It has always bothered me how the SEC almost never plays true road games against Power 5 teams, especially those outside of the SEC footprint (defined by states that have an SEC team). While South Carolina plays Clemson, Georgia play Georgia Tech and Florida plays either FSU or Miami, those are all in state games.
In 2014, Florida played at FSU, Kentucky at Louisville, South Carolina at Clemson, Tennessee at Oklahoma, Arkansas at Texas Tech, and Auburn played at KSU. 6 true road games against Power 5 teams. The SEC went 2-4 in those games. Note the only game outside the SEC footprint was at KSU, which was an extremely close game.
For the Big 10 in 2014, the Big 10 had 9 true road games, with 6 being outside their footprint. Big 10 went 5-4 in those games (3-3 outside footprint).
In 2015, the SEC plays 2 true road games against Power 5 teams: Georgia at GT and LSU at Syracuse (1 outside the SEC footprint). That is it.
For the Big 10 this year, we play 8 true road games, with 7 of them being outside our footprint.
While the SEC did go 4-0 against Power 5 teams last week, none of those were true road games. There were 10 games pitting Power 5 teams against each other last week. 6 of the 10 were on someone's campus (the other 4 all included SEC teams). Only 2 of the road teams won in those matchups: No. 1 OSU and No. 2 TCU.
I find it hard to evaluate the SEC when they never play any road games against Power 5 teams.
In 2014, Florida played at FSU, Kentucky at Louisville, South Carolina at Clemson, Tennessee at Oklahoma, Arkansas at Texas Tech, and Auburn played at KSU. 6 true road games against Power 5 teams. The SEC went 2-4 in those games. Note the only game outside the SEC footprint was at KSU, which was an extremely close game.
For the Big 10 in 2014, the Big 10 had 9 true road games, with 6 being outside their footprint. Big 10 went 5-4 in those games (3-3 outside footprint).
In 2015, the SEC plays 2 true road games against Power 5 teams: Georgia at GT and LSU at Syracuse (1 outside the SEC footprint). That is it.
For the Big 10 this year, we play 8 true road games, with 7 of them being outside our footprint.
While the SEC did go 4-0 against Power 5 teams last week, none of those were true road games. There were 10 games pitting Power 5 teams against each other last week. 6 of the 10 were on someone's campus (the other 4 all included SEC teams). Only 2 of the road teams won in those matchups: No. 1 OSU and No. 2 TCU.
I find it hard to evaluate the SEC when they never play any road games against Power 5 teams.
