Alabama Football: Tide, Georgia wins may finally break SEC haters

Alabama football has haters, but the Southeastern Conference has had haters of its own all season. Bowl wins by Alabama & Georgia may be the final straw.

Forget the years of domination. Forget about everything that once was the SEC. Just think about this season. The absolute hate is still dripping from the mouths of so many college football fans not associating themselves with an SEC team. Many of them have said how the SEC is weak, which would be the kindest thing that some of them have said within the last year.

Add to that Kirk Herbstreit‘s walk off of ESPN’s set when he heard the news that Alabama made the top four for this year’s college football playoffs, and one has the makings of the biggest pile of hate forming for one conference in a long time.

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That’s not to put it at Herbstreit’s door, though. Andrew Joseph of USA Today reported Herbstreit’s comments about the event in question:

"“I got up and walked off. And I think symbolic of what if you’re watching this and you’re just a college football fan. We all said, ‘Well, I think it should be Alabama, but it’s gonna be Ohio State. They’re gonna do the politically correct thing.’ Committee just made a statement.”"

Kirk Herbstreit mad in real life ya’ll pic.twitter.com/UJcm6YsbOQ
— Jack McGuire (@JackMacCFB) December 3, 2017

His words are one thing, but his actions at the time were misleading at best. Many fans do not remember what he said afterwards because they were too struck by seeing him walk off the set. Ohio State fans, or any Alabama or SEC haters, may have (mis)interpreted his actions to mean that he thought the committee’s decision was wrong.

The tweeter wrote as much, saying Herbstreit’s anger was obvious. Whether it was or not is not the point. The gesture sparked what many haters were feeling when they heard the news.

The term ‘politically correct’ is very vague. It gets used so often when people think that something in the world is wrong but that society deems it to be right, so if someone does not want unwanted scrutiny then he or she needs to bow down to it. The person does it, not because it is right but out of fear of social accountability.

Well, which is it? Is Alabama being in the CFP the correct thing or the politically correct thing to do?

Either way, the fact that Georgia and Alabama, two SEC teams, are in the CFP is driving other conference fans into a frenzy. The fact that Kirby Smart happens to be the Georgia Bulldogs head coach, a former assistant to Alabama’s head coach Nick Saban, only adds fuel to that particular fire.

Sports Illustrated‘s Andy Staples published yesterday an amazing piece on comparing Smart to Saban. Staples claims:

"“Smart, who played safety at Georgia from 1995 through ’98, might represent the purest distillation of the Process yet. He served as Saban’s DC from 2008 through ’15 and helped the Tide seamlessly adapt to some of the most dramatic tactical shifts the game has seen. Smart turned down other head jobs and waited for an opening at his alma mater, which has the recruiting base and the resources to build a program similar to his mentor’s. The hope is that when Saban, 66, does decide it’s time to retire and turn his full attention to his car dealerships, Georgia will be positioned to become the next SEC power.”"

Smart may have already reached that mark, even if only for a brief period of time, when Georgia had taken the first place ranking in the country away from Alabama. The reign was short-lived, as Auburn beat both Georgia and Alabama to give both teams their only defeat this season, so far.

Georgia’s success will have a lot to do with Smart, who learned his craft from Saban, considered the biggest villain in college football. That fact could not have gone unnoticed by the haters.

As a side note, does it bother the haters that Auburn is also an SEC team?

The SEC opponents, on the other hand, have all of the love they can handle from non-SEC fans. Alabama has a date with Clemson in the Sugar Bowl while Georgia will try ripping the Rose Bowl away from Oklahoma.

The Sooners have media darling, Baker Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy winner who grabbed his crotch on national television to gesture contempt for his opponents. That golden tidbit of controversy was swept under the rug after he made apologies, as it should have been. Young people will make mistakes from time to time, and it should not define their lives if it did not cause physical injury or death.

The Tigers are the defending national champions, who took victory away from the evil empire of Alabama last season in the dying moments. They also have Dabo Swinney, a man whom the media make as a regular Andy Griffith. Who could possibly hate on a man who talks like he just brought over an apple pie and wants to be everyone’s friend?

Mr. Rogers would have to watch out, or else Swinney would make the neighborhood his own.

Now, picture Alabama beating Clemson and Georgia beating Oklahoma. What then?

The ACC and Big 12 champions would have been toppled by two SEC teams. The beloved quarterback about to make it big in the National Football League next year would have lost his final game as a Sooner. The Crimson Tide would have won the rubber match with the Tigers, making Clemson’s victory last season, unfairly, all about star quarterback Deshaun Watson, who left for the NFL this season, and less about Swinney’s program.

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The SEC would be the villains who actually defeated the haters’ heroes. The SEC, as supposedly weak as they are, would have taken out two conference champions. Alabama did not even make their conference championship, let alone win it, yet they would have taken out the ACC’s finest.

Anyone want to get their popcorn ready and watch the tears flowing, the jaws dropping, and the bottom lips quivering as the SEC haters would have to admit that they were soundly defeated by the ‘weaker’ teams?

According to the hate, Alabama does not even deserve to be in the CFP. If Alabama football reigns supreme over Clemson, what can Ohio State fans honestly say to themselves? They lost to Iowa by more than 30 points, but an Alabama victory over Clemson means nothing?

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Every single SEC fan, regardless of their hate for Alabama or Georgia, should be cheering for the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs on New Year’s Day. If they do not want to cheer, they should at least hope for a Clemson and Oklahoma debacle.

The hate is not just for Alabama or Georgia, it is for the entire conference. No SEC team asked to be hated, and yet hate is what they have. Whether one is from the University of Alabama or Kentucky or South Carolina, the Southeastern Conference was said to be weak. How weak are they if the best of that conference beats up the other big conference champs?

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