After watching ESPN shamelessly plug the Big East as being “better than people believe” and “if Louisville is undefeated they should be in the BCS National Championship”, I decided to bring back a Lloyd Braun Classic post from the old blog.  The original post complete with priceless comments from Big East fans is located here
In case anyone has forgotten, ESPN has a huge contract deal with the Big East. I noticed old Lou Holtz was a bit non-committal on the whole Louisville-BCS scenario. ESPN will fire his ass (hopefully) for not being a company man. Good luck Louisville and ESPN, I hope you get what you want, a BCS Bowl with an SEC Team or the Ohio State. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Here is his post:

North Korea or West Virginia? No electricity? Eers have football but they don’t have electricity

Sports Illustrated recently ended the debate over which Conference is the best. Below is a scan from the article that ended the argument. Liars figure and figures lie.

SEC fans aren’t concerned with the BCS Title. We know that there is very little chance of one of our teams making it through an SEC schedule undefeated. It’s just not going to happen. Florida beats LSU at home and then it’s on to Auburn. No rest for the wicked, indeed.

West Virginia or Lousiville in the SEC? 3-4 loss teams at best. Notre Dame in the SEC? no better than 2nd or 3rd in the SEC East. Southern Cal in the SEC? already a one loss team. National pundits hate these statements, but facts are facts. Nobody goes through the SEC undefeated. And if they manage (Auburn 2004) they should automatically win the National Championship by default. The fact that Auburn was not allowed to compete for the National Title in 2004 forever ruined the BCS in the eyes of SEC fans. Examine who Auburn had to beat in 2004 to go undefeated. LSU, Tennessee (twice), BAMA, Arkansas, Georgia, etc.

Moving back to the present, let’s take a look at Cal. The Golden Bears are running roughshod through the Pac-10. They look like a BCS team right now. Put them in the middle of an SEC Stadium facing an SEC defense and all of a sudden those Heisman Trophy candidates look like Division I-AA second teamers. Tennessee literally dismantled Cal bit by bit. Tedford and Longshore both admitted that the crowd stunned them from the minute they took the field. Well, here is a not-so-well kept secret……it’s like that every weekend, everywhere you go in the SEC (except Vandy, KY, or MSU). Cal has a very good shot at beating Southern Cal. If that happens, does Tennessee get an honorary Pac-10 Championship?

Ohio State is riding high right now after a win over a Texas team that in all honesty lacks the weapons of last year’s team. That’s not the Buckeye’s fault, but too much credibility is weghted on that game. I happen to respect Big-10 football. But the fact is the last three times my Vols have played the Big-10, we have walked away winners. We gave Michigan the worst beatdown in many decades, upset the NFL-loaded Buckeye’s in the Citrus Bowl, and easily put Northwestern away. Ohio State has two games on their schedule that are potential stumbling blocks. Texas and Michigan. Compare that to a Tennessee schedule (Cal, Florida, Georgia, BAMA, LSU, Arkansas) or to a Florida schedule (Tennessee, BAMA, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Florida State) and you will see that there is no comparison at all. It’s easy to win when you don’t play your best when you face Bowling Green, but try going to Fayettville when you have an off-game (see Auburn last week).

I happen to think that Ohio State is a supremely talented team, possibly the most talented in the country. But that’s not the point. The point is that teams in the SEC face the near-impossible task of playing their best every single Saturday. Because the middle teams in this conference are capable of beating any team in the country on any Saturday. The same can’t be said for other conferences. SEC Champions will almost always have a loss or two, and because of that a team like Louisville or West Virginia will rank higher in the final BCS Standings.

SEC fans already know the BCS is a joke. Our National Championship is played in Atlanta on the first Saturday of December.