On Saturday, I was blessed to have the opportunity to join some fun guys on the radio broadcast, "Longhorn Live." The topic: Big 12 versus SEC, who's better? Of course, "Longhorn" Gene Williams and Johnny Walker double teamed me in towing the Big 12 line. But, it was all good because I had the power of the SEC behind me. One cannot fight the fact that the SEC is the predominant conference in college football--it's still black and white, but I'll concede the Big 12 is brushing some gray in the picture. The Big 12 is definitely the SEC's biggest rival to claiming best collegiate football conference, and its stellar at the top with Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. And as a fan of just great football, you'll have no problem getting me to a Big 12 game. But as a radio rookie I didn't jump in quick enough to voice all my reasons as to why the SEC is better than the Big 12. So, my blog is the lucky recipient of my SEC rant:
1.) Other conferences scoff at the whole, "top to bottom the SEC is the best." So much so that they've made it into a cliche, but at the heart of every cliche is a truth (that's why it's been repeated so much as to become a cliche). There's no denying that on any given Saturday you're most likely going to have an SEC upset somewhere in the conference. Mississippi's season last year is a perfect example! The Rebels lost early in the season to Vanderbilt at home, and got written off before turning around and handing Florida their only loss on the road to the national championship. To make the point even more dramatic, the Rebels defeated the Gators at The Swamp! Instantly, Ole Miss was a contender again, until a home loss the following weekend to South Carolina. OK, the Rebel's win over Florida was a fluke . . . until they took down Texas Tech (a former national title contender) at the Cotton Bowl!
I love the SEC because there are no gimme weekends, and you can always expect the unexpected. Then, you KNOW the SEC championship is going to be a rockin' game! Last year, No. 1 Bama lost its shot at the national title to No. 2 Florida at the SEC championship -- you just can't give me enough of those games. On the other hand, the Big 12 championship is usually a cake walk for the South over the North -- yawn. I love watching underdogs rise to the occasion, and powerhouses to execute flawlessly under the pressure of big games. You get both in the SEC every season . . . that's exciting football to watch.
2.) It's obvious I'm not the only one who loves to watch SEC football because the conference just signed the biggest television deal in college history. ESPN and CBS are banking more than $3 billion that the entire country wants to watch SEC football. No other conference has ever had the national coverage that the SEC will have starting this season. No matter where you are, you cannot only watch every Florida, LSU and Alabama game, but also every Mississippi State, South Carolina and Kentucky game -- if you're so inclined. In fact, Kentucky is going to make more regular season television dollars than Texas this season. (I'll admit that's absolutely crazy, but that's the power of being in the best conference.)
3.) Preseason polls give the SEC just a slight edge over the Big 12, with Florida sitting atop and Alabama, Mississippi and LSU joining the Gators in the top 10. The Big 12 has Texas and Oklahoma in top 10 of both the AP and USA Today, and Oklahoma State in the AP's top 10. The SEC has a few more teams in the top 20 over the Big 12, but I really think preseason polls are only a great off-season hobby for those dying to talk football. The underlying message of both polls is that if you want great football, you simply only need to follow the SEC and Big 12 and you'll get stuffed like you're on a cruise ship buffet!
4.) Now for the numbers of it all. I'm not a numbers girl, but it's just hard facts that can't be denied. Let's just talk modern-day stats, in the last three years the SEC has won every national title, 73 percent of its bowl games (the Big 12 has only won 52 percent), and in the last decade it maintains a slight lead in head-to-head action against the Big 12 (15-13 SEC, and stats courtesy ESPN).
I love that the Big 12 and SEC are the strongest conferences in the country. The two conferences comprise more than half of the AP's preseason top 10, and I would love to see these two represented in the Rose Bowl. I think whoever is left standing in each of these conferences will be the nation's best! (Please Lord, don't allow Lou Holtz's prediction of Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl to come true . . . although he has a good point. There is not a bigger cupcake season out there, and the only hurdle to an Irish undefeated season is Southern California -- just another case for a playoff system!)
The Big 12 is closing the divide, but the SEC is still standing strong atop college football. Until the Big 12 competes at the SEC's depth and overtakes the SEC in head-to-head standings and, most importantly, the national title game, I'll enjoy living in Big 12 territory but having full access to watch every SEC game!
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