Sorry Big 12 fans, SEC Football is the best in the Country
If there is one thing I have learned is different between The South and living in Texas, it’s that Texas is not the South. Now people in Texas may think they are Southerners, but in reality, they are a whole other breed of person. You really can’t find someone like a Texan anywhere else in the country. In many respects, that’s what makes Texas so great because so many people are proud of Texas tradition. However, there is one argument we have with our native Texas friends that is really not a matter of opinion, but just in general our Texas friends are wrong. That argument is that football played in the Big 12 and in the state of Texas is as good as the football played in the SEC.It is amusing to me that people even think this is worth arguing, but I’ll try and settle this debate once and for all. Let’s look at few key statistics that would determine who the better conference is:
Depth of Conference: The Big 12 definitely has quality talent in the top 2 programs in Texas and Oklahoma, but what other school in the conference year in and year out has a shot at playing in a BCS Bowl? Better yet, how many teams in the conference have a legitimate shot to even win the Big 12 without a fluke win? Sure, Kansas is undefeated and Missouri is looking pretty good right now, but they would both be at least 7 point dogs to OU in the Big 12 Championship Game. Since the decline of K-State and Nebraska, the Big 12 North has become the least relevant division in college football. Hell, Texas beat Colorado by 67 points in the Big 12 title game two years ago. Does anyone really think that Kansas is a legitimate football team anyways? Who is the best team they have beaten? Oklahoma State who lost to Troy by 24 points?The SEC has 6 teams almost every year that have a legitimate shot at winning the conference. LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee are all teams almost every year that would have a shot at winning the national title if they played in the Big 12. Unfortunately, they beat each other up every year and it makes it almost impossible for one of those teams to escape unscathed from their conference.
Non-conference wins, National Championships and Bowl Games: Well, the first head to head test would be the Cotton Bowl where the Big 12’s 2nd best team matches up against the SEC’s 3rd or 4th best team. Guess what? The SEC has won the last 4 Cotton Bowls. How about National Championships? Since 1979, the SEC has won 7 National Championships by 6 different teams. The Big 12 has fared well with 6 titles but by only 4 different teams. What was the Big 12’s best non-conference win in 2006? Texas over Iowa in the meaningless Alamo Bowl? How about 2007? Oklahoma over a bad Miami, FL team? Now let’s look at the SEC…Florida destroyed Ohio State in the BCS Title Game, LSU destroys a top-10 Notre Dame team in the Sugar Bowl, Georgia beats Oklahoma State by 21 this year, LSU beats Virginia Tech by 34 this year and so on. It isn’t even close.
NFL Talent: Another great indicator of the level of football being played is how many players are drafted by the NFL. In the 2007 NFL Draft, the SEC sent 11 players - in the first round! The Big 12 had 4. The SEC traditionally has 10-15 more draft picks than any other conference. The Big 12 has had good talent, but nowhere near the level displayed in the SEC.
Atmosphere, Tailgating and Attendance: The most important factor though as a fan comes with how much fun you have at a game. I can count on one hand the number of home Texas games the crowd was really into since I went to school here in 1991. If you want to talk about atmosphere, here is where the SEC blows away not only the Big 12, but everyone else in the country. The SEC has 7 teams with football stadiums larger than 80,000 people. In the Big 12, there are only 4 stadiums as large. Now you might say that size isn’t all that matters, but spend a Saturday in Baton Rouge where people are tailgating at 8am for a 7pm kickoff or an evening in the Swamp where the Gators have been virtually unbeatable since the Evil Genius Steve Spurrier took over the program in the early 1990’s. Or how about 150,000 people tailgating this year for the Georgia - Alabama game in Tuscaloosa. Every SEC school save Vanderbilt and Mississippi State is an unbelievable place to tailgate and watch a game. How many of you dream about going to watch a game at Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa State or Kansas? Hopefully, I have settled this argument once and for all, but if you are interested in seeing it for yourself, come on down with us to a game in The Deep South. You will be a believer as well.
November 26th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I wouldnt go as far as stating that the SEC is a better conference than the Big XII. A teams ranking is based by how popular the team is by the pollsters, which the SEC will get the nod over most Big XII teams except Oklahoma. Texas often gets overlooked in the polls, just look at this years standings before the loss to Texas A&M, Florida was ranked just below the Longhorns being a 3 loss team and is now ranked in the top 10 which is a travesty. Why would a 3 loss team be ranked anywhere among 1 and 2 loss teams regardless of what conference they are from? The answer is favoritism. Besides, you are trying to compare the SEC’s 75 years of existence to the Big XII’s 12 years. In the last 11 years there have been 4 teams from both conferences winning the National Championship, not including Missouri which will BE IN the NC this year. Texas beat what was considered the BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM OF ALL TIME for the NC in 2005… I havent heard of an SEC team doing that. I personally think the idea of the SEC being better than the Big XII is a little stale and your conference is extremely overrated.
December 1st, 2007 at 4:58 pm
The only bone I have to pick is over a technicality in reference to the bowl games. In the Cotton Bowl for example. It is listed as the Big XII No. 2 vs. Sec No.3/4. This does not mean the second best team from the BIG XII plays the third or fourth best team from the SEC, but that the Bowl has the second pick of teams in the Big XII and third or fourth pick from the SEC. The reason of the third or fourth is because the conference champion of both the Big XII and the SEC are contractually obligated to certain bowl games Fiesta and Sugar unless they are ranked number 1 or 2 in the BCS which would send them to the championship game. The bowl committees fall in line after that. If Missouri went to the championship the Fiesta bowl would lose them as their bowl team and therefore get the next pick, most likely OU. Though it makes sense the committees would pick the best team remaining in the particular conference, it does not insure it. Other than that point pregaming in the SEC is badass
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
I just wanted to add, that although the SEC may hold the top spot stat wise, take a look at where the players come from before deciding where the talent pool is deep. If Texas players stayed at Texas college teams we would have at least three teams topping the top five BCS standings every year LOL.