The SEC is the best conference in college football…or is it?

As most fans in the Southeast assume each fall, the Southeastern Conference is by far the best college football conference in the country, but as ESPN’s Lee Corso says, “Not so fast my friend.” This season may have something else to offer fans as the Big 12 is off to an impressive start, and as this writer believes…yes…that the Big 12 is stronger than the SEC in 2008.

Let’s examine the facts:

  • First, preseason SEC favorite Florida lost at home to Ole Miss. Outside of Eli Manning and Patrick Willis, have the Rebels even had a big time player in the last 20 years? I didn’t think so.
  • The preseason #1 Georgia Bulldogs have looked less than impressive in their SEC games, as they pulled out a 7 point victory at South Carolina, and were blown out at home by Alabama 41-30, in a game that was never even close.
  • The SEC also boasts some other preseason Top 10 teams like Auburn who is 4-2 but could easily be 2-4. They beat Mississippi State 3-2 in a “pitchers duel” and survived against a down Tennessee team 14-12.
  • Moving to Tennessee, last season’s SEC East Champions: they sit at the bottom of their division at 2-3, and 0-2 in the SEC. Their only wins to date have been over UAB and Northern Illinois.
  • Looking farther into the SEC, at least we can say that Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and South Carolina are living up to their billing, settling into the bottom of their respective divisions.

Of course, the SEC has their talented teams.

Alabama has looked great in all 5 of their games, and LSU is strong yet again. The surprise of the SEC may be Vanderbilt, which has not been invited to a bowl game in over 20 years, as they sit atop the SEC east at a perfect 5-0, 3-0 in conference, with wins at Ole Miss, at South Carolina, and a huge win against Auburn, in maybe the biggest game in the last 25 years for the Commodores.

However, the fact that Vanderbilt and Kentucky (who did play Alabama tough this past weekend) are 5-0 and 4-1, respectively, shows that the conference is down.

Northern Illinois Tennessee
While Tennessee (AP/Wade Payne) is looking up to the heavens for some kind of assistance, the only thing Missouri’s Chase Daniel sees when he looks up is more points on the scoreboard. (AP/Dave Weaver).
Missouri Nebraska Football

The Big 12 on the other hand is having the best year as a conference in recent memory. The conferences’ top three teams, which are each ranked in the top five in the latest poll, are Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas.

  • Oklahoma has destroyed all comers on their schedule. Their offense is firing on all cylinders, and their suffocating defense is making it tough for opponents to move the ball.
  • Missouri can score from almost any spot on the field, and while they do allow a large amount of points, it is mainly because they score so fast that their defense is on the field for long stretches.
  • Texas is solid as well but has a very challenging schedule this season. Their matchup with Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout this weekend could go a long way in deciding the conference picture as well as the national title representatives.

The rest of the Big 12 has been successful for the most part as well:

  • Only Iowa State, Baylor, and Texas A&M are not above .500.
  • Kansas State, Nebraska, and Colorado were all 3-1 before conference losses this past weekend.
  • Kansas is 4-1 and ranked in the top 15
  • In addition to the previously mentioned top 3 teams, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech remain unbeaten at 5-0.

The SEC can still boast that they have the most speed and strongest crop of skill players, but the Big 12 is not far behind contrary to popular belief.

When looking at the most important position on the field, the SEC has only one All-American caliber quarterback in Georgia’s Matthew Stafford and one over-rated quarterback in Tim Tebow, who is having a down year from his Heisman campaign of 2007.

The Big 12, on the other hand, has FIVE All-American caliber QB’s in Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Chase Daniel (Missouri), Colt McCoy (Texas), Todd Reesing (Kansas), and Graham Harrell (Texas Tech). Each of those QB’s are averaging at least 250 yards per game and have combined to throw 65 touchdowns against only 9 interceptions.

And why is it that whenever an SEC team loses a game to a conference team they should easily handle (i.e. Florida at home to Ole Miss), the excuse is always, “The SEC is so tough, anyone can beat anyone on any given day”?

A team of the caliber of Florida has no business losing to an Ole Miss program that outside of the two players mentioned before, have had no players and no substantial success outside of Eli Manning’s senior season in the last 25 years. Yet, if a Big 12 team were to lose a similar game to someone they “shouldn’t” lose to, and they “choked.”

The SEC is strong. There is no debate about that.

The only debate is that this year the Big 12 is stronger.

Scals

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