SEC Pride: A season-ending week fans can be proud of

SEC fans are a prideful bunch. From historically great programs to wonderful fan traditions to the conference’s recent dominance over the college football landscape, there’s plenty to chant “S-E-C!” about. Here’s a look at five things the conference’s fans can point to after week 6 of the regular season.

1. The national favorites. It took all season, but Alabama eventually emerged as not only the SEC’s best, but the top team in the country according to every set of voters there is. The Crimson Tide haven’t risen too far above the rest of the SEC — they’ll be in for a street fight against Missouri, despite the spread — but they’ve convinced everyone else out there that they’re the best in the land heading into the postseason.
2. The most attractive job openings. With Florida’s head coaching job officially coming open after Saturday and Texas A&M and Auburn clearing openings at defensive coordinator over the weekend, the SEC officially has three of the hottest open positions in the country.
3. Bitter rivalries. Did you hear how riled up Dan Mullen was that his team not only lost its shot at the playoffs (which he thinks were slim anyway) but that the loss came to rival Ole Miss? Fans sometimes think they care more than the players and coaches about certain games, but that doesn’t seem to be the case down in Mississippi.
4. Frisky underdogs. The SEC went 0-4 against the ACC on Saturday, something you’ll most likely be hearing about until someone takes out Florida State. Three of those teams that lost (South Carolina, Florida and Kentucky) were underdogs, and two of them gave their ranked opponents all they could handle.
5. Parity throughout. The SEC cannibalized itself all season. For example, Ole Miss beat Alabama, Auburn beat Ole Miss and Alabama beat Auburn. In the East, South Carolina beat Georgia, Georgia beat Missouri and Missouri beat South Carolina (and won the East). There was no dominant team, and despite having plenty of teams capable of contending for the playoffs the conference beat itself up.

Brett Weisband

A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.