By Terrence Hinds, Staff Writer

Published in print Nov.12, 2014.

The best football on the collegiate level is played in the Southeastern Conference.

This is not an opinion, this is a fact.

The conference yearly produces the most NFL players, provides the most competitive games week in and week out, and also have  won the most national championships in the past decade.

Since 2006, beginnng with Flordia, teams in the SEC have won seven of the last eight championships.

Critics that try to debate that there is a better conference elsewhere have not been watching the same college football I have seen.

Continuing their yearly tendency, the SEC’s dominance has again been on display this season.

Mississippi State and Ole Miss have both had a resurgent year which has turned the SEC West into that scary, dark alley behind the bar that you really want to stay away from.

The Alabama Crimson Tide and their arch rivals, the Auburn Tigers are always formidable. I have not even mentioned teams such as the tough LSU Tigers or Texas A&M.

These teams in the SEC have been throwing hay makers at each other all season long.

The race to represent that Western side of the conference in the SEC championship has morphed from a sprint to a race akin to a triathlon.

Though the SEC East is not as strong as the Western Division,  the teams in that division are not teams tolook down upon either.

If you were ask a college football analyst which team in the East has the most talent, the majority of them would say the Georgia Bulldog.

Yet, as one of the most renown sport clichés staters, talent alone does not equate to team success.

Hence the reason that the Bulldogs have lost two games in conference.

One of these defeats came from the 5-3 Florida Gators.

The other lost was the result of a 4-5 South Carolina Gamecocks team who may not even be bowl eligible this year.

You see it take more than just talent to win in the conference.

For teams to win, it takes tremendous talent on both sides of the ball, intense preparation, and a little luck.

Now that the NCAA has finally adopted a playoff system, there has been debate all year long on which teams deserve to be in the four team elimination tournament.

Some believe that the four contestants in the tournament should be spread out through out the major conferences which includes the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Pac12 and the ACC. Contrasting thoughts assert that the four best teams in the country are all in the SEC and that they should the only teams eligible to play for the championship.

In regards to the playoff, I am somewhere between these perspectives. The four best teams in the country do all play in the SEC, but that still does not mean that they should hog all of the playoff spots like a spoiled stingy kid.

Teams such as the defending champions and undefeated Florida State Seminoles as well as the Oregon Ducks should definitely get a chance to compete for a title and I believe they will have their opportunity.

The SEC should have two representatives. Whoever wins the SEC championship in Atlanta, Georgia should definitely have a spot in the tournament and the team with the best record of the rest should be the other team from the conference in the playoff.

Currently the Mississippi State Bulldogs have the best record in the conference, but if you have been following this conference all season long, you know that that could change in one weekend. The end of this season should provide us with an exhilarating finish. It should be fun to watch.