It seems No. 1 ranked Alabama's big game against the Buckeyes is becoming more and more important to the SEC.
The SEC West specifically went 28-0 in non-conference play this year and put all seven schools in bowl games.
As of Thursday afternoon, the almighty SEC is 5-4 in bowl games following Ole Miss' particularly terrible loss to TCU in the Peach Bowl.
ESPNU's Shannon Spake said, "The SEC is overrated."
WRBC's Mike Dubberly asked, "Is the SEC overrated this year?"
And WJTV's TJ Werre said, "Meanwhile, the SEC is being criticized for being a bit overrated."
For years, the Southeastern Conference has been considered the powerhouse in college football. But with the conference teetering just above .500 this postseason, the doubters have emerged.
But embarrassing losses aside, there are some facts to be considered, like the unprecedented streak the SEC has in BCS National Championship games. Seven of the last eight BCS champs all hail from the Southeastern Conference.
Yahoo's Pat Forde tweeted, "This is an abject embarrassment. SEC West coming up small so far." during Mississippi State's loss.
And Fox Sports writer Jay Clemons says, "What's that old expression about succeeding in freshman- and sophomore-level classes in college? Thirty percent of your grade involves simply showing up. ... History has been extremely kind to SEC in bowl action."
Dominance, right? Well, some say it's only so impressive when you consider the conference's bowl game losses.
Mississippi State spent five weeks as the No. 1 ranked team in the country after beating the top dog of the SEC, Auburn, but then got steamrolled as soon as it played a team from a Power 5 conference, i.e. Georgia Tech.
Ole Miss had the number one scoring defense in the country, shutting down the aforementioned Mississippi State and others, but couldn't slow down Big 12's TCU at all.
As a Sports Illustrated writer notes, "It’s very easy to say that you are beating 'ranked teams' when the majority of those teams come from your own conference, but what did they do to earn those rankings? Is it based on perception? reputation?"
Well, if the SEC's reputation is under attack the conference has picked a worthy champion to rest its hopes on. Nick Saban and his Alabama Crimson Tide are ranked No. 1 in the country going into college football's first ever playoff and have won the BCS title three times in the last four years.
This video has images from Getty Images.
A previous version of this video included a clip from Shannon Spake which implied she thought the SEC was overrated. Spake was, in fact, simply reading a quote. This video has been updated.
