Fixin’ College Football: Shuffling the Conferences (6/11)

SEC
Established 1933 (Added Arkansas and South Carolina in 1991)

12 Teams

9 States

Longest Distance Between Schools: 817 Miles (Arkansas and Florida)

East
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt

West
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State

There really isn't too much to say about the SEC in terms of fixing it. The SEC is by far the best conference in America in terms of talent (sorry Big 12 but play some D) and depth and fans. Last year, 8 of the 12 teams finished with an above .500 record, and the worst record in the conference was Mississippi State's mediocre 4-8 campaign. While it may be true that the SEC plays a relatively soft out-of-conference record, it's understandable considering the paths some SEC schools have to endure in the hopes of making it to the title game. Preseason number 1 Georgia had its title hopes derailed early on last year after having to play (8) Alabama, Tennessee, (22) Vanderbilt, (13) LSU, and (8) Florida in consecutive games. And even if the SEC does play 1-2 warm-up games a year, SEC teams still proved they play in the toughest conference by combining to go 6-2 in bowl games last year and having the reigning National Champion Tim Tebows, um, I mean Florida Gators. At the end of the year, 3 SEC teams were ranked in the Top 10 in defense and 8 SEC teams were in the Top 30 in defense. SEC's fantastic defensive play was nowhere more evident than in Auburn's 3-2 victory (in perfectly fine weather) over Mississippi State.

But that's not to say that the SEC can't score either, as Florida outscored the top scoring offense in the country, Oklahoma, in the title game and finished third in the country in scoring offense. Not only does the SEC have stats and games to back-up its reputation, but no other conference in the country can say it has playoff-type atmospheres every week or as many heated rivalries as the SEC does. Alabama-Auburn (Iron Bowl), Florida-Georgia (World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party), Auburn-Georgia (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry), and Tennessee-Alabama (Third Saturday in October) are all among the best in the country and just some of the SEC's historic rivalries. In addition, the East/West divisions are very competitive and the championship game is usually the best of any conference. The SEC is becoming so competitive that even the coaches are taking it to the next level, chastising each other through the media at a rapid-fire pace this past offseason (Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer especially, although Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, and Les Miles have all done it before). -J.S.

Solution: Help everybody else out and leave some talent for the rest of the country