The SEC's 2016 motto is, "It just means more."

What it should be is, "Alabama just means more."

Let's face it, 2016 wasn't exactly a banner year for the football programs in this conference. Other than Alabama's undefeated run to the College Football Playoff, the SEC limped into bowl season. Outside of the Crimson Tide, no one in the SEC has nine wins. To put that into perspective, every other Power 5 conference has at least three teams with nine or more wins. As a whole, the SEC finished 6-8 against Power 5 opponents for a Power 5-worst .429 winning percentage.

So even the folks around the SEC who hate Alabama will be secretly wearing houndstooth this weekend for the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Washington, and will pull it out again if Alabama makes it to the national championship. SEC hatred is one thing, but Southern pride is loud and proud, folks, and a league that loves to boast about how much better it is than everyone else desperately needs a(nother) Alabama national championship to put away a relatively ho-hum 2016.

Here are five reasons the SEC was so bad in 2016:

1. Lack of QB development: SEC offenses weren't always fun to watch, and the quarterbacks were much to blame. Ole Miss' Chad Kelly and Tennessee's Joshua Dobbs were the most seasoned starters returning, and Kelly ended the year with an ACL injury, while Dobbs barely had time to set his feet behind an average offensive line. LSU's Brandon Harris was benched for Purdue transfer Danny Etling after Week 1. Florida used two transfers, one from Purdue and one a walk-on. Jacob Eason has a ways to go in Athens. South Carolina waited until the second half of the season to play Jake Bentley. Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald found his legs in November, and Auburn found its quarterback just before Christmas. Only two SEC quarterbacks hit 3,000 yards, down from four in each of the last two seasons.

Year after year, Nick Saban leads the best players out onto the field, and after a while his recruiting edge wears on opposing programs. Jason Getz/USA TODAY Sports

2. Saban recruiting is really messing with other coaches' plans: Yes, Nick Saban is the best coach in college football and might be the best of all time when this season's over. No one can coach on his level, but no one can recruit like him, either. Saban brought in four straight No. 1 classes from 2012 to 2015 and has nine straight top-three classes. After a while, that really affects everyone else. Alabama just has all the best players and other teams struggle to keep up. It wears on coaches, and leaves some scrambling late when battling head-to-head with Bama.

3. Other leagues are just getting better: Let's face it, the Big Ten was better, the ACC went 3-1 against the SEC on the last day of the regular season, the Pac-12 and Big 12 were waaaay more fun to watch, and that 6-8 record against Power 5 opponents just wasn't that impressive. There's nothing wrong with people around you getting better. It's bound to happen in a cyclical sport, and the SEC wasn't going to keep all that talent to itself forever. For crying out loud, the Big Ten, which is dominating the coaching game right now, ended the regular season with four teams ranked in the top 10!

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4. Injuries: It seemed like half of Tennessee's team was hurt just about every game. Florida lost its starting quarterback to an on-and-off injury in September, was down two starting linebackers and had an offensive line put together by Scotch tape late in the year. Ole Miss lost top defensive back Ken Webster and power back Eric Swinney in the first half of the opener before losing Kelly in November. Texas A&M's Trevor Knight suffered a shoulder injury late in the season, with the Allstate Sugar Bowl and an outside shot at the playoff still in play. Leonard Fournette battled an ankle injury all year, and Auburn lost its best offensive weapon in Kamryn Pettway before the loss to Georgia late. Even Alabama had its own rash of injuries, but Saban has cryogenic super soldiers ready to thaw and play immediately.

5. The league was kinda overrated: Yeah, I hate to break it to SEC loyalists, but outside of Alabama, was there really a true playoff contender in the SEC? Les Miles was fired at LSU after a month, and the Tigers started the season ranked fifth. Tennessee was supposed to win the East and went 4-4 in league play. Florida won the East with one of the nation's worst offenses (again). Texas A&M rushed to a 6-0 start, only to finish unranked and 8-4. Ole Miss began the year No. 11 after back-to-back New Year's Six bowls and finished 5-7. And the honest truth is that the league struggled last year as well, so this really shouldn't come as a shock. Sure, 12 teams went bowling, but you can't overlook the sorry statistic that only Alabama will have double-digit wins this season.