Let Me Respectfully Explain Why Your Team Stinks: Big Ten Football is better than SEC Football

The best button to hit on the remote when ESPN talks college football

Today I'm going to piss off ESPN, Paul Finebaum, David Pollack, the SEC on ESPN Network, basically all of ESPN, and all the commentators on CBS because, frankly, the SEC, besides Alabama, is very mediocre.

The SEC is the only conference that seems to have 24 hour news coverage from these people, and these networks. They seem to be the only game in town. When I turn on "College Football Live" on ESPN, I see David Pollack and Finebaum each yelling about how great "their" conference is. They always talk about how it is the only conference in major division 1 football that has any say in the final rankings. They talk about how it is a superior level of football compared to all the other power conferences.

Well, and I know that I am not the only one that has done this research, but besides Alabama, no other SEC team has 9 wins. In fact, the only team with a chance to get a ninth win this year is Florida, and that chance is against Alabama in the SEC title game. I do not see them winning that game.

Tell me why these commentators and ESPN and CBS never give any love to any other conference. Colorado is in the midst of a huge resurgence in the Pac 12, so is Washington, but we only hear about how bad Oregon is on these channels. And not only are Colorado and Washington very good, so is Washington State, Utah and Stanford. Each of these teams has as many, or more wins, than all the other teams not named Alabama in the SEC. The Big 12 is very top heavy, but Oklahoma and Oklahoma State is a much more intriguing matchup to me this weekend, as opposed to Alabama-Florida. The ACC is Clemson, then everyone else, but UNC has put together a very solid year, Pittsburgh is feisty, FSU will get a good bowl game and Louisville has the Heisman front runner.

That leads me to the Big Ten, the conference I think is the best, by a wide margin.

Side rant, Michigan got absolutely screwed this past Saturday. They stopped Barrett, I will go to my grave believing this, and the disparity in penalties was atrocious. That was one of the worst officiated games I have ever watched, and I have heard people that don't like either team tell me the same. Okay, got that off my chest.

But, look at the top part of the Big Ten. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan all have either 10 or 11 wins. Ohio State doesn't get a chance for a 12th win since they blew the Penn State game, but with only one loss, and getting a cheap win this past weekend, they are all but assured a playoff spot. They also play a style of offense that the playoff committee loves, so they will find any way possible to put them in the playoff. Wisconsin and Michigan are very similar, in that both teams rely on their defense. Wisconsin's defense is very good, and I expect that to be on full display this weekend when they face Penn State in the Big Ten title game. Those kids fly all over the place and make play after play. They have no studs on offense, but they can run the ball, as they have always been able to in my lifetime. Michigan's defense is better than Wisconsin's. They have pressured every QB and running back they have played this year. Their secondary is lock down. They blitz all the time, and they shut most teams down. They are, statically, the best defense in college football. Their offense is not flashy either, but they have way more play makers than Wisconsin, and whenever Jabrill Peppers comes in, everyone holds their breath. Then there is Penn State. I really do not know what to make of this team, but they have won 8 straight games, including one against Ohio State. I fully expect them to get crushed by Wisconsin, but they have a hell of a turnaround. I think they are paper tigers, but good for them.

I'd take all four of these teams against any team not named Alabama in the SEC. Give me Michigan-LSU, I'd pick Michigan to win by 2 touchdowns. Give me Penn State-Tennessee, PSU would win by 10 points. In a game between Wisconsin-Florida, I fully believe Wisconsin would shut them out in dominant fashion. So, why do the commentators and specific networks I mentioned only talk about the SEC? I get that Alabama is the best team, and it is not even close, but other than them, they have no real threat. Florida has faltered as of late, and it was on full display against Florida State this past weekend. Tennessee just got beat by Vanderbilt, needed multiple miracle comebacks early in the year, got crushed by Florida, and now their coach is talking about "being champions of life". What a joke. Ole Miss, who was a preseason top 15 team, is below .500. Texas A&M has not been that good since Trevor Knight went down, and were they that good to begin with anyway? I do not think so. Auburn has stumbled as of late, due to injury and playing great competition. LSU fired a coach, lost to Alabama, Wisconsin and Florida already this year, and they just settled for Ed Oregeron as their full time head coach. That does not put any fear in anyone at all. Arkansas just blew a 3 touchdown lead to Missouri and finished below .500 in the conference. Kentucky beat Louisville, but they are just 7-5, and they do not look good, at least not to me. The rest of the conference is just bad. Missouri, Mississippi State and the previously mentioned Ole Miss, they are all below .500. Vanderbilt and South Carolina are right at .500, and the rest has 8 wins or less.

I am sick of the biased view that the people and networks I have mentioned show this conference that has been well below mediocre this year. There is no one, and I mean no one, that should be covered on national media from the SEC except Alabama. Every other team in the SEC is irrelevant. No one other than Alabama is going to be in the playoff, or a New Year's Six bowl.

The SEC is wildly overrated, and I just needed to get this off my chest. It was a frustrating weekend, and the fact that ESPN and Paul Finebaum wanted to act like the Iron Bowl was anywhere near as important as The Game was utterly absurd. Screw Paul Finebaum, David Pollack, ESPN and CBS. You guys all stink and are so in the bag for the SEC, it is disgusting. Why don't you cover some real college football and get off the bandwagon you bunch of hacks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has a few more opinions on teams that stink, check them out. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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You Would Not Take Alex Smith over Aaron Rodgers in Your Fantasy Draft.

NFL scout deep in thought

Last night I watched the Packers play the Chiefs on "Monday Night Football".

The Packers, and most importantly Aaron Rodgers, shredded a pretty good Chiefs defense. I know that the Chiefs have some injuries in the secondary and they start a rookie back there, but Rodgers looked invincible last night. Throws were on target. He hit receivers in stride. He moved around the pocket with a mastery I haven't seen since Brett Favre. Basically, in my opinion, Rodgers has surpassed Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as the best quarterback in football.

On the other sideline, the Chiefs have a very different situation at quarterback. Now, I'm an Alex Smith fan. I think he's a serviceable quarterback. At his best, he's a decent game manager. But, last night, he looked lost and scared. His offensive line could not block the Packers defensive line last night. When he did have time, he danced around in the pocket and usually ended up scrambling for small to no gains. When he had open receivers, he either under threw or flat out missed them. The Chiefs did break their streak of no passing touchdowns to receivers, but by that point in the game, it was moot. Jamaal Charles played well, he always does, but the Chiefs need Alex Smith to do more if they want to compete in the AFC. Jamaal Charles can only do so much, he needs help from his quarterback.

The game and the Packer win is not the point of my column today. While watching this game last night, the commentators for ESPN(the god awful team of Jon Gruden and Mike Tirico) brought up the fact that Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers were in the same draft class. One of them was the first overall pick in the 2005 draft, the other was the 24th overall pick. Watching this game, you'd think that Rodgers was clearly the first overall pick, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Alex Smith was the overall number one pick in that draft by the San Francisco 49ers. After the 49ers took Smith, 22 other teams passed on Aaron Rodgers. He had a funky delivery and he didn't have a ton of highlights as the quarterback of the Cal Bears. At least, that's what the "geniuses" said on their scouting reports. Rumors also surfaced that the Packers picked him out of spite. They didn't want the Chicago Bears to draft him, who had the next pick, which they then immediately traded after the Packers took Rodgers. People in Green Bay and fans of the Packers all over the world were furious that the Packers took Rodgers, my father and I included. We didn't want a quarterback, we had Favre. And if they were going to take a QB, why Rodgers? We all thought he wouldn't amount to much of an NFL player. He would also have to sit behind Favre until Favre was done playing. The pick didn't make any sense to anyone, except for the editor of this website, RD. He called me and my dad after the pick and said that the Packers got the steal of the draft, and that Rodgers was going to be a star. We told him he was nuts. He had no idea what he was talking about.

I'm glad that I was wrong. I'm thrilled to have Aaron Rodgers quarterbacking my team. But, Rodgers did have to sit for the first four years of his career and learn from Favre. The same couldn't be said for the first overall pick, Alex Smith. He was going to be the savior of the 49er franchise in the early 21st century. His blend of athleticism, he ran the spread at Utah before almost every team was running it in college football, was going to change the position. Unfortunately, the 49ers were not a good team and Smith's first five years were rough. The 49ers lured Jim Harbaugh away from Stanford in 2011 and that changed Smith's NFL career, for one and a half seasons. In Harbaugh's first season, he needed Smith to be a manager of the game, and that's what he got. Smith became a guy that didn't turn the ball over and could move the chains with short passes and his legs. He led the 49ers to the playoffs for the first time in a long time. During that same season, 2011, Aaron Rodgers coming off a Super Bowl win in 2010, won the MVP. He was no game manager, he was a game winner. The very next season, the 49ers had one of the best starts of any team in the NFL, and Smith was leading the way. He suffered a concussion midway through the season, and lost his starting job to second year "phenom" Colin Kaepernick. As athletic as Smith was, Kaepernick was younger and more athletic. Harbaugh rode Kaepernick all the way to the Super Bowl, the Ravens beat the 49ers, and Smith was relegated to back up duty. Meanwhile, Rodgers was putting up huge numbers, won a title, won two MVP awards, was a constant on All Pro and Pro Bowl teams, winning division titles with ease and playing in the playoffs every year. Their careers were on completely different paths. Rodgers was playing like the first overall pick, and Smith, he may as well been a fourth round pick. The 49ers traded Smith to the Chiefs the season following their Super Bowl appearance. The Chiefs have been an okay team under Smith, but they haven't had anything near the success the Packers have enjoyed with Rodgers at the helm.

Just to give you guys a taste of some of the players picked between Smith and Rodgers, names like, Cadillac Williams(out of the league), Braylon Edwards(out of the league), Cedric Benson(out of the league), Ronnie Brown(I think he's out of the league), Shawne Merriman(retired and also a women abuser) and David Pollack(out of the league due to a neck injury and a huge chauvinist). Guys who are still playing that were picked before Rodgers include some good players like Derrick Johnson(linebacker for the Chiefs), Damarcus Ware(linebacker for the Broncos) and Adam "Pac Man" Jones(DB for the Bengals). These guys are good, but I'd much rather have Aaron Rodgers. I know that not all teams need a QB when it's draft time, or that the draft is a total crap shoot, but Rodgers is, by far, the best player taken in the 2005 draft. Watching the game last night and hearing that they were in the same draft class was so shocking to me. I thought Rodgers was older than Alex Smith because he's so much better than Alex Smith. Rodgers has mastered the quarterback position, and Alex Smith struggles to be a game manager. The fact that the 49ers thought so highly of Smith and that Rodgers wasn't even on their radar is bewildering to me. I'm sure they wish they had taken Rodgers, but I'm sure a lot of teams in the 2005 draft wished they'd taken Rodgers. I guess you never truly know what you will get out of the draft, but last night, Aaron Rodgers was one thousand times better than Alex Smith, and Rodgers was picked 23 spots later than Smith.

Truly, head scratching.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He gives the editor too much credit, I just thought the Packers were being asses to the Bears. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.