Rather than get into long and protracted conference arguments, I’m just going to apply the Stewart Mandel rule whenever an SEC coach tries to lean on the strength of his conference relative to another: he’s just laying the foundation for an excuse. Mandel writes…

So what, then, was the motivation behind his unexpected boisterousness? Here’s a guess: He’s covering his butt.

Yep. That’s right. Miles’ comments were one big excuse-in-the-making. He’s seen the prognostications. He knows the experts are projecting a USC-LSU matchup. He knows his fans are foaming at the mouth for just such an outcome. And he’s trying to diffuse those expectations — and temper the possible letdown — by saying, “Hey, I’d love to play USC, too, but if they get there and we don’t, it’s because we had to play Florida while they got to play Stanford.”

Now Nick Saban’s joined the club. Saban’s under tremendous pressure at Alabama. The man who only once lost fewer than three games at talent-rich LSU is expected to start bringing conference and even national titles back to Tuscaloosa. I’d want the job to appear as challenging as possible too.