SEC and ACC now tied

by Atlanta's original team on Sep 6, 2010 11:53 PM EDT

O.K., I just watched Virginia Tech blow a game against Boise State. I won't lie to you, this hurts the league's reputation. But here is what really hurts. The SEC has lost just as many out of conference games this young season as the ACC has. The problem is that the mythology of the SEC will ignore those loses while amplifying the ACC loses. For the record though the two conferences are now tied 2-2. I am just glad Maryland beat Navy now. Originally I was going to pull for Navy but had Maryland lost we would already be seeing stories about the demise of the ACC again this year.

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those

are very good points taken

This is my Family Tradition

by The_GT_LineageX11 on Sep 7, 2010 12:26 AM EDT reply actions

thanks

but I know that the counter argument will be that the SEC teams that lost were not their best teams. Of course that is true but it did not seem to hurt the reputation of SEC two years ago when Alabama got blown away by one those crazy mountain west teams.

by Atlanta's original team on Sep 7, 2010 1:02 AM EDT reply actions

but here is a prediciton for you

if Miami beats Ohio State (difficult to do buckeye land) most of the chatter by the pundits will not be about how good Miami is but how overrated Ohio State was.

by Atlanta's original team on Sep 7, 2010 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions

you're probably right, but...

i think even the most skeptical sports minds know that UNC was depleted and more than likely would have beaten LSU

also, VT ~~choking~~ losing to boise state is a far cry from losing to jacksonville state. sure ole miss isn’t their best team, but they won bowl games the last two years.

what will be interesting to see is if at the end of the season the computers have to pick between boise state and an undefeated ACC team. i fear it wouldn’t turn out in our favor.

45 - 42

by duckylummox on Sep 7, 2010 1:17 AM EDT reply actions

see my post on LSU very lucky

some of the people who responded to my other post argue that LSU was much better than UNC and / or that they were not mentally prepared for that game. I agree with you. UNC is loaded and if they put their full team on the field I don’t think anyone can hang with them. Of course, as I pointed out in my other post, they still have a boat load of mental problems to get over even if they do get most of their players back. Still, I hate that Tech will have to play two teams now (Va Tech and UNC) that both may have their worst games out of their systems and both of which will have something to prove.

by Atlanta's original team on Sep 7, 2010 7:31 AM EDT up reply actions

2-2 is nothing to be ashamed of

seeing how Va Tech came SO CLOSE to beating a Boise St team that is much better than anyone’s willing to give them credit for, and LSU lost that game even though the scoreboard had them ahead at the end. I’ve said it before and will say it again, and that’s that Boise St could hang with anyone in the country right now, and could probably beat Alabama 3 times out of 10, much less anyone else. And that LSU didn’t win by 30 points should be worrisome for Tiger fans, much less them coming THAT CLOSE to shitting their pants in front of everyone by losing to a UNC team missing 9 starters and 13 total players. That’s straight up embarassing. I’d consider Ole Miss’s loss to Jacksonville St and Vandy’s loss to Northwestern to be a lot worse than a near-miss by UNC against LSU and by VT against Boise.

by LilBroey700 on Sep 8, 2010 12:06 AM EDT reply actions

me too

but that feeling will not be reflected in the polls.

by Atlanta's original team on Sep 8, 2010 7:31 AM EDT up reply actions

This is actually a great opening weekend for the ACC...

Looking at conferences, all the ones that get no respect are the ones full of terrible teams that help “that one team” go undefeated and reach for the crystal football. The SEC has been better respected even in years when the champ has a loss since top to bottom it is perceived as better than the bottom-dwellers of the Pac 10, Big 12, Big East and even the Big 10. Now, for the last couple of years we’ve shown that the SEC’s bottom-dwellers are indeed poor teams by beating them up (GT over MSU and Vandy thoroughly and twice each). And Ole Miss and Vandy showed themselves to be somewhere between mediocre and terrible this weekend while, of course, the top of the SEC blew out its share of cupcakes. Now, the ACC’s top teams also blew out some cupcakes, and the top teams that played against other top teams played close and fast. Good games they both were. Here’s the thing – our bottom teams all won.

Conclusion – the ACC is at very least 12 good teams that are not yet great. This makes every Saturday tough. So, by not being a conference of “____ State/Tech” and the eleven dwarves we are automatically a tougher (therefore should be better respected) conference than the WAC, MWC, Big East, and Big 12. I say all it takes now is for ONE team to run through the conference undefeated and get to the MNC game for us to be a 2-BCS conference alongside Big 10 and SEC. We’re moving on up. Long post. Lulz.

by GT_Jason on Sep 8, 2010 2:45 PM EDT reply actions

That is an encouraging analysis

I would make one slight revision. Rather than having one team go undefeated (unless it is Tech) how about if just one of our teams knocks off somebody important -preferably in the regular season and in bowls.
FSU and Miami could both do us a lot of good this Saturday.

by Atlanta's original team on Sep 8, 2010 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions

The road to respect runs through the SEC

It may not be fair, but it’s true. The ultimate way to gain respect as a conference is to beat the SEC – and not just the celler dwellers. Wins against Alabama or Florida would be the gold standard. Wins against LSU, USC, UGA, Auburn, or Arkansas would be next. UK and TN or (maybe) Ole Miss and Miss St. are worth something, while beating Vandy ain’t a whole lot to talk about.

Conferences need to match strength for strength. Tech, Va Tech, Miami, UNC, or FSU need to beat Alabama or Florida to establish parity. It hurt the ACC pretty bad last year when both division champions had losses to mid-level SEC teams.

Right now, two of the ACC’s big boys have out-of-conference losses – one to the SEC. If your conference is the best, your best teams have to beat the best teams from other conferences.

Again, I’m just saying what I think is true, not what I think should be true.

by first and thom on Sep 9, 2010 1:10 PM EDT reply actions

I agree

but it always makes me wonder. Had UNC beaten LSU it would have made all of the difference in the world in terms of perception but it would not have been any more of an indicator of their strength than LSU’s win was.

So I hope that Miami beats Ohio State but I know should they win people will immediately question Ohio State’s strength rather than seeing the ACC as a strong conference -which it most certainly is.

by Atlanta's original team on Sep 9, 2010 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions

The Big X is also measured by the SEC

Ohio State has lost to too many SEC teams on the big stage.

Texas and Oklahoma esape SEC comparisons (even though OK lost to Alabama in the championship game last time), and sometimes the Pac-10 escapes – but not the ACC, Big X, or the Boise States of the world.

by first and thom on Sep 9, 2010 5:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Alabama is only 1-1

against out of conference bowl opponents the last two years. (and by the way it was Texas, not OK, but I knew what you meant.)

by Atlanta's original team on Sep 10, 2010 7:51 AM EDT reply actions

Sheesh, that was a dumb mistake I made.

And I heat what you’re saying about Alabama – but perception is a big deal. Alabama was playing without its starting left tackle and, more importantly, was playing in a let-down bowl that it didn’t care about. Heck: Alabama lost to La Tech in 2007.

Are those excuses? Yes. Can they be proven? Of course not. Would teams from other conferences get the same benefit of the doubt? No. Double standard? Yes. But that’s the perception.

by first and thom on Sep 10, 2010 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions