My Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football

An all-access pass into the powerhouse teams and passionate fanbases of the legendary Southeastern Conference, from one of the most influential men in college football: ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.

Proud owner of 14 prestigious college football programs, producing seven consecutive national championships, twelve NFL first round draft choices, and a budget that crushes the GDP of Samoa, the Southeastern Conference collects the most coveted ratings, rankings, and revenue of any conference in college football. With its pantheon of illustrious alumni like Bear Bryant, Herschel Walker, Peyton Manning, and Nick Saban, the SEC is the altar at which millions of Americans worship every Saturday, from Texas to Kentucky to Florida.

If the SEC is a religion, its deity is radio talk-show host Paul Finebaum. In My Conference Can Beat Your Conference, Finebaum, chronicles the rise of the SEC and his own unlikely path to college football fame. Finebaum offers his blunt wisdom on everything from Joe Paterno and the Penn State scandal to the relevancy of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron’s girlfriend, and chronicles the best of his beloved callers, and the worst of his haters.

My Conference Can Beat Your Conference is illustrated with 8 pages of color photos.

This book is your ticket behind the ESPN microphone for an unfiltered look at Southern football culture:

• Behind the Scenes of the Iron Bowl: From Bear Bryant’s final years to the “Kick Bama Kick” that ended a dynasty, get Finebaum’s take on the most heated rivalry in sports.
• Unfiltered Coaching Profiles: Get inside the heads of legends and lightning rods like Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, and Urban Meyer, revealing what makes them win—and what drives them nuts.
• The Voice of the Fans: Meet the legendary callers—from Phyllis from Mulga to Harvey Updyke, the infamous tree poisoner—who make up the heart and soul of the SEC fanbase.
• A Broadcaster’s Journey: Follow Finebaum’s own improbable rise from a cub reporter who couldn’t write to the “Mouth of the South” and one of the most powerful voices in college football.

"If God made the world in seven days, He spent the eighth day in his two-car garage, sipping on a cold one, listening to Merle Haggard, and dreaming up the Southeastern Conference."

South of the Mason-Dixon line, everyone knows Paul Finebaum. And after a popular 2012 profile in the New Yorker, a spot at ESPN's College GameDay desk, and a contract to be the face of ESPN's SEC Network, the rest of the country has finally been introduced to "the Mouth of the South": the Memphis-born radio-talk-show host with a habit of saying whatever he thinks—and letting his callers say whatever they think, too.

In My Conference Can Beat Your Conference, Finebaum chronicles the rise of the SEC and his own improbable path toward being "the Oprah of college football," as he was dubbed by the Wall Street Journal in 2013. And it doesn't matter whether fans love or hate him—they tune in regardless. Finebaum's opinions matter. He's condemned coaches to the gallows of lesser programs, helped elect governors, and prophesied victories. With My Conference Can Beat Your Conference, fans and enemies of Paul Finebaum will be given an all-access pass to the powerhouse teams and passionate fan bases of the country's most legendary conference, plus a behind-the-scenes look into an incredible 2013 Iron Bowl.

SEC! SEC! SEC!

“A celebration of the Southeastern Conference.” - USA Today

“Bump to the top of your reading list My Conference Can Beat Your Conference…. It’s the perfect book to tide readers over until kickoff.” - BookPage

“A pedal-to-the-metal survey of SEC football… Finebaum knows his football.” - Kirkus Reviews