FSU installed initially as an 8.5 point favourite. That's quite a spread.
---------- Post added December 9th, 2013 at 11:42 PM ----------
If this becomes the 8th year in a row for the SEC, we may have to have some marches or sit-ins or other protests to have the name changed to SEC Invitational Tournament. Or, maybe that's why they've decided to go to a pseudo playoff system. I just hope they aren't asinine enough to have SEC vs SEC in the first round. But then, if 3 out of 4 teams are from the SEC I suppose it can't be helped.
If you win seven in a row you get bragging rights, but the gulf between the SEC and the rest of the country has never been quite as wide as the SEC would like to pretend. If we can just do a quick recap of those seven victories:
- 2006, Florida over Ohio State. Yeah, that was an ass kicking. However although Florida played the #1 ranked team, they probably didn't play the best other team (see also: 2003). That year OSU and Michigan fought to a nail biting conclusion in their last match, and many thought they should rematch in the title game. But Florida hammered OSU in the title game, and USC hammered Michigan in the Rose Bowl. What would have happened if USC had played Florida? We will never know.
- 2007, LSU over Ohio State. Looks like an ass kicking, but LSU came perilously close to losing this one. OSU were leading 10-0 when LSU fumbled a punt inside their own 20. If OSU had recovered that punt instead of LSU, who knows how differently it could have evolved.
- 2008, Florida beats Oklahoma with a fair bit to spare.
- 2009, Alabama beats Texas. Again, looks like an ass kicking. But Texas looked very good early (particularly on defence), especially after an ill judged fake punt by Nick Saban. But Colt McCoy gets knocked out of the game, and Alabama beats up on a Freshman QB.
- 2010, Auburn overcome Oregon in a pretty even contest that was tied with under 3 minutes to go.
- 2011, the all-SEC game. No arguments here.
- 2012, Alabama destroys Notre Dame. No argument here either.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda. To quote Sean Connery: "Losers whine about doing their best. Winners get to go home and **** the Prom queen." But to me the gulf has never been quite as big as SEC-land imagines.
