clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

IS THE ACC BETTER THAN THE SEC?

A HEADLINE BROUGHT TO YOU BY CLICK THIS LINK PRODUCTIONS

By Ryan Nanni
Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Media Days are a place for bold, attention-getting remarks; you don't score many points with your fanbase by admitting that eight wins would be fine and relative conference strength is an amorphous, highly subjective concept. But EDSBS, as the last bastion of noble, upright journalism, is the crucible in which claims are weighed for their actual truth. So let's examine: has the ACC been better than the SEC in the last two years?

Let's start by acknowledging the obvious argument - the ACC has one national title since 2013, and the SEC has zero. It is a true fact that is also not terribly illuminating, and we can do better. We will do better. What about postseason success overall, for instance?


Now Doeren's claim seems fairly absurd. Bowls, however, are still a limited sample size, and not always the best indicator of the true talent a team or conference possesses. ENHANCE.

A point in Doeren's favor - though it should be noted that neither conference is doing all that great. By comparison, the Pac-12 won 65 percent of its games against non-conference Power 5 opponents in 2013 and 2014. But what about a specific opponent both the ACC and SEC have in common?

Damn, dead even. Let's try a different metric.

Florida's really dragging down the conference in one category, but it's leading the SEC in the other. It reminds me of the old saying: "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window that you can throw the door out of because this stupid fucking door nearly lost to Kentucky in triple overtime at home."

That's an admittedly flawed measurement, as polls have a certain degree of inertia to them. It may be the above graph only demonstrates the SEC's advantage in reputation, not talent, which would reinforce Doeren's point. But let's get to the stats that really matter.

Nearly getting doubled up? That's a major minus for the SEC, and it makes you wonder why major media's not talking about this more. Maybe this is an isolated incident.

Well, shit.