JRsec
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RE: SEC Dynasty: SEC playing for national title for 16th time in past 15 years
(01-13-2021 03:21 PM)BePcr07 Wrote: (01-13-2021 01:39 PM)JRsec Wrote: (01-13-2021 10:27 AM)quo vadis Wrote: (01-13-2021 10:22 AM)schmolik Wrote: (01-13-2021 10:05 AM)quo vadis Wrote: That's 11 national titles for the SEC in the past 15 seasons.
That's not only unprecedented generally, it's unprecedented for the SEC as well. The SEC has won a total of 22 AP national titles, and 11, half of them, have come in the last 15 years.
Between 1936 and 2006, a full 70 years, the SEC won 11 AP titles.
Of course 6 of those 11, 6 of the last 8, and 5 of the last 6 SEC national championships were won by Alabama. I know LSU was last year but giving the SEC credit for all the national championships is like saying the ACC is a power conference in college football because of Clemson or the Big Ten is because of Ohio State.
Yes, while Alabama has won six of them, but that means other SEC teams have won five. Both Florida and LSU have won two in that time, which Alabama aside, only Clemson has matched.
So compared to other conference dynasties in major sports, like say the PAC winning a bunch of hoops titles in the 1960s and 1970s, all won by UCLA, that is IMO a lot of diversity.
The better question Quo would be when was the last national championships won in the PAC, Big 12, SEC, Big 10 and ACC by a team other than U.S.C., Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio State, or Clemson?
L.S.U., Texas, and Florida State immediately jump to mind. With L.S.U. being a year ago, Florida State in 2013, and Texas in the BCS era within the last 20 years. But, I can't recall the last team other than Ohio State for the Big 10 going back to Michigan and Schembechler days.
BCS/CFP Era - 23 Years
Champions (23)
6x - Alabama
3x - LSU
2x - Clemson, Florida, Florida St, Ohio St
1x - Auburn, Oklahoma, Miami, Tennessee, Texas, USC
Runners-Up (23)
3x - Ohio St, Oklahoma
2x - Alabama, Clemson, Florida St, Oregon
1x - Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Texas, USC, Virginia Tech
Semi-Finalists (14)
4x - Oklahoma
2x - Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio St
1x - Alabama, Florida St, Michigan St, Washington
Total Appearances in BCS Championships & CFP Playoffs (60)
9x - Alabama
8x - Oklahoma
7x - Ohio St
6x - Clemson
5x - Florida St
4x - LSU
3x - Notre Dame
2x - Auburn, Florida, Miami, Oregon, Texas, USC
1x - Georgia, Michigan St, Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Washington
Half of the total appearances (30): Alabama, Clemson, Ohio St, Oklahoma
Half of the total appearances (30): 15 other schools
By Conference:
Champions (23)
13x - SEC
4x - ACC
2x - B1G, XII
1x - PAC, BIG EAST
Runners-Up (23)
5x - SEC, XII
4x - ACC
3x - B1G, PAC
2x - BIG EAST
1x - IND
Semi-Finalists (14)
4x - ACC, XII
3x - B1G
1x - SEC, PAC, IND
Total Appearances in BCS Championships & CFP Playoffs (60)
19x - SEC
12x - ACC
11x - XII
8x - B1G
5x - PAC
3x - BIG EAST
2x - IND
Like all statistics if you expand the parameters or shorten them you can make whatever case you wish. However, if you look at 23 years then 16 years you see where the strength is consolidating. For the last 5 years it has been a Clemson and Alabama world with an interruption by L.S.U.. But the SEC has won 11 of the last 15 with 4 different schools winning.
If you really want to see where the power is consolidated then confine the champions to the States of Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana and drop the conference affiliation. What you are witnessing very clearly is a consolidation of football strength in a very small region of the country, but one in which high school football is still a religion. What this represents is quantitative proof that it not only is becoming a regional sport, but has become a regional sport.
Now if you look at the whole BCS / CFP era you can see that there is still strength in the states of Oklahoma and Texas and that Ohio is still strong as well, but with minor exceptions not enough to overcome schools located in the Deep Southeast. This isn't a statement of SEC superiority, but rather a very clear picture of the power centers of the game and they are far from nationwide.
In this era Southern Cal was the only school outside of the states mentioned to claim a title, and I believe that one was evacuated due to sanctions, though still listed. Other winners Miami and Texas were within the states listed.
Now two conclusions can be drawn from this:
1. The talent gap between these states and all others is massive and Oho State which is in a strong state also recruits the Southeast heavily, especially Florida.
2. It calls into question the AP / UPI latter years when many Southern and Southwestern teams were very strong but passed over in the polls by the majority of sportswriters who were on the West Coast and in the Northeast. I mention this to say that the polling system may obscure how early the shift in strength actually began.
The public is catching up to this and it is affecting TV ratings, although politics and the virus have affected interest as well, I still see the regionality of the game being the major factor at play in the decline.
So what would fix this? We really need to move to P4 of regional conferences and have a champs only playoff, or an 8 team playoff with champs only and 4 at large. At least it would keep all 4 regions involved through the first round and increase their interest in watching the whole playoff. Competitiveness won't be improved because it doesn't address the underlying cultural changes that have brought this about, but including schools from other regions would at least keep it profitable.
But the proof of action is this years game. And the dominance of the Southeast in a 4 team playoff is too condensed to keep interest.
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