I normally don’t try to diminish the enthusiasm of other people’s posts, but what you say has more emotion than logic. This is something I overlook quite often, but when you cited Urban Meyer’s style of play and the environment that he builds around him as an SEC influenced mentality, that made me burst out with laughter. Urban is spectacular at creating school pride in the athletes, students, and fans. What he created at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and now at Ohio State is nothing short of breathing life into programs that desperately needed it. Urban Meyer will do to Ohio State exactly what he has done at his previous coaching stops. That has absolutely NOTHING to do with the SEC and EVERYTHING to do with the type of coach and public relations guru that he is.

The SEC can take credit for a lot of things, but Urban Meyer is not one of them. They, much like Bowling Green and Utah, were fortunate to have him stop by and elevate the level of play and expectations of their programs.

Michigan was 8th at the beginning of the year when Bama played them @ Jerry World.

SEC conference play hardened the league from top to bottom to playing a big game atmosphere every weekend in a different stadium. That is huge.

Now, other schools may say that their respective conferences have tough conference games in their respective leagues. Explain why then that the SEC
does so well in bowl games? Is it superior athletes? Perhaps. Is it coaching? Ask Auburn, two years removed from a national championship.

No, it is the mental conditioning of playing no holds bar rivals week after week after week in the SEC. Tennessee may have been down this year, but they still will put a knot on the side of the head of Alabama, Georgia and every other SEC team.

The league mentally prepares for full contact for 60 minutes every time an SEC game is played. That shows up in bowl games and OOC games.

That is why Urban Meyer is now @ OSU and you are starting to see an SEC mentality being built in Columbus. What Meyer will do to OSU in the B1g
will change the league from Woody and Bo and JoePa (with all due respect) to a vibrant national conference like the SEC. Then watch the fireworks.

What’s the Pac-12′s OOC record in Top 25 matchups? How about the Big 10′s? The ACC’s? It’s pointless to ask about Notre Dame’s because the Irish don’t have to run the gauntlet of an in-conference schedule where six of their in-conference opponents are potentially in the top 11.

Bama opened with a top 20 team, and played a three-game run of an undefeated, then-top-10 ranked team followed by two teams that finished in the top 10–one of which was coming off a bye. Then they had to defeat the #3 team in the country to make it to the title game. And the Tide did that with a defense of mostly young, untested players. I’d say both Alabama and the SEC have proved their mettle … over the last decade and in 2012.

Sec only beat up them selves. There over rated and they are scared to play strong teams out of conference.

Surely you jest.

Not trying to heckle, just really want to know why some people don’t see the athletic difference between the sec and others