I get all the arguments, honestly. I understand that the lack of an "SEC network" gives ESPN more of an incentive to report positively on them, I understand oversigning, hell I'll even acknowledge that my exchanges with SEC fans makes me realize that they are (at least the ones on the internet) extremely unpleasant. My question for the fine folks at 11W, is that, even given all the things I just listed, is there really a reason for all this hate?
1. Yes, the SEC is the benificiary of (only very slight, in my opinion) media bias, but thats not their fault. Would anyone in their right mind ask for more negative press?
2. oversigning is a factor in the SEC's success, but you're lying to yourself if you think thats the only reason you dislike them. Remember how much you hated urban in 2006? That guy never oversigned once.
3. Is it perhaps the perception of it being a "thug league"? Personally, I never bought it. Miami, and therefore the ACC, would make a much better case for "thug conferences." Look at UNC as well, where's the ACC hate? Its not like the b10 is even close to being clean either. Especially in the last few years, if you didn't know any better, you'd think the b10 was the ruthless league that bent rules for the well being of the football team.
4. I know SEC fans on the internet are insufferable, but in all honesty, aren't we all? You read the comments on any osu article on espn and you will be ashamed of your fellow fans.
I'll still always root against the SEC, but only because they are the current ruler of cfb. But I don't resent their success, and I think its unbecoming of well, all of us, to whine about the SEC all the time.
Hope y'all don't rip me apart for this, I'm just a pacifist man
I don't like the oversigning deal (although I'm fine with signing more than 25 guys, just not with going over the 85 limit) or the whole " SEC SEC SEC" chant. Other than that, I could care less. They've dominated college football because they have had the best coaching staffs the past 6 years, and people just get jealous.
ROCKHBUCK won the internet today. We hate the SEC because their fans are trolls, and nothing more. Even on the remotely intelligent blogs, they're still trolls.
"I like to kick Michigan's ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum."
^No, but ok.
'f y'all ain't cheatin', y'all ain't tryin'.
* Oversigning which equates to a consistent on-field advantage. To be fair as someone else pointed out, not every SEC team does this. Florida under Meyer was very good about not oversigning -- they earned their two titles fair and square. But LSU and Alabama are two teams I don't have much respect for due to this practice. Are they well-coached? Absolutely. Do they have an unfair advantage over non-SEC teams? Absolutely. Is that the only reason they win? Of course not. Is it a big part of it, though? Absolutely. When you are allowed to use medical hardships and basically just getting rid of players who aren't performing quite as well as you'd like so you can make room for another 5-star recruit, that is just wrong. I'm glad other conferences make coaches jump through a lot of hoops to do that kind of stuff. Just as an example when we beat Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, they had signed 30 more players than we had in that 4-year period. 30! That's more than an entire recruiting class. And people dare to say that WE had the competitive advantage because of tattoos. That is one reason I will always look fondly upon that game. We beat a team that had a massive advantage over us and came out on top. I will always give credit to our 2010 squad for that because that was not an easy game to win, especially deep in SEC country.
* Serious violations with minimal to no consequences. I could list link after link on this kind of stuff but it's just not worth my time. Cam Newton's scandal is well-known. Everyone knows his dad got payed and they got away with it with a "loop hole" in NCAA rules and doing a good job hiding the "bag man". Alabama gets away with renovating local high schools under the guise of "bowl practice" where a couple of 5-star recruits just happen to reside. Alabama's suit scandal. No penalties. South Carolina paying thousands upon thousands of dollars in recruiting violations to allow players / recruits to live in hotels. Slap on the wrist, no post-season ban. The list just goes on and on.
* Dirty, immoral coaches like Saban / Miles. This piggy backs on the oversigning, but just the way they treat their players once they decide to get rid of them. Part of the problem is that the parents of these kids don't do the research to look past the fake smiles, handshakes, and promises to take care of their kids for 4 years, but ultimately the blame lies with those dirty coaches, and the NCAA needs to level the playing field in this regard.
When ESPN posts an article called "Top 10 SEC scandals of the past 5 years" you might have a problem. But IMO Razer killed it on why we hate
Well the Big X/SEC has a huge rivalry anyway to start. I mean if you listened to media outlets you'd think the SEC had an 80/20 advantage in the bowl games. It's actually pretty even up to the last 2-3 years and rivalry = hate often as evidenced by OSU/Michigan.
Next, ESPN has been hawking them out, and since ESPN is basically a monopoly in the industry, they have full power over it all and now we are forced to watch 3 SEC games every single weekend in primetime. This weekend we get LSU/Washington, Arkansas/Lousiana Monroe, and Georgia/Missouri. I'm fine with UGA/Mizzou being on primetime since it's a big game, but the others could be noon or 3:30 starts like everyone else. Primetime games means bigger audiences, meaning more money to the network meaning more publicity to the conference.
Third, they're better than us top to bottom. The Big X at it's strongest probably could stand with the SEC with powers like OSU/Mich/Neb/Wisky/PSU, but 3 of those programs need to be very good to elite every year, with the other 2 rotating in every couple of years.
Because they've won six NCs in a row. It gets old. I live in the south and they act like they invented the game of football down here. It's like they are reenacting the civil war every Saturday and finally winning.
Live in the south as a Buckeye fan and you will understand why we should hate the SEC...
With that said... I'm not a conference fan at all... Yes I said that... Not a B1G fan either... I'm a Buckeye fan and that's it.
I'll admit 6 NC's in a row does get old and tiring but I have no problem with the SEC. Theyre the dominant conference and thats why so many people dislike them. But to me thats the definition of a "hater". Sure their fans are cocky and arrogant but so are we lol. People say bad stuff about OSU fans all the time. And oversigning is not why the SEC is so good. Sure they may over sign a few players but thats not why they have been so good. Its nothing but good coaching and talent. Players want to play in the SEC because its preceived to be the best conference. Times will change but when you have a conference with a $hitload of big name schools your going to attract alot of talent. Big time recruits dont want to go to Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Northwestern, etc. They want to go to fair weather schools like UGA, Florida, LSU, Bama, Auburn, South Carolina, etc. Its the south so alot of players will be attracted to the weather before any talk about football even occurs. These are 18-23yr old young men and like it or not the thought of pretty girls walking around in bikinis and little to no clothing does cross their minds. I dont like seeing the SEC sitting at the top of the hill, but until someone knocks them off they deserve to hold the flag....
I don't like the SEC because of mostly their fans. They act like football never existed before 2003! Conferences dominate at certain times and the B1G had its share of domination. But when they talk like the SEC will be like this forever, come on!
and I typically can care less about conference affiliation, SEC fans are fans of all their teams so you feel compelled to root for each B1G team because they hold it against you. It's not Florida who has won 2 NC in the past 6 years, its SEC WON THE LAST 6! Everyone right now is talking about how lowly the B1G is and OSU is included in that, because of Michigan losing to Bama. That is what infuriates me! My team and myself are being held accountable for UM? What Denard does or doesn't do against Bama is on me? Only record I care about is OSU's record against SEC teams, which will change verrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy soooooooooon! I don't care about the B1G record against the SEC!
It may be 1-10 (yes I count 2010 cus it happened! OSU won, deal with it!) but soon it will be 10-0!
We need to try to distnguish between the irrational "hating" versus rational reasons why the Big Ten and SEC might have a semi-adversarial relationship (in reality, these two rational/irrational sides are intertwined).
There is no way to rationalize the "hating." As long as its within the bounds of sanity and isn't destructive, etc., a certain amount of hating adds to the flavor of the game and to cfb culture(s), but it completely defies rational analyses.
On the other hand, the economic semi-rivalry between the Big Ten and the SEC is real and serious and relfects rationally-calculated conflicting interests. You've touched on several of these, yourself, although you only skim the surfaces.
I'm guessing that some of the folks in the Big Ten "front office" understand that, in some respects, improving the positition of the Big Ten involves undermining the posiition of their semi-competitors in the SEC (not everthing in life is a win-win situation, kumbaya and all that). These front office folks are not "hating on" the SEC, even as they're trying to weaken the SEC. It's business.
I will offer this one anecdote in support of SEC hatred (so maybe it's not all irrationally-motivated): in the weeks leading up to the 2011 Sugar Bowl, I visited the main Arkansas fan sites to get their perspectives on the game, etc.
My impression was that there was nothing even remotely similar in quality to the 11W community (which I acknowledge sets a very high standard). With few exceptions, the regular commenters on the best Razorback fan site (i.e., not trolls) were generally rude, nasty, and uninterested in engaging in serious fball talk with opposing fans. It was maybe 1-2 notches above an espn comment board. If you switched the topic to barbeque, the same guy who was calling you all sorts of nasty names would all of a sudden become nice and helpful; but as soon as the topic went back to Ohio State, it was "we will destroy Slohio State Suckeyze!!!!!!!"
one thing comes to mind.....Alabama fans chanting "S-E-C"....
"Winter is coming" - Urban Meyer
That's the one point of contention I have, all their fans cheer for 12 teams now 14 I guess. If Bama wins UK wins in their eyes. That's why I hate so much when people want Michigan to win for the image of the B1G. I'm not cheering for 11 other teams. I'm not taking a emotional stake in the outcome of the piss weasils games or anyone elses games for that matter. I love 1 team, and I will not be chanting B-1-G B-1-G unless I'm mocking the fools at the bar or in t he stands doing their dumb conference chant.
And only the SEC or ACC could do that chant anyway
Pac 12 Pac 12 or
Big Ten Big Ten
Just doesn't roll off the tongue as easily
PAWWWWLLLLLLL
standing in for Denny
vacuuming sucks
Can you even imagine how obnoxious Big Ten fans would be if we won 6 titles in a row? I promise you we would be just as annoying.
Here is how I see it. SEC dominates NCAA Football and will for many years to come. They recruit better athletes (mostly from the south). We can sit here and make 20 different arguments to why they are better or how they get prefered treament in the media but when it comes down to it they are just better. I've accepted this facts and although I'd love to see OSU beat the snot out of any SEC team it just doesn't seem to happen very often. I wouldn't be shocked if once again we have 2 SEC teams at the top of the BCS after this season, they will have atleast 4 or more in the top 10 for sure. I think most of the country is just praying for a down year in the SEC but I don't see that happening. We love to hate what we are most jealous of! Nobody wants to get behind a conference that dominates like this so we choose to be critical and pick apart anything we can SEC. The truth is that most of the country and especially The BIG should look in the mirror before being critical of anyone. The truth hurts but lets be realistic before we harvest a culture of hate towards the SEC.
I don't hate the SEC. I have individual reasons for hating most the teams in the SEC though (see below). I do think the SEC gets far overhyped as far as best "top to bottom". In any given year the top two teams in the SEC are clearly in the top four in the country. After that, though, the rest the teams in the SEC are overhyped and overrated.
Alabama- Most arrogant fans ever. They're Michigan on steroids when it comes to arrogance. Doesn't matter if its justifiable or not, it is still annoying as heck.
Auburn- Cam Newton. I think the Auburn team that got left out of the championship that one year got screwed and, for awhile, sorta liked Auburn because of that...and then they got away with buying a championship in college football. Plus, how can you be the Tigers and have the chant "War Eagle"?
Arkansas- Accomplish something before you become arrogant. This team is always overhyped. If not for Tress shutting it down and allowing them back in that Sugar Bowl, we'd have whomped that a** by 30. Hey, Arkansas, when was your last championship? Yeah, you belong in the same discussion as Ohio State. Riiighhhhtttttt.
South Carolina- See the first two sentences of "Arkansas".
Florida- Hate the fans. Hated the fans before 41-14, definitely hate them since.
Georgia- See the first two sentences of "Arkansas". You had Herschel Walker. That's the sum total of your past greatness. Hate that their fans seem to place them in the Alabama-LSU pantheon. They don't belong there.
Tennessee- See the first two sentences of "Arkansas" and add in all that orange.
Mississippi and Mississippi State- These teams have arrogant fanbases and I have no idea why. They're basically Purdue and Indiana.
I don't hate LSU. They have their share of arrogant fans, but I've met lots of good LSU fans. They've earned the right to brag, but they brag way less than teams that haven't won anything (See: Bulldogs, Georgia and Gamecocks, South Carolina).
I don't hate Kentucky because there is no point in wasting good hate on a team that bad.
I kinda like Vanderbilt. I'm okay with Texas A&M. I always forget Missouri exists, but I don't hate them or their fanbase.
I hate the SEC because I can. Strictly limited to their fans and a few coaches (I think Richt is a class act). Gotta admit, watching their marquee games are usually good. Seems like they always come down to the last minute, and their generally fun to watch. And admittedly, they generally play good football.
Oh, but I do truly, truly hate the "SEC-SEC" chant. If your team is winning, why share the success with your conference? I don't want M*ch to share in our glory if we win a big out of conference game. If it isn't your team that won, then its pretty douchy to glom on to some other team's success just because they are geographically close to you.
So, hate the SEC? No. Hate Many of the teams in the SEC? Yes. Hate the chant? Yes.
Think the best teams in the SEC are the best in the country? Yes. Think the rest the SEC is overrated, overanked, and overhyped? Yes.
^I agree with that. I think If we waant to point a finger, blame Florida State and Miami for sucking and allowing the SEC to become the only show in town. Recruiting is everything in CFB, when a pair of national powers become mediocre in a talent rich state, those kids are going elswhere. Virginia Tech should have played in a few title games by now, they should have owned that conference, instead they played down to their competition.
Dustin Fox was our leading tackler as a corner.... because his guy always caught the ball.
A few examples:
AND
If Denard Robinson isn't careful with spooning all that food into his mouth, he's going to end up lookin' like Whoopi Goldberg
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/frank_deford/09/05/SEC-southern-pride/index.html?eref=sircrc
Frank Deford brought up some interesting ideas
joe dirt meets dumb and dumber(er) "Go gaters" This is the trash recruts shoud be shown if they are considering an SEC schoo.... institution. The gaters, 'bama, lsu, georgia, etc. are all land-locked, unattractive sesspools. Its not the beaches and pretty girls they think it is, They're more likely to see ignorant pieces of southern trash like these 3 mullet-weilding bufoons dotting the landscape.
"Get him a body bag, Yeah!"
I live in Georgia and im telling you all these SEC fans do is talk smack about the BIG10. If you lived down here you would hate the SEC as well. Go Bucks!!!
The only teams that have a legitimate shot at using the pretty beaches/girls angle on recruits is USC and Miami. However the thugs have run rampant in those schools for quite some time now, especially miami and no parent should ever trust their kid to a scumbag snake like lane kiffin. So anybody dumb enough to go to a place just for beaches and bikinis should just remember what happened to that idiot seantrell henderson.
"Get him a body bag, Yeah!"
They hate on us and that is the biggest reason.
I don't hate the SEC, they're a fine football conference. Alabama has a whole lot of history & winning tradition, & the rest of the teams are good too. It's the mind set that makes the champion, & alot of teams in the SEC have a winning mind set. But at the same time, it's very easy to dislike many aspects of the conference. Such as:
Fans: Fans of a conference.. does this make sense? I love Ohio State, & you can't possibly kill my optimism or passion for the Buckeyes. But that's the extent of it, I love Ohio State, not the Big 10. If Michigan gets beat, I'm happy. If Wisconsin gets beat, I laugh like a little girl. I care about Ohio State being good, not every other Big 10 team. Fans of SEC teams seem to unite & talk crap about the Big 10 & Big 12 like it's a hobby. And as mentioned in above comments, they don't seem to be very intelligent, most of their arguments come back to "Roll Tide" or "War Eagle" or whatever other crap they come up with. They're so quick to say we have no talent up here, & that "You play football up north, we live it down south". Count OSU's Heisman Trophys & tell me any team in the SEC can match that number, & if we're not passionate, then why do we even bother to come on this website & make arguments in the 1st place? I don't hate the SEC, I love college football. But I hate Ignorance, & the SEC fans show plenty of it.
Drug Policy: Something I hear about but didn't care about. Until I heard Tyrann Mattiue was back at LSU, now I understand. I love the Honey Badger & I watched the Title Game to see him, but this is bull. He was on drugs
It's 5 o'clock somewhere, & Michigan still sucks
@ Remington, I live in Florida and you are correct about them talking sh*t about the B1G. They also take any opportunity possible to talk about the dominance of the SEC, even if the discussion in not football related. Sports radio here is basically intolerable as well. You just have to ignore it I guess. Conference dominance is cyclical.
FLUCK the sec and their 4th grade educated fans... its Buckeyes or no one.. thats always been my mentality... when we slay the sec giant once and for all it will be all the more sweeter... i cant wait to hear what these sec crock suckers on espn such as mark may will have to say then... until then GO BUCKS!!!
Brutus is........The People's Champ!!!!
You obviously haven't ventured down to them thurrr confederate states lately.
It's pretty self-evident no explanation needed once you do. Trust me.
I got stuck in South Carolina for a week for work. Shot pool with some guys in a bar, and one of them kept jawing about the SEC to me. It was so annoying. Once I asked him how many SEC titles South Carolina has won he shut up.
Dustin Fox was our leading tackler as a corner.... because his guy always caught the ball.
With great success comes great arrogance as has been discussed here. With great arrogance comes that grand feeling of being untouchable. At some point that arrogance will land one or two or more SEC teams in trouble, throttling the success of those teams, hindering the league. It happens in life. Business, families, and all sports are suspect to the success bug. No one stays on top forever, no one. For all of you in the south, stay patient, it will happen sooner rather than later.
^This. People forget that one of the reasons Florida was almost left out of the 2006 championship game was the SEC was perceived as weaker than the other major conferences.
From 1980-1991 they didn't win a title.
SEC fans tend to scoff when people say conference power is cyclical, but they're going to find out the truth. Probably not this year though...
Most of the SEC fans down here don't really talk about their own team... They want to talk about the conference... I have obviously told a few of them they're conference homers. When I ask how many titles they've won compared to OSU, they usually shut up.
^^^^ @Buckeyes in Sec, you hit it on the head
who hates on the sec? football is a game if any of you forgot. I appreciate good talent and im glad we didn't have to play alabama week 1
I was working in fort lauderdale when the Buckeyes won it all. Some a#$hole broke the back window out of my truck. The rock went through my OSU sticker. Was working in Ocala a couple years later and living in my Fifth wheel at a campground south of Gainsville. The first weekend of college football, some gator fans rolled in next to me in a Prevost bus. Came home friday night and my Ohio State flag was missing and my buckeye planter was broken. My Mom gave me that planter. Didn't get out of jail til monday morning. I've been to every sugarbowl and BCS championship since I moved to New Orleans in 2006. Georgia fans were the worst, some Hawaii fans are probably still in therapy. Alabama fans were bad,but then most of them left when they realized Utah was kicking there a#$. LSU fans were brutal, but I almost lost my voice screaming "SEC speed" when Beanie ripped that one up the sidelines for 60. Florida fans ripped on the Bearcats, but the Cinci fans were to drunk to be bothered by it. I hate to admit it, but I actually had a great time with some Razorback fans once they stopped doing that pig call. All in all, every team has fans that suck. The SEC just cornered the market. If you ain't a Buckeye you ain't shi%. P.S. I gave last years sugarbowl tickets away, cause of Michiscum
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
Why I hate the SEC. Wow, there's just so many reasons. But mostly because they use college football to live out their civil war fantasies. When they chant S-E-C, they might as well be chanting D-I-X-I-E instead. When they dress up for games, in their minds they are southern aristocrats not so far removed from the antebellum era.
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
^No, and no. It's impossible to imagine that they enjoy dressing up for games (which oh shit, most people used to do in the US!) or that they could be preppy douches. They're not living out Civil War fantasies or believe that they are Southern aristocrats. Also what is wrong with dressing up anyway? It's not harming you physically and it looks a Hell of a lot better than having fatasses in oversized football jerseys. We have students that dress up at OSU, they're members of sororities or fraternities.
Some dipsh*t Mississippi State fan just called up the Dan Patrick Show, and his question was in perfect Mississippi accent, "Do you believe any top-10 school is better than an SEC school?" DP goes, "Wait, run that by me again?" Guy goes, "'Cuz I feel like State can give USC a run for their money." DP goes, "WOAH, put your cow bell down."
I hate the SEC.
Why I hate the SEC...? hmmmmmm let me count the ways..
Official Rules of being a U of SEC fan
1. No allegiance to a single team
2. If your team is bad then you must be a fan of who ever is in first
3. You must use the term “WE” when refereeing to any team in the SEC
4. No logical thought process will be allowed
5. NCAA rules don’t apply to the SEC and when your team is busted revert to insisting that it was self-reported and everyone is out to get you even though ESPN has swept most of the problem under the rug and does not report.
6. You must have a ESecPN profile for every team
7. When comparing teams you must use stats from the entire SEC to prove a point
8. If SEC teams play each other then that is like a bowl game
9. Any team in the SEC could go undefeated in any other conference and any other team would be lucky to go 6-6 in the SEC
10. If an SEC team loses an OOC game to a bad team then that game does not count because they must not be good
11. If that same team above wins a game in the SEC that makes the SEC so tough from top to bottom and all the teams are the best.
12. SEC Speed because a 4.4 40 in the SEC is faster than a 4.4 40 anywhere else.
13. The SEC could go undefeated in the NFL and win the Super Bowl every year
14. When bashing another college team using any team in the SEC you must again use the term “WE”
15. YOU MUST USE CAPS LOCK, ebonics, or broken English when blogging.
16. You must have a bias hateful obsession with Ohio State and bash them at least once every 2-3 blog posts and no original thought is allowed while doing it. Examples: 0-9, suckeyes, slowhio, liar liar vest on fire, OlieO.
17. You must brag about past SEC wins against current teams but when their fans attempt it you must deny all facts due to the game being in the past and the game did not count because they were a young team and everyone was picked in the 1st round of the NFL draft.
18. When deciding who has more NFL players you must use all 14 teams from the SEC and again use the term “WE” have more NFL players than your team.
19. Bash every other team for any student athlete getting a felony or misdemeanor over the last 30 years and dismiss the current 20 from your team in the current year by being a Vandy fan.
20. Everyone in the SEC is from the South.
21. If an SEC team goes undefeated against cupcake teams to start the season they automatically get ranked in the top 10 and ESPN loves them.
22. SEC.. We don't have to play OOC because we play with each other....
23. If an SEC team beats someone by 10-17 points it shall be considered a blowout. If any other team in the nation wins a game by 10 – 17 points it shall be considered a close game and that the team should have lost that game.
24. A 9-6 final score for a game played in the SEC is a game of the century.
25. Must refer to all Ohio State fans as cheaters, liars, homers, delusional, and pathetic.
26. Claim the success of everyone else as your own.
Tomorrow
Boo!!! S.E.C. Boo!!!
As a former (and unbias) blogger for an SEC affilliate, my home of Florida from 2000-2003, and my home of Alabama from 2003-2011... I have to say this: the SEC did not always get the special treatment from the media, only the fans.... I remember Auburn getting snubbed (2004, I think?), and I remember Ohio State getting a TON of bias media attention to pump them up, while watching the SEC football in the south, non-stop. It was only until repetitive back to back SEC championships that the media had to finally give in to the SEC and poor performances made (mostly by Ohio State) on the National stage. Granted, OSU was only there by default against LSU, but let's just say I don't think they have a leg to stand on that argument anymore... Anyway, I agree about the fans, they are annoying and irritating, but for a long time, no one else listened to their woes about the SEC 'beating up on eachother.' I also agree to a degree that conference dominace is very cyclical. I watch McHeron (although he was a sight for sore eyes two years ago and got A LOT of critisism) and I am amazed. I have YET to see a performance from the Big 10 that has that much talent on both sides of the ball since 2004. It's scary and I don't know how long it will take for the rest of us to catch up to their level of play. I have to say that OSU's 14th rank is generous... as I watch a hungry ND team and even upcoming C-USA teams play with such intensity. I have yet to feel NOT un-easy about OSU's performances this year.
"Canceling your evening plans to prepare for your Fantasy Football Draft is completely normal." -via @espn