Danielson: SEC ‘ranked a little bit too high all year’

Q: What kind of game do you expect Saturday in the Dome?

A: I would assume Missouri is going to want to slow this thing down. I think when they look at the tape, they see how Arkansas played (in a 14-13 loss to) Alabama and would like, as close as they could, to emulate that type of a football game — no hurry on any snap, take care of the football, keep (Alabama wide receiver) Amari Cooper in front of them, and try to get it into a fourth-quarter football game.

Obviously (Alabama quarterback) Blake Sims can be made uncomfortable if Missouri moves him around, and they have a front four that can do that. When he drops back, if half the time Missouri’s goal could be to move him off a pitcher’s mound (and make him) redirect his feet and move around — I know he’s good at it, but I think that’s their path to trying to upset the timing of Alabama’s passing game and get them a little bit off kilter. … And then lastly, this is not a vintage Alabama running team. They’re more of a finesse running team. If Missouri can control that running game … because Alabama doesn’t have the personnel to just roll them over like past teams, I think they might have a path to make this a football game.

It would be an upset for Missouri to win the game. I do agree with that. But I played, you know, in the NFL, and I was an underdog in a lot of games. In a lot of games, people thought we had no chance to win. I can say this: I never went into a game thinking we had no chance to win. Missouri is playing their best football. Their last three wins (over Texas A&M, Tennessee and Arkansas) have been their most impressive wins.

Q: If Missouri wins, do you think the SEC should be shut out of the College Football Playoff?

A: No, I don't. But I don't think that the SEC has done a credible job of anticipating this scenario. For two years, I've been loudly voicing my opinion, whatever that is worth, that instead of the SEC worrying about getting two teams (in the playoff), they should be protecting against the possibility that they would beat themselves up and come into a scenario where the best conference in college football … would have all its teams with more losses than other conference champions.

I thought the commissioner, from day one the last two years, should have been protecting his champion. … I would have made the argument that my conference can’t be left out, and that if we’re having a conference championship game and let’s assume that conference champion is a top-15 team, then that should be our representative.

Let’s suppose Alabama is the only team that loses this weekend of the top teams. Then Alabama can’t go. If you’ve got to take a team from the SEC — and I would advocate they do — swallow hard and take Missouri. … If you’re going to have conference championships, they have to matter. It’s not basketball. It’s football.

Q: What do you think about how the selection committee’s rankings have evolved from week to week?

A: I didn't think they should have been ranking every week. I thought it was premature. … I think what we found out here is the top 20-25 teams can all beat each other. There is no elite team. Especially this conference is not as strong as it has been in the past. There is poor quarterback play in this conference, and I'd say for the most part the SEC has been ranked a little bit too high all year.

Q: What is your position on whether the playoff should grow from four teams to eight, as some already are advocating?

A: I think eight is too many unless we use this conference championship weekend and make it the first round of home playoff games. I think it's too much to ask of the fans during this holiday time to travel. The NFL uses home team sites to run their playoff. I think it would be too much to go to eight. I think we would all just close our eyes and say, like I do with college basketball, wake me up in March when I'm really interested in watching. For major-league baseball, it's the same way — you watch your home team and then wake me up for the playoffs. I don't want college football to get that way.

I think four is a good number. It’s a frustrating number, but part of that is good and it makes our season unique.

My problem is … the (selection) committee members have an impossible task. And I think they’re floating now into an area where they shouldn’t go. They’re starting to put their eye test too much into this. They’re also trying to cut it too fine. I mean, they’re getting down to the end now where they’re eliminating a head-to-head matchup between TCU and Baylor and giving more weight to the fact that one team played Minnesota. I mean, imagine that: We’re going to determine how a team gets into the final four because one team played Minnesota and the other didn’t. That just is going too far.

And they’re not giving enough weight to how tough mentally and how physically exhausting it is to go back-to-back championships. I’ve talked to three players that were NFL champions, and they talked about how mentally exhausting it was to try to repeat. This dropping of Florida State every week — I don’t think the committee is giving enough credit to what Florida State is accomplishing here.

Q: What did you think of Georgia’s season?

A: I thought they maxed out this year. You can quibble with any individual game or play or decision. I was there for the South Carolina decision, and I saw how they lost the Georgia Tech game. I get that. But I didn't think this was as talented a Georgia football team as I've seen in the past.

They weren’t as strong, obviously, at quarterback. Todd Gurley got hurt. They had multiple injuries at wide receiver. I think (coaches) Mark Richt, Mike Bobo, Jeremy Pruitt did an outstanding job of getting as much out of the team as they did. Now, was it perfect? No. Were there coaching mistakes? Yes. But I don’t think this was one of the stronger Georgia teams I’ve seen. Now, that said, I don’t think this is one of the stronger Alabama teams I’ve seen either.

Q: Do you have any thoughts on whether, or how, the NCAA rule that led to Gurley’s four-game suspension — the ban on players selling autographs or likenesses — should be changed?

A: I do. I think the mistake is made in … football (being) the only sport that if you're elite you cannot turn pro (earlier). I remember all the way back to A.J. Green. It's one of the things that has bothered me about this. A.J. Green broke into the league as a true freshman (in 2008). Then Matthew Stafford leaves (as Georgia's quarterback after that season), and A.J. Green is obviously ready to play in the NFL. But in football he has to play two more years and risk his career. … So he's stuck for two more years, and he couldn't resist the temptation, much like Todd Gurley, to take a short cut. (Note: Green was suspended for four games for selling his Independence Bowl jersey for $1,000.)

I feel if there was a path for elite players to turn pro, then if they didn’t want to turn pro, they should just adhere to the rules. Todd Gurley knew he was making a mistake, and he was, in my mind, cheating his teammates by not being able to resist temptation. And he deserved to be punished. But I couple that with the fact you should be allowed to go pro if you want to go pro. If you want to stay in college and refine your game and make a name for yourself and improve yourself and become a No. 1 draft choice, then stick to the rules. It’s not that big of a sacrifice.

Q: Should that ‘path’ exist after high school or after freshman year of college?

A: Yep. Any time. It doesn't matter to me. It's not my life. If you want to take a gamble, why shouldn't you be able to sign and go into some minor leagues, like they do in baseball?

Q: Who is the best player you’ve seen this season?

A: Amari Cooper, by far. I've been doing this for a while. I can only remember two other receivers that I walked away from and just said, 'Oh, my gosh.' A.J. Green was close; Julio Jones was close. But the two guys that really stuck out in my mind were first Larry Fitzgerald, how good he was when I saw him as a freshman, and then Calvin Johnson when I did his (second) game at Georgia Tech against Clemson. I went, this guy is wasting his time playing college ball, he's ready right now. I think Amari Cooper is just a shade below those two players on his potential as an NFL player. He's right there with A.J. Green and Julio Jones.

Q: And the best team you’ve seen this season?

A: Probably Alabama, but I don't think it's one of Nick Saban's best teams. But this year, they're all flawed. I've been (broadcasting) in the league since 2006, and this is the weakest SEC I've done since I've been in the league. The quarterback play is substandard, and there's no great team in the SEC this year, in my opinion.