We have all heard the mantra: You can't run the spread offense in the SEC, the defenses are too good. It is just like the mantra that the spread offense won't work in the NFL, the defenses are too fast for it to work. Somehow, the New England Patriots have ridden the spread offense to their second Super Bowl appearance in the last four years, but that still doesn't dissuade the critics. Likewise, despite the success of several teams running the spread in the Southeastern Conference, the myth that the offense cannot be successful in the SEC, or that you can't win championships running the spread in the SEC continues.

Critics of the spread offense will plug their ears at this news, but the spread offense is being run successfully in the SEC today. The team that led the SEC in total offense in 2011 was Arkansas, which has been running Bobby Petrino's spread offense since he arrived in Fayetteville in 2008. Arkansas finished the 2011 season averaging 445.8 yards per game, better than second-place Alabama by a whole 7.4 ypg average. Arkansas also unsurprisingly finished first in the conference in passing offense in 2011 with an average of 307.8 ypg. This is a whole 65 yards better than the second-place finisher Tennessee, who averaged just 242 ypg passing. The high offensive rankings and superior production in the spread offense isn't anything new for Arkansas; they finished #9 in the nation and #2 in the SEC in total offense in 2010, averaging a solid 482.5 yards per game. The team ahead of them in both the national and conference rankings? Auburn, at 499.2 yards per game, finished #7 in the nation and #1 in the SEC in total offense in 2010 while running a spread offense. Auburn also won the BCS championship game for the 2010 season. In the 2011 season, Auburn finished #100 in the nation in total offense running the same scheme they ran in 2010. The difference between the two Auburn teams? Player experience and personal excellence.

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