There Are Three Reasons Why The SEC Dominates In Football (And They’re Not Going To Change)

Recent population statistics show that only about 1/3 of the total African American population lives in the nine states of the SEC.

Check population statistics. Several northern states, such as Michigan and Illinois have larger African American populations than states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, or Kentucky. Ohio has about as many African Americans as most states in the South.

5 in a row, 7 of the last 13 with the strength and success spread around to 4 different teams, that won'be be duplicated by another conference for quite some time. By that time, I think it may be our great-great grandchildren who will make note of that...ha. This competition with the Big 10?, etc. is good for all. It reminds the Big 10? that they aren't "quite there yet" and they press toward greater excellence. It reminds the SEC how far they have come and they press toward greater heights. It reminds high school players that to achieve greatness and go with winners, go with the SEC, pick and choose your team--Auburn, Alabama, Florida, LSU, etc. and you have a chance to win the SEC and BCS. If we were playing today, that would influence us greatly, also the desire to be closer to home and have families come see them play more often.

PLEASEsee above? (1)CAM DID CHEAT!!! (2) HE DID NOT BEAT LSU BUT BY SEVEN POINTS as I remember, LSU should have won the game!!! CAM was not edgible to play against LSU or any team last season in my opinion!!! We need to keep our CONF clean if possible... johnmulliniks@bellsouth.net!!!

JOHN AS i SAID ABOVE!!! I do not believe that anyone, you included, can tell me honestly that Cam was edgible to play in the SEC or the NC game . LSU should have played in that game, and for the NC!!! I am saying nothing about the PAY TO PLAY I am talking what I know, CAM cheated at Florida, HE COULD NOT PASS, tried the PAY FOR PLAY thing, did not work, the coach was honest! He went to AUBURN and had no trouble passing...IS IT EASY ER @ AUBURN TO PASS THAN IT IS AT FLORIDA??? To me that is where the CHEATING IS!!! ALSO THE WRONG DOING...It was not right to let it go on and with the blessings of the SEC, they will deny it, but they will never convience me, it is not right, I have been complaining off and on for years about this!!! He should not have been allowed to play at AUBURN it is just that simple, and AUBURN has always to me been treated witha different set of rules by the SEC!!!

Every school pays for players. If you don't believe that then I guess you are naive. (I by no means am a Cam fan but he got caught because the other school was ticked off they lost out. Some schools hide the pay better than others.) Why do you think certain players wait till after signing day to commit? I can think of one big 10 QB that shopped around for his "best option". So if you want to talk pay to play then you should also look at USC and Joe McKnight. There was no way that kid was leaving Louisiana unless he got paid. He was die hard LSU until Pete Carroll came around throwing money.

Who paid for Cam? We have followed the story very closely with friends and family in various spots where the situation happened, and who paid money? The FBI could not find anyone paid money. The SEC could not find a money trail. The NCAA could not find who paid the money. Who paid it? We know there are continuing investigations, but so far, no investigation, even that of very interested rival schools and schools that want Auburn to be sanctioned so they can become the BCS champion, as well as major publications and several book authors are investigating this matter but no one has found money changed hands from anyone to anyone. An agent for Cam's father apparently discussed the possibility of funds ($180,000) but when Mississippi State coaches heard about it they hit the ceiling and called the NCAA. Auburn called the NCAA and asked if they could recruit Cam. They received clearance and in all their meetings with Cam and his father, Auburn had witnesses and video tapes. They were as careful and they could be. Maybe speak of USC and Reggie Bush. But is seems from all evidence so far, Auburn is clean, Mississippi State is clean and the only one that allegedly may not be clean is Cecil Newton and his agent.

As an LSU alum and Louisiana native, I would LOVE it if my Tigers already had 7 football national championships, but I am only aware of three Nat'l championships in football for LSU: 1958, 2003, and 2007.

Whew! The SEC is already "murderer's row" and in that gauntlet it is a huge effort to get through without being injured or without suffering at least one loss. Adding Oklahoma and Texas A & M to the teams and getting Miss St. East would have to be the toughest schedule even without out of conference teams. LSU would not have to schedule Oregon, just face the in-division teams and that would be more than enough. Most, if not all, would be ranked in the top 25 just about every year. Don't know all the powers that would stop at nothing to keep that from happening but we know there would be so many that would yell and scream, pass state legislation, etc. to keep that from happening, but it is a great idea! We love SEC football and have for over 50 years. We have seen the growing dominance of the SEC and that is borne out in the BCS the past 5 years and 7 of the last 13, 4 different teams. They treat the member schools very well with profit sharing and also generate great media attention and funds due to larger stadiums throughout the conference. Unlike other conferences where the same team wins the championship just about every year, there has not been a repeat champion in the SEC since the championship game was instituted or since the BCS.

Perhaps the more controversial aspect of "oversigning" is signing more players than there are available spots within a schools 85-man roster. There is no question that the SEC makes broader use of medical hardship scholarships than the Big Ten and perhaps other conferences as well. There are certain guidelines put in place by the NCAA in the use of medical hardship scholarships. I have yet to see any of the critics prove that the SEC is abusing the system in this regard. The SEC might simply have the resources to fund additional scholarships for those players who can no longer play where other programs cannot or choose not to do so. It may be that the SEC is just more brutal and produces more career ending injuries. Roster spots are also freed up by academic casualties and transfers. I've seen no credible facts that support abuse on the par of the SEC in this regard. Absent facts to support the notion that the SEC is doing something untoward, it all becomes an exercise in excuse-making and sour grapes to point to "oversigning" as the key to the SEC's success.

"Oversigning" consists of two components. The first is signing more than 25 athletes (not including those that enroll early and count toward the previous years' total) when only 25 can actually enroll in the Fall. That practice is not unique to the SEC. It is more prevalent in conferences in the South (particularly the SEC, Big 12 and C-USA), but it happens everywhere. There is a good reason it is more common in the South. Public high schools in the region do not do a good job of preparing students for standardized tests. Now, you can certainly argue that the passion for football expressed in this article coupled with poor schools shows poor priorities, but that's not really the topic at hand. The point is that due to the strong likelihood of some signees not becoming fully qualified (with no foreknowledge of which athletes will make it and which won't) requires schools in the South to sign more players if they wish to fill out their class come the Fall. That doesn't put the SEC at a competitive advantage relative to conferences in other regions, it simply keeps them on an even playing field.

(to be continued....)

If you are an inner city parent and you have a chance to get your son on a sports team, football or basketball let's say, rather than coming home after school and getting in trouble with the gangs that roam your community, you will opt for the clean living, no drugs, discipline, safe environment, provided by the coaches and schools. That is their after school program. It not only was the after school program for the past decades, it IS the preferred after school program for most inner city and single parent families today. Your son can be enrolled in football or basketball or be exposed to gangs, get into drugs, get into trouble...What are you going to do? You will do as millions of families in the inner city, and suburbs, rural, etc. you will enroll your son in a sports program provided by his school or the community. You don't have a male role model at home because the boy's father is gone...the coach becomes the mentor and male role model. It is a marvelous and an excellent opportunity for parents all around America.

I agree with you...In New Orleans, you only have to scan the horizon while driving along the expressway on a Friday and even a Saturday night to locate stadium lights where a high school game is being played.

Bo Jackson, Charles Barkley and Chuck Person are some at one particular SEC school.

You are correct. The injuries my brother and I received playing football require surgeries and therapy even many decades later. However, young people we knew when we were young, got into trouble and faced much worse futures than did we who were involved in sports. Sports keeps many poor and needy youth out of trouble, off the streets, teaches them discipline and teamwork, obedience to authority (which is a serious problem in inner city schools and other schools as well) and the things learned by being involved in sports outweigh the problems later. We face the problems later and we still would choose to play sports. Injuries in all sports are serious and have been reduced much in recent decades with better technology/equipment and changes in rules. Injuries occur in baseball, basketball, soccer, football, lacrosse, rugby, wrestling, hockey, volleyball, swimming and and yes even golf. For fear of injury in a sport, not to play it? Thank God, we did not observe that reasoning and so many other parents and players would echo this who never make it to a professional level. Our lives were enriched so much more and we avoided many of the pitfalls of our friends who ODed, went to prison, or were DOA.

We think we may know some of the same athletes to whom you are referring! You are quite correct! One of them we ran into last week at Sam's Club.

HEY, remember this article is about football, not education. We all know the Ivy League will never make it into the BCS round.

Only problem with the other side of the coin. The report has nothing to do with Graduation Rates. It was about football only.

Oh please, cut the crap. If the average fan really cared about academics, then we'd see 100,000 plus screaming people at commencement ceremonies the same as we do at the games. I got MY degree from Tennessee, and that's really all that matters to me. Our players get full scholarships, private tutors, and access to a huge academic center that the average student does not. If they can't take advantage of those things and get their degrees while they're here, well, that's no skin off my back. Do I WANT our athletes to succeed in the classroom? Of course. But frankly, I'd rather they succeed on the field. And if any fan of any other school says otherwise, then they're a liar. Academics and grad rates are just feeble rallying cries for the whiner whose school and/or conference can't compete on the field.

Shut up stupid.

missing the point a bit, the article is about football dominance not academic dominance. Look up Ivy league schools graduation rates and you will see who is dominant there. Also, if you want, you can write an artice about the academic dominance of the Ivy league or any other conference, if you do, I PROMISE not to retort with "How about the other side of the coin, football dominance?"