They did look good. But only in the Sec do you jump from fringe top 20 to first place votes after week one.
Iriving freyers hadn't lost a regular season game since he took over as corch and no one was crowning VTs asses.
If a&m would have beaten scar on the road and aggies were still in big xii the gamecocks would just be overrated. Now its "they can still bounce back and make the playoff". Same with Georgia. It's a joke.
Really all I needed to say is ole miss is in the top 10. But fuck.
People get too worked up over blowouts. Lets see a&m face any sort of adversity. They went 9-4 with Johnnie footbaw last year.
This.
It's not like the SEC isn't great, but they still get over hyped so much. Just belonging to the conference gets teams more respect than they deserve. It's fine if you overhype Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida, etc (even though it's annoying), because they are teams that are regularly among the best in CFB over the past decade. Goodness knows other teams get that, like Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, USC, Ohio St, etc. However, other teams in the SEC get lumped in with them undeservedly, like Georgia, So.Car, Ole Miss, etc. That gets really old. Tex A&M may very well be the best in the SEC for all I know, but it's hard to know what is hype and what is real with most SEC teams.
The reason of course is marketing. ESPN is selling it's most valuable CFB product (SEC football) to it's most voracious consumer (SEC superfandom). Since ESPN is now a full financial partner with the SEC, they are pimping their own product regardless of the merit. Like you said, it's a joke, because ESPN is much more making and selling a product they own, rather than broadcasting a sport for an audience. They have every incentive to make the SEC king, and unfortunately for CFB, their conflict of interest is not challenged enough by the rest of CFB, the press, and the public. Too many people just tune in and believe it, so it happens. Tail wag the dog.