College football

Don't tell coaches the SEC has lost its stature

They point to records, ratings, talented players and high-profile coaching additions in saying it's as competitive as ever.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published August 18, 2005

Steve Spurrier is back, Nick Saban is gone and Urban Meyer has arrived.

Some of the biggest names from last year are playing on Sundays, leaving many teams in rebuilding mode, while others are spending the fall preseason trying to master a new system.

Call it the season of change and transition for the SEC.

"It's going to be quite interesting, wouldn't you say?" SEC commissioner Mike Slive said.

That's one way to put it.

Once widely considered the most competitive conference in the nation, the SEC's dominance came under scrutiny the past few seasons despite a national championship for LSU, an undefeated 2004 season for Auburn and five or six teams annually in the Top 25.

With Florida struggling, Georgia falling short of preseason expectations the past couple of years and more league strength shifting to the West, some analysts began labeling the league as down.

SEC coaches bristle at that notion.

Three weeks before the season begins, six SEC teams are ranked among most of the Top 25 preseason polls - Tennessee, LSU, Florida, Georgia, Auburn and Alabama.

"I think most folks would agree when you play in the Southeastern Conference, week in and week out, you're playing in the toughest conference in the country," said Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, considered the "dean" of the SEC as he enters his 14th season. "You've got LSU that's just off a national championship (two years ago), Florida's not far removed from one and we're not that far removed from one. We were right back in it in 2001, Georgia has finished in the Top Five two of the last three years and Auburn just finished second. It's tremendously competitive."

When the ACC welcomed perennial powerhouses Miami and Virginia Tech last season, many crowned it as the new super power in college football. The SEC's addition of high-profile coaches such as Meyer, Spurrier, former Oklahoma State coach Les Miles (now at LSU) and former USC assistant Ed Orgeron (Ole Miss) has turned the nation's spotlight back on the SEC.

But Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said it's the talent on the field that makes the league strong.

"It ain't about coaches, it's about players," said Tuberville, who led his team to an undefeated season last year. ". . .Coaches come and go."

In the April NFL draft, 47 players from the SEC were selected, more proof, the coaches say, that the league is in good shape.

"You watch the draft and I've had a lot of opportunities to watch the opponents on tape and it's exactly what I thought it was," Meyer said. "It's the best conference in college football. I thought that before I was involved in the SEC and now that I'm here there is no question."

But there's some merit in the argument that the league hasn't been what it once was.

Florida, which once dominated the SEC East, hasn't won a league title outright since 2000. Tennessee has won at least 10 games in three of the past four years but has fallen short of the national title mix. Georgia is 42-10 over the past four seasons but also hasn't contended for a national title.

Meanwhile, in the West Division, LSU has won 40 games during the past four years and one BCS title, while Auburn went 13-0 last season but was left out of the title game; the Tigers settled for a No. 2 finish. Arkansas just missed out on playing in its eighth consecutive bowl game.

As the argument goes, had the league been less competitive, Auburn's margin of victories in SEC play might have propelled it out of the No. 3 spot and into the national championship game. Tuberville and other coaches believe that it's the league's parity that causes some to question its dominance.

"I really, truly feel that the SEC is a two-chin-strap league: You better buckle up both of them," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. "If you had told me that Auburn was going to go 13-0 - or anybody in the SEC would - and not play for a national title with what we have been through ... I felt for coach Tuberville and his team."

With a cast of new - and old - high-profile coaches joining the league this year, it may be the biggest season of change in more than a decade.

"It's changed every year, but I don't ever remember a year when it has changed this much in one year," Fulmer said. "All those guys have brought in some new ideas."

Interest in the league is at an all-time high. The SEC Championship Game was announced a sellout last month for the 10th consecutive season. In 2004, the league led the nation in attendance for the 24th straight season, averaging 74,000 fans and filling stadiums to 96 percent capacity.

"This is a very athletic conference," Miles said, comparing it to his former Big 12 conference. "I think there are greater defenses. I think there are more explosive, talented offensive players. I think that there's a great, even mix of teams. So I think it's as competitive a league as there is in the country."

[Last modified August 18, 2005, 01:05:19]