Since the BCS era began in 1998, The SEC has been the most dominant conference in college football. Since then, the SEC has had 5 teams (Alabama, Florida, LSU, Auburn, and Tennessee) that have won 10 of the 19 National Championships. The ACC has the second most in that time frame with 4, most recently won by Clemson in the 2016-2017 National Championship game.
However, in the 2016-2017 season, the SEC did not display it's usual dominance. This is shown by the fact that only 1 team of the 14 had a win total of 10 or more games. The league as a whole produced an average of 7.5 wins. Rounding that number up to 8, that leaves you with 3 teams winning more than the conference average. The Big Ten had an average of 7 wins, which is less than the SEC average, but had 6 teams win more than the conference average of games. In addition, The Big Ten and Pac 12 each had 4 teams with double digit wins. The ACC and Big 12 each had 3 teams with double digit wins, making the SEC the conference with the least double digit win teams of the power 5 conferences.
The Big Ten and Pac 12 conferences really stole the show last season, with incredible play in both conferences. Penn State had what many consider to be the win of the year as they defeated Ohio State in Happy Valley. USC, despite getting manhandled by Alabama in a 52-6 loss, came on strong toward the end of the season thanks to Quarterback Sam Darnold. Ohio State, while not the winner of the Big Ten Championship, represented the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff, where they would go on to lose to Clemson. Washington had a great outing against Alabama in a losing effort. Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin were also at one point ranked in the top 25, as was Colorado from the Pac 12.
The SEC is by no means a weak conference. LSU, Auburn and Florida were good teams, but they never reached that level of greatness that we have come to expect from the SEC. Tennessee looked like they might be a great team, but they tipped their hand too many times, and got lucky on a few occasions. They eventually showed their flaws losing to South Carolina and Vanderbilt, two very bad teams.
I fully expect the SEC to be a strong conference again, but their time of conference dominance is over. The Big Ten and the Pac 12 are gaining on them, and gaining fast. Alabama may be the number 1 team in the nation, but they are definitely not a part of the best conference.
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Daniel Snyder
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