The SEC is the acknowledged best conference in college football this decade. In fact the discussion has changed from the first part of the millennium from what is the best league, to who is second behind the Southeastern Conference? The Big Ten resembles some of its states, Ohio and Michigan are losing population base, and college players are not as interested in attending most of these schools as in decades ago. The Big East will rise up now and again, but never be a year after year power. The ACC is a basketball conference, adding Boston College and Miami-Fl. has brought zilch to the league’s prestige or the overall results, though Virginia Tech is a big plus, but only as long as Frank Beamer is there is my guess. Pac-10 is down this year, but they’ll be back as soon as they restock the quarterback positions.That leaves the Big 12 as the only true contender. Though the final results won’t be in until after the bowl games, these conferences are not as far apart as one might think.
Since 2000, Florida and LSU have combined to be the kings of college football three times. The Big 12 has had its stalwarts in Oklahoma and Texas, winning the BCS trophy twice and the Sooners played in the title game two other times, losing both.
I went back and looked at each teams and league’s non-conference record since 2003 and the results were mildly surprising. (Bowl games excluded)
SEC 191-59 76.4 percent
Big 12 197-67 74.3 percent
The SEC will have a chance to widen this margin since they schedule so many non-league games late in the season or have regional rivalries (Florida- Florida State, Georgia –Georgia Tech), still leaving 15 non-conference games to be played, while the Big 12 has the more traditional approach and has completed their schedule.
For the most part, both leagues schedule beatable teams out of conference and generally are medium to extra-large favorites in most instances. The SEC is well-known for digging up what is now referred to today as FCS schools, to beat the daylights out of, but the Big 12 has actually played more of these guaranteed winners, (49-43) over the last six seasons. Against the spread in non-conference action the two leagues are extremely close.
Big 12 118-106 52.5 percent
SEC 107-101 51.4 percent
One of the beauties of college football is the contrast of how conferences play the same game. The Big 10 has been known for big strong players who are not particularly fast across the board. The Pac-10 has been noted for quarterbacks and skill position players.
The Big 12 has only been around since 1996, with its roots in the Southwest Conference, which was a known as running league. The fundamentals have been altered in recent years to be more offensive-minded. How this occurred was at the lower levels of the conference, schools like Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech were likely to never get the quality of athlete a Texas or Oklahoma would year in, year out. Thus the coaches that have been hired were all offensive by trade, taking the approach of competing by scoring, as compared to defending. This method has seen the Big 12 attract far better talent at quarterback and skill positions then in the past, in terms of league depth.
The SEC is like a video game on fast forward. The amount of speed is astonishing on both sides of the line of scrimmage. In this conference, with so much speed on offense, coaches have to have defensive players that can be disrupters and halt the speed they are facing. This has changed the Southeastern Conference into more of a defensive-first league. To illustrate this point, review the year to year figures of the Top 20 teams in total offense and total defense from these leagues.
2004-Top 20 Offenses
Big 12 (4) Texas Tech- Texas- Oklahoma-Texas A&M
SEC – none
2004 Top 20 Defenses
Big 12 (2) Oklahoma – Missouri
SEC (5) Alabama –LSU- Auburn-Georgia- So. Carolina
2005-Top 20 Offenses
Big 12 (2) Texas-Texas Tech
SEC – none
2005 Top 20 Defenses
Big 12 (3) Kansas- Texas- Oklahoma-
SEC (5) Alabama – LSU- Tennessee- Florida- Georgia
2006-Top 20 Offenses
Big 12 (5) Texas Tech- Missouri- Nebraska- Okla. State- Texas A&M
SEC (2) LSU- Florida
2006 Top 20 Defenses
Big 12 (1) Oklahoma
SEC (4) LSU- Florida- Georgia- Auburn
2007-Top 20 Offenses
Big 12 (7) Texas Tech- Missouri- Okla. State- Kansas- Nebraska-Texas-Oklahoma
SEC (2) Florida- Arkansas
2007 Top 20 Defenses
Big 12 (1) Kansas
SEC (4) LSU- Auburn- Georgia-Vanderbilt
2008-Top 20 Offenses (year-to-date)
Big 12 (7) Texas Tech- Missouri-Oklahoma- Okla. State-Texas- Kansas- Nebraska
SEC -none
2008 Top 20 Defenses (year-to-date)
Big 12 -none
SEC (7) South Carolina- Alabama-Auburn-Georgia-Florida-Kentucky-Tennessee
It’s abundantly clear the difference in the two leagues this season, the quarterback position. In 2008, the Big 12 returned 11 of 12 starting quarterbacks from a season ago, setting the table of success in this conference. Names like Sam Bradford, Chase Daniel, Colt McCoy, Todd Reesing and Graham Harrell and others all returned, it stood to reason this would be a more offensive league, especially when it came to throwing the ball. A check of the top 50 quarterbacks in passing yards shows the Big 12 having seven in the top 20 and nine overall. The first visible signal caller throwing the ball from the SEC is Mathew Stafford of Georgia at #25, with a total of three overall. (Heisman winner Tim Tebow is 69th)
Anytime you have a good quarterback in the college game you have a chance to win. Much like the professional football, the quarterback position is taking on greater importance. He’s has to read multiple defenses, run the option well enough to be a threat and throw with accuracy. A top notch thrower on a team with any sort of defense can be a threat to cover the spread. He can lead his team to victory as an upset winner, or provide that backdoor cover late in the game. This is why I believe this year the Big 12 is on par with the SEC.
In the last five years, the Big 12 has held their own against the SEC in regular season matchups. Overall they are 6-4 straight up and 6-3-1 ATS, including 4-2-1 against the spread on the road.
Bowl games have been a different story and this year more than ever might be most telling. In the last five seasons, the SEC has a decided edge at 7-3 SU and ATS record in the post-season.
Don’t assume the SEC is the best just because of history, since if we assumed everything, the price of gas should be less than half of what it was in May, because the price of a barrel of oil is today, right?
Your thoughts welcome.
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