OT: Bret Bielema Reminds us that the SEC(!!!!) is the Greatest Conference EVER!!!

Submitted by FauxMo on

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14488784/bret-bielema-ar…

 

I wonder what Bret's endgame is here? It seems to me this is his roundabout way of excusing his 7-5 season by reminding his own fan base just how tough the SEC really is. Of course, since one of his losses came to a MAC team and another to a mid-tier Big 12 team, maybe Bret should rethink his approach...

RedGreene

January 3rd, 2016 at 10:55 AM ^

Does he understand Michigan finished 4th in the Big Ten and then kicked the shit out of the second place SEC team?

Also, he's talking trash after beating up on a sub .500 team in the WhoGivesAShit Bowl?

Avon Barksdale

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:30 AM ^

The word around town is Florida wasn't the second best SEC team. They were really like 7th best in the conference. Michigan would've got smoked by Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Ole' Miss, or Mississippi State.



I kid you not. People are actually saying that here.

East German Judge

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^

While I know we can't do the if team A > team B and team B > team C, then team A > team C bit, but Alabama beat Florida by 14 and we beat a healthy Florida team by 34, so to say we would get SMOKED by most of the ess eee see teams is a stretch.  They must really believe Bert!

LSAClassOf2000

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:18 AM ^

"To see us playing all these other teams, it's not even really close. That means a lot. The SEC has always been and will always be the toughest conference to play in." - Brandon Allen

Yeah, that SEC West round-robin against Presbyterian is always murder, especially when they get that token field goal in the 4th quarter. It's just a grind. 

In all honesty, the SEC West - given the quotes in the article - is the toughest place to avoid historical revisionism more than anything else. Perhaps it is the worst division on most measures of short-term recall too. 

 

Hotel Putingrad

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:18 AM ^

they've got Alabama, then LSU/Ole Miss/Florida, then everybody else. Logically, there will be an equal number of wins and losses dispersed throughout. I think he's just feeling insecure. He shouldn't, though. Arkansas will never break through to the top tier.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^

By the way, there are seven SEC West teams, and they each play four OOC games, so 28 slots.  Of those 28 slots, five were filled by P5 teams and six were filled by FCS teams.

Of the 28 slots in the B1G East, nine were filled by P5 teams and three by FCS teams.  Chickenshit scheduling doesn't make you totally awesome.

SlickNick

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^

"The thing people don't seem to understand is we all have to play each other"
.....yes, this is what happens when you are in a conference...you play the other teams in it.

Then says "people just see they have a loss, but who's that loss to?"

Toledo.. ..that loss is to toledo.

Perkis-Size Me

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^

Tough talk from a guy that got whipped by a MAC team and a mid-tier Big XII team earlier this season.

Harbaugh is going to lay an absolute beating on those guys when they come up in a few years.




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GRBluefan

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^

Are everything. B10 and SEC both had a playoff team, so that is even. Then the B10 'wasted' its second best team on notre dame, which obviously has no conference affiliation. Then our third best team, theoretically, drew Stanford in a NY6 game, while their second best team drew ok state. Hardly an even draw. Then Michigan whooped Florida in the only relatively apples to apples matchup.



A true test would be msu v. Bama, ole miss v. Osu, Florida v. Michigan, and Tennessee v. Iowa. I like us in 3 of those 4.

Swazi

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:56 AM ^

Arkansas made a statement by beating Kansas State?

Kansas State won 6 games and barely beat West Virginia to become bowl eligible. Not exactly a statement win.




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turtleboy

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:58 AM ^

Bielema thinks he's a bad ass because he rides on Sabans coat tails. Newsflash, Bert: the SEC isn't 14 Alabamas. There are only 2 good teams in your conference, and one of them played a Memphis in their bowl game.

BVB1

January 3rd, 2016 at 1:36 PM ^

You are spot on. Bert's imagination must be getting the best of him and he's convinced himself that Arkansas has been an SEC leader rather than basement dweller. SEC fans, unlike any other P5 conference that has had stellar teams, genuinely think that Bama's success over the last ten years means their team is somehow better because of it.

The Dirty Nil

January 3rd, 2016 at 12:09 PM ^

Bret is a douche. And I thought it was hilarious when Kliff Kingsbury called him out in the press conference after they played each other, even if it was petty of him.

JayMo4

January 3rd, 2016 at 12:28 PM ^

Now I'm tempted to point out that the SEC is lucky they didn't face Ohio State.  But then I realize I'm hyping our hated rival, and remember why I hate conference pissing contests to begin with.

I really don't care if you beat Texas Tech and Kansas State, and I'm happy you beat sparty.  If Auburn, LSU, Mississippi etc fans want to root for Alabama when they ought to hate them, because beating MSU makes them feel like the south won the civil war, well go on ahead and enjoy it, guys.

kgh10

January 3rd, 2016 at 12:59 PM ^

This is the reason why UM needs to be good again. Few of our grass fed brethren in the conference have the talent pool to consistently hang with the middle of the SEC, and certainly not the top. Even if they did, they don't get paired with them. UT is a team that SHOULD beat the pants off of Northwestern. For chrissake NW can't recruit. They don't have the location of Stanford and the acceptance rates of any trash SEC school. Again the SEC should be killing everyone w those match ups, home field advantage, and recruiting talent pool.




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Uper73

January 3rd, 2016 at 3:05 PM ^

Arkansas beat a totally depleted KSU squad with 6 starters out and their best WR at QB.



This was a down year for a K State squad that barely was bowl eligible, and still was in the game for 3 quarters. So, Arkansas should have beaten them soundly.



Has the SEC done well? yes. Are they the strongest conference? Certainly, the SEC west is amongst the strongest division, if not the best.



I would only say that they (SEC) ended up with some favorable match ups this bowl season. I think this across all their games, but in regards to BIG match ups, MSU rode a fluke play and a rare poor coaching performance by Urban to receive their comeuppance from Alabama. Should have been OSU/Alabama. Another non SEC match up disaster was Iowa/ Stanford. Wisconsin should have been the BIG west champ, but had the opposite luck of State. They would have played Stanford ( non SEC) tougher than Iowa, as would we.



Clearly, Tennessee was the really the strongest team in SEC east, and, easily handled an overachieving NW squad that should have been matched against Fla. Mich vs Tenn or LSU would have been much better match ups.



PSU was at best average with big offensive problems, Georgia( also better than Fla) should have beat them by 3 TDs and was lucky to escape, even against a 2 string PSU QB.



Let's not forget the advantage that geography provides the in providing home field like advantage over other teams in almost all bowls they participate in.



Most of the Big 12 teams were down this year too.



Sure, the SEC is strong, but let's not get too carried away Mr Bielema.



Wolfman

January 3rd, 2016 at 7:50 PM ^

But in typical Beilema fashion, the intentions behind his declarations are easily proven wrong.

My fellow site members have done a good job of proving his latest boast, although touched with a hint of truth, is simply nothing more than an attempt to convince fans that Ark and other lesser SEC teams should be seen in the same light as Bama and TN simply by belonging to the same club and is as easily disproved as one saying IL, PUR and NW possess equally strong programs as do OSU and UM.

Hell, prior to just a few years ago, Arkansas's football history was written in a conference whose very name is the opposite of the SEC.

While growing up MI had taken a two decades long vacation and so northern greatness on the football field was tied to names like OSU, ND, PSU and even Syracuse for a bit. I was able to witness Bo's season finale in his first campaign as MI head coach so when I landed in Vietnam I didn't possess the knowledge of cfb that would later become my passion, and so I had no problem debating with fellow soldiers of Northern supremacy, based on very few facts to back up such a claim. At that time I actually could not have listed the ten members of the SEC.

That soon changed though and after I was informed that the SEC perenially landed half of its members in the top 20 I was forced to do some research and I had to conlcude his arguments were solid. AL and TN were routinely listed in the top 10 and teams like Ole Miss, LSU and an AUB or GA, depending on who had the best team in any given year would bring the total to five almost always. Teams such as A&M, AR and MISS, if listed, were obviously there based on what they did in conferences having nothing to do with the history of the SEC. As to the state of Florida, they were about 7 years away from annually fielding three of the best teams in the country. Football, as we know it now, simply hadn't been played there yet.

What was even more impressive, imo, was they were able to do this while excluding the most talented players in their geographical area simply because they were of different color than the head coaches and those that had gone before them. That changed forever when McKay and the Trojans, behind the great talent of Sam "Bam" Cunningham and teammates of the same color handed Bear and The Tide an embarrasing ass whipping in the late 60s. As soon a the Bear instructed his assistants to begin recruiting black players, the rest of the conference fell in step or the gap between Bama and others would have increased dramatically.

This is just a little historical perspective on why Beilema's statement was not incorrect, but his intention to deceive by trying to include all members is tantamount to me trying to persuade another fan that NEB  and PSU gained their blue blood status due to their affiliation with the Big Ten.

Further, his statements during the preseason is proof these rankings are done simply to begin the debate and never end closely resembling the final rankings. Many people have tried to revise history for a number of reasons. No one, to my knowledge, has been successful in doing so as of yet.