Today, the USA Today Coaches poll was released with an incredible eight SEC teams (5/6 in the SEC West) in the preseason top-25. The Duck Nuts, who write with as little bias as possible, are flabbergasted that this east coast bias has become so extreme. While the SEC is the best conference in college football, the Duck Nuts aren’t denying that, they don’t deserve to have this many teams ranked this high. (FULL LIST HERE)
The first issue that we have is that the coaches’ poll is unbelievably biased. A total 6 of the 59 coaches who decide the poll are from the SEC. One coach in that list is Steve Spurrier, who was so famously caught with a bizarre vote a few seasons ago and admitted he has an assistant vote for him.
Alabama coach Nick Saban is also on the list, and admits he doesn’t know who and where to rank teams. If coaches like these two are voting in a poll that decides who plays for the national title, how valid can this poll really be?
Yes the SEC has won the previous five national championships, they are clearly the best league in college football, and they deserve to be credited for that. The grind a team in the SEC faces for a full season is more intense than any of the other power conferences.
Many will argue that it shouldn’t matter what league the SEC teams are in. If those eight teams are good enough to be ranked that high, they should be there. We would agree. Several of these teams have major flows and are ranked too high.
Arizona State and West Virginia were both robbed by the coaches. ASU, who many believe will win the Pac-12 South, comes in at No. 26. They return 20, count that 20, starters and finished the season on a three game winning streak.
Penn State is always tough in Beaver Stadium under Joe Pa, and will have Robert Bolden back for his second year under the helm behind the likes of: Georgia, Mississippi State, Auburn and Florida.
All of the teams in the SEC ranked above Arizona State, West Virgnia and Penn State have some serious flaws. Let's start with Auburn, who only returns eight starters, who was underrated last year but this year appear to be overrated due to the fact they just won the national championship.
Georgia's top running back Caleb King, who was slated to be their top offensive threat, was dismissed from school and plans to enter the supplemental draft. Georgia will also miss their all world wide receiver A.J. Green this season, who was selected in the first round of the NFL draft. Georgia is also still in the process of changing their defense to the 3-4. If Georgia's Mark Richt has one more bad year, he could be out of the head coaching position in Athens.
Mississippi State will have to replace all three starting linebackers from last season and will take a hit on the defensive side of the ball.
Florida brings in a new coach and offensive coordinator, and is making a major change on offense moving from the spread to a pro style offense. At best even with Florida's top of the line recruiting, this change will take a few years to get the personnel and system aligned correctly.
For these reasons we believe that the new poll is yet another example of east coast bias showing it’s ugly head. And while the SEC is the most dominant conference in college football, eight teams is a gross over evaluation.
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