The SEC West

[lumphog]

It tells me that poll is stupid. Arkansas is not the 41st team in the country. The Hogs are way better than that. I never read USA Today.

5 SEC west teams are Top 10 the other 2 are Top 20

[popcornhog]

How is LSU ranked ahead of us?

I'm guessing because their two best wins -- Wisconsin at a neutral site and UF on the road -- are perceived as better than our two best wins -- UNI at home and TTU on the road.

Just a guess. Why should we be ranked ahead if LSU, objectively?

I suspect we'll beat LSU and then be ahead of them.

Also, their two losses are to the #1 and 6 teams.

We have more losses -- to # 6, # 7, and #21.

[redeye]

This computer sampling has Miss ST, Miss, Aub as first 3 in their poll.  Ala is 6th, GA is 10th,and A&M and LSU are in the top 14.  Arkansas is number 41.  This poll is still forced by humans and is subject to human mistakes, but that should assist in telling you why we may play well but just aren't quite good enough to win some SEC West games.

The problem I have is that doesn't pass the eye test.  Ask most anyone and they'll tell you we outplayed Alabama and Texas A&M.  We've actually outplayed everyone but Auburn.

The problem with computer rankings is human error.  A computer is simply an advanced calculator and just sums information put into it, so of course it puts out garbage when fed garbage.

update: i realize you understand that about computer rankings, but I was just expanding on what you said.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

If one of the problems with computer polls is "human error", then aren't "human polls" subject to the same errors? 

[popcornhog]

The problem I have is that doesn't pass the eye test.  Ask most anyone and they'll tell you we outplayed Alabama and Texas A&M.  We've actually outplayed everyone but Auburn.

The problem with computer rankings is human error.  A computer is simply an advanced calculator and just sums information put into it, so of course it puts out garbage when fed garbage.

update: i realize you understand that about computer rankings, but I was just expanding on what you said.

I understand what you're saying and I believe that if we played every team in the country we would end up around #19.

But we don't. We've lost 3 games. To say that you outplayed a team that beat you is a loser's mentality. We are about to break through, I believe, it just hasn't quite happened yet.

[Hogwild]

What also hurts the ranking is the wins, zero wins against teams in the top 50.  The two wins are against #70 &#71, Arkansas State is ranked ahead of both teams we defeated. 

I doubt they even factored in Nichollas State, they were down 49 at half to the team ranked #102.

[jbcarol]

SEC West gives CBS another ratings victory

The SEC Western Division matchup between Mississippi State and Auburn was the highest rated college football game of the week according to overnight ratings released on Monday.

The Bulldogs-Tigers matchup drew a 3.8 rating, making the SEC on CBS the ratings winner for four of the last five college football weekends...

[NoNC4Tubs]

It was a great game to watch.........

[jbcarol]

SEC Network @SECNetwork  ·  12 minutes ago

The SEC West is 26-0 against non-SEC West teams. With 3 games vs the SEC East, does perfection end in Week 8? #UGAvsARK #TENNvsMISS #UKvsLSU

[jbcarol]

Chuck Dunlap @SEC_Chuck  ·  35 minutes ago
Should Ole Miss win tonight, the SEC West will have 3 of the top 4 in the polls tomorrow. Perhaps 4 of top 5 should Alabama win as well.

[jbcarol]

In 2011, the SEC had the 1(LSU), 2(Bama), and 3(Hogs) teams in the country and all from the western division.

But for the SEC west to have 4 of the top 5 maybe more impressive.


http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll

[jbcarol]

Ralph D. Russo @ralphDrussoAP  ·  2h 2 hours ago
SEC becomes first conference to place 4 teams in the top 5 of AP poll. 1, Mississippi St; 2, Florida St; 3, Ole Miss; 4, Alabama; 5, Auburn.

[LRAFBHog]

SIAP - the SEC West had not lost a SEC East matchup until UGA beat the Hogs yesterday.  Darn I'm tired of being the door mat of the West.  Three years is way too wrong.
WPS

[popcornhog]

Agreed. That's why I'm excited about what Bielema is building. It's gonna be fun once this is turned around.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

SIAP - the SEC West had not lost a SEC East matchup until UGA beat the Hogs yesterday.  Darn I'm tired of being the door mat of the West.  Three years is way too wrong.
WPS

No other SEC West team has played Georgia, except the Hogs.

[RazorbackRon]

No other SEC West team has played Georgia, except the Hogs.

That wasn't the response he was looking for.

[Pig Worshipper]

There's absolutely no shame in losing to a very good Georgia team.

The way we played in the first half yesterday, though, was shameful.

[RazorbackRon]

There's absolutely no shame in losing to a very good Georgia team.

The way we played in the first half yesterday, though, was shameful.

worst half of football by us this year

[popcornhog]

No other SEC West team has played Georgia, except the Hogs.

Great point. Yesterday was still embarrassing. But we still would be competing for 2nd in the East this year.

[Hogarusa]

Its not that they just havent lost to an SeC East team, until Georgia, the SEC West was undefeated against the rest of the country

[WashUhog6]

The 26-0 thing was a bit of a farce, as the only team the west has played outside of division play that even comes close to Georgia is Kansas State. That record is bloated on a lot of cupcakes, a few decent non-conference wins, and beating up teams from the east not named Georgia.

[ErieHog]

The 26-0 thing was a bit of a farce, as the only team the west has played outside of division play that even comes close to Georgia is Kansas State. That record is bloated on a lot of cupcakes, a few decent non-conference wins, and beating up teams from the east not named Georgia.

Eh.  Wisconsin, West Virginia just beat a Top 5 team.....the SEC West isn't without decent OOC competition.

[popcornhog]

The 26-0 thing was a bit of a farce, as the only team the west has played outside of division play that even comes close to Georgia is Kansas State. That record is bloated on a lot of cupcakes, a few decent non-conference wins, and beating up teams from the east not named Georgia.

It included Tennessee, South Carolina, KSU, Wisconsin, WVU, NIU, TTU, Kentucky, and Florida.

That's just off the top of my head. We'll see what happens when UGA plays Auburn.

The funny thing about Georgia to me is how they always catch a snag early in the season and then start playing really well again by mid season. They've looked damn good the last two weeks though, for sure.

[WashUhog6]

Eh.  Wisconsin, West Virginia just beat a Top 5 team.....the SEC West isn't without decent OOC competition.

That would be why I said it included a few decent non-conference wins. West Virginia, Wisconsin, Kansas State, and Texas Tech are nice wins. South Carolina also counts as a good win even though they've since shown to be massively overrated.

3 of the 7 SEC west teams don't even play a P5 team in non-conference play. As a result, 10 of those 26 have come from those 3 teams playing extremely weak non-conference schedules plus Ole Miss having Vanderbilt as its permanent east opponent.

My position isn't that the SEC west doesn't have any good non-conference wins, it's that the 26-0 is not what it appears to be.

[WashUhog6]

It included Tennessee, South Carolina, KSU, Wisconsin, WVU, NIU, TTU, Kentucky, and Florida.

That's just off the top of my head. We'll see what happens when UGA plays Auburn.

The funny thing about Georgia to me is how they always catch a snag early in the season and then start playing really well again by mid season. They've looked damn good the last two weeks though, for sure.

I know what that record included, I didn't just pull my position on it out of thin air. Only 2 of those wins have come against teams currently ranked in the AP top 25. There are impressive wins sprinkled throughout--and you mentioned a few--but the record is most certainly bloated.

[ErieHog]

I know what that record included, I didn't just pull my position on it out of thin air. Only 2 of those wins have come against teams currently ranked in the AP top 25. There are impressive wins sprinkled throughout--and you mentioned a few--but the record is most certainly bloated.

No moreso than any other division in any other conference's out-of league record is;  the truth is everybody has soft spots, usually on the out of conference part of their schedule.

The SEC-West is still vastly outperforming any division based play in the country.

[WashUhog6]

No moreso than any other division in any other conference's out-of league record is;  the truth is everybody has soft spots, usually on the out of conference part of their schedule.

The SEC-West is still vastly outperforming any division based play in the country.

Again, it's not my position that the SEC west isn't dominant and overwhelmingly the best because that is undeniably true. It's that the out of division record includes *a lot* of fluff and that it's yet to include a team as good as Georgia, which is why we have no reason to be upset that the Hogs are the ones to finally blemish the perfect record.

[Hoggie17]

Agreed. That's why I'm excited about what Bielema is building. It's gonna be fun once this is turned around.

Why does beating Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl, then being ranked in the top 10 at the start if the 2012 season take a rebuilding program by Bielema?  Someone please explain.  I would be happy to even have the year we had in 2010.

Tn is a program that is being rebuilt one brick at a time, in 2012 Tn lost every game that Derrick Dooley coached in the SEC.  You don't build a program that is winning. You keep it. Now if we had a coach that came in it would be rebuilding project because we have lost all the momentum that we had going in 2010 and 2011.

[bigred223]

Why does beating Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl, then being ranked in the top 10 at the start if the 2012 season take a rebuilding program by Bielema?  Someone please explain.  I would be happy to even have the year we had in 2010.

Tn is a program that is being rebuilt one brick at a time, in 2012 Tn lost every game that Derrick Dooley coached in the SEC.  You don't build a program that is winning. You keep it. Now if we had a coach that came in it would be rebuilding project because we have lost all the momentum that we had going in 2010 and 2011.

Uh, we had John L. Smith the year following the Cotton Bowl, and went 4-8 (including home losses to Louisiana Monroe and Rutgers) and  2 SEC wins against a terrible Auburn team and a terrible Kentucky team. We then lost all of the best players off of that 4-8 team (Wilson, Davis, Gragg, Wright, Adams, Johnson, and Childs) and were left with no depth to speak of in 2013. When you couple that with the huge shot to the morale of the program, and the fact that SEC West is now stronger than it has been possibly ever; it makes sense that the rebuild would be difficult. Tennessee is in the exact same position we are right now (3-4 record) with a less difficult conference schedule.

Basically, your point doesn't make any sense.

[Hoggie17]

Uh, we had John L. Smith the year following the Cotton Bowl, and went 4-8 (including home losses to Louisiana Monroe and Rutgers) and  2 SEC wins against a terrible Auburn team and a terrible Kentucky team. We then lost all of the best players off of that 4-8 team (Wilson, Davis, Gragg, Wright, Adams, Johnson, and Childs) and were left with no depth to speak of in 2013. When you couple that with the huge shot to the morale of the program, and the fact that SEC West is now stronger than it has been possibly ever; it makes sense that the rebuild would be difficult. Tennessee is in the exact same position we are right now (3-4 record) with a less difficult conference schedule.

Basically, your point doesn't make any sense.

Uh please read the post, I made it very clear 2010 and 2011 then we ranked in the top 10 at the beginning of the 2012 season. However we did win at least one SEC game in 2012.

[jbcarol]

Matt Jones @KySportsRadio  ·  3h 3 hours ago
Mississippi State opens as a 13 point favorite over Kentucky

[jbcarol]

Cecil Hurt @CecilHurt  ·  10h 10 hours ago
Sagarin ratings, FWIW, have an All-SEC Top 5. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/ ...

UGa is 5th, 4th in the all-important "Predictor" ranking where Arkansas is #22, the top team with a losing record and just behind Florida State.

[popcornhog]

Why does beating Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl, then being ranked in the top 10 at the start if the 2012 season take a rebuilding program by Bielema?  Someone please explain.  I would be happy to even have the year we had in 2010.

Tn is a program that is being rebuilt one brick at a time, in 2012 Tn lost every game that Derrick Dooley coached in the SEC.  You don't build a program that is winning. You keep it. Now if we had a coach that came in it would be rebuilding project because we have lost all the momentum that we had going in 2010 and 2011.

He didn't take over for a top 10 team coming off of a win over KSU in the cotton bowl.

He took over for a team crashing and burning after a sub .500 season who lost to ULM in Little Rock.

[Calling All Hogs]

If Georgia keeps playing this way they will make a run at Auburn on November 15th.

[Josh Goforth]

The 26-0 thing was a bit of a farce, as the only team the west has played outside of division play that even comes close to Georgia is Kansas State. That record is bloated on a lot of cupcakes, a few decent non-conference wins, and beating up teams from the east not named Georgia.

LSU over Wisconsin

[GoHogs1091]

If Georgia keeps playing this way they will make a run at Auburn on November 15th.

I have felt all a long that Georgia would win against Auburn this season.  Samford Stadium is a tough place to play, and Georgia is good enough this season to be a Top 5 in the nation team (with Gurley playing).  LSU took a good team into Samford last season, and South Carolina took one of their top teams of all-time into Samford last season, and both LSU and South Carolina lost.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

He didn't take over for a top 10 team coming off of a win over KSU in the cotton bowl.

He took over for a team crashing and burning after a sub .500 season who lost to ULM in Little Rock.

Thank you. Many people want to discount the damage done to the program by, not only CBP, but JLS. CBB is trying to rebuild from a much worse situation than many want to realize.

[Hoggie17]

This is BS.   Petrino wouldn't have won 11 or 12 games that year, but we would have won between 8-10 games not including whichever bowl we went to.  The Petrino bashers on this site are amazing.   Yeah he messed up. His coaching ability though is far better than anything this state had seen in decades.   His down year would have been 2013 when he was going to be starting a new QB and new receivers.   Which in my opinion would have been a 7 or 8 win season.  This season I believe he would have been back to 9+.

When BP got here, fans said the reason he won a few games is first year was because all the talent that was left by the previous coach, the second year was the same.  He had a very good year in his last year and started 2012 off with a cotton bowl win over KS.  Then he was fired. The coach after him was a mistake, now even Long has admitted it was a mistake.  Our courrent coach has had trouble winning games in the SEC, no problem blame BP for not leaving any players.   

[Grag T]

Thank you. Many people want to discount the damage done to the program by, not only CBP, but JLS. CBB is trying to rebuild from a much worse situation than many want to realize.

100% correct.  The negative nancys will say "we got whipped 38-6 in the first half" but they refuse to see that we righted the ship at halftime and whipped Georgia 26-7 in the second half.  We are able to compete with ANYONE in only Bielema's second year.  The future looks good indeed if people would bother to notice.

[jbcarol]

David Paschall @DavidSPaschall

Well, looks like Georgia coach Mark Richt is on his way to improving to 28-10 against SEC West teams in regular-season games.
5:35 PM - 18 Oct 2014

[NoNC4Tubs]

David Paschall @DavidSPaschall

Well, looks like Georgia coach Mark Richt is on his way to improving to 28-10 against SEC West teams in regular-season games.
5:35 PM - 18 Oct 2014

What is his record the last five years..? 

[jbcarol]

6-3 with two losses in 2010.

[NoNC4Tubs]

I hope he stays there a lonnnng time! 

[jbcarol]

The SEVEN teams in the SEC West have been the most dominant in the country -- going 28-1 against anyone not in the SEC West. The division is about to beat up on each other, however, resulting in a 36 percent chance that all seven teams finish with two or more losses.

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/category/_/name/ncf

[LRAFBHog]

HCBB will have this team in the SEC title game within three years, mark it down.

Not as long as there is a Nick, Gus, Les, Freeze, and more.  Mark it down!!!!

[HiggiePiggy]

The SEVEN teams in the SEC West have been the most dominant in the country -- going 28-1 against anyone not in the SEC West. The division is about to beat up on each other, however, resulting in a 36 percent chance that all seven teams finish with two or more losses.

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/category/_/name/ncf

28-1.  Who lost......... 

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC @ESPN_SEC  ·  4 hours ago

How the SEC West became so dominant http://es.pn/1wkTJkz

The SEC West has been the center of power in the conference for several years now, but never has the gap been greater than now. By placing a historic four teams in the top five of the AP poll, the West is stronger than ever. That's due in large part to the rise of Mississippi State and Ole Miss, while the likes of Alabama and Auburn remain strong. How has it gotten to this point? Here are five key decisions -- coaching hires, recruiting classes and more that made the SEC West what it is today...

[jbcarol]

SEC Network @SECNetwork  ·  13 hours ago
_______ has the toughest remaining schedule in the #SEC West!

[NoNC4Tubs]

SEC Network @SECNetwork  ·  13 hours ago
_______ has the toughest remaining schedule in the #SEC West!

The barners.........

[jbcarol]

Hugh Kellenberger @HKellenbergerCL  ·  7h 7 hours ago
Trollin', trollin', trollin' RT @ESPNCFB: Here are @dannykanell's Top 5 teams with 1 loss.