On just sayin...
Stewart Mandel gives us the tired Big Ten is slow, SEC is too fast thing, again.
So you will now be treated to me telling you again -- Tennessee was supposed to be too fast for Penn State, and Arkansas was supposed to be too fast for Wisconsin. I'm not as much of a fan of Scirotto as I was before his arrest, but his football skills are not in question -- ask those blazing fast SEC receivers why they couldn't get beyond the plodding Big Ten DBs from Penn State and how it felt to get absolutely leveled by Scirotto.
You can even watch the highlights for yourself. They start with Corso & Herbstreit giving us the "SEC speed will lead Tennessee over PSU" line in the pregame. Then, what do we see? (Besides the final score, that is)
Well, Butler blowing by Tenn DBs, Williams blowing by Tenn DBs, Scirotto blowing up the Tenn receiver (see it repeated three times from three angles at the 1:22 mark), Tenn's QB getting sacked like 8 times by the slow as molasses Jay Alford and Poz, the Tenn back getting caught by Poz on a screen behind the line of scrimmage, not a single Tenn player catching up to the dead slow PSU DB returning the fumble, and just for good measure, Tony Hunt running over every defender that tried to tackle him.
Penn State is in the Big Ten. Tennessee is in the SEC. STOP SAYING THE SEC IS ACROSS THE BOARD MORE SKILLED THAN THE BIG TEN. When their winning percentage hits 1.000 I'll buy it. Until an SEC team beats Penn State, I can say with just as much justification that the Big Ten's speed is too much for the SEC. I can also say the Big Ten's toughness is too much for the SEC.
So you will now be treated to me telling you again -- Tennessee was supposed to be too fast for Penn State, and Arkansas was supposed to be too fast for Wisconsin. I'm not as much of a fan of Scirotto as I was before his arrest, but his football skills are not in question -- ask those blazing fast SEC receivers why they couldn't get beyond the plodding Big Ten DBs from Penn State and how it felt to get absolutely leveled by Scirotto.
You can even watch the highlights for yourself. They start with Corso & Herbstreit giving us the "SEC speed will lead Tennessee over PSU" line in the pregame. Then, what do we see? (Besides the final score, that is)
Well, Butler blowing by Tenn DBs, Williams blowing by Tenn DBs, Scirotto blowing up the Tenn receiver (see it repeated three times from three angles at the 1:22 mark), Tenn's QB getting sacked like 8 times by the slow as molasses Jay Alford and Poz, the Tenn back getting caught by Poz on a screen behind the line of scrimmage, not a single Tenn player catching up to the dead slow PSU DB returning the fumble, and just for good measure, Tony Hunt running over every defender that tried to tackle him.
Penn State is in the Big Ten. Tennessee is in the SEC. STOP SAYING THE SEC IS ACROSS THE BOARD MORE SKILLED THAN THE BIG TEN. When their winning percentage hits 1.000 I'll buy it. Until an SEC team beats Penn State, I can say with just as much justification that the Big Ten's speed is too much for the SEC. I can also say the Big Ten's toughness is too much for the SEC.
posted by Chris at 10:40 PM
7 Comments:
When a top-ranked SEC team loses to AA squad at home, then we can talk.
PS - You were conspicuously silent last year when the media was sucking off the Big Ten by saying Michigan and Ohio State were obviously the two best teams in the country and it was a pity they didn't face off in the championship game. For the record, both teams got beat soundly.
I was actively rooting against Ohio State. I'm glad that Florida won.
But I will say it again. Florida over OSU and whatever SEC team beat UM (I don't even remember) does not mean that SEC > Big Ten.
Call me when the SEC has a winning percentage of 1.000 over every other conference. Until then you can bring up Florida / OSU all you want but I can say that the Big Ten clearly is faster and tougher than the SEC because Tenn & Arkansas couldn't beat Wisconsin or Penn State.
Your argument about Appalachian State even furthers my argument. App St > UM > PSU, but PSU > UT. So by the transitive property of football, Tennessee got beat by a team that got beat by a team that got beat by a team from 1-AA. So tell me again how the SEC is clearly head and shoulders above everyone else?
You, Herbstreit, Corso and whoever else can keep believing the myth, but the facts show that in recent years PSU has played SEC teams in bowls over and over again and has a winning record. And this has been in years that PSU was mediocre in the Big Ten and was an underdog going into the Bowl. Everyone picked Tennessee over PSU because of the famed SEC speed, and like I said, go watch the highlights. I saw play after play after play where the PSU guys outright beat their faster SEC counterparts.
"Your argument about Appalachian State even furthers my argument. App St > UM > PSU, but PSU > UT. So by the transitive property of football, "
That's a silly argument since you end going in circles. For one thing, PSU would have beat MIchigan had the game been in State College. There's barely a transitive property in sports. By that reasoning Georgetown Kentucky is a BCS team (they beat Wofford, Wofford beat Appy State, etc.) But you and I both know PSU would destroy Georgetown Kentucky.
No one is saying that every SEC team is better than every Big Ten team. What they are saying is that the SEC, top to bottom, is the best conference in the country. You have a defending national champ (Florida), a team unraked in the preseason that just knocked off a Big East power (Kentucky), the champ from a few years ago (LSU). Six ranked teams. An no one in the SEC is pushover. Even Ole Miss, the worst team in the conference, played Florida close. Every week is a monster matchup with a potential for an upset. Look at Florida's schedule -- they have seven teams that have beaten them within the last few years.
Meanwhile, in the Big Ten, Northwestern is a joke, Minnesota lost to Bowling Green, Michigan has collapsed, PSU just lost to Michigan, Indiana looks weak. Ohio State might be one of the best teams in the country, but the depth of the BIg Ten is not to be found. OSU just pounded Northwestern, they'll certaintly walk all over Minnesota. PSU, Wisconsin, Michigan and perhaps MSU could give them good games.
The separation betwene the best and worst teams is bigger in the Big Ten than in the SEC.
You're just too sensitive on the subject of the Big Ten that you perceive everything as a slight against PSU. Look at the Big Ten top to bottom, look at the SEC top to bottom and ask yourself which conference is better.
(Michigan lost to USC, BTW, not an SEC team).
PS - Sagarin, among others, thinks the Pac-10 is the best conference in the country.
But see you're missing my point. Mandel isn't saying the SEC is the best conference top to bottom. Nor are Corso and Herbstreit.
They are saying that the Big Ten can't compete with SEC speed. Corso & Herbstreit picked Tennessee to beat PSU in the bowl last year specifically because of the so called "SEC speed".
My point is that this is a myth. No single team or conference has a lock on speed. The range of athletic ability among players is pretty evenly matched.
Some folks are claiming that Florida over OSU proves that the SEC is too fast for the Big Ten. My point is that this is complete BS because if that is all it takes as proof, then PSU over Tennessee should be just as valid proof that the Big Ten is too fast for the SEC.
I don't care what people say about the strength of the SEC. What I'm saying is that I'm tired of the whole "SEC is too fast for everyone else" mythology.
"I don't care what people say about the strength of the SEC. What I'm saying is that I'm tired of the whole "SEC is too fast for everyone else" mythology."
On that, we agree. I don't think speed is the reason the SEC is good. It's a cheapass fallback that replaces real analysis. And I think you could make the case that the Pac-10 is just as good (and just as speedy).
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