SEC Bias… Is it a real thing or is it imagined?
Another week, another social media storm claiming the polls are biased towards the SEC. I can’t say that I’m surprised considering that the top 5 in each of the big 3 polls consist of almost all SEC teams.
However, what I am surprised about is how vehemently displeased some fans are about the “SEC bias”. The majority of these fans who are upset, are fans whose teams don’t happen to play in the SEC. I’ll admit, I was born and raised in Georgia and I’m partial to UGA, so non SEC fans would be quick to dismiss my opinion because I grew up deep in the heart of SEC country and my favorite team is in the SEC. I now live in Big 12 territory (Austin to be more exact) and I’ve had a few eye opening experiences when it comes to the topic of collegiate athletics, more specifically college football.
People here wholeheartedly think that SEC bias is alive and well. I’ve also heard quite a few people mention that they think there should be a Big 12 program, not just in the top 10, but the top 5 of the major polls. I can see the point of people saying their is an SEC bias in the polls, but my response to them would be, “exactly which Big 12 team would you put in the top 10?” Many a fan would say they would put Baylor in there. I disagree. Baylor got their butt handed to them by a West Virginia team that got lucky last Saturday and Baylor’s out of conference schedule is laughable when it comes to RPI and strength of schedule. I honestly think the best shot the Big 12 has of a getting a team into the playoffs this year is Kansas State, and even that is a long shot with the teams that are coming out of the SEC and the Pac 12.
Speaking of one of the most controversial topics, that just isn’t a hot topic of debate here, but across the nation is the fact that the polls are largely dominated by SEC teams, especially the top 10. Yes, SEC teams dominate the polls, but that’s because they consistently win week to week and their strength of schedule is much more difficult than say a team in the Big East or Conference USA. To say that the media, and in this case, the weekly polls, are biased is, in my opinion, absurd. Not because on a week to week basis the SEC seems to dominate the polls, but because the polls are decided by members of the media and coaches who reside across the country. I can almost 100% guarantee that those journalists, as well as coaches, have a bias towards their team, yet from week to week, they are able to put their biases aside and vote for the teams they think are the best in the country.
Fans from all over the country also complain that ESPN, for lack of a better term, is giving the SEC a reach around because the SEC tends to dominate coverage on Sportscenter, Around the Horn, and other ESPN programming. I can understand their sentiment here, especially now, since the SEC Network launched at the start of football season and the SEC Network is owned by ESPN. (fyi so is UT’s Longhorn Network) I do respect that thought, but I tend to agree with Chris Fowler that ESPN goes where the big games are, and at this point in time, those games just happen to be at SEC schools. I’m also of the same philosophy that if Big 10 football teams dominated like they have in the past, it’d be likely that Gameday would be at just as many B1G games as SEC and even Pac-12 games. But the perennial powerhouses in the B1G (Michigan, Ohio St, Michigan St, even Wisconsin) have struggled in recent years. From a marketing perspective, why would a show that is broadcast nationwide want to go to a game that doesn’t have any bearing on the postseason?
B1G fans convinced SEC coverage traced to company business: NOTHING would boost abc/ESPN CFB biz more than a dominant B1G. Nothing. Trust me
— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) October 22, 2014
and cue "SEC bias" tweets. Does it extend to all pollsters, too? You've noticed 1 division has 4 in top5? Show goes where biggest games are
— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) October 22, 2014
So, while many people outside of SEC country think there is such a thing as SEC bias, I’m inclined to disagree with them. Yes, the media does hype up the SEC more than any other conference but that’s because the large majority of the good FBS football programs are in the SEC, mainly the SEC West. However, with the success of Longhorn Network, albeit it did have some major growing pains in the beginning, and the current success as well as potential success of the SEC Network; perhaps the next step in this media frenzy is to create standalone cable networks for the other big conferences as well.
What are you thoughts on the SEC bias? Let me know in the comments below.
Until next time,
Katie
Poll information found on espn.com
Logos from sportslogos.net
Come on Katie, don’t be that naive. Yes, the SEC bias is real and it’s not even debatable. You can’t say their strength of schedule is stronger than any other conferences when all they do is play each other, JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER CONFERENCES DO. The SEC’s non-conference schedule is probably the weakest of all the Power Conferences. There are a few exceptions, but they consist of things like LSU beating a very average B1G team by a whopping 4 points. Georgia lost to Nebraska a year ago in their bowl game, and Bama lost to Oklahoma in theirs. Only in a biased system can a team go from unranked to #1 in the country in less than a month. That is absolutely absurd and it was done only to justify the losses to Mississippi State, who will still probably finish with at least 3 losses.
We can say the SEC plays each other like other conferences do, However, How do other conferences do against each other? So far the SEC has the best winning percentage 66.7% Like how they have had the best overall winning percentage the past 10 years 66.3%. Just like they have a 9-1 record in championship games. If you want to say there is a bias, The bias is for teams that win. Like in any other sport. In What sport do you reward 2nd, 3rd, 4th best player, team or division over the best? Best of that year or the years before?
Also even with bowl losses which happens, Last year SEC had a 7-3 record, ACC sent more teams but had a 5-6 record. Sunbelt was 2-0.. Pac12 6-3. And B12, B1G both 3-3. The Bias you speak of is pro winning.
You are twisting stats! Irrelevant stats at that! 9-1 in championship games? So you’re talking about going back 10 years?? Irrelevant! There isn’t a single SEC team that is dominant THIS YEAR yet there are 4 of them in the top 5. It’s so that ESPN can increase their odds of an SEC team winning the playoff. Obviously the more teams they have in, the better their chances. LSU=Average. Bama=Average. Georgia=Average. A&M=Too easy. Last year’s East champion (Mizz)=Too easy. Miss St.=Only where they are now to justify how they beat the other SEC teams. They’ll finish with at least 2 losses. And it’s nice you can spout bowl records from last year. Can you now post who the wins and losses were against? Might tell a more accurate picture.
9-1 (vs non SEC teams in championship games) is not twisting stats. That is called Factual. Other stats might be:
B12 2-5
ACC 2-2
Big East 1-2
B1G 1-2
Pac12 1-2
Independent 0-1
Championship w/L records past 16 years. It cant be that the SEC won more as a conference, they have to have cheated or ESPN or blah blah, Bottom line teams still have to play and win.
I really have trouble understanding this angle people use saying ESPN wants SEC teams and blah blah.. Correct me if I am wrong, but The AP- “The AP Top 25 College Poll is compiled from votes by 60 sportswriters and broadcasters from across the country” Ill provide a link showing they are from ALL over the country and not all 60 works for ESPN..
As well, The coaches poll Has 62 coaches from Different schools and ALL conferences. (ill provide another link) So when you have these 2 different polls with different people who know football, How can you have them all saying certain teams are better than others? This cant be just some ESPN SEC Bias..You have NON SEC coaches voting for SEC schools year after year. Why? Are you saying they dont know football? They are bias against their own conference and even schools??
These are realities that anti SEC fans do not want to admit. Links Below..
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/top25_front/voters.html?SITE=AP
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/7/31/5955953/coaches-poll-2014-voters-list
Out of curiosity, I did some research… Out of last year’s 7 SEC Bowl Wins, here are the juggernauts they include:
1) South Carolina over a 9-4 Wisconsin (valid)
2) Missouri over OK St. (valid, but MO is a team 2 years removed from from the B12)
3) LSU over unranked 8-4 Iowa by 7 points (really?)
4) Texas A&M (another B12 Team) over Duke 52-48. (really?)
5) Vanderbilt over unranked 8-5 Houston team (really?)
6) Mississippi St over unranked Rice (really?)
7) Lastly, Ole Miss by 8 points over unranked 7-6 GA Tech. (really?)
And now those last two wins are in the top 10?? Seriously???????
Take out the B12 teams and the SEC bowl schedule is a complete joke, except of course for the ones that they lost to actual competitive teams. (IE Oklahoma, NE)
It’s easy to have a great record when you don’t play anyone! Yes, the SEC BIAS IS REAL. YOU CAN SAY IT’S BASED ON WINNING, BUT LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!
Not sure what your point is relating to the games won.. I could see if the SEC had picked its own games. We can look year after year in any phase you would like, OOC wins vs ranked opponents, Bowl wins SEC vs whom ever, Championship wins vs losses in the last 15-20 years. Winning percentage conference over all Power 5 in the last 10-20 years..
B12 went 3-3 as well as 2 other conferences. So the fact their conference champion lost to the big east champion (UCF) says what? The Big east champion is as good as 95% of B12? Or what?
Also people love to talk about how Mizz and TAMU are just removed out of B12.. So what does it say when TCU is 2 years removed and would be undefeated right now if it wasnt for Baylor? Another use to be bottom feeder? TAMU and Mizz get better recruits because they play in the SEC Fact. That is why they are better football teams.
http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2014/2/6/5385616/has-sec-move-given-texas-a-m-recruiting-advantage-over-texas
https://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1377313
Yes, obviously we do play other teams in our conference. But the out of conference schedule isn’t the weakest out of the power 5. Just this year alone, Tennessee played Oklahoma, South Carolina played a very good East Carolina team and still have to play Clemson, Georgia opened with Clemson and still have to play Georgia Tech, which always proves to be a very interesting game for the Dawgs. Florida plays Florida State and Auburn traveled to Manhattan and played a very good KState Team. Yes, not all of the SEC schools play a strong out of conference schedule, but overall they still have a winning percentage against them. The other power 5 conferences don’t have very strong out of conference schedules either but you never hear people complaining about that.
I found an on NBC Sports, that shows stats from the AP Poll since 2009. There really is no such thing as the SEC bias. It’s just a social media craze that one person started and it took off like wildfire.
And honestly, with the new college playoff rankings that came out last night, the SEC is essentially in it’s own mini playoff now. I highly doubt that there will be 3 SEC teams in the playoffs, maybe 2, definitely 1. But I do agree with you, Mississippi State will more than likely finish with 3 losses, probably to Bama, Ole Miss, and whoever they play in the SEC Championship game.
I thought this was a very fair and decent piece of writing to try and put it in terms most fair minded people can understand. However, you will still have MANY who think because the SEC is ranked so high and so often, there is a bias. Keep in mind it couldnt be because they are Winning? The same people who complain about an SEC bias are the same people who would use an over all Power 5 bias against mid majors like Marshall this year, UFC last year, NIU the year before, boise, cincy, Houston, on and on. No one wants to see Marshall in the top 5 because of their conference play.
So if you can rank and dismiss Marshall because of its games played, you have to use the same system to grade other power 5 conferences and teams. As of now the SEC has a winning percentage of 66.7 as a conference. Pac 12 63.0% so on. The SEC has more wins vs non SEC Power 5 teams comparatively.
Many would also hope that this playoff year will solve everything. It will not because only 4 teams will go. There will ALWAYS be teams left out. Dont blame the systems, Win or go home.
Thank you for the compliment! I agree! I think that fans will always think that the media is biased towards a certain conference because certain conferences are just able to produce better teams. It’s just more prominent during football season because there’s not as many games like during basketball and baseball season!
And yes, if Marshall or any of the other mid major teams made it into the upper echleons of the polls, people would be fussing about that because what about the big conference teams that play other big conference teams? It seems like the polls and now the playoff rankings will always be a can’t win to lose situation.