AP
1. That the SEC was vastly overrated this year. It's funny to think that just a few months ago, people were asking me whether the SEC would ever relinquish its spot as the nation's preeminent conference. If you've been reading me for any period of time, you know I preach that conference strength is cyclical (see: preseason preview) and that every league has its ups and downs from year to year. The SEC has two fantastic teams this year in Alabama and Florida. But remember when there were five SEC teams in the Top 10? Umm ... not anymore.
First Auburn and Tennessee fell to pieces. Now we're seeing with each passing week that Georgia and LSU aren't what we thought they'd be. For all the Dawgs' talent, their injuries (and perhaps their damaged psyche from the Florida game) have caught up to them. For the second straight week, Georgia struggled to beat an inferior foe on the road, this time 17-13 at Auburn. Then there was LSU, falling behind 31-3 on its home field to ... Troy. Most telling of all: South Carolina, blown off the field at Florida, may still wind up in a New Year's bowl -- by default.
2. That Vanderbilt is going to a bowl! At least there's one great story amongst the SEC's mediocre middle. At long last, the Commodores' 26-year bowl drought is over. With a 31-24 win at Kentucky, Bobby Johnson's team broke a four-game losing streak and improved to 6-4. They should make it seven next week against woeful Tennessee. Even if they don't, Vandy is all but guaranteed a bowl slot. Barring a miracle finish by Auburn or Arkansas, the league will only produce eight bowl-eligible teams for nine spots (not including a likely second BCS berth).
While the 'Dores' offense has been anemic at times this season, their defense has been a constant, holding the Wildcats to 241 total yards Saturday. Leading the charge was potential All-American CB D.J. Moore, who had two interceptions, including a game-saver at the Vandy 17. Moore also played offense and made the first two catches of his career in the first quarter -- both for touchdowns. Finally, Johnson earns a tangible reward for taking a program that has now produced as many SEC wins the past four seasons (10) as it had in the decade prior to his arrival.
3. That Oregon State is inching closer to Pasadena. Facing their first formidable foe since early October, the Beavers (7-3, 6-1 Pac-10) dispatched Cal 34-21 to push their winning streak to five and now stand two wins away from earning their first Rose Bowl berth since 1965. The more games they play, the less fluky that USC upset seems. Just as it did against the Trojans, Oregon State rode RB Jacquizz Rodgers (144 yards on 27 carries) and a surprisingly stingy defense that held the Bears to 232 yards and QB Kevin Riley to 11-of-25 completions.
The Beavers are a solid, top-20 caliber team that got off to a slow start (2-3, including an opening loss to Stanford and a 45-14 blowout at Penn State). If in fact the Rose Bowl is on the line when Oregon State hosts the Civil War against Oregon in two weeks, I can't imagine the Beavers won't win. Their biggest roadblock will come next week at 6-4 Arizona, where the Wildcats have won six of their past seven home games. Arizona mounted a near-miraculous comeback at Oregon on Saturday, rallying from a 48-17 deficit to 48-45 before falling. If OSU wins there ... watch out.
4. That Colt McCoy is not down for the count. Over the past few weeks, the Texas quarterback has been beaten, bloodied (a split upper lip suffered in the Texas Tech game that has required antibiotics) and suddenly overshadowed in the Heisman race by Big 12 rivals Graham Harrell, Sam Bradford and Michael Crabtree. He suffered four sacks and threw a costly interception against the Red Raiders and threw two picks in a game for just the second time this season in last week's tougher-than-expected win over Baylor.
But the junior responded Saturday with one of his most complete performances of the season, going 24-of-34 for 255 yards, two touchdowns and no picks while rushing for 78 yards on a season-high 16 carries in a 35-7 win at Kansas. McCoy will still have trouble overtaking Harrell and Bradford, who square off next week. Of the three, he has the fewest passing yards (3,134) and touchdowns (30). But it's worth nothing that he remains on pace to shatter the NCAA record for completion percentage (currently 77.2) and remains his team's leading rusher (527 yards).
5. That Maryland is the new ACC frontrunner (for this week). The ACC race has become downright stupefying, with nine of the 12 teams still within a game of first place in their respective divisions, and the Terps are undoubtedly its strangest team. With a 17-15 win over No. 17 North Carolina on Saturday, Maryland not only took the lead in the Atlantic Division (thanks in part to losses by Florida State and Wake Forest) but became the only team in the country to beat four ranked foes. Never mind that they've also lost to Virginia (31-0) and Middle Tennessee.
The Terps don't exactly wow you -- they won Saturday despite going the last 43 minutes of the game without a touchdown -- but they control their own destiny heading into next week's game against 7-3 Florida State. Meanwhile, in the other division, Miami moved into first with its win over Virginia Tech, but the 'Canes will be hard-pressed to win at Georgia Tech this week. That division could well wind up in a four-way tie, in which the Hokies (provided they beat Duke and Virginia at home) would emerge the victor. Check back next week when this all changes again.
Cintia Dicker
Alison Preston
Did You See That?
Back in Time: July 3
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Geaux Tigers!!!
spiderz
Total Comments (17)
It is unclear to me how you can conclude that the SEC is overrated, Stewart. Teams in the SEC earn their rankings primarily on their record playing other teams in the SEC. They don't play elite teams from other conferences. Ditto for teams in the Big 12, Big 10, Pac-10 or any other conferences. Due to the paucity of inter-conference play I don't see how it is possible to conclude that the SEC is overrated or that the Big 12 is really good this year. For that matter, I simply cannot understand how it is possible to reasonable rank teams from different conferences.
SteveLD
Total Comments (382)
If Florida loses to Florida State and beats Bama - while Texas and Texas Tech both win out.....is it possible we could see a Texas, Texas Tech final game. 2-3 right now in the polls, they already played each other. Is there a rule preventing this matchup for the title? If not, why is nobody mentioning this?
Is it because they are all sold on the fact Florida or Bama will win out? That Florida will leapfrog Texas? Or that Texas Tech will lose to OU?
Is this possible?
Splorch
Gainesville , FL
Total Comments (59)
"Now we're seeing with each passing week that Georgia and LSU aren't what we thought they'd be."
Sorry, Stewart, in Louisiana, we all knew this would be a rebuilding year for LSU, especially after we lost Perrilloux last spring, with no one to replace him. Apart from all of Lee's pick-6s, I think we're rather pleased with the way things have gone, except for the first half against Troy, of course.
FarawayTiger
Total Comments (230)
And I am not sure losing by 50 to Florida, a juggernaut right now, means South Carolina is crap - or using that as a reason to say the SEC is down. This is a Carolina team that shut out NC State, dominated them; granted not a very good team, but the only non-conference game worth noting for them. All 4 losses are in conference. The reasoning is shaky.
This conference ranking and comparison game is nonsense. On any given day, any team can beat another. Boise has taught us this so talking about a "weak middle" or two elite teams or a one team Pac 10 is stupid.
Splorch
Gainesville , FL
Total Comments (59)
Talking down to us in the Mailbag last Wednesday Mandel asked, "Do all you people truly believe that Oregon State is going to beat Cal, Arizona and Oregon?" Now I read #3 above and Mandel seems to think he's the first to give Oregon State a chance to win the Pac 10. Next he can tell us, "I told you so" no matter what happens.
jelly donut
Total Comments (374)
The same way that people have concluded that the SEC is above all, the Big Ten is weak, the Big 12 has no defense, and the Big East/ACC suck in the past couple of years.
So, if you didn't post this exact paragraph when everybody was riding on the SEC's **** for the past couple of years, then you shouldn't now either.
misdreavus79
Bronx, NY
Total Comments (61)
Stewart, Virginia Tech does not play Clemson this year.
irmodb26
Marietta , GA
Total Comments (1)
Maryland is the new frontrunner? wow. I gave up on them weeks ago. Win against Wake Forest and NC, lose to Virginia and Eastern Michigan. How did their basketball team do last year? Weren't they inconsistent? I thought they were.
sportsguy333
Parkville , MD
Total Comments (106)
It's nice that Vandy is going to a bowl, though.
beachgator
Total Comments (401)
And GO TERPS!
beachgator
Total Comments (401)
The SEC is just as strong as ever, it just has two very, very dominant teams overshadowing everyone, and a good amount of parity below. Big deal.
beachgator
Total Comments (401)
I'm an avid UGA fan and SEC supporter. The SEC is vastly overrated this season.
I never would have expected that LSU's quarterback situation would be THIS bad. They have been killed by poor quarterback play.
Georgia, where do I begin. This season was the perfect storm for Georgia. Enter the season as #1, sustain a handful of critical injuries during pre-season and the first 25% of the year, have a very challenging schedule (teams and timing -- four consecutive road games starting in October and relatively long road games prior to our two biggest games), then consistently poor coaching. I suppose the only thing that can be said about Georgia is they are the most talented, underperforming team this season. Moreover, no one that followed Georgia expected the loss of Thomas Brown, Kelin Johnson and Marcus Howard to the NFL would be this problematic. Knowshon Moreno is a great running back, but a running game is deadly when you have two NFL backs spelling each other. We don't have that this season. Moreover we have failed to develop a consistent pass rush from the defensive ends.
The funny thing is, Florida's offense hasn't been winning their games. It has been special teams and defense creating turnovers and regularly putting their offense on a short field. And, as much as I hate to say it, Meyer coaches to win; this season he has taken gambles and they've paid off splendidly.
ceteris paribus
Athens , GA
Total Comments (172)
1) The Flroida Gators are STILL the best team in college football.
2) The Crimson Tide is the weakest #1 team in the last 10 years and WILL get crushed by the aforementioned Gators on Dec 6th.
3) Lou Holtz is literally stealing money from ESPN by being employed as an analyst while having not a single clue of what the 'f' he's talking about regarding ANYTHING college football(and looking like the biggest bunghole on national TV in the process).
4) The Irish were a dropped pass away from most likely needing OT to put away Navy and, contrary to what Coach Weis will have anyone believe, are most certainly without a doubt NOT moving in the right direction.
5) USC will NOT be playing in Pasadena come New Year's because Oregon State WILL.
vindawg555
Boynton Beach , FL
Total Comments (95)
Yes the SEC is overrated. The SEC's record against non-quality opponents is unimpressive. Tennessee losses to two very bad teams from other conferences. LSU almost going down to Troy. UF has victories over only two currently ranked opponents (LSU/UGA) both of which are overrated. Team rankings when you play them mean nothing. I see a Texax/Texas Tech rematch for the championship. UF loses to a bad Ole Miss team at home and Texas loses at end of game at Texas Tech.
Demontoo
Gainesville , FL
Total Comments (10)
I realize that LSU struggled for most of the game against Troy. However, that is a wonderful comeback for any team. Most teams would have folded not scored 30+ points in the last quarter or so. That shows you the strength of the SEC not their weekness. A team with lots of freshman talent that was too highly ranked for a while, but is still better than many others in the country. Lets see Utah, Boise State, or BYU stage a comeback like that after a tough week in week out schedule in the SEC. And I am not even a LSU fan, just a SEC fan.
tngtr100
Unicoi , TN
Total Comments (8)
Five Things We Learned
1. That the fact that Oreg St may be for real could be bad news for Tex Tech. If Oreg St goes to the Rose Bowl it frees up USC. Given a choice of USC, Ohio St or Tex Tech to make the most TV money it is not good for TexTech. TexTech had better win out.
2. Asked about last season's easy schedule Mark Mangino said that Kansas had done all expected of it in winning. In regard to this season he stated that Kansas does not control their Big 12 schedule. Sounds like bad news for Kansas until they can choose their own Big 12 schedule.
3. It probably won't happen but USC vs Tex Tech in the NC would be most interesting. You have Pete Carroll dedicated to a difficult ooc schedule for USC every year. You have Mike Leach and his program ranked recently in the top ten by ESPN for scheduling powderpuffs in the BCS era. You have Carroll going out of his way not to run up the score. You have Leach trying to hit 100 pts even against the aforementioned cupcakes. Never in the history of amateur sports championships has there been such disparate views regarding sportsmanship and fair play from the coaches. I am reminded that at the root of the word 'amateur' is love for the game. I don't think love for the game is exhibited by crushing weaklings.
4. Troy is a good example of the statement that the talent difference of the mid-majors can be enough to prevail over a top team (LSU) when that team is disappointed or down. Troy is also a good example of why a mid-major does not belong on the same field as a top team if the top team is on track.
5. Florida is one of a handful of teams that is strong on both sides of the ball. We learned that USC is another.
CharMit
Las Vegas , NM
Total Comments (1717)
i agree with previous comments that in-conference games are no basis for calibrating between conferences. sure you can argue that georgia is bad enough to barely beat auburn, but you can flip that to say that auburn was almost good enough to beat georgia, a top 5 team most of the year!
and if the SEC is bad, what can we say about other conferences? sure the big 12 has 3 good teams, but you can't judge a conference based only the top 3. the SEC has the #1 team, and 2 of the top 3; the big 12 has 3 out of top 5 (although OU's only quality wins thus far are TCU and cincinnati, of all programs). both SEC and Big12 have 4 in the top 25 (coaches' poll). and south carolina just dropped out, losing to the best team in the country. i don't see how that makes the SEC over-rated. i think everyone agrees that SEC and big12 are the top 2 conferences. how can you be over-rated and either 1st or 2nd?
zeiss
Total Comments (78)
Charmit:
We learned that USC is stong on both sides of the ball because they managed to finally pull away from Stanford in the second half? Hardly.
beachgator
Total Comments (401)
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