Don't get me wrong, I have fun when it comes to pounding my chest when schools in my league win their bowl games, especially during the old Big East days.

But at the end of the day, do these exhibition games really matter? Yes the SEC West pounded their way back into supremacy (in the eyes of the media and fans). But one doesn't need to be a brain surgeon to know that the talent pool in the southeast is tremendous, just look at recent drafts. I just don't think these games are a true indication of conference strength. Every year we're in the mist of coaches being hired/fired during bowl season. Plus when we're going to give great coaches like Urban Myer, Harbaugh, and Nick Saban a month to prepare, they're going to exploit the weaknesses in their opponents (that's why they're great coaches). I'll agree that the SEC is heads and shoulders above the competition, but the B1G, ACC, B12, and PAC 12 are pretty much on par with each other. I think Ohio State would've fared better against Alabama because they can create some mismatches that Mich State can't. But hey, that's an opinion and you know what people say about opinions.

Hey it's football and we're in the mist of the holiday season. I hope everyone has a great new year.

If we didn't all the threads would consist of realignment pipe dreams and UCONN troll posts

I'd say that people probably put a little too much stock in bowl games. Case in point, the B12 is being destroyed right now but I wouldn't say that they're not a good football conference.

Happy New Year to you too C.P.!

Too much stock in the bowls? Absolutely But if the P5 played each other during the year it would mean even more. The bowls are the only comparison we have as long as everyone thinks they have to schedule patsies to get to 9 or 10 wins or to have a shot at the CFP. When a conference has a weak lower half you get situations like that of Michigan State and Iowa.

When you only play your own conference you get misleading statistics like with the Big 12. With them you seldom know how good they are until they have to match up with other conferences in the bowls.

At least the SEC & ACC have a lot of intersections, but usually only with the SEC East.

It is what it is.

(01-01-2016 11:42 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  If we didn't all the threads would consist of realignment pipe dreams and UCONN troll posts

Sad but true

(01-01-2016 11:44 PM)JRsec Wrote:  Happy New Year to you too C.P.!

Too much stock in the bowls? Absolutely But if the P5 played each other during the year it would mean even more. The bowls are the only comparison we have as long as everyone thinks they have to schedule patsies to get to 9 or 10 wins or to have a shot at the CFP. When a conference has a weak lower half you get situations like that of Michigan State and Iowa.

When you only play your own conference you get misleading statistics like with the Big 12. With them you seldom know how good they are until they have to match up with other conferences in the bowls.

At least the SEC & ACC have a lot of intersections, but usually only with the SEC East.

It is what it is.

FWIW, the Big 12 was 2-0 against the SEC in the regular season, against decent teams on the road, too.

In that regard, I definitely think we put too much into inter- conference games anytime, regular season or bowl games. Unfortunately in football with so few games it's all we have. But the low sample size of games in football is one of the reasons it can seem so random ( and fun to watch), since anything can happen.

The big bowl games are like super bowls momentum plays a bigger role than normal.
A lot of super bowls are blowouts the team trailing sometimes panics sometimes gives up uncharacteristically.

Still a good time to be a football fan.
ESPN has turned it into a competition between conferences.
Fans are put into the strange position of pulling for their rivals.

(01-01-2016 11:57 PM)MJG Wrote:  The big bowl games are like super bowls momentum plays a bigger role than normal.
A lot of super bowls are blowouts the team trailing sometimes panics sometimes gives up uncharacteristically.

Still a good time to be a football fan.
ESPN has turned it into a competition between conferences.
Fans are put into the strange position of pulling for their rivals.

SEC fans are the best at this because the South is so regional.
Hating Yankees and any thing North.is expected.
Despite the fact so many have ties to both regions.
Hating the Big Ten is a perfect example almost all of the conference was not involved in the civil war.
But their Northern so their damn Yankees even if their Midwesterners and not Yankees.

(01-02-2016 12:02 AM)MJG Wrote:  

(01-01-2016 11:57 PM)MJG Wrote:  The big bowl games are like super bowls momentum plays a bigger role than normal.
A lot of super bowls are blowouts the team trailing sometimes panics sometimes gives up uncharacteristically.

Still a good time to be a football fan.
ESPN has turned it into a competition between conferences.
Fans are put into the strange position of pulling for their rivals.

SEC fans are the best at this because the South is so regional.
Hating Yankees and any thing North.is expected.
Despite the fact so many have ties to both regions.
Hating the Big Ten is a perfect example almost all of the conference was not involved in the civil war.
But their Northern so their damn Yankees even if their Midwesterners and not Yankees.

With the exception of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and now New Jersey you are correct. But in the last few years of the war most of the Union forces were Irish conscripts fresh off the boat. So maybe we should hate Notre Dame as well! But wait, most of us do!

Seriously, ESPN has pushed it to gin up must watch contests that energize the two largest and most active fan bases in the nation. My family is from the South but I spent a goodly number of years in Canada and Michigan. I pulled for Sparty back then. Duffy was great and the contests with Notre Dame epic. But now the marketing ploy is national audience so animosity, or envy have to be ginned up.

Midwesterners are most definitely Yankees.

(01-02-2016 12:02 AM)MJG Wrote:  

(01-01-2016 11:57 PM)MJG Wrote:  The big bowl games are like super bowls momentum plays a bigger role than normal.
A lot of super bowls are blowouts the team trailing sometimes panics sometimes gives up uncharacteristically.

Still a good time to be a football fan.
ESPN has turned it into a competition between conferences.
Fans are put into the strange position of pulling for their rivals.

SEC fans are the best at this because the South is so regional.
Hating Yankees and any thing North.is expected.
Despite the fact so many have ties to both regions.
Hating the Big Ten is a perfect example almost all of the conference was not involved in the civil war.
But their Northern so their damn Yankees even if their Midwesterners and not Yankees.

Incorrect. Around here anything north of Rock Hill is yankee territory. Alaskans are damn yankeecicles.

I'm not a Yankee, I'm a Yinzer

(01-02-2016 12:48 AM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  I'm not a Yankee, I'm a Yinzer

Yinzer is just a subset of Yankee. That's like saying you are from L.A. (Lower Alabama). You're still an Alabamian, just a rougher one.

This thread

(01-02-2016 12:51 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(01-02-2016 12:48 AM)ClairtonPanther Wrote:  I'm not a Yankee, I'm a Yinzer

Yinzer is just a subset of Yankee. That's like saying you are from L.A. (Lower Alabama). You're still an Alabamian, just a rougher one.

(01-02-2016 12:53 AM)shere khan Wrote:  

This thread

(01-02-2016 12:53 AM)shere khan Wrote:  

This thread

LOL Good one, shere

(01-02-2016 12:02 AM)MJG Wrote:  

(01-01-2016 11:57 PM)MJG Wrote:  The big bowl games are like super bowls momentum plays a bigger role than normal.
A lot of super bowls are blowouts the team trailing sometimes panics sometimes gives up uncharacteristically.

Still a good time to be a football fan.
ESPN has turned it into a competition between conferences.
Fans are put into the strange position of pulling for their rivals.

SEC fans are the best at this because the South is so regional.
Hating Yankees and any thing North.is expected.
Despite the fact so many have ties to both regions.
Hating the Big Ten is a perfect example almost all of the conference was not involved in the civil war.
But their Northern so their damn Yankees even if their Midwesterners and not Yankees.

Both Big10 new year's 6 reps got destroyed. Lmao.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

OP, most of it is just stupidity. The SEC got their asses crushed in the previous two bowl seasons for New Year's 6 type bowl games and SEC fans couldn't stand it. This year Bama plays for the title again and they act like all 14 SEC teams are Bama again. It is pure stupidity.

Ole Miss got obliterated last year against TCU in their bowl game so they came ready to play this year so they would avoid getting embarrassed again.

The B1G finished the bowl season with a 2-1 record against the Pac 12. You don't see me bragging about that. Three out of the four B1G power brands have won their bowl games so far and PSU plays today. You don't see me bragging about it.

When you have nothing going on in life in the south besides eating fried food and cheering for other teams better than your own, that is what leads to this level of stupidity.

(01-02-2016 09:19 AM)Nebraskafan Wrote:  The B1G finished the bowl season with a 2-1 record against the Pac 12. You don't see me bragging about that. Three out of the four B1G power brands have won their bowl games so far and PSU plays today. You don't see me bragging about it.

Maybe that's because the B1G's two top teams got annihilated in their two biggest bowl games?