A Messy SEC, New-Look League Up for Grabs

By Jim Gazzolo

It was a league that used to be so simple.

The old Southeastern Conference came down to Alabama and Georgia with a few others in and out of the mix.

An LSU title here, Florida there, maybe even sneak in an Auburn or Tennessee. The pecking order was easy to figure out.

A big game or so a year to decide the champion and expected national champ. Simple, no hassles, few upsets.

Those days are gone. 

The new SEC resembles the Wild West, with shootouts and crazy new rivalries popping up each and every Saturday.

And like those western days, there is a Texas flavor to the conference as the Longhorns look like the team to beat as Halloween approaches.

For newcomers to the league this is a treat, for the old guard it must feel like a trick gone wrong.

Things have been so nuts that LSU fans think beating Ole Miss is the same as Vanderbilt knocking off Alabama. Why else would they storm the field with a win the Tigers have accomplished eight straight times.

Isn’t LSU supposed to beat the Rebels?

Maybe not in the new SEC but they sure did in the old one.

One thing is clear as the third Saturday of October approaches, there is no rhyme or reason to what is happening this fall. 

Alabama has a loss and late escape, Georgia has a loss and Tennessee has a loss and almost two. Those were three of the expected top four fighting for a title.

Meanwhile, Texas, the newcomer, is marching right along as the No. 1 team in the nation. The Longhorns have not been really tested…yet.

Ten years ago nobody ever would have thought Texas would be in the SEC let along looking like the best in show. And there is no way anybody would have predicted that Vandy could have ever defeated the mighty Crimson Tide.

It’s not just who is winning and who is losing but how the games are being played. There have been enough comebacks, overtimes, and upsets already to fill three or four seasons. That doesn’t look like it is going to slow anytime soon either. 

There are a host of big games down the road as the best of the SEC start thinking about playoff positioning. Every loss holds extra meaning as the NCAA expands its postseason to 12 teams.

Only the SEC champ will get a bye, so there is a prize to the winner that is bigger than the championship trophy. 

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles