The SEC is broken

[Creek Walker]

We like to think the SEC is the most powerful football conference in America. And, of course, it is ... in many ways. But it's also broken, to the detriment of most of the schools in the conference.

SEC officiating has become a national laughingstock. It was the elephant in the room for a while, but it's not even that anymore. Everybody is talking about it. It's impacting a growing number of games, and the SEC has shown no interest in fixing it. Not only has the league shown no interest in fixing it, it's actually defending the incompetent officiating in most instances (including our game Saturday night).

When the exact same crew that affected the outcome of a Mississippi State-Memphis game is assigned to the Tennessee-Ole Miss game later in the season and affects the outcome of that game as well, you have a major problem. We can't say for sure that Tennessee would've won the game if not for a terrible call on the scoop-and-score in the first quarter. A lot of things would've changed after that. But we can say that was a horrible blunder that the SEC has chosen to remain silent on, and it was far from the only questionable call in the game. Ball spotting was a consistent issue. At one point when Arkansas converted a fourth down, Josh Heupel was screaming for a measurement. The side judge shook his head and waved for the chains to be moved. No measurement, no review, even though the tackle was made right at the sticks.

The SEC fines Tennessee $250,000 for its fans littering the field with debris. That's fair. There should be accountability for fans' behavior. The problem is that the SEC is not one ounce interested in accountability for officials' missed calls. Not. One. Ounce. And you can condemn what the redneck fans did towards the end of the game while simultaneously acknowledging that it likely doesn't come to that if the officiating isn't completely incompetent. Then you have the fact that the SEC's credibility when it comes to doling out punishments is slipping down the same slope as the NCAA's, considering that Ole Miss wasn't fined a dime for peppering the court with trash at a basketball game just two years ago.

This is not about one team. See the Auburn-Arkansas game earlier the same day. It's about every team not named Alabama and Georgia. As long as the SEC has a couple of teams in the running for playoff berths, it isn't interested in fixing anything. I'm not saying there's a fix going on, but you can understand why a growing number of reasonable fans think so. Sometimes it's hard to decide whether we're watching incompetence or corruption. It feels like if you aren't the ranked team, the undefeated team, the team that can be represent the SEC's national interests, you're going to have to overcome both a superior opponent and a plethora of bad calls in order to have a shot to win the game.

Nor is this about one sport. See Tennessee's SEC Tournament basketball loss to LSU. Basketball officials aren't assigned to the conference like football officials are, but they're assigned to games by the conference. And somehow an LSU alum with a history of betting on LSU games winds up assigned to a Tennessee-LSU game and makes a terrible call that helps impact the outcome of the game. How does that happen? And the SEC is silent on it. How does that happen?

I realize that what I'm about to say makes me sound like an irrational fan. That's why I'm saying it on Tuesday and not on Saturday night. This isn't the first time I've thought it. It honestly wouldn't bother me too much if Tennessee was no longer a part of the SEC. Rivalries be damned. Greg Sankey has zero interest in fixing what's wrong. All he's worried about is protecting the status quo.

The ugly truth, the one that no one — especially our rivals, who are enjoying a good laugh at our expense — wants to admit is that scenes like the one that played out at Neyland Stadium Saturday night can happen at any venue on any campus in the SEC. A bunch of fans lost their minds because a lot of frustration finally boiled over. No, it didn't help that the last decade has been full of suck for Tennessee. Nor did it help that Lane Kiffin was in the building. But neither of those things were the straw that ultimately broke the camel's back. Until Sankey is fired and integrity and fairness is restored to the SEC front office, we're at risk of seeing scenes like that become increasingly common. I truly believe that.

[PirateVOL]

Agree 100%

[Coupe De VOL]

One of my co workers, and a friend, is a Ref on an NFL crew.  I have known him for almost 20 yrs, and he has been officiating in the NFL for around 8 yrs or so.  It's awesome to have a connection like that b/c he gets 4 tix for every game he does, and he usually gives them out at work.   My wife and I are modestly trying to see a game in every venue, and we have seen him officiate games in Miami, Buffalo, Charlotte, Detroit, Indy, Minnesota (in the new awesome stadium), Baltimore, and DC.  I've yet to see him do a game this year, but almost went to see him do the MNF at Lambeau - that would've rocked.

anyway, I remember when he officiated in the Colonial League, and then made the move to the Big 12.  His goal was always to get to the NFL, and according to him, the Big 12 was one of the feeder leagues to the NFL.  I asked him about the SEC, and he just shook his head.  He said the NFL kept away from SEC officials and much as possible.  A lot of that had to do with the SEC head of officials at the time.,..I forget his name but he was some good ol boy who did things his way, everything else be damned.  But regardless, the NFL considers the SEC a joke in terms of officiating.  I think the NFL does pretty well with theirs, but some of the rule changes and "points of emphasis" put the crews in tuff situations sometimes.  

For whatever sick reason I am a longtime Vikings fan.  I guess I just kinda latched onto the purple gang back in the early 70s when I was growing up in Memphis.  Sadly, I have remained a Vikes fan thru the years.  Because of my friend Adrian, I have seen the VIkes play in Buffalo, Detroit, Miami, DC, and at the US Bank stadium.  THe Vikes at the bills game was way back in 2014, and that game is still fresh in my mind.  WHat a great stadium it is, and what great fans they have.  The fans were just super cool to my family and I while we were there and they STOOD UP all game long!  amazing.  The old Ralph WIlson stadium was just a great, beautiful venue - and old school, of course.  It really saddens me that it may be torn down in the near future.  

[volsboy]

I don't disagree at all. But if it is true, how did they let Bama lose to aTm, who was unranked at the time. Isn't UT one of the SEC's top revenue schools? Why don't they protect us? There are definitely plenty of calls that make you scratch your head.

[PirateVOL]

If you watched the game you would know the refs did their best to ensure a bamer victory

[Tnphil]

Good post, Creek 

The SEC office is protecting the refs because the refs are just a puppet on a string to the SEC office....It's one of those....You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back.

[murfvol]

I think incompetence is more likely than malfeasance in most cases. The two are difficult to differentiate.

However, look at last year's special football schedule. It was set up for Bama and UGA while teams like Arkansas were punished. It's hard to believe that was luck of the draw. If that wasn't a coincidence, what else isn't?

[volsboy]

I think they are just sh$&^y refs. Which doesn't make it any better.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

I am not usually a conspiracy theorist but with the money that is involved with college athletics in this day and age, nothing that we would l learn about conference manipulation would be a surprise to me (in any major sport and any major conference).

In what other venue can a person be fired with a $17M “firing bonus” because they aren’t performing to expectations (both on and off the field)?

It’s all about the money, I think.  In my opinion, the Texas/OU deal is a prime example of that. I think the SEC office simply wants to hedge their bets on getting 2 teams in the playoff, thereby guaranteeing the SEC a lion’s share of the cash cow that is the NC playoff system.

Maybe they won’t be tested the remainder of the season, but I’m interested to see what occurs in the AAC if Cincinnati has any really close conference games through the end of this season. I don’t think this is just an SEC issue - maybe it’s more visible but I doubt that it’s exclusive.