Let's talk about the ACC versus the SEC this regular season...

[uafan4life]

For anyone crowing about the ACC's record versus the SEC this regular season, let's take a closer look at those games:

FSU over LSU
FSU over Florida
Kentucky over Louisville
Ole Miss over Georgia Tech
Georgia over Georgia Tech
Clemson over South Carolina
North Carolina over South Carolina
Miami over Texas A&M
Tennessee over Virginia
Wake Forest over Vanderbilt


In total, the ACC was 6-4 versus the SEC this season. However, it makes the most sense to group these matchups into like teams versus like teams and unlike teams if you're going to try to honestly compare conferences, so let's do that.

Like Teams:
Top-4 vs Top-4 --- There were only two games pitting teams that both ended up a Top-4 team in their conference this season. The SEC was 2-0 in those games.
Second-4 vs Second-4 --- There were no games pitting teams that both ended up a Second-4 team in their conference this season.
Bottom-6 vs Bottom-6 --- There was only one game pitting teams that both ended up a Bottom-6 team in their conference this season. The ACC won that game.

Unlike Teams:
SEC Top-4 playing down --- There were no games in this category.
ACC Top-4 playing down --- There were three games pitting a Top-4 ACC team versus a lower SEC team. The ACC was 2-1 in those games.
SEC Second-4 playing down --- There were two games pitting a Second-4 SEC team versus a lower ACC team. The SEC was 1-1 in those games.
ACC Second-4 playing down --- There were two games pitting a Second-4 ACC team versus a lower SEC team. The ACC was 2-0 in those games.

So, based upon the randomness of the schedule and assuming a like conference would - on average - split like games and win unlike games in which they have the higher conference-ranked team at the end of the season, the ACC should have gone 7-3 against the SEC this season.

Additionally, the Top-8 SEC teams went 4-1 versus the ACC this season.
Meanwhile, the Top-8 ACC teams went 2-3 versus the SEC this season.

In fact, the only SEC-ACC game the ACC team won when they likely shouldn't have - based on the end-of-year results - is when Miami beat Texas A&M (who ended up firing their head coach this season).

 

[DrollTide]

A valuable post.

However we will get to see Kirby seal-club FSU in the Orange Bowl. I believe I will be watching that game.

 

[Power Eye]

You are using GA Tech as a top 4 ACC team. Yes, they had the 4th best conference record, but they aren't the 4th best team in the ACC. Clemson is a better team, beat Tech, and had a better overall record by two games. Otherwise, I agree with the sentiment of what you are saying, you can't just look at the record of ACC v SEC given that we didn't lineup the teams and play each other's 1-14. I will say though, at least in my mind, the two biggest matchups were LSU/FSU and Miami/TA&M and the SEC lost both of those.

 

[uafan4life]

You are using GA Tech as a top 4 ACC team. Yes, they had the 4th best conference record, but they aren't the 4th best team in the ACC. Clemson is a better team, beat Tech, and had a better overall record by two games. Otherwise, I agree with the sentiment of what you are saying, you can't just look at the record of ACC v SEC given that we didn't lineup the teams and play each other's 1-14. I will say though, at least in my mind, the two biggest matchups were LSU/FSU and Miami/TA&M and the SEC lost both of those.

Fair point. I did use the conference rankings. Of course, banding it at 3-3-3-5 or 3-3-8 still paints similar results.

As for the Georgia Tech versus Clempson bit, I offer two counterpoints:
1. The game might have gone much differently had Tech not turned the ball over 4 times. (It's a lot easier to win a game when you have a pick-six plus six (6!!!) drives that start at the 48-yard line or better.)
2. Replace Tech's SEC opponents with weaker OOC opponents and there are two more wins, overall.

 

[Power Eye]

2. Replace Tech's SEC opponents with weaker OOC opponents and there are two more wins, overall.

You would think that, but they did lose to Bowling Green.

 

[CrimSonami]

A valuable post.

However we will get to see Kirby seal-club FSU in the Orange Bowl. I believe I will be watching that game.

I expect this game to be pretty much unwatchable by halftime. UGA is one of the top 4 teams regardless what this committee decided. They'll want to prove it much like we did last year.

 

[Big Bama1966]

At the end of the day the committee made the right call based on their own criteria. If you read the rules they follow it is CC 1st, Common opponents, SOS, but the next one is the one that matters to where the free shoe got left out. The rule states if the team in question has a loss of significant value I.E. QB (which we all know their QB is out) then the commitee must take into account that loss and are they competitive without the significant player... We all know this team is now basically Iowa, a good defense but no offense...

 

[crimsonaudio]

A valuable post.

However we will get to see Kirby seal-club FSU in the Orange Bowl. I believe I will be watching that game.

I believe UGA will win, probably by 14+, simply because FSU's offense is dead without Travis.

That said, that FSU defense looks good - UGA could struggle to sustain drives against them.

 

[uafan4life]

I believe UGA will win, probably by 14+, simply because FSU's offense is dead without Travis.

That said, that FSU defense looks good - UGA could struggle to sustain drives against them.

Georgia's defense might outscore FSU's offense, though...

 

[crimsonaudio]

Georgia's defense might outscore FSU's offense, though...

Hey, show Iowa FSU some respect!

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

I believe UGA will win, probably by 14+, simply because FSU's offense is dead without Travis.

That said, that FSU defense looks good - UGA could struggle to sustain drives against them.

They might. But I do wonder if FSU will be way more fired up about this game than UGA. This is FSU's chance to make a point while UGA probably doesn't really care about the game at all and probably will be without some important players.

 

[92tide]

I expect this game to be pretty much unwatchable by halftime. UGA is one of the top 4 teams regardless what this committee decided. They'll want to prove it much like we did last year.

or they could come out and lay an egg like we did vs oklahoma in 2013. we'll see how uga handles the disappointment of their first time falling from the pinnacle of college football after waiting 40 tortuous years to get there

 

[cbi1972]

I believe UGA will win, probably by 14+, simply because FSU's offense is dead without Travis.

That said, that FSU defense looks good - UGA could struggle to sustain drives against them.

Rodemaker isn't terrible but that freshman is not ready

 

[selmaborntidefan]

or they could come out and lay an egg like we did vs oklahoma in 2013. we'll see how uga handles the disappointment of their first time falling from the pinnacle of college football after waiting 40 tortuous years to get there

they wandered 40 years in the Georgia.....clay hills.....and, oh whatever.....

 

[selmaborntidefan]

For anyone crowing about the ACC's record versus the SEC this regular season, let's take a closer look at those games:

This is a comparison that in my younger days I used to make, but I realized at some point it's a futile comparison because there are games that skew the whole record sideways, as you demonstrated.

Let's face it - do we REALLY judge whether the Big 10 or SEC is historically the better overall conference based on Kentucky vs Indiana IN FOOTBALL??? Kentucky all-time is 18-18 in games with the B1G, and Indiana is 21-17, so do we really draw any kind of inference from that?

Alabama, by contrast, is 13-4 all-time with records of 4-1 against Ohio State and 3-2 against Michigan (the other loss, for those of you who blocked out the Shula years, was to Minnesota in the 2004 Music City Bowl). Ohio State is 13-5-1 vs the SEC OVERALL, but the games everyone remembers are the ones against Alabama and Georgia (last year).

Bowl games skewed the data years ago because you'd have teams that were potentially contenders next year playing a lot of freshmen after a series or two to save the seniors for the draft (and all-star games) and see what you had for the next year. If one team does that but the other is trying to win their 7th game of the season for their best year since Roosevelt (and I mean Teddy), they're going all out. You have one team playing for next year and one for this year, and who knows?

They skew the data now because the P5 conferences have players who aren't willing to risk injury that will cost them lifetime security for a meaningless bowl game.

And as far as the regular season, I mean, let's admit it's SIGNIFICANT if Mississippi State knocked off Michigan in the season opener simply because the football players on Michigan even in the Rod-Hoke years are substantially better top to bottom than anything MSU can recruit. But if Michigan can win, who cares? The same is true if Alabama slaughtered Northwestern.

I just don't think anyone can get MUCH of a conference superiority argument out of this one way or the other.