The truth about the ‘SEC Bias’

When it comes to the modern day phenomenon that is college football in America, no conference is as renowned and discussed as the SEC.

The Southeastern Conference is constantly a topic of media conversation, giving other power conference fans room for tons of complaining and whining about the so called “SEC Bias”. They comment that since the SEC Network is owned by ESPN, the conference naturally gets premiere coverage and is overrated in general. Better yet are those who claim there is a new “Big Ten Bias” replacing the SEC’s sacred spot in ESPN’s heart. Undeniably, the SEC gets some special attention from national media. But just how warranted is it?

Five of the top ten largest (by capacity) stadiums in all of college football belong to SEC teams, according to College Xpress. The conference has a massive fan base and following, and a truly devoted one at that. SEC fans live for college football. It goes without saying, but they spend a pretty ridiculous amount of money on it. Logically, broadcasters want to cover information that will attract the biggest following to their programming. So they give the people what they want.

No doubt, the Big Ten has also been a popular topic for media over the past year and has had a great run. The SEC had a terrible record in 2015 bowl games, and lived up to the overrated teams that other power conferences so wish they could be. Though both traditionally successful conferences, the SEC is 87-58-2 all time against Big Ten teams. SEC teams have simply been more relevant to sports news because they have been more successful.

An SEC team won the BCS Championship seven years in a row, from 2006 to 2012. No other conference has ever held a streak that long. When Alabama won the CFP system in 2016, they proved that the SEC is not done; the conference has now reached the title game nine out of the last ten years. Kirk Herbstreit pointed out the inconsistency in the logic of those who believe in the SEC Bias beautifully with the reporting of ESPN spending their first day of 2015 camp at Ohio State University, covering the new National Champions.

Herbstreit tweeted “Can you imagine if the B1G won SEVEN straight National Titles the amount of coverage the B1G would receive?!”. While some have referenced to a new B1G bias, or the B1G replacing the SEC in media coverage, Herbstreit states that whoever is winning is who earns the national coverage. More wins, more hype. Makes sense to me.

The physicality of the SEC is simply unmatched, making for consistently strong schedules. One contributing factor to this is the premiere recruiting talent SEC teams attract each year. Five out of the top ten recruiting classes of both 2015 and 2016 as ranked by Scout.com were SEC teams. This means half of the most talented recruits in America believe that going to an SEC school gives them the best chance at winning while in college, developing into an NFL prospect, and getting a quality education.

As a result of the successful teams that the Southeastern Conference produces, they also produce some of the most significant players year after year. For nine years in a row, the SEC has had more players drafted to the NFL than any other conference in college football. While these extraordinary players are in still on their respective college SEC teams, of course they are interesting topics for news coverage.

As a student of an SEC school, I can honestly say I’ve never experienced anything like the atmosphere of undefeated number 6 LSU vs. undefeated number 8 Florida at night in Death Valley. There’s nothing like the neutral site classic SEC rivalry game of Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville every year. I may never see a student section as surprisingly excited as UF’s was when the 25th ranked Gators upset number 2 Ole Miss, and I’ve never seen a fan base as disappointed as when the Gators lost to Ole Miss in 2008, ruining Tebow’s run at our first undefeated season.

As a college football fan, I also realize that there are many teams in other power conferences that are a lot better than a few of the SEC’s consistently underproductive. If the conference as a whole keeps winning, the media will keep talking about it. When your conference wins seven national titles in a row, let me know if they get some special attention.