 5.5 points.
The game was close, but a late touchdown gave the Gators a
ten point victory, their second title in three years, and the SEC’s third
consecutive national championship.
In 2009, it was the SEC v. the Big 12 again as Alabama and
Texas squared off in for the title in the Rose Bowl. Both teams were
undefeated, and with two of the biggest programs in college football history
squaring off, the title game was sure to be one of the greatest games of all
time.
We will never know how this game would have turned out
without Colt McCoy’s injury. The Longhorns’ quarterback was taken off the field
after Texas’ fifth offensive play, and never returned. Alabama would take
advantage and led 24-6 at half time. The Tide rolled in the second half and
finished off the game 37-21 for their first national title since 1992. For the
SEC, it was four in a row.
Now, it was official. The SEC was the King of college football.
Alabama was rolling, LSU was a perennial power, and the Auburn Tigers had a new
quarterback transferring in from a junior college.
Cam Newton led Auburn to the 2010 title game amidst a ton of
controversy. The Tigers would square off with Oregon. The Ducks’ were the last
hope for the rest of the country. Chip Kelley’s team featured an up-tempo
offense that was sure to challenge the defensive speed of the SEC, which had
been the difference in the previous title games.
The game itself was ugly. I would ranked this game as the
second worst BCS title game in history, just behind the Oklahoma/Florida State snooze
fest of 2000. For two teams that had explosive offenses, 41 combined points was
a huge disappointment.
Auburn won the game on a last-second field goal 22-19.
Despite the quality of the game, or the margin of victory,
the SEC’s reputation only grew with Auburn’s win. The Tigers were the fourth
different team to win a title during the five year BCS title streak. Now, fans of other SEC schools (myself
included) began rooting for their team during the regular season, and the
conference during the post-season, assuming that one day the conference’s
reputation would help their team win a title.
If there was any question about the national reputation of
the conference, and the power that reputation held, it was made clear in 2011.
For the first and only time in the history of the BCS, two teams from the same
conference played in the national title game.
LSU had beaten Alabama 9-6 during the regular season, but
the two teams were still seen as the best in college football by the end of the
season. LSU was ranked number one, but the Tide dominated the game winning
21-0.
The streak was guaranteed to reach six, but at least the
rest of the country could take solace in the fact that for the first time in
BCS history, an SEC school lost the BCS title game. Of course, only another SEC
team could make that happen.
With the Big 10, Big 12, and Pac 10 all learning the hard
way that the SEC could not be stopped, it was time for Mr. Independent, Notre
Dame to take its shot at the king of college football. Despite the Irish being
undefeated and ranked number one, Alabama was favored by 10 points.
The Tide put on a performance for the ages against an Irish
defense that ended up being as legitimate as Manti Te’o’s girlfriend. It was
35-0 at one point in the second half, and the game ended 42-14.
The SEC had won seven BCS titles in a row, and Alabama had
won 3 of the last 4 national titles. Nick Saban and the Tide were the
preeminent program in college football, and with the top recruiting class in
the country year after year, it seemed that the Tide, and by extension, the SEC
would continue its historic run.
Kick Six.
Auburn would put an end to Alabama’s quest for a third
straight title in the most dramatic way imaginable. When good ole’ Ohio State
managed to choke against Michigan State in the Big 10 title game, the door was
opened for Auburn to get into the last BCS title game and the streak could live
on.
Despite leading big early in the game, Auburn would give up
21 points in the fourth quarter, including a touchdown with 13 seconds
remaining to lose to Florida State 34-31. The streak was over, but the
narrative of SEC dominance remained.
It was a southern school, Florida State, that had finally
beaten the SEC. The Noles were practically an SEC school playing in the ACC.
The SEC still dominated in recruiting, and with the College Football Playoff
starting in 2014, the SEC would get a chance to prove on the field, where their
reputation was made, that they were consistently the best in college football.
Coming into the 2014 season, the question was not if the SEC
would get a team in the college football playoff, it was how many of the four
spots would go to SEC schools.
As the season played out, it was obvious that the SEC was,
once again, at the top of college football. The fact that two schools from
Mississippi were dominating the SEC was even further evidence to prove the
point that the SEC was king. The SEC West was the best division in football,
much better than the NFL’s NFC South.
Alabama beat Mississippi State in November to move to the
top spot in the college football playoff rankings, and they would hold that
spot for the rest of the season. Alabama had played well since losing to Mississippi,
but there was no doubt, that this Alabama team was not on the same level as the
title teams that had come before it.
There was
considerable criticism that the SEC East was as bad as it had ever been with
Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina all struggling and the return to form of
Vanderbilt, who had become a legitimate team under James Franklin. However, the depth of the conference was
proven in that 12 of the conferences 14 teams qualified for a bowl game,
including the entire SEC West.
South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Arkansas all won their
bowl games, and it seemed like the SEC was on its way to winning 9 or even 10
of their 12 bowl games in 2014. Even when Notre Dame beat LSU, it said more
about the Tigers’ fall from the ranks of the elite than it did about the
conference. Georgia got the conference back on the right track by dismissing
Louisville in the Belk Bowl, so things were looking up leading into the
inaugural New Year’s Six games.
Then it all fell apart.
TCU embarrassed Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl and Tech ran all
over Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl. To say that the last day of 2014 was
a setback for the SEC, and more importantly for the State of Mississippi, would
be an understatement.
At one point this season, it was conceivable to say that the
two best teams in the country were Ole Miss and Mississippi State. The Bulldogs
managed to stay at the top spot into November when they lost to Alabama on the
road, and if they could have won the Egg Bowl, they would have had a great
argument for getting the fourth spot in the College Football Playoff.
This season was shaping up to be the best season for Ole
Miss since Archie Manning was at quarterback in Oxford, and this was, without a
doubt, the greatest season in the history of Mississippi State football.
At least that was what it could have been. Both teams were embarrassed
in games watched by the entire country, staining their seasons.
Going into New Year’s Day there were a couple of games in
which SEC teams were favored, but the only game that was going to matter was
the Sugar Bowl. Auburn losing to Wisconsin didn’t matter. No one in the world,
outside of Wisconsin, cares about Wisconsin. This Auburn team was significantly
worse than the Auburn team of 2013, and even though Auburn played for the title
in 2013, they were two of the most improbable plays you will ever see away from
being 9-3 and playing in the Outback Bowl, probably against Wisconsin.
After watching Oregon dismantle Florida State, I was trying
to force myself to stay up and watch the Sugar Bowl. A 9pm kickoff is not my
idea of fun. As the game began, it looked exactly like you thought it would.
Alabama was playing well on offense and defense, and it seemed like Ohio State
was outmatched. Even with the end of the first half leaving the Buckeyes within
striking distance, you never actually expected Ohio State to be able to
out-play or out-coach Alabama, but that was exactly what happened.
Ohio State stood up, and went toe-to-toe with the SEC’s standard
bearer for the entire second half. The Buckeyes made big play after big play,
and the Tide didn’t seem to have a response. The offense that had carried them
all season, abandoned the run in the second half when there was no reason in
the world to do so, and Blake Sims played like he did in the first half against
Auburn.
When Sims’ Hail Mary into the end zone was picked off,
giving the Buckeyes the win, that was the exact moment when the SEC’s reign
ended.
Sometimes in sports, and in life, you can step back and see
the entire picture and it makes sense. The SEC rose to national power on the
back of two resounding victories over Ohio State. The SEC became mortal again
by losing to a re-vamped Ohio State that hired a coach with SEC experience and
dedicated itself to changing the way they played football, with the sole
purpose of competing with the SEC.
For fans of the SEC who believe that this was just a hiccup,
and that next season, everything will go back to normal, you couldn’t be more
wrong. Yes, the SEC will win national championships again, maybe even next
season, but there will never be another streak like the one we saw from
2006-2013.
More importantly, the stigma that the SEC is head and
shoulders better than everyone else is gone, and that was much more powerful
than the streak of championships. Now, when teams are playing a team from the
SEC, they will be thinking that they can be the next TCU or Wisconsin (I’m just
kidding, no one will want to be Wisconsin).
Go back to the end of the season, Florida State beat
Florida. Clemson beat South Carolina. Tech beat Georgia. Louisville beat
Kentucky. The cracks were showing far before bowl season began.
There is a ton of talent in the SEC, and next season,
Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, and Tennessee will all be poised and positioned to
have really strong teams, but you know who else is going to be good? Oregon,
Ohio State, Penn State, Florida State, TCU, and as much as it pains me to say
it, Tech.
Tomorrow night, we will see the first National title game
since January of 2006 involving no SEC teams. The 2006 Rose Bowl was the
greatest national championship game of the BCS era (beating out the 2003 Fiesta
Bowl because there was no ref throwing a flag after the game was over, which
restarted the game, and ultimately cost one team a title). Texas won, with
Vince Young, coming from behind to beat USC, who had been the dominant team for
the first half of the 2000’s. I know I will be watching tomorrow night, and I’m
hoping for a classic. I don’t care who wins, but I can already tell you who
lost.
The Southeastern Conference.