Southeast or Middle East?

The SEC is well-known in the football for the ability to eat its own: it's rare that a team can run the tables in the league because on any given Saturday, a Vanderbilt or Mississippi State can beat a Florida or Alabama.

Eating its own? Sounds kinda like the Middle East and its passionate brand of in-fighting ... This is a sorta old article, but funny nonetheless: The SEC as Middle Eastern countries.