Juror#8 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Why is the SEC so freaking dominant in football? Do they feed the kids something out there in Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana that fuels a football gene? Derrick Henry just broke all kinds of records a couple of days ago (ran for 502 yards within 3 1/2 quarters). He is probably going to Florida. And he is only the second leading rusher in the state!?!?! Kelvin Taylor, son of Fred Taylor, is the leading rusher in the state (and in the country I believe) and has ran for like 10,000 yards in his high school career already. He is commited to Florida. http://jacksonville.com/sports/high-schools/2012-09-21/story/derrick-henry-breaks-state-record-502-rushing-yards-yulees Seriously, though, why are they so dominant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaattMaann Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 because they take football seriously, they can play/practice almost all year round (and they do), they devote resources to the sport from little league up through high school, alot of poor kids realize thats their "way out" And not to be completely racist with it, but there are a lot of big black kids down there (academic research done also supports this, Americans bought and bred the biggest slaves, most of whom remained in the south after the end of slavery, and then procreated and to this day that effect is still evident) who excel at football... in the south, football is king/god Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section122 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 because they pay the best? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Recruiting is still mostly local, so the question is why does the south produce more and better HS football players. I've never lived in the south, but it seems like football dominates the high school sports culture there. In the north it seems like there is more diversity; basketball/hockey/lacrosse are also very popular in many areas. It also seems that football (as well as basketball but not much on other sports) is very popular in the black community (proportionately higher than with whites). So then why does football appeal to more black kids in the south than in the north? Part of the reason could be based on the natural segregation of the northern populations. In the north, most black people live in large urban areas, where basketball seems to be vastly more popular than football for a variety of reasons (cold weather? availability of physical space in urban areas? school funding priorities?). Speaking for NYC, there is basically no football presence in here; it’s a basketball city. You need to go to the suburbs to find the best football, most of which would probably not be considered very good in the south. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 All I know is that I was never much of a college fan until I moved to SEC country. I'd consider myself a pretty passionate fan of college ball now, and that just happened over the last decade. The quality of the SEC and the intensity of the rivalries has made it a blast to be in the middle of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juror#8 Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 Recruiting is still mostly local, so the question is why does the south produce more and better HS football players. I've never lived in the south, but it seems like football dominates the high school sports culture there. In the north it seems like there is more diversity; basketball/hockey/lacrosse are also very popular in many areas. It also seems that football (as well as basketball but not much on other sports) is very popular in the black community (proportionately higher than with whites). So then why does football appeal to more black kids in the south than in the north? Part of the reason could be based on the natural segregation of the northern populations. In the north, most black people live in large urban areas, where basketball seems to be vastly more popular than football for a variety of reasons (cold weather? availability of physical space in urban areas? school funding priorities?). Speaking for NYC, there is basically no football presence in here; it’s a basketball city. You need to go to the suburbs to find the best football, most of which would probably not be considered very good in the south. I think that there is a lot to this actually. Living in a predominately urban environment while growing up, there is a tendency to gravitate towards basketball as the sport of choice. There is not as much land, and not as much room to run and throw. Basketball is a more insular sport and is a perfect fit for urban environments. I guess the south is traditionally less urban and more agriculture. There's more land, more outdoor activities, etc. So maybe it is environmental based on the atmospheres. I just think it's so odd how much the SEC has hegemonized college football. I can't think of a single instance of one region, or one conference so completely dominating for such a sustained amount of time. Teams? Yes. Regions where you can almost bet that the champion would come out of? No. Even the ACC during its prominence had competition from the Pac10 (UCLA) and Big 10 (Michingan). If it's a team, then it can be attributable to dominant players staying during their college days. But a region, for the better part of a decade plus, suggests that all the best players are situated there or are going there for some reason. The dynamics are just interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARCELL DAREUS POWER Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 (edited) when i lived in louisiana, i played pop warner down there. they literally had us catch passes, practice, etc, and then had a draft. ( like a real draft, that parents and fans, yes FANS, would attend). the amount of teaching in football, resources, seriousness, etc, all develop the talent down there more. when i played football in louisiana, and then hs ball in va, i had to move to michigan when my dad retired during my sophmore year. so i spent 3 years in hs in michigan. the practices were way harder down south. you could even see a stark difference in football in north carolina... we would go down there for bowl games and there would be like 10,000 maybe even more people attending... also keep in mind, the sec has two great great teams, and then the other team are usually even with others. plus the sec doesnt play by the same rules... Edited September 25, 2012 by MARCELL DAREUS POWER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Everything is cyclical. People tend to forget that Alabama was not very good 5-7 years ago. It does always seem that the SEC produces 1-2 dominant teams per year. Flordia & UT were strong in the middle of thsi decade & now it seems like LSU & Alabama have picked up the slack. This year at least early on it does seem like the SEC is very strong. I mean you got LSU/Bama but you also got Georgia who is very good & South Carolina who is very good & it does look like Florida is on the way back. I think the easiest explanation is that A.)The recuiting ground is the best down south. B.) You have universities there that are willing to throw a ton of resources at their football programs. The ACC is down south but their flagship programs are basketball programs first, football second. On a side note, I really think Florida State has a chance to knock of one of the SEC teams in the National Championship this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarolinaBill Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 This whole Race thing is absurd..."they have more big blacks down there..." BS. Its recruiting, its appeal. Texas produces more NFL playres than any other state in the country followed by Florida, but the SEC schools have alot of appeal that big 10 schools may not have, for example. Also, take a look at the ACC, BIG 12, PAC 12, are the majority of those schools not in favorable climates that allow for year round practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 SEC is not as good as they are hyped this year. Just because the falsely inflated rankings say 1 thing, doesn't mean those teams are actually any good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPPT1974 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I live in the SEC country. They have produced the last two National Champs or so. Sorry if I do not know enough as I do not know much about college football as I do NFL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Booby Miles Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 People don't like to scrape ice and shovel snow....nuf said. Oh yeah and there's that pesky rule about going to class and stuff. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 SEC is not as good as they are hyped this year. Just because the falsely inflated rankings say 1 thing, doesn't mean those teams are actually any good. You mean like Notre Dame and Kansas St.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 You mean like Notre Dame and Kansas St.? 'Bama is a great team. The rest of the conference is overrated. Hell of a showing by LSU and UF in their bowls. My point isn't that the SEC isn't good. It's that decent to good SEC teams are often vastly overrated in the polls due to the conference they play in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 'Bama is a great team. The rest of the conference is overrated. Hell of a showing by LSU and UF in their bowls. My point isn't that the SEC isn't good. It's that decent to good SEC teams are often vastly overrated in the polls due to the conference they play in. It's all conjecture, but I believe that if you put LSU, UF, or Georgia in that game, they all win it. Maybe even South Carolina. It would be closer than Bama, but they all have a good chance. Not making excuses for Florida (because really, eff Florida) but once they lost their chance at the Championship, they lost their focus. Shoot, Clemson could have beat ND with the way ND played in that game. And Clemson was regularly around the Top 10 ranked teams. You always talk about SEC teams being "vastly" overrated. If they are overrated, its with no greater +/- than the other teams in the rankings. SEC may get some preference, but thats what happens when you win 7 Championships in a row. There were plenty of Big 12, Pac 12, and even ACC teams at the top of the rankings throughout the year. Heck, Bama wasnt even the #1 team going into the Championship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM57 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 It's all conjecture, but I believe that if you put LSU, UF, or Georgia in that game, they all win it. Maybe even South Carolina. It would be closer than Bama, but they all have a good chance. Not making excuses for Florida (because really, eff Florida) but once they lost their chance at the Championship, they lost their focus. Shoot, Clemson could have beat ND with the way ND played in that game. And Clemson was regularly around the Top 10 ranked teams. You always talk about SEC teams being "vastly" overrated. If they are overrated, its with no greater +/- than the other teams in the rankings. SEC may get some preference, but thats what happens when you win 7 Championships in a row. There were plenty of Big 12, Pac 12, and even ACC teams at the top of the rankings throughout the year. Heck, Bama wasnt even the #1 team going into the Championship! I think that the bowl season really helped sort out the SEC. Like you said, there was a host of teams that were in the top 10 this season: Bama, UF, LSU, UGA, and the original USC. 3 teams looked good in their bowl games. 2 did not. But they all beat up on each other during the season. For example, I look at it from a SC fan perspective. Turnovers cost the Cocks the game against Florida. SC gifted the Gators 24 points, IIRC. In Death Valley, SC made it a game, but Connor Shaw played like absolute garbage. Turnovers again. LSU and Florida did not look very good in their bowl outings. They could have been relying on name and tradition to ride the rankings wave. SC absolutely smacked Georgia in the mouth in their head to head game. Georgia gave Bama a game in the SEC Championship Bama trashed the overrated Irish and Georgia won a good game against Nebraska. SC, UGA, and Bama looked good and probably deserved their top 10 spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 SEC finished as the #1 conference in the Sagarin rankings this year for the first time in years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I think that the bowl season really helped sort out the SEC. Like you said, there was a host of teams that were in the top 10 this season: Bama, UF, LSU, UGA, and the original USC. 3 teams looked good in their bowl games. 2 did not. But they all beat up on each other during the season. For example, I look at it from a SC fan perspective. Turnovers cost the Cocks the game against Florida. SC gifted the Gators 24 points, IIRC. In Death Valley, SC made it a game, but Connor Shaw played like absolute garbage. Turnovers again. LSU and Florida did not look very good in their bowl outings. They could have been relying on name and tradition to ride the rankings wave. SC absolutely smacked Georgia in the mouth in their head to head game. Georgia gave Bama a game in the SEC Championship Bama trashed the overrated Irish and Georgia won a good game against Nebraska. SC, UGA, and Bama looked good and probably deserved their top 10 spots. i wouldnt disregard what DrD mentioned in that SEC teams often look at the season as national championship or bust. once you hit bust it can be hard to keep the team focused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 And again the SEC dominates recruiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dr buckeye Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 They over sign there ass off period Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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