Pat Forde of ESPN gets it right.  He makes the case for the serious dominance of the Southeastern Conference in recent years.  This isn’t new for any of us, but it’s nice to see it spelled out.  The main points are:

The SEC is 6-0 in BCS Conference Championship games.

The four straight title-game victories? None of them close. Not a single second-half deficit. Average margin of SEC victory: 16.8 points. Closest margin: 10 points. Hasn’t mattered whether the opponent is from the Big Ten (Ohio State twice) or the Big 12 (Oklahoma once, Texas the other); they haven’t been able to compete.

The league hasn’t been just one marquee team and a bunch of hash. It has placed at least two teams in the USA Today final poll top six each of the past four seasons. Alabama was No. 1 and Florida No. 3 last season; Florida No. 1 and Alabama No. 6 in 2008; LSU No. 1 and Georgia No. 3 in 2007; and Florida No. 1 and LSU No. 3 in ’06.

Those eight teams were largely unbeatable — except when facing their SEC peers. They were a combined 39-1 in nonconference games — including seven dominant BCS bowl victories — but still managed to lose 10 league games. If you want to underscore the much-discussed depth, understand that Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas and Auburn beat teams that either went on to win it all or finished in the top six.

You can read the full article here.