Rooting for rivals? You can't spell, 'nonsensical fan' without S-E-C | RYAN PRITT

They're called bragging rights, and it's only your right to brag when your team wins.

Yet, each time Georgia or Alabama — or even LSU a few years ago when Joe Burrow first began smoking cigars and opposing defenses — do anything, social media feeds are flooded with fans of Florida, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Ole Miss among others and all of them are beating their chests and chanting those dreaded three letters: S-E-C.

Well, I've got three more letters. The first is a 'W', the second one is a 'T' and the third ... well, hopefully you get the point.

But I apparently don't. So, now that I'm in the heart of Southeastern Conference territory, perhaps you can explain it because the way I see it, Georgia is really good. Probably the best team in the country in fact (thanks to an Ohio State field goal attempt that looked like my average drive off a tee box at Palm Harbor Golf Club).

IRISH CLASSIC:Notre Dame rallies from early deficit to stun South Carolina in TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

REED AT B-CU: Excitement for now, challenges ahead for Ed Reed, Bethune-Cookman

Alabama? Even in a down year, still pretty scary. Just ask the Kansas State Wildcats, who seemingly exhausted all nine of their lives in the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl.

The rest of you? Here's three more letters — C-A-N it.

What are you celebrating? The fact that a team that kicked your tail is now kicking someone else's? Although in Georgia's case, it was hardly a tail kicking, more like a frantic rally and, ultimately, survival.

And it only works this way in the SEC. Want proof? How many of you Miami fans out there, assuming there are any left, were bragging to friends and foes when Florida State steamrolled to a national championship in 2013? For my snowbirds from the great, northern mitten, were any of you celebrating when Ohio State took it all in 2014? Did you notice any NC State supporters boasting on Twitter when Clemson was on top in '16 and '18?

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Georgia a sworn rival of Florida? You know, that whole neutral-field, cocktail party thing? Those drinks have needed to be stiff in recent years for Gator fans, huh?

See, when my alma mater West Virginia used to share a conference with the likes of Pitt and Virginia Tech (you know, back when conference alignment was based on geography and common sense), trust me when I say even if it meant the Big East losing its New Year's bowl affiliation, there would've been no chance of any Mountaineer fan rooting for the Hokies and definitely not the Panthers. Not in the Rose Bowl, not in the Idaho Potato Bowl, not in a quiz bowl.

Yet, I have friends who pull for other SEC teams who were shouting from the rooftops as the Buckeyes' kick sailed left at the crack of midnight on Saturday. Thank God that "Happy New Year's" screams drowned out much of it.

Look, maybe it takes a newbie to come in and tell some painful truths, but a Georgia national championship doesn't make a 6-7 season with rivalry losses to FSU, Georgia and Tennessee to go with an embarrassing defeat to Vanderbilt, disappear for UF.

And it's not just Florida fans. A&M couldn't make a bowl game, even with Sam Houston and UMass on the schedule, Ole Miss dropped its final four games, and Arkansas lost at home to Liberty in the most underpublicized occurrence since the Pentagon confirmed UFO occurrences.

If a 14½-point favorite falls in the Ozarks and there's no one around to hear it, did it make a sound?

You bet. A thud.

Yet fans of all the aforementioned institutions seem to rally together. It all goes back to the asinine conference supremacy claim, one that most of the country has for some reason accepted as being a foregone conclusion each and every year. Worse yet, many folks seem to think that it's always been this way.

It isn't, and it hasn't.

First of all, there's not even a definitive way to measure it.

My favorite is the claim that national championships equal conference strength, usually spouted off by a fan of a team that hasn't won one in a while.

There's no denying that the SEC has dominated at the highest level … as of late. Since 2006, SEC teams have claimed 12 out of 16 national titles, including the last three. That number could very well be four when Georgia takes on TCU Monday.

It's been impressive. No argument there.

But, selective amnesia seems to set in when referring to the 20 years prior. From 1981-2000, a stretch in which 23 teams were named national championships due to split titles in 1990, '91 and '97 (oh, how archaic we used to be), only three current SEC schools won it all — Alabama in 1992, Florida in '96 and Tennessee in '98. That includes a string of 11 straight seasons (1981-1991) with none.

Guys, I've been alive for all but three of those years. I got my driver's license in 2000. We're not talking about ancient history, but it's all in how you frame it, folks.

And really, what does that mean, anyway? So, if Gonzaga finally gets over the hump and claims a men's basketball title, the WCC is the top conference? Got it.

Then there's the top-to-bottom argument, which I believe has the most validity and hey, this was a good year for the SEC. Every team in the league had five wins or more, even though the fact that many SEC teams get to have two gimme games does water that down for me a tad.

How about records in bowl games? This method has obviously been devalued significantly in recent years as more and more players have opted out or transferred after the regular season. For the record, the SEC is now 6-5, a win percentage of 54.5%. That's pretty good, in fact, almost exactly as good as the ACC and the Big Ten (both are 5-4 or 55.6%).

But fans of Florida, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina or Kentucky, which all lost by a combined score of 165-83, don't worry, Ohio State missed a kick, so you're excused!

"Oh, come on! The SEC teams didn't even care about those games!"

If only my college economics professor would've accepted that excuse.

You may tell me the SEC produces the most NFL players and you'd be right. Three more letters: A-N-D?

What does that mean? More talent doesn't necessarily mean more wins. Also, wasn't JaMarcus Russell an SEC quarterback? You claiming him in this argument too?

You may tell me that the SEC has the biggest fan bases. I would tell you that Backstreet Boys have two of the top-50, highest-selling records of all time. No offense to all you Nick Carter fanatics out there, but let's just say popular doesn't always mean much.

You may tell me the SEC has six teams ranked in the AP Top 25. Great, so does the PAC-12. And take it from me, someone who voted in the AP poll for three years, it's far from an exact science. If you don't believe me, try it. Sit down, and rank 25 teams in order and tell me how confident you are that you got it exactly right. Because you didn't.

You know what else isn't an exact science? Conference supremacy. And that, folks, is the final point.

Is the SEC America's finest conference? Maybe, maybe not, depending on your perception, definition and method. I do know it's cyclical, it changes on a year-by-year basis and there are numerous ways to form an argument both for and against.

But why does it matter so much? Moreover, why does it matter so much in this part of the country? Whether Georgia wins by 30 or loses by 30 on Monday, perception is still on your side and one game isn't going to change that.

If you want to cheer for Georgia on Monday, awesome. You certainly don't need my approval. Maybe you like Bulldogs' uniforms or you pull for them because of that adorable, mascot Uga that's always shown resting in a cage, wearing a similar expression to mine every time this exact conversation comes up.

Maybe you love Ray Charles or Bill and Chase Elliott. Maybe you are freaked out by TCU's mascot — a small, spiked reptile that can shoot blood from its eyes. Really, an amazing creature.

But if you're a fan of the Gators, the Aggies, the Rebels, the Razorbacks — heck, even the Commodores, and not of the Lionel Richie variety — and you're openly pulling for the Bulldogs, you need you to ask yourself one question.

W-H-Y?

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: College football: SEC fans rally around and root for Georgia, but why?