Storyline: Even if Alabama had won the national championship on Monday night, there are plenty of signs that the SEC isn’t the national force it once was.
The Crimson Tide performed well on both sides of the ball, but it wasn’t enough to subdue a spectacular performance from Clemson QB, Deshaun Watson, in Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship game. The Junior completed 36-of-56 passes for 420 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ 35-31 revenge win in Tampa.
Courtesy: Saturday Down South
Watson came through when it mattered most. He engineered the game-winning drive, capped off by Hunter Renfrow’s two-yard reception with just one tick remaining on the clock. It not only gave Clemson its first national title since 1981, it made for a long spring in Tuscaloosa.
‘Bama’s loss Monday night was a fitting end to an forgettable year for the SEC. The conference went bungee-jumping off a cliff in 2016 and the cord snapped. The unpleasant truth is that the once unassailable Southeastern Conference is DOWN.
Let’s look at prime examples of why SEC football is trending in the wrong direction.
ACC-SEC Rivalry Games
Courtesy: YouTube
ACC and SEC have been rivals for decades and in-state rivalries are especially important. For decades the SEC has dominated, but that wasn’t the case this year.
Saturday, November 26 is Red Letter Day for the ACC. With the exception of Kentucky’s shocking and thrilling 41-38 victory at Louisville, three SEC teams–Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina–lost to ACC rivals that day. Florida and South Carolina were humiliated, losing by a combined score of 87-20 to Florida State and Clemson, respectively. Georgia led 27-14 late in the fourth quarter, but Georgia Tech scored on its last two possessions. and left Athens with a 28-27 victory.
SEC in Bowl Games
Despite those losses, SEC supporters will argue that the SEC East is the weaker of the two SEC divisions. But West teams didn’t fare well during the 2016 bowl season.
Mississippi State sneaked into the postseason by having a high APR (Academic Progress Rating). But the Bulldogs played like a 5-7 team in the St. Petersburg Bowl against MAC-affiliate, Miami of Ohio (OH)–a team that started the year 0-6. The Bulldogs won, 17-16, by blocking a last-minute field goal attempt.
Courtesy: FanSided
A close win was a pipe dream for the conference’s second-best team, Auburn. The War Eagles were whipped by Big 12 champion Oklahoma, 35-19, in The Sugar Bowl. The game was played in New Orleans, meaning that the Sooners came into SEC territory and embarrassed the Tigers on SEC turf.
Home turf was surrendered a second time when Texas A&M lost to former Big 12 rival, Kansas State, in a game played in the Aggies’ home state.
Then there was Arkansas’ inexplicable collapse. The Razorbacks held a commanding 24-0 lead at the half against Virginia Tech. Then the Hogs surrendered 35 unanswered points–that’s right, 35 points–to lose, 35-24.
There were a couple of bright spots for the SEC. LSU dominated Heisman winner, Lamar Jackson, and Louisville. Florida had a stellar defensive effort in The Outback Bowl against Iowa.
But, overall, the bowl season was just awful in SEC terms: the league went 6-6. Rival ACC, on the other hand, went 8-3. Ouch!
Closeness of the SEC Division races
If you take Alabama out of the equation, the SEC division races were the most competitive in recent memory.
LSUsports.net
In the East, Florida finally pulled away from Tennessee late in the season, leaving Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky-tied for second place (all with 4-4 conference marks). In the West, Auburn finished behind ‘Bama with just an 8-5 record (5-3 in SEC play). LSU, Texas A&M, and Arkansas finished with a combined record of just 23-15.
There were several upsets, too. Mississippi State shocked then-#4 Texas A&M. Vanderbilt knocked off rivals Ole Miss and Tennessee.
What’s it add up to? The SEC had a lot of middle-of-the-road teams in ’16, but not many high-quality teams. That makes conference games more competitive, but it also means the conference isn’t as competitive on the national stage.
How did this happen? There are several possible reasons: recruiting, coaching changes, and the reemergence of powerhouse national programs, including Penn State, USC, and Michigan.
The Skinny
Other conferences–most notably the ACC and Big Ten–are on the rise. Will the SEC maintain its status as King of College Football? While time will tell, it won’t take much time to get an answer.
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