There’s been a rumor going around in some circles that Southern collegiate football — and, in particular, the Southeastern Conference — isn’t what it used to be. The SEC is getting weak, some postulate. Where that wisdom originates, I do not know.
Here are the facts: in the last nine years, Southern football teams have won the national championship eight times. And the winners were:
2007 – The University of Florida
2008 – Louisiana State University
2009 – The University of Florida
2010 – The University of Alabama
2011 – Auburn University
2012 – The University of Alabama
2013 – The University of Alabama
2014 – Florida State University
With the exception of Florida State University, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, all the teams were SEC schools.
In January 2015, Ohio State University won the crown and, apparently, some saw this as the demise of the Southern domination.
Yet, this year, the 2016 National Championship will, once again, be won by a Southern school as The University of Alabama (SEC) plays undefeated Clemson University (ACC) next week. And, significantly, both Clemson and Alabama humiliated their opponents in the semi-final playoffs.
Alabama destroyed Michigan State 38-0 in the Cotton Bowl and Clemson routed Oklahoma 37-17 in the Orange Bowl. And Clemson won by such a margin despite three of their best players being sent home before the game for rules infractions.
If that were not enough to dispel the myth of the decline of the SEC, and football in the South in general, 10 — count them — 10 SEC teams received bowl invitations to play against schools from across the nation. And how did they do? The SEC won eight of their 10 bowls, a feat unmatched by any other conference.
There may come a time when the other conferences are able to surpass the schools down South. It will not be this year, however.
This year Alabama has an opportunity to win an unprecedented 11th National Championship while Clemson has the chance to go undefeated. Who is favored? What are the predictions?
It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except the results on the field next week as two superb teams face off in a game that pits the SEC against the ACC. And when the dust clears, a Southern football team will be the national champion for the ninth time in 10 years.
[David Epps is the pastor of Christ the King Church, Sharpsburg, GA (www.ctkcec.org). He is the bishop of the Mid-South Diocese which consists of Georgia and Tennessee (www.midsouthdiocese.org) and the Associate Endorser for the Department of the Armed Forces, U. S. Military Chaplains, ICCEC. He may contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.]
