My Division Can Beat Up Your Division

Is there any doubt now that the SEC West is the best division in football right now?

Or ever?

And don’t just look at the combined 50-16 (75.7%) record of the division, or that if you removed 4-5 Arkansas from the picture, the record becomes 46-11 (80.7%).

Never mind that all of those losses have come against SEC teams, only one of them against a team from the East (after Arkansas’ comeback attempt against Georgia fell short).

Don't take into account that the SEC West is 35-1 against any team outside the SEC West, including Auburn's win over 13th-ranked Kansas State, Alabama's win over West Virginia, and LSU's win over 22nd-ranked Wisconsin.

Their out of division record is certainly impressive, although some would argue that the quality of those opponents is somewhat lacking.

Forget that the West has produced the last five SEC champions (Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Alabama, Auburn) and four of the last five national champions (Alabama, Auburn, Alabama twice).

It’s hard to believe that the SEC East hasn’t won an SEC title since Tim Tebow was playing, isn’t it?

From 2009 to 2013, the SEC West has given us two Heisman winners, and numerous All-Americans and NFL draft picks.

It’s been quite a historic run for the nation’s best division.

And this year, the SEC West might be better than ever.

Through 11 weeks of college football, six of the seven teams in the division have at least seven wins. Mississippi State is at the top of all national polls with a 9-0 record and clear path to the College Football Playoff.

Auburn, Alabama, and Ole Miss are all hovering around inside the top 12, while LSU sits on the edge of the top 25 and Texas A&M is barely on the outside looking in.

At one point, the West had six teams ranked in the top 15, while having four teams ranked in the top seven another week. Granted, they hadn’t started playing each other yet, but it’s quite an impressive feat nonetheless.

But that’s not all that makes the SEC West truly dominant and impressive.

The rankings, the opinions of the polls, none of that is what sets the SEC apart.

What you have to pay attention to, in the context of how they play against the rest of the nation, is how they play against each other.

Last weekend, Texas A&M upset third-ranked Auburn at home. The Tigers have defeated Ole Miss on the road, dominated Arkansas by 24 at home, and flattened LSU 41-7.

Mississippi State beat that same Auburn team, but struggled against Arkansas (whom Auburn dominated) and needed some big plays late to survive a late rally from LSU (also thrashed by Auburn).

Speaking of the Bayou Bengals, LSU upset third-ranked Ole Miss one week.

That same Ole Miss team split home games with Auburn and Alabama, quite thoroughly dominated Texas A&M.

Immediately following losses to Mississippi State and Ole Miss, Texas A&M went through the grinder against Alabama, getting obliterated 59-0. Yes, this is the same Texas A&M that beat Auburn.

The Crimson Tide, despite blowing out A&M, needed a blocked field goal to beat Arkansas and overtime to survive against LSU.

What we should see here is that no team in the SEC West is invincible. No team is completely dominant.

You can’t just point at a single game from this season and use it as evidence for or against an argument of a certain team’s strength. As you start comparing wins and losses, home and away games, close games and blowouts, you find yourself getting tangled up in a web that’s impossible to unweave for a very simple reason.

In the SEC West, everyone beats each other.

Every team, even undefeated Mississippi State, has had their share of tight games, maybe tighter than they should have been, and every team has shown weaknesses.

But they all have very distinct strengths, and frankly, some teams match up against certain better than others.

That’s why, on any given Saturday, your championship hopes can get dashed by a hungrier, more eager team.

If you don’t bring it every game, you’ll lose.

Joe Tessitore of the SEC Network rebutted the claim of an “SEC bias” by telling everyone to take a look at an SEC team’s schedule. And I could not agree more.

It isn’t just that Texas A&M had to Mississippi State back in week six, it was the fact that they had to play that game against a top 15 team, turn around and play third-ranked Ole Miss the next week, then turn back around and travel to Tuscaloosa to face seventh-ranked Alabama.

Auburn’s last seven games featured four road games against Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Alabama, with home games against South Carolina and Texas A&M sprinkled in between.

Arkansas has had separate streaks of playing Texas A&M, Alabama, and Georgia in a row, then Mississippi State, LSU, and Ole Miss back-to-back-to-back.

Any team can step up for a big game against a nationally ranked opponent. But it’s an entirely different ball game when you have to come right back the next week and play another nationally ranked team.

That’s the difference of the SEC West.

Need I remind everyone that six of the seven teams in the division have at least seven wins?

The fact that through 11 weeks, it’s still statistically possible (though improbable) that every single team from one division could be bowl eligible is phenomenal.

Consider that the worst from the Sec West, Arkansas, would undoubtedly be the best in any conference not named the Big-12, Big Ten, ACC, or Pac-12.

And always remember that the reason an undefeated SEC team is so rare is that their schedule is one that no one else in the nation would dare play through on a year-to-year basis.

Any and all of these SEC West teams can beat any team from any other conference when called upon.

And then they all have to play each other.