Heading into the 2014 season, a member of the SEC is not college football’s defending champion for the first time since 2005. With its spring meetings kicking off this week, SEC commissioner Mike Slive answered some questions in a Q&A with Tony Barnhart for the SEC Digital Network and he addressed the conference’s run of dominance in the BCS era.
“We won nine of the 16 championships. We almost closed it out with eight straight. I put what we accomplished in the context of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. I don’t think anybody is ever going to win seven straight national championships again—unless it’s us,” Slive said.
Slive’s sentiment echoes his comments in the days following the BCS National Championship when the SEC’s championship run was ended as Florida State knocked off Auburn in the final minute.
“Right now I can’t help but think about the enduring pride we have in what our conference has accomplished. What we have done is unprecedented. And no one will ever equal it,” Slive said in January.
With college football moving to a four-team playoff model, Slive is excited about his conference’s prospects in the playoff moving forward.
“We’re excited about the playoff. The playoff has brought back the excitement of New Year’s Day but now it’s going to be 48 hours long because there will be playoff games on Dec. 31. We have a guaranteed SEC-Big 12 matchup in the Sugar Bowl which will be in prime time every year after the Rose Bowl. There are a lot of things about the playoff that excite us,” Slive said.
Slive addressed many other topics, including the SEC’s decision to stick with an eight-game conference schedule. You can read the full Q&A here.
- - - - - - -
Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
.jpeg)
