Hogan, this is for you and the SEC

[KnoxVegas]

Georgia cannot beat Tennessee, even when they have a better team. Go Vols! Bring Jim Donnan back! Bring Zook back, too.

[Beta]

What's a better schedule:

6 Conference opponents ranked in the top 25...most likely 3 in the top 10...and 3 weak OOC and 2 weak conference games.

-or-

1 top 25 conference opponent and 1 top 10 OOC opponent, with 2 weak OOC games and 7 weak conference games.

[Kyle Berggren]

Georgia will RUN ASU

I'll guess the same. ASU will not finish in the top 10, while I think we all assume Georgia will. That's not a game I couldn't see Georgia winning 42-21. If ASU can hang with them, great, but I won't bet that bag of chips on it. I hope so, but if there's an SEC team I like & think is under-rated, it's Georgia.

The strength of your top 2-3 teams doesn't define how strong your conference is, it's the big picture. If you have teams that can compete in the top 10, great. Any of those teams should be able to win a game in the top 10 on any given day, but what about your bottom dwelling teams? I'd love to see the bottom of the SEC face a team like the Huskies (UW). I think the Huskies or Stanford would come out smelling like Roses if they played the steaming piles at the bottom of the SEC. Am I the only one? The SEC isn't weak, but their weakest links are pretty suspect at best. Teams in the PAC-10 can't send their JV squad or HS teams from their state out to win a handful of games each & every season.

[Ron Mexico]

This always makes me chuckle:




Plus you can send it to your annoying Ohio State fan friend- everyone has one- 4 or 5 times a day to create a near mental breakdown.

[Beta]

The strength of your top 2-3 teams doesn't define how strong your conference is, it's the big picture. If you have teams that can compete in the top 10, great. Any of those teams should be able to win a game in the top 10 on any given day, but what about your bottom dwelling teams? I'd love to see the bottom of the SEC face a team like the Huskies (UW). I think the Huskies or Stanford would come out smelling like Roses if they played the steaming piles at the bottom of the SEC. Am I the only one? The SEC isn't weak, but their weakest links are pretty suspect at best. Teams in the PAC-10 can't send their JV squad or HS teams from their state out to win a handful of games each & every season.

Ok cool, so let's compare the standing and see who is playing who:

LSU 6-2 (12-2) vs. USC 7-2 (11-2)
Georgia 6-2 (11-2) vs. Arizona State 7-2 (10-3)
Tennessee 6-2 (10-4) vs. Oregon State 6-3 (9-4)
Auburn 5-3 (9-4) vs. Oregon 5-4 (9-4 )
Florida 5-3 (9-4) vs. UCLA 5-4 (6-7)
Arkansas 4-4 (8-5) vs. Arizona 4-5 (5-7)
Mississippi State 4-4 (8-5) vs. California 3-6 (7-6)
Alabama 4-4 (7-6) vs. Washington State 3-6 (5-7)
Kentucky 3-5 (8-5) or South Carolina 3-5 (6-6 ) vs. Stanford 3-6 (4-8
Vanderbilt 2-6 (5-7) or Mississippi 0-8 (3-9) vs. Washington 2-7 (4-9)

So Kentucky or South Carolina would lose to Stanford? Not a chance in the world.

Vandy would smoke Washington...Ole Miss....eh...they're pretty bad. Ole Miss would most likely lose to Washington (although...Washington did lose to Hawaii last year). Vandy may not have the best record...but look at their scores...they hang in almost all of their games. They're not a doormat.

Look at the other matchups:

LSU/USC
Georgia/ASU
UT/Oregon State
Auburn/Oregon
Florida/UCLA
Arkansas/Arizona
Miss State/Cal

I'd take (last year) LSU, Georgia, Auburn, Florida and Arkansas to win their games. And Oregon State and Cal to win theirs.

[KnoxVegas]

Tennessee won the SEC East last year. Respect.

[Beta]

Tennessee won the SEC East last year. Respect.

Tennessee does the exact opposite of whatever I predict.

I say lose, they win.

I say win, they lose.

I say fire Fulmer...he gets a contract extension.

Consistent like gravity.

[Kyle Berggren]

Beta,

1) Love the quote, great movie. Way under-rated.

2) I think you're crazy if you truly believe Stanford wouldn't have a shot in those games. They beat USC, yes that's a shocker, but I wouldn't think any of the teams in the bottom half of the SEC could play with LSU... While UW & Stanford among others were able to play with USC. I'd love to see those games, I don't think we're looking at the same caliber of teams. SC (SEC) is up & coming, but had lots of holes last season.

c) For your match-ups after that (thanks for looking them up), LSU USC is a toss up in my eyes. I'd expect USC to have a slight advantage, but I'm not planning on putting any big bets on it (last year). Either way, it's a homer #1. Georgia v ASU, Georgia. I don't see ASU in that game for long, but who knows, they always surprised me last year. After that, Florida is the only other SEC win on my list. Oregon (w/ Dixon) was as good as it got in college football last year, without they were lost. Their #2 does not fit in that scheme & believe me, this pains me to give the Ducks any credit at all. Full strength Ducks were good, they were built around Dixon, losing that cog killed them.

I've got to run, but SEC domination isn't as cut & dry as you think. That's probably why SI (thought that was it) ran an article about the Pac-10 being the strongest conference from top to bottom last year. The SEC is top heavy, but most PAC-10 teams could make waves playing there. Hopefully the criticism from media & fans will get the SEC traveling to BCS conferences, not mid majors in the future and we won't have to have gibberish discussions about it. Hell, maybe they can do a Pac-10 SEC home & home to really see which conference is stronger top to bottom.

[KnoxVegas]

Beta,
Want to retire early? Then just follow this simple rule when betting Tennessee football:

NEVER AT HOME! Always on the road!

My kids can go to Ivy League schools now. Thanks Phillip! My disgust with our coach is already well known.

[bste_lax]

My disgust with our coach is already well known.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Tennessee won the SEC East last year. Respect.

The same Tennessee team that lost to the middle-of-the-Pac-10 California Bears?

Yeah, the SEC is WAAAAY superior to the Pac-10.

[KnoxVegas]

When Tennessee played Cal they were ranked #14. Please talk to more about overrated Pac-10 teams in the last 15 years like Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington St., UCLA and California perhaps? Southern Cal is legit. Stanford is... well Stanford.

At some point last year, the SEC had LSU, Tennessee, Florida Georgia, Kentucky South Carolina, and Mississippi State were all ranked in the Top 25.

In the final AP Poll, there were five SEC teams in the Top 15:
1 LSU
2 Georgia
12 Tennessee
13 Florida
15 Auburn

and four Pac-10 teams in the Top 25:
3 USC
16 Arizona State
23 Oregon
25 Oregon State

When I have more time, I will exam SEC vs. Pac-10 all time.

[Beta]

The same Tennessee team that lost to the middle-of-the-Pac-10 California Bears?

Yeah, the SEC is WAAAAY superior to the Pac-10.

Cal beat Tennessee last year....you think the fact that the #12 team in the country beat the #15 team in the country means that the PAC 10 is better?

In 2006 Cal went to Tennessee and got beaten by 17 points. Last year Cal beat UT by 14. Parity often exists in college football.

Kind of like Stanford beating USC last year, which eventually kept them outa the national championship game.

We all could have seen USC and UGA play in the Rose Bowl last year...

[KnoxVegas]

In 2006, Cal scored two TD in the last three minutes, so the 14 points is a little misleading. For the record.

Please to tell me which network the Pac-10 has their contract with for football? Is it a national deal?

[bste_lax]

In 2006, Cal scored two TD in the last three minutes, so the 14 points is a little misleading. For the record.

Please to tell me which network the Pac-10 has their contract with for football? Is it a national deal?

Pac-10 has games on FSN and Versus and the random Game of the Week on ABC. But yes, they are not on CBS like the mighty SEC.

Talk to me when you get your own network (that no one in the state of Iowa gets on their cable).