In recent years, Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops has been the unofficial leader of the anti-SEC group in College Football. Primarily at the Big 12 media days he’s taken the opportunity to denounce the SEC as the #1 conference. This year he’s taken aim at the SEC teams, specifically Texas A&M, who’ve scheduled poor opposition for their four non-conference games.
Last year, he claimed that the hype around the SEC being the strongest conference was just created by those within the league. It was A&M he used as the example then as well, with many expecting them to struggle mightily against the top defenses in the SEC when they bolted from the Big 12 in 2012. But then Johnny Football happened and the Aggies finished third in the country on offense leading to Stoops claim that the mystique around SEC and their much vaunted defenses was “propaganda.”
Stoops brought up Texas A&M this time to mock the strength of their out-of-conference schedule: “”They have Lamar, Rice, SMU and Louisiana-Monroe,” Stoops said. “Boy, those are all a bunch of toughies, right?” <ESPN SEC blog, 26th July 2014>. In fairness it is pretty indefensible to schedule four games against such weak opposition for the second straight year by A&M, but next year does see an improved out of conference slate as Arizona State are their opponents on opening day.
Despite this, Kevin Sumlin went on the offensive when asked about Bob Stoop’s comments at a fan event in Houston, saying, “Coach Stoops has the right to say whatever he wants, but if he wants to play us again we’ll take him up on that.” <AggieSports.com, 26th July 2014>. Sumlin was clearly referring to the 2013 Cotton Bowl where the Texas A&M Aggies destroyed the Oklahoma Sooners 41-13, led by Johnny Manziel scoring two touchdowns in the air and on the ground as he exceeded 200 yards passing and rushing.
The main gripe currently with the SEC is that they still play an eight game conference schedule, unlike the Big 12 and the PAC-12 for example, which leaves them open to schedule four games against whomever they please. The SEC recently decided to stick with an eight game schedule but stipulated that all schools must arrange one game against a team from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten or the PAC-12 from 2016. The new rule should create some interesting early season matchups although there has been a rush to schedule games against the likes of Wake Forest and Indiana which probably isn’t what everyone had in mind. Whilst it’s good to see the SEC forcing it’s members to play other power conference members in one game per year, we’d all prefer to see that rule stay alongside a nine game conference schedule.
Without a doubt the comments from Bob Stoops will continue as long as the SEC continues to be seen as the top conference in the nation. The debate it creates between the hard-core fans of different teams in different conferences is a great part of the college football landscape.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LWOS_Akie. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Football fans… be sure to check out our two partnered NFL podcasts – Thursday Night Tailgate Radio and Overtime Ireland. Both shows bring you interesting commentary, critical analysis and fantastic guests including former and current NFL players, coaches and personalities each and every week.
