Pac-12 and SEC Roundtable
By Kyle Kensing
Something positive came of Friday night’s otherwise dismal Pac-12 Championship game. Editor of The 110 Report Michael Castillo put together the below roundtable with insights from the Pac-12 perspective via Reign Of Troy, and the SEC via Bama Hammer. The questions are as follows:
"1. For years, the national perception of the Pac-12 is that it’s a defenseless, pass-first league. Has the running games of Oregon, Stanford and USC done anything to change that?2. Despite USC winning at Auburn and Arkansas in the Pete Carroll era, and Cal, UCLA and Oregon combining to beat Tennessee every year from 2007 to 2010, what is it going to take for the Pac-12 to gain respect in SEC country?3. The SEC is notorious for scheduling FCS teams, and the majority of its members opting to schedule a full slate of winnable non-conference games. While it’s done to make more members bowl eligible and counter tough conference schedules, the SEC has never teamed up with the Pac-12 for a bowl game, choosing to play conferences like the ACC and Big Ten. How much would you welcome a Pac-12 vs. SEC match up of second place teams, if a bowl like the Cotton Bowl were to reformat their automatic bids?4. At the moment, both the Pac-12 and SEC have three top-10 teams in the AP Poll, and both have really poor bottom tiers. Which league top to bottom has been strong this season?5. The Pac-12 just completed it’s first season after expanding to 12 teams, and it appears as though it will still take time for everyone to feel out the new format. How’s the SEC going to work with Missouri and Texas A&M coming to town? 6. How great would a USC vs. Alabama National Championship Game be someday?"
You can read the rest of the replies at the sites above. Here’s what the panelists had to say to Nos. 3 and 4:
3. The SEC is notorious for scheduling FCS teams, and the majority of its members opting to schedule a full slate of winnable non-conference games. While it’s done to make more members bowl eligible and counter tough conference schedules, the SEC has never teamed up with the Pac-12 for a bowl game, choosing to play conferences like the ACC and Big Ten. How much would you welcome a Pac-12 vs. SEC match up of second place teams, if a bowl like the Cotton Bowl were to reformat their automatic bids?
Again, I’d love to see more matchups like this. i get the rationale for scheduling puff games, but as a fan I don’t enjoy it. Nick Saban has done a great job of scheduling tough out-of-conference games, and I hope this continues. I applaud LSU for having faced Oregon, and would love to see Alabama schedule Stanford, USC and the like.
4. At the moment, both the Pac-12 and SEC have three top-10 teams in the AP Poll, and both have really poor bottom tiers. Which league top to bottom has been strong this season?
If I really wanted to troll, I’d say that top to bottom, Conference USA has been strong as a league. The problem with that is, it’s a second-tier league to start with. I look at conferences as being in their own worlds in a way. The PAC-12 looks strong when playing among itself, and the records show that. The SEC teams beat each other up all year long too, and the record reflects that. In all, I think the SEC is down this year, with the obvious exceptions. PAC-12 could actually be even tougher next year, which will further fuel speculation about which conference is tougher.
3. I would personally love a Pac12/SEC showdown because it would silence the debates once and for all that all the SEC teams are “better” than those of the Pac12. The SEC schedules the way they do so they can look so much better than everyone while rarely having to face someone on their level. Sure, they have tough in-conference games, but you could argue that only up to 4 schools are really ever that good at a time, and it often fluctuates between LSU, Bama, Florida, and either Arkansas, Auburn, or Georgia. It would be nice to see these teams go to a Pac12 site and face an SC or an Oregon on THEIR turf, and see what happens. I also have a theory that the reason the SEC never schedules potentially tough non-conferences opponents is that they want to avoid an Oklahoma/Boise State situation. So it’s not even necessarily that they think they’re better, but also that they are scared to find out otherwise.
4. I honestly haven’t watched enough SEC football, but based on their records, I would say that the Pac12 top to bottom has been stronger this season. The SEC had 6 teams win only 3 conference wins or less, while the Pac12 only had 4. Overall, The SEC had 8 teams win winning records, and the Pac12 had 6. So it’s almost hard to call. What is clear though is that both in both conferences, there is a large performance gap between the top and the bottom.
3. I’ve been calling for this for years. It’s really unfortunate and unfair that the Pac-12 sends its fourth and fifth place teams to Las Vegas and San Antonio in December, while fourth or fifth in the SEC merits a January 1st bowl game. It’s bothered me for years that second place in the Pac-12 gets to play three to four days before, when second place in every other big conference gets to play in January. It’s just wrong, even though the Holiday Bowl has always produced great matchups because of that. The Pac-12 needs to get some kind of deal with the Ticket City Bowl or the Cotton bowl and play the SEC. A lot of it is east coast bias, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that January 1 bowl games are brunch time kickoffs on the West Coast. But something still needs to be done, and credit to Larry Scott for trying to change that by taking coaches to Bristol and touring ESPN studios for media days.
4. Both conferences are really top heavy and have usual contenders down, which has paved the way for those six teams to be so dominant. Tennessee and Florida used to be the class of the SEC, and now they’re terrible in the SEC East. Cal has been formidable in the Pac-12 for the last decade and Oregon State is always a tough team to beat, yet the Bears were topsy turvy all season long and the Beavers were beyond bad this season. I think when you look at it that, both conferences were almost equal. If you take out LSU, Bama and Arkansas from the SEC and Oregon, Stanford and USC out of the Pac-12, it’s just about even given how bad Ole Miss and Kentucky are, despite Georgia and South Carolina being solid. So give it to the SEC in a slight advantage, and probably an even match up if Arizona State didn’t fall flat on their face in the second half of the season.
3. The SEC is notorious for scheduling FCS teams, and the majority of its members opting to schedule a full slate of winnable non-conference games. While it’s done to make more members bowl eligible and counter tough conference schedules, the SEC has never teamed up with the Pac-12 for a bowl game, choosing to play conferences like the ACC and Big Ten. How much would you welcome a Pac-12 vs. SEC match up of second place teams, if a bowl like the Cotton Bowl were to reformat their automatic bids?
Love love love the thought of a Pac-SEC bowl pairing. The Pac has a ton of tie-ins with the Big 12; with it restructuring, the time is now to shake up the bowl tie. Stanford vs. Arkansas or USC (if it was bowl eligible) vs. Georgia would be outstanding games, both in terms of competitiveness and financial attractiveness for networks and sponsors.
4. At the moment, both the Pac-12 and SEC have three top-10 teams in the AP Poll, and both have really poor bottom tiers. Which league top to bottom has been strong this season?
SEC and it’s not close. LSU has proven it’s better than Oregon, Stanford doesn’t have the bodies to compete with Alabama; USC and Arkansas would match up well but beyond that? It gets ugly fast.