Quote:
Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar
Again, you're focusing solely on a few teams at the top of a 14 team league. They might be better at the very top, but that doesn't make the league as a whole better. And it doesn't mean that Missouri is facing a gauntlet every year, while KU is facing nobodies.
There have been some years in Big 12 basketball in which KU was facing a ranked team in every other game, including teams in the top 10. If another league has only one ranked team, but that team wins the tournament, was their league better and was the conference slate tougher?
|
Would it surprise you to know that in the 11 Natty’s that the SEC has won in the last 15 years, 6 different teams have hoisted the Trophy. That’s damn near half the conference (and was before Mizzou and TAM joined in 2012). So it hasn’t just been a couple of the same teams dominating every year. The only exception to that rule is Alabama. But Alabama has had ‘down years’ (by their standards) and other SEC teams have stepped up in their place to compete for a Natty when that’s happened. Hell, even Mizzou would have had a shot to play for a Natty in 2013 had they been able to beat Auburn. They hung with them for 3 quarters of the SEC Title Game, but ran out of gas in the 4th. But they were that close. It’s the whole idea of a ‘rising tide will lift all boats’ in action.
And that’s mainly due to the talent difference between the SEC, as a whole, and other conferences. Which all goes back to recruiting. I think it’s funny that so many people wonder why the SEC has been a dominant force in college football for so long. Just look at the recruiting rankings. You think a team like Mizzou could pull in a Top 15 class (and they did just that in 2022) in any other conference outside of the SEC? Fat chance.
Of the Top 20 recruiting classes in 2022, the SEC had 9 of them. The next closest was the ACC with 4, then the Big 10 with 3, the Big 12 with 2, PAC 12 with 1 and Notre Dame.
And that tells the story of why the SEC is ALWAYS playing for a Natty at the end of a season (often 2 teams). Because they play more talented teams in conference throughout the season.
It’s really not all that surprising.