Bobby Bowden Admits on Finebaum Show, SEC Too Tough for FSU
By now most of you either heard snippets of the Bobby Bowden’s recent interview on the Paul Finebaum Show or read his comments about why Florida State declined to join the SEC.
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Most fans are talking about Bowden’s comments on Jameis Winston and how he was an embarrassment to Florida State (which he was), but buried under this headline was something we all passed over for Jameis. Bowden basically admitted that the reason why the Seminoles didn’t join the SEC was because they knew it would hurt their chances to win a national championship.
"“I felt, Paul, that it was too difficult to win through the SEC to win a national championship,” Bowden stated. “I felt like our best route would be to go through the ACC and that did prove out to be correct. But, I don’t know if we could have made it through the SEC.”"
Bowden basically confirmed what SEC fans knew all along, that had they chickened out because of the competition. The easiest road to the national championship is not by playing in Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa, but by going through Durham and Chapel Hill.
While FSU fans are upset over the Jameis Winston comments, they should be more upset that their former coach outed them on why they never wanted to join a power conference like the SEC. Florida State fans pride themselves on how good their football team is and how they have never been afraid to face the SEC, that’s nice to say when you may face them once every five years or in a bowl game. The only SEC team they face on a yearly basis is Florida and they have been down recently.
When you have to face tough teams year in and year out in a conference that beats each other up, your chances of winning a national championship decrease. Joining the ACC has been a blessing and a curse for FSU. Yes, it’s an easier road to the College Football Playoff, but that easier schedule hurts them too.
Outside of Clemson and Virginia Tech, there aren’t many good teams in the ACC. With the SEC basically guaranteed a spot every year in the playoff, the battle for the last three spots will be even tougher for the teams like Florida State who may find themselves on the outside looking in the next few years.
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