The USA Today Pre Season Coaches Poll came out earlier in the week and it’s to no one’s surprise which league is dominating the rankings. The SEC which has won every national championship in recent memory owns the first 2012 pre season poll of substance. LSU and Alabama, the two teams that faced off in the BCS Title game last season sit 1-2 respectively in the polls. The coaches clearly have a thing for the SEC. Three other teams bless the top 10. Georgia is ranked 6th, South Carolina in 9th and Arkansas is 10.
That’s five teams in the top 10, which are SEC schools, three of which are in the “Division of Death” aka the SEC West. The fun doesn’t stop there, Florida is ranked 23rd and Auburn is 25th. When you are finished counting, seven SEC schools are in the pre season top 25. Now we all understand how dominant the league has been for the better part of a decade, but are they really worthy of five deep in the top 10?
The problem is that pre season polls are just guessing. They would be a fun exercise if the coaches poll wasn’t a part of the BCS equation. The coaches, or mainly the school’s sports information directors are prognosticating. The assumption is that the SEC is the best league. That assumption may indeed be correct when all is said and done, but the perception in this current system, especially early on can eliminate other teams later in the season. Ask Mike Gundy and Oklahoma State fans.
Sure we all know that the current system is on it’s way out, but it’s our reality now. Is the SEC the best conference? It darn sure has been, but there’s no guarantee that they will win the title this year. There’s no guarantee that five of the conference’s fourteen teams are amongst the ten best teams in the nation. That is why they play the game. With that said SEC fans are already crowning themselves. All of this is going to be motivation for teams like USC, which sits at #3 in the polls. They may have the best chance to ending the SEC dominance. It’s hard to believe that kickoff is just around the corner.
Ari Russell
Believe it or not, I agree with you. Look at FSU last year, preseason polls mean nothing. Do they really think Florida deserves to be a top 25 team, much less Auburn? A flawed system on it’s way out the door.