It is Mid-October and there are over 10 teams still in serious contention for the Title

We thought you were dead
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I think you are starting to see the translation. SEC teams are getting hyped because of their recruiting rankings, OOC wins, and when they beat one of the elite SEC programs (like Alabama or Georgia).

There is an advantage to playing in the SEC, even if you are mid-tier, because if you upset a big team, like Tennessee did with Alabama this weekend, you get a lot of love. Of course the disadvantage is that you also can get beat more often and have worse records by playing these teams so it is a mixed bag.

Granted a B1G team would get the same love if they beat Ohio State as well. When people are saying the SEC is the strongest league, they are not saying Vandy is going to go into other leagues and compete, I think they are saying that it has typically 2-3 of the best teams that year and general 3-4 middle teams that can challenge them. The ACC and B1G have far less parity with Clemson and Ohio State dominating (although Michigan is rising). Big12 has a lot more parity but you really don't have a team at the level of Alabama and Georgia. Pac12 is interesting this year but in past years, they fit the description of the Big12. I do think there are some greater caliber teams in Pac12 this year although most (like USC) tend to be building for future. Too bad Pac12 is breaking up with the LA schools leaving because it is making some noise for first time in 4-5 years (a little while back, you had Oregon, both Washingtons, and Stanford playing good ball regularly).
Pretty good summation. There have definitely been some ebbs and flows recent years. The Pac-12 looks very solid this year, arguably the 2nd best P5 conference. Meanwhile, the SEC and B1G are down (especially the B1G). I'm actually really excited for this bowl season. It's been a very unpredictable year already and we're only halfway through.
 
I think you are starting to see the translation. SEC teams are getting hyped because of their recruiting rankings, OOC wins, and when they beat one of the elite SEC programs (like Alabama or Georgia).

There is an advantage to playing in the SEC, even if you are mid-tier, because if you upset a big team, like Tennessee did with Alabama this weekend, you get a lot of love. Of course the disadvantage is that you also can get beat more often and have worse records by playing these teams so it is a mixed bag.

Granted a B1G team would get the same love if they beat Ohio State as well. When people are saying the SEC is the strongest league, they are not saying Vandy is going to go into other leagues and compete, I think they are saying that it has typically 2-3 of the best teams that year and general 3-4 middle teams that can challenge them. The ACC and B1G have far less parity with Clemson and Ohio State dominating (although Michigan is rising). Big12 has a lot more parity but you really don't have a team at the level of Alabama and Georgia. Pac12 is interesting this year but in past years, they fit the description of the Big12. I do think there are some greater caliber teams in Pac12 this year although most (like USC) tend to be building for future. Too bad Pac12 is breaking up with the LA schools leaving because it is making some noise for first time in 4-5 years (a little while back, you had Oregon, both Washingtons, and Stanford playing good ball regularly).

Bama UGA & Tennessee would challenge any conference this year. Im not even arguing that.

I don't think you can say the team for any of the other SEC teams though. Ole Miss is scraping by garbage teams. Their ranking is a lot more of a product of who they've played rather than them actually being a upper level team.

So the SEC has 3 teams while the others mostly have 2 (or 1 in the ACCs case)
 
Bama UGA & Tennessee would challenge any conference this year. Im not even arguing that.

I don't think you can say the team for any of the other SEC teams though. Ole Miss is scraping by garbage teams. Their ranking is a lot more of a product of who they've played rather than them actually being a upper level team.

So the SEC has 3 teams while the others mostly have 2 (or 1 in the ACCs case)
Can't wait for the UGA/Tenn game. For their sake though, Tenn better not be looking past UK. I know they're not at their best this year but they're capable of pulling off the upset if things bounce their way.
 
Bama UGA & Tennessee would challenge any conference this year. Im not even arguing that.

I don't think you can say the team for any of the other SEC teams though. Ole Miss is scraping by garbage teams. Their ranking is a lot more of a product of who they've played rather than them actually being a upper level team.

So the SEC has 3 teams while the others mostly have 2 (or 1 in the ACCs case)

Ole Miss is ranked #9 because they are unbeaten. All of the unbeaten Power 5 teams are ranked in top 15 with the exception of maybe Syracuse. I agree the ACC probably deserves a little more love this year. I think they are the only league that can really bitch though, most of the rest of the teams are pretty accurate. Also bitching about North Carolina is a no starter because they haven't played very many good teams and barely skated by plus they have the loss to Notre Dame.

I do think Tennessee should be behind Clemson. I don't agree with Tennessee fans that we should be #1, etc. We have had issues on defense that have kept games close that really should have been blown outs (i.e. Florida). We also saw one game where our offense did sputter (at least for a half) against Pittsburgh. That is always a risk with Tennessee. Then again, that was very early in the season when we didn't have the chemistry we got now.
 
Ole Miss is ranked #9 because they are unbeaten. All of the unbeaten Power 5 teams are ranked in top 15 with the exception of maybe Syracuse. I agree the ACC probably deserves a little more love this year. I think they are the only league that can really bitch though, most of the rest of the teams are pretty accurate. Also bitching about North Carolina is a no starter because they haven't played very many good teams and barely skated by plus they have the loss to Notre Dame.

I do think Tennessee should be behind Clemson. I don't agree with Tennessee fans that we should be #1, etc. We have had issues on defense that have kept games close that really should have been blown outs (i.e. Florida). We also saw one game where our offense did sputter (at least for a half) against Pittsburgh. That is always a risk with Tennessee. Then again, that was very early in the season when we didn't have the chemistry we got now.

Clemson reminds me of FSU in 2014. They'll probably go undefeated, but they'll also probably get wrecked in the semi final.

North Carolina is the worst 1 loss P5 team remaining

They shoulda lost to App State
Barely beat Georgia State
Barely beat Duke, scored a TD with like 20 seconds left to win that game
Held off Miami late to win by 3
 
Clemson reminds me of FSU in 2014. They'll probably go undefeated, but they'll also probably get wrecked in the semi final.

North Carolina is the worst 1 loss P5 team remaining

They shoulda lost to App State
Barely beat Georgia State
Barely beat Duke, scored a TD with like 20 seconds left to win that game
Held off Miami late to win by 3

According to @RubinRock, they should have been ranked in top 10 and are a playoff contender.
 
Syracuse is in the same boat as Ole Miss.

Undefeated but they've scraped by some meh teams. Had close calls with Purdue and Virginia.

Their best win is against NC State who was playing their backup QB.
 
Syracuse is in the same boat as Ole Miss.

Undefeated but they've scraped by some meh teams. Had close calls with Purdue and Virginia.

Their best win is against NC State who was playing their backup QB.

True. I think one main reason Ole Miss is ahead of Syracuse (and it isn't SEC) is because Ole Miss won 10 games last year and they started in preseason top 25 (granted as #23) so they moved up faster due to already being in the rankings.
 
Can't wait for the UGA/Tenn game. For their sake though, Tenn better not be looking past UK. I know they're not at their best this year but they're capable of pulling off the upset if things bounce their way.
Kentucky with Levis is dangerous. Without Levis they can’t score.
 
According to @RubinRock, they should have been ranked in top 10 and are a playoff contender.

Did he really say this? Lol

They gave up 45 points and damn near 600 yards to a putrid ND offense.

125th in yards allowed per game and 110th in points allowed per game.

Stroud & Hooker would go ape shit on that defense.
 
Clemson reminds me of FSU in 2014. They'll probably go undefeated, but they'll also probably get wrecked in the semi final.

North Carolina is the worst 1 loss P5 team remaining

They shoulda lost to App State
Barely beat Georgia State
Barely beat Duke, scored a TD with like 20 seconds left to win that game
Held off Miami late to win by 3
That's a really good comparison with Clemson and FSU. Hell, they struggled to put away Furman. Their defense is not the defense of old, and their offense has yet to play a real defense. If they were playing lights out football it'd be one thing, but I just don't see them as a legit contender.
 
Kentucky with Levis is dangerous. Without Levis they can’t score.

They will have Levis and they have an off week while Tennessee plays UT Martin. Tennessee will get back Cedric Tillman for the game so it should be interesting. I think Tennessee wins fairly easy but it isn't an easy matchup by any means. I think UK would have a better shot if it wasn't in Lexington. Tennessee fanbase is fired up as well and will show up in force again.
 
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