SEC in the Post Season

[DRU2012]

Though clearly some teams have risen to their respective opportunities and occasions (our boys included, and notably UK in holding on against PSU), it hasn't exactly been a clean sweep on a clear highway.
So far it isn't simply that some SEC teams have underperformed, it's that they appear to have been poorly coached in the process. The worst, most egregious examples have been Ed Ogeron in LSU's win over UCF, and Kirby not-all-that-Smart's failure to somehow either not recognize his team's lack of motivation OR WORSE, see it but not properly respond to it.
In the latter case, it is only midway thru the 2nd quarter of the Sugar Bowl, a not-much-SMARTER Tom Herman's many failures to fully capitalize having given UGA every chance here to get back in it--so jury is still OUT on THIS one.
But Ogeron's team was an embarrassment in every way except in the final score--too close considering how badly UCF was truly outclassed in terms of talent , and unfortunately leaving the door open for more claims of "We matched up ok against the SEC again!" BS from the losers. FACT: YOU DIDN'T "match up"--you just were PERMITTED to hang around by a dumbass Head Coach who brought a selfish, ill-prepared and undisciplined (if talented) team to the Fiesta Bowl. Had they been properly composed and armed with a proper gameplan utilizing their size and skill advantages, they would likely have had these hollow-armored "Knights" routed by the half, or shortly thereafter. But Ogeron knows about as much about strategy and out-THINKING his opponent as a turtle knows about playing chess.
Meanwhile, this Sugar Bowl goes to the half 20-7 Texas. A good start--but considering all the chances they were handed AND HOW WELL HIS PLAYERS PLAYED THEIR HEARTS OUT, Tom Herman did everything but squander those opportunities...Only his QB's Tebow-esque clutch run for TD, finally, on their third chance UGA handed them, they wouldn't even have that 2-score lead. I am so UNimpressed overall with Herman as a Head Coach that I still expect Smart's charges to pull this one out in the 2nd half--but I also see the signs of Kirby's demise as well:
Here's an early forcast: Win or lose here, and despite the widespread rush to anoint him somehow the next "Dynasty-leader" out of the SEC East, I believe we have already SEEN "the high water mark" of UGA's rise under Kirby Smart. It will be Dan Mullen's GATORS who will grab that crown--and much sooner than "the experts" have loudly proclaimed...It may well be coming in 2019--depending on who/what emerges/ensues at the QB position this spring/summer and into Fall.

 

[DRU2012]

The notable trend I have seen repeatedly this post-reg-season/bowlgame/playoff stage(s) has been the final ascension of "social media" to the level of both "predictor" and "INFLUENCE" in the final outcome of the actual "pending matchups":
Most obvious and shameful ocurred in relation to that Sugar Bowl, run-up AND result, where ("NOT so-") Smart's team was clearly more focused on their continued public arguments and rationalizations concerning the playoff participants and their own supposed relelative superiority reflected in the losers' performance and games' outcomes, than in preparing for and focusing ON the next day's game and their preparation and place in it.
Hence, we could see the ensuing result coming "from MILES away"! And the one who must be held accountable to that "ensuing result" by FAR is the Georgia coach. Now, I thought that the remaining Texas-favoring Superdome crowd mockingly chanting "S-E-C, S-E-C...", and soon after, "Oh-Ver-Ray-Ted, Oh-Ver-Ray-Ted..." etc as the final seconds ticked off (just before Longhorns'on-the-field stupidity and out-of-control misplay /penalty/after bad play and more-of-same damn near gave a big lead/route AWAY during that same less-than-two minutes at the end there (Tom Herman continues to NOT impress me with HIS smarts OR maturity/leadership EITHER!)...but as I was saying as a sidebar here although both kinda funny AND somewhat "understandable", the Texas fans failed to show much more in the way of brains OR class than their Coach--so that, all in all, from a GATOR P.O.V. I found it all part of a larger, in truth (albeit selfishly) REASSURING trend: In all cases to some extent having to do with their respective Coaches, (1) Texas ISN'T "Back" (they'll hover around this level just attained now for a couple/few seasons until their fans get tired of the limitations imposed upon them by their COACH'S mistakes and flaws), and (2) we have already now similarly seen "the high water mark" for this Kirby Smart-coached Georgia program, I believe.
We can discuss all this in more detail, and I can develop my arguments in this area at that time elsewhere if/when y'all wanna talk about it during the off season--but even the next coupla months and the rest of recruiting and into spring I think will help flesh out/further build my case across the board. And I will add one MORE component: (3) Win or lose the Final (and I am fairly confident that if they both bring their "A-Games", Alabama WILL win another Natty under Saban next Monday night)--but irrelevant of that game's outcome, I ALSO believe we have seen REPEATED evidence/demonstrations of The Tide's waning dominance as this season has wound down:
THAT'S RIGHT...
I am predicting the slow slide of the Crimson Tide in the coming season and beyond--PERFECTLY timed for the rise of Mullen and the Florida Gators.
Don't know how quick or tumultuous will be the fall-off/displacement--it will depend on too many factors on all sides of this issue, and actual events at and with the various programs at the center of it all for me to be anymore precise than to make these predictions in the above general terms--but I HAVE come to strongly and honestly believe it, as a result of everything we have seen of late.

 

[Escambia94]

Try not to get caught up in the social media spin. Texas is indeed back. Georgia is very good, but they have flaws. Texas deserved that win, and they have almost a decade of pent up anger towards the SEC for embarrassing their 2009 team on the national stage and ending their quasi-dynasty. Texas fans are still jealous that Texas A&M gets first pick at recruits, revenue, and clout from the SEC, rather than the second pick leftovers from Texas, the Big 12, and less revenue.

The SEC is still one of the strongest, if not the strongest, conference. The postseason does not matter to anyone except the teams vying for the national championship, so it is silly to judge the SEC based on the bowl season. The other conferences only poke at the SEC in the bowl season, because that is the only time they can argue against SEC superiority. Ask the SEC rival teams (the ones that play the SEC every year in November) what they think of the SEC and they will tell you that when it counts, the SEC is the toughest conference. The best time to beat an SEC team is in the bowl season when its best players are hiring professional agents and preparing for the NFL, or when teams have been eliminated from the title run.

 

[DRU2012]

I agree with most of your "micro-points" above, E--, but not necessarily with a couple of the main ones. You're right about the SEC s sustained superiority, etc, and I understand and totally agree with the "pent up resentment" among fans out there (and NOT just the Texas ones!)--and even that (of COURSE) "Georgia is very good"...my point here was simply that though the Dogs ARE loaded with talent, and the various component squads generally well-coached, the HEAD Coach's clear mishandling of his team in prep and run-up to this Sugar Bowl, and their resulting belly-up surrender in the game itself, though on the surface seemingly surprising and possibly explainable in exactly the terms you propose, I in fact now believe we have in the process seen a large weakness in his leadership--one symptomatic of an over-reliance on assuming that "experts' high-ranking approval of one's recruiting classes" automatically translates into onfield success.
If there's one thing WE have had aptly demonstrated--NO, pounded INTO us--over the years it is that personality, honor, poise, maturity, leadership and the general "fit" of diverse individuals into and as part of an eventual "balanced TEAM", one intentionally DESIGNED AND BUILT TO WORK AS ONE is what will ultimately make the crucial difference.
With Texas, the problem goes farther and DEEPER: Sure, "Texas deserved that win", and yes, the Longhorns appear to be "on the come", but how far and fast, let alone what level they will actually reach under the present regime, I now believe has already begun to show its limitations--Tom HERMAN'S limitations! The man doesn't have control of his team--I think it's endemic to his personality, and that it will lead to widening cracks that will in turn manifest as full on disasters, soon and often, imho.
I am pretty sure of what I have noted and therefore concluded here. In contrast to BOTH of the Sugar Bowl Coaches, more than ever I see the strengths in the guy WE have walking the sidelines now...More than ever I can say with pride, hope and relief: "It really IS great to be a Florida Gator"--now, of ALL times.

 

[Escambia94]

I think we are a little hard on Kirby Smart when comparing his coaching abilities against Nick Satan and that caliber of coach, while applying that same level of scrutiny against other coaches but in completely different situations. Just face it, after losing to Alabama, Georgia's players were not as interested in beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl as Florida was not as interested in beating Missouri in a regular season homecoming game after losing to Georgia just a couple weeks earlier. It is not as if Florida has done so well against Georgia.

Timing matters. If by some fluke Florida had to play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl instead of Texas, I think Florida would have won. If Georgia had to play Texas in the regular season before they played Alabama and lost the will to win, I think Georgia would have won.

I am not saying Texas could only beat a downtrodden SEC team, but I am saying that generally speaking any of those top 10 teams have shown that more often than not not after having their season's championship goals destroyed that they play worse than normal unless there are extenuating circumstances.

What that means for Florida is that we can take time to make fun of Kirby Smart and the Georgia team for losing to Alabama and Texas, but at the end of the day Dan Mullen and the Gators need to beat those guys in the regular season before we can continue mocking the Georgia Bulldogs.

 

[DRU2012]

Agreed:
(1) Timing matters. And the various "alt-realities" you propose are valid: Albeit "taking the fun out of it" to do so, we CAN'T have it both ways. So yes, I AM being extra-hard on Smart above.
BUT WHY SHOULDN'T I?!!
I mean, the guy and his team have gotten a pass from everyone BUT that asinine, self-important CFP Committee! It is PAST time some kid on the parade route yelled, "The Emporor has no clothes!"
And at root, I truly believe it is a valid point itself, that Kirby Smart and his team has already peaked, and if they were to beat Bama NEXT time it will only be because the Tide THEMSELVES have begun to fall "back to the pack"...Even WITH Tua (talk about timing being everything, btw: Y'all think maybe it's FINALLY time to move the Heismann voting til AFTER THE FINAL GAMES are played? ).
Clemsen might even BEAT the Tide tonight--and for the same reason. Oh, the Tigers ARE built more like an SEC team than the rest of the ACC--but I sincerely doubt they'd have gone undefeated in playing an SEC schedule. Or gotten here anywhere NEAR this healthy. As for the whole QB story, HELL: NO ONE since the later-Spurrier Gators has had THAT kind of depth and well-found confidence at the key offensive position.
(2) It is now coming to be "Time for us to prove it ON THE FIELD".
Yes, we are there AT LEAST a year early...In fact, I'd still lean a bit conservative and say that NEXT SEASON (2019-20) is our NEXT STEP, "Learning Year" where we GET to the finals (or whichever Playoff game where we face up against Bama), but maybe (without some big breaks our way in that one) LOSE in a close one at the end...I'd of COURSE be glad, ECSTATIC to be wrong, to see us sweep right into and through the Playoffs--but it still FEELS like 2020-21 is STILL our "Gator Year of Ultimate Re-Ascendancy", somehow. Another acceratingly stronger recruiting/training/teaching cycle for the MULLEN TEAM between here and there, AND (looking at the coming schedules next coupla seasons) the way 2021 appears to play out as far as a shot at a building wave of momentum--and again: TIMING.
Call it a "Gut Level", intuitive "sticking with my original non-intellectual view".
(I suppose it only fair I am completely honest here: About a week after Coach Fat-Mac was "let go"/replaced by Mullen, admittedly after about a week of personal thought, research, consideration, "mixed feelings" and yes--pardon the bad pun--"mullin' it all over", I had a dream, a VERY VIVID dream where our Gators, in an all-Royal Blue-version of our "hometeam unis" I hadn't seen before--maybe the Jordon-ones "to come"???--beat up on a Tide team in their visiting whites in the 2nd half of a final played in a domed-stadium I didn't recognize-- and I kept hearing and SEEING SUPERIMPOSED over the TV bigscreen I was watching it on, "2021"...Who knows where it came from and/or what all it really meant/means, but I've confidently kept it to myself ever since. Wouldn't blame ANYONE ELSE for putting NO STORE WHATSOEVER in it...Even I look forward to it with CURIOSITY more than any kind of "magical confidence".
But glad I HAD it. Oh yes.)

 

[Leakfan12]

Bama got spanked.

 

[Escambia94]

This CFP championship shows that a team like the Gators can win if the head coach is given plenty of time to build that winning culture, and if the coaches are patient with snagging those prized recruits in key positions. Look at what Florida missed out on under Jim McDeathThreats.

 

[DRU2012]

This CFP championship shows that a team like the Gators can win if the head coach is given plenty of time to build that winning culture, and if the coaches are patient with snagging those prized recruits in key positions. Look at what Florida missed out on under Jim McDeathThreats.View attachment 423

OMG, YES!
ESPECIALLY at QB...of course, you gotta wonder to what degree it was "bad luck" that the "experts' picks" (the only criteria our seemingly clueless then-Head Coaches appeared to follow in recruiting them during those years) from among "the top prep quartebacks" turned out to be so uniformly busts at the next (OUR) level, and/or to what degree their ineptitude at either developing them OR surrounding them with the talent to even minimally support them during their potential "growth and development years" so thoroughly undermined that process. Whichever it was, failed promise, ruined potential, or simply across-the-board misjudgment (so-called "experts", their public follow-the-leader "me-too-ism" and its convenient memory when it comes to judging their own "past performance" in this regard all conspire to reinforce and continue the same pattern of applied standards and repeated failure: They remember their successes, dismiss and forget their glaring strings of misses.
WE were in that position that the "elite" programs of today are now in, where our great success and time in the public spotlight reinforced and continued our ongoing tendency to attract and close the deal on the "best", those getting those "5-star" ratings at every position our then Coaches deemed important. Fortunately, THIS Head Coach counts "FIT", "personality", and things like "honor", "potential upside", "hidden strengths" and so on at LEAST as highly as the oftem self-serving public stances of the "professional opinionators" out there. I don't know if it is because he has HAD to in the jobs he has stepped into during his recent drive to what was and his "Dream Job" as Head Coach at UF--but it is sure as HELL serving us well so far now. Coach Dan's cocommittent ability to DEVELOP a QBs particular skills, PLUS a notably strong tendency to recognize and quickly, flexibly ADAPT his offense accordingly to that QB's strengths, along with those of the surrounding cast, continuedls to prove out amd serve us well--but the LAST step in this "Express elevator ride--STRAIGHT UP!" will be to get, keep and fully, patiently develop at least ONE SUPERIOR YOUNG QB. At which point, all the rest will "fall into place": Trust me, we'll know it when we've GOT it--and by that guy's sophomore season it'll be obvious: and WE will be the ones in that seemingly unstoppable "vicious cycle of success"...WE'LL seem "the unstoppable force" everyone else despises, and it'll be GREAT! REMEMBER? THEY ALL HATED US FOR A TIME--and we loved it, so QUICKLY came to more or less "take it for granted". I plan to relax and fully ENJOY THE RIDE next time...I advise you ALL to try and remember to notice and DO THE SAME this NEXT time, when it comes...
It wasn't so long ago (it just FEELS THAT WAY), and with this Head Coach we seem well on track to RETURN to that elusive, explosively fun ride.
It is a tough balancing act to achieve, involves a WHOLE LOT OF COINCIDENTAL FACTORS COMING TOGETHER--THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME!!!--THE CIRCUMSTANCES AROUND THEM FORTUNATELY AND COINCIDENTALLY THERE JUST WHEN THEY NEED TO BE, AND WE THE ALUMNI AND FANS THERE TO HOLD UP OUR END--MAINLY JUST RECOGNIZE, ACKNOWLEDGE, ENJOY AND SUPPORT THE PEOPLE GATHERED, WHETHER BY CHANCE, CHOICE OR FORTUNE THERE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!
I SAW IT HAPPEN ONCE AT UF, in the process realizing what amounted to "a lifelong DREAM"--and while I comciously AVOIDED "Taking it all for granted", tried to note and appreciate the joy and FUN of it all, somehow live it to its peak of possible experience--and somehow "hold it close" deep inside, in my heart of hearts, KNOWING it may not EVER come again!
The idea that I am getting that swellimg feeling AGAIN is simply AMAZING: I truly recognize that "feeling" here once more--it could actually BE HAPPENING AGAIN!
LAST TIME I eventually came to realize that the KEY component, in eventual retrospect, was #15. Sure, there were a NUMBER of strange, coming together of unusual, flukey factors that ultimately played INTO that strange "fate"--for "FATE" is what it was and IS.
So by now I have come to see that although things and people (like Urban Meyer himself) played their parts, the key component was almost certainly Tebow that first time. THIS time it appears to be MULLEN, AT LEAST THUS FAR. Now, there appears to be room and TIME FOR an amazing QB to appear and arise to take the reins, lead "the TEAM" into the Stretch and turn for HOME. Again: you, me, we ALL WILL KNOW IT IF/WHEN WE SEE IT this time!
The thing is (and clearly it is my point HERE), it is (to ME, at least) all seemingly "falling into place" around and AHEAD of us now--IN SLOW MOTION, even:
If it now plays out in the manner in which it appears to actually be setting OUT to play out--especially for us Gators who are, after all, hair-trigger READY TO SEE AND EMBRACE A CERTAIN EXACT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS...
Well, personally, I WILL HAPPILY REVEL in the satisfaction that will trigger. Remember: This stuff doesn't come easy, or happen AT ALL without hard work, cooperation, concern, sleepless nights and endless defeat and disappointment for YEARS along the way...Most fans go their whole LIVES of such unfulfilled pain with "NO eventual payoff", after all:
On that day, try to remember to step aside and at least (mentally/EMOTIONALLY) "one-pace-BACK", and say, "THANKYOU!!!"