Sugar Bowl UC.vs. Florida

[Sea Ray]

Win 2 SEC games and have a weak nonconference schedule and you're in. Of course, that's the same way in most conferences.

Exactly. The SEC schedules the same as any other conference.

If it's so easy to get ten teams into Bowls then why doesn't it happen very often? It's never happened in the SEC before. I'm not aware that it's ever happened before in another conference.

For those of you who poo who the SEC, fine, but at least acknowledge that they've done something that's rarely if ever been done before. Sending teams to Bowls helps the conference. It pads their coffers and looks good to recruits.

[dougdirt]

Exactly. The SEC schedules the same as any other conference.

If it's so easy to get ten teams into Bowls then why doesn't it happen very often? It's never happened in the SEC before. I'm not aware that it's ever happened before in another conference.

For those of you who poo who the SEC, fine, but at least acknowledge that they've done something that's rarely if ever been done before. Sending teams to Bowls helps the conference. It pads their coffers and looks good to recruits.

No one poos on the SEC. They just don't pretend it the greatest thing since the invention of fire either. Some SEC fans sure seem to think that way.

[paintmered]

On the way out of the game, I overheard some Florida fans who were actually angry that UC didn't put up a better fight. To quote one of them, "This is what happens when you play (explicative) UCONN and not a real schedule!" The irony is not lost on the team he chose for his example.

[Sea Ray]

No one poos on the SEC. They just don't pretend it the greatest thing since the invention of fire either. Some SEC fans sure seem to think that way.

This is the hey day of the SEC so that is to be expected. I think the SEC slipped a notch this year but they couldn't expect to continue as they have the last few years.

[Caveat Emperor]

On the way out of the game, I overheard some Florida fans who were actually angry that UC didn't put up a better fight. To quote one of them, "This is what happens when you play (explicative) UCONN and not a real schedule!" The irony is not lost on the team he chose for his example.

We heard the same thing. I had one guy curse me out when I had the audacity to suggest that maybe, if HIS team had put up a better fight against Alabama it wouldn't be such an issue.

[traderumor]

This is the hey day of the SEC so that is to be expected. I think the SEC slipped a notch this year but they couldn't expect to continue as they have the last few years.

Maybe so, but I still find all the conference superiority arguments pointless. For the most part, teams have to build their program to compete where they are going to play 80% of their schedule if they hope to have any type of success. Trying to determing what a current roster of some team would do in the current context of another conference is just not how it works, as I have seen attempted to "rank" OSU and UC if they were in the "mighty" SEC. Well, if they were in the SEC, those programs would likely have a different recruiting strategy.

For example, imagine an SEC team trying to slog around in the muck and mire more regularly like LSU was forced to in the Capital One bowl, or UF to play a cold weather game in the Midwest with a bunch of boys from the Southeast. Kinda leveled the playing field, and actually swung it in favor of Penn State, who had experience playing in foul weather.

That is one thing the NFL has over the NCAA, whereby sometimes a warm weather team, that is built for optimal field conditions, ends up in a late season or playoff game without the personnel to play in tough weather conditions. This rarely, if ever happens in the NCAA.

I know these are not new arguments, but that is why "conference strength" arguments are really fruitless exercises, whereby there is really no objective measurement to back up these arguments.

[paintmered]

Maybe so, but I still find all the conference superiority arguments pointless. For the most part, teams have to build their program to compete where they are going to play 80% of their schedule if they hope to have any type of success. Trying to determing what a current roster of some team would do in the current context of another conference is just not how it works, as I have seen attempted to "rank" OSU and UC if they were in the "mighty" SEC. Well, if they were in the SEC, those programs would likely have a different recruiting strategy.

For example, imagine an SEC team trying to slog around in the muck and mire more regularly like LSU was forced to in the Capital One bowl, or UF to play a cold weather game in the Midwest with a bunch of boys from the Southeast. Kinda leveled the playing field, and actually swung it in favor of Penn State, who had experience playing in foul weather.

That is one thing the NFL has over the NCAA, whereby sometimes a warm weather team, that is built for optimal field conditions, ends up in a late season or playoff game without the personnel to play in tough weather conditions. This rarely, if ever happens in the NCAA.

I know these are not new arguments, but that is why "conference strength" arguments are really fruitless exercises, whereby there is really no objective measurement to back up these arguments.

A good example of this is the annual USF dive once they enter Big East play. That team simply can't play in cold weather.

Another example is UC's defense. They're built to stop (or this year, slow) a zone-read or spread offense. Undersized but fast. That doesn't work against balanced offenses (see Florida, Pitt and UCONN). But it's effective against USF and WVU.

Also, I didn't want to give the impression that many of the Florida fans were pretentious blowhards. Many of them were quite respectful and enthusiastically cheered for their team.

[*BaseClogger*]

Heck yes!

The most important thing, however, is that it has been 1,505 days since that school in Oxford has defeated us in football!

I don't like where this is heading haha...

[GAC]

Maybe so, but I still find all the conference superiority arguments pointless. For the most part, teams have to build their program to compete where they are going to play 80% of their schedule if they hope to have any type of success. Trying to determing what a current roster of some team would do in the current context of another conference is just not how it works, as I have seen attempted to "rank" OSU and UC if they were in the "mighty" SEC. Well, if they were in the SEC, those programs would likely have a different recruiting strategy.

For example, imagine an SEC team trying to slog around in the muck and mire more regularly like LSU was forced to in the Capital One bowl, or UF to play a cold weather game in the Midwest with a bunch of boys from the Southeast. Kinda leveled the playing field, and actually swung it in favor of Penn State, who had experience playing in foul weather.

Yep.

That is one thing the NFL has over the NCAA, whereby sometimes a warm weather team, that is built for optimal field conditions, ends up in a late season or playoff game without the personnel to play in tough weather conditions.

Except when it comes to the Super Bowl. :

[LoganBuck]

Yep.



Except when it comes to the Super Bowl. :

Super Bowls are sometimes played in the rain and mud.