Recently I spent a few days in the great city of Chicago. Chicago is a great city with a seemingly never ending supply of awesome restaurants, historic bars, entertaining night life and friendly people. I ventured out into the "windy city" during my time there and when I did, I decided to conduct an unscientific poll. Well, actually more like an opinion poll.
From the "House of Blues" to the "Redhead Piano Bar" to "Ditka's" to the "Billy Goat Tavern", I engaged Big Ten football fans in conversation regarding the Big Ten and asked how they felt their football compared to other conferences. Here is how that went.
Are you a Big Ten Football Fan?
With few exceptions, most stated emphatically that they were.
Are you looking forward to the coming season?
Again, an emphatic "yes"......and in some cases......"hell yeah, can't wait".
How do you see the season playing out?
Most said they thought Ohio State was again the clear early favorite and that they were concerned about what Michigan might come up with this year with a new coach. Most also said that they really felt that this was the year that Illinois would step up and perhaps challenge the "big boys" and win the conference championship outright. While at "Ditka's", this point about Illinois was heavily pressed by the patrons. I heard that "Iron Mike" happened to be just upstairs at that time. I asked one of the employees if I might be able to talk with him as I had a few questions? I got a look like I must be crazy and the answer of, "uh no". O.K., I thought, I'll continue my random questioning of patrons.
How would you rate the Big Ten Football Conference in comparison to the SEC and Big 12?
Here are some, but not nearly all of the answers. I am hitting the high points here.
1) Are you kidding me? The Big Ten is the conference where men play football, hard nosed football, rugged "mano a mano" football. The Big 12 has one or two good teams. The SEC also has a couple of good teams, but that conference, for the most part, is overrated.
2) The Big 12? They suck and so does the SEC. The Big Ten is a real football conference, not some flashy, trick play kind of conference.
3) The SEC and the Big 12 are good conferences and they turn out some great athletes. They basically have about 4-6 teams combined in any given year that play big time football and the rest are just "also rans". Neither of them have the parity that the Big Ten has week in and week out.
4) They are OK, but no conference plays football like the Big Ten.
5) The Big 12 is overrated. The SEC kicks everyone's butts. I see the Big Ten right behind the SEC in being competitive.
I thought these were interesting responses. Not surprising, but still, interesting. I decided to ask a few more questions.
Are you aware that since 1998 that an SEC team has won the BCS four times and the Big 12 has won it two times while the Big Ten has only won it one time?
Some of the responses I received I cannot write in this column, but the majority were not favorable and some even questioned my lineage. On the other hand, one said, "What? Are you sure?" Another said, "Yeah, but the Big Ten has been there three times". I am not certain what that was supposed to prove, but being in a hostile environment where alcoholic beverages were involved, I decided not to press for clarification and just nodded my agreement and moved on to another person. Another responded by asking me, "Are you from the south? You sound like you are from the south." I just said, "Who? Me?" I quickly moved on to another person and they responded by saying, "Well yeah, but we beat the SEC in 2002". I hated to answer this question but I felt compelled so I informed this guy that Ohio State had beaten Miami in the 2002-03 BCS Championship and that Miami was in the Big East conference. "Oh", was all he said.
I moved from one place to another to poll the Big Ten fans as I began to feel I was wearing my welcome out and in all fairness to the kind people of Chicago, they were extremely nice to me and tolerated my questions that I tried very hard to frame as being ordinary conversation. I just had to ask a couple of more questions.
Who do you think will win the National Championship this year?
Some said Ohio State. A few even said, Illinois would be the sleeper. I had to ask what they thought of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Georgia, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Alabama or Tennessee having a chance? They did finally admit that they thought that Florida had a chance, but didn't think they could stand up to a Big Ten team again. Why was I not surprised by this response?
Last question:
Arkansas has a new coach in Bobby Petrino and Ole Miss has a new coach in Houston Nutt. How do you think they will effect the success of their programs in the SEC this year?
The basic overall response was, "WHO?"
Chicago is a great city and my thanks to the people of Chicago who treated me graciously. They are as biased in their opinions as I suppose any of them would find we might be if they visited Atlanta, Knoxville, Birmingham, Baton Rouge, Gainesville, Fayetteville, Austin, Norman, Lawrence or Columbia. I'll be interested to see what responses I get to similar questions the next time I head out to the western states.
Until then, that is just my take.......from outside the boundaries.
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about 1 month ago
How has the SEC down against the Big 10 the last few years? Once you guys have a real champion to push forward, get back to us. Until then you will continue to wish you were the Big-12, Pac-10 or SEC.
Beopig
about 1 month ago
The SEC leads the Big Ten with a 65-46-2 all-time record.
The SEC has a .584 winning percentage versus the Big Ten.
Beopig
from about 1 month ago
Wrong Jimmy. Big Ten is 95-89-7 all-time over the SEC.
http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/bigten/vs_conf.php
Also, take a look at how the Big Ten has done against the SEC in bowl games since the BcS started (also taken into consideration a high majority of those bowl games are played in the SEC's backyard). You'll find an interesting fact about how the Big Ten has played against the SEC
from about 1 month ago
Dave,
Don't bother bringin' yer stupid little FACTS to SEC country - they ain't got no use fer stupid thangs like FACTS!
from about 1 month ago
Dave, I don't think you can count games before the SEC was even created. The All-Time Big Ten vs SEC since the SEC was created in 1932 is 65-46-2 in favor of the SEC.
Note: (Not sure if this record of 65-46-2 counts the 2007 season.)
The Big Ten may have dominated SEC teams in the 1800's. But not the 1900's.
about 1 month ago
The SEC ended up 7-2 in the bowl games this year -- the best record of all the conferences this bowl season. Most bowl wins ever by one conference in a single year. The Big Ten ended up 3-5. The little 10 will get respect once they earn it and stop getting preseason love from the media. They are as bad as Notre Dame.
Beopig
from about 1 month ago
Actually, the Mountain West (4-1, .800), had the best bowl record in the 2007-08 bowl season.
Still, the SEC is a lot better than both the Big 10 and Big 12. The depth of the league and the fact that it consistently produces BCS champions proves this point. Not to mention the last two BCS championship game blowouts over the Big 10.
about 1 month ago
Cute, Big Ten.
Cute.
about 1 month ago
Ummm...Mike Ditka played his college ball at the University of Pittsburgh.
about 1 month ago
I respect the work you have done and the time you took to gather responses, but what did you really expect in a Big Ten hub such as Chicago? Go to Southern California and you will most likely be overwhlemed with Pac10 enthusiasts who claim that no one can stand up to the depth of the Pac10. Hell, I attended the University of Louisville for a year, and they were so high on themselves and the Big East in that area, it was ridiculous. My point is, is that you are going to get homerism no matter where you go, so trying to make it seem as if Big Ten fans have a "holier than thou" attitude with a survey in a Big Ten hub is not really saying much.
I'll give my honest perspective on conferences: The SEC is tops in college football, no doubt. The Big Ten is down, with Michigan faltering and PSU stumbling. The Big 12 doesnt impress me as much as other conferences, but has quality teams at the moment. The Pac10 doesnt do anything for me, other than the obvious USC. So, its the SEC and then everyone else, but we all know these things are cyclical, so people need to enjoy their successes while they have them. I know I am living up every moment I can with Ohio State, rather than gloating about it, because one day Jim Tressel will be gone.......so too will this recent reign of the SEC.
from about 1 month ago
Does the Big East not even get brought up.....? According to 2 different post spring polls 5 of the 8 teams are top 25. (I agree these mean jack crap however).
P.S. Louisville and Rutgers aren't one of 'em.
from about 1 month ago
aaron, you're joking, right?
The Big East is HANDS-DOWN the worst of the BCS conferences. Since those teams defected, nobody in the Big East has scheduled a non-conference game worth a damn, so of course you're going to have a bunch of 8 and 9-win teams. They're all playing 4 or 5 gimme's a year since they only have 7 conference games to play. Simply go 4-3 in the Big East, and you've got an 8 or 9 win season. Go 5-2 and you're looking at 10 wins.
This pathetic conference hasn't fooled me.
about 1 month ago
The SEC is the best conference in college football right now, but the way SEC fans and the media have used the last two BCS games as proof that the SEC puts the Big Ten to shame obscures the fact that the SEC is only 3-4 against the Big Ten head-to-head over the course of the last 2 seasons:
9/2/06: Vanderbilt 7, Michigan 27
1/1/07: Tennessee 10, Penn State 20
1/1/07: Arkansas 14, Wisconsin 17
1/8/07: Florida 41, Ohio State 14
1/1/08: Tennessee 21, Wisconsin 17
1/1/08: Florida 35, Michigan 41
1/7/08: LSU 38, Ohio State 24
Note that 06 Vanderbilt beat Georgia; that 06 Tennessee beat Cal and Georgia, and came within 1 point of national champion Florida; that 06 Arkansas beat Auburn and Tennessee; that 07 Florida crushed Tennessee and came within 4 of national champion LSU. These are all teams that Big Ten squads have conquered, and suggests that the better teams in the Big Ten would fit right in with the SEC. Add to this the fact that none of these Big Ten teams have managed to beat Ohio State in the last two seasons; it is literally only national championship games against SEC champs in which the Big Ten has looked inferior.
Also, much is made of each conference's respective bowl record. Let us not forget that the Big Ten's bowl assignments in the last two seasons included:
1) Ohio State playing Louisiana State in New Orleans, LA
2) Michigan playing Southern California in Pasadena, CA
3) Illinois playing Southern California in Pasadena, CA
4) Michigan playing Florida in Orlando, FL
5) Iowa playing Texas in San Antonio, TX
6) Penn State playing Texas A&M in San Antonio, TX
7) Purdue playing Central Michigan in Detroit, MI
The Big Ten would have to perform incredibly well to come out of that schedule with a winning record.
from about 1 month ago
:P
Kansas Beat Central Michigan by about 50 last year and went into College Station and Beat A&M. We were good and all, but those are not that impressive, no one gave us any credit and declared our schedule was cupcake. You think playing Central Michigan at all is hard, though, and A&M on a neutral site... Ok.... hmmm.....
about 1 month ago
Especially Purdue taking on noted monster Central Michigan.
about 1 month ago
That's not the point, Sebastian. Bowl game outcomes are so highly valued as indicators of relative conference strength because the games are supposed to represent evenly-matched teams playing on neutral sites. Yet if you examine some statistics from the 06-07 and 07-08 bowl seasons, some funny things pop out...
# of times Big Ten bowl participant played in opponent's home state: 7
# of times Big Ten bowl participant played bowl in own home state: 0 of 15
# of times SEC bowl participant played in own home state: 4
# of times SEC bowl participant played in opponent's home state: 0 of 18
There is more than meets the eye in strict bowl records.
Also, consider that some conferences are not matched as tough as others in terms of seeding. The Big Ten had to take on 2 BCS conference champs, 2 other BCS conference division winners, and a mid major conference champ.
By comparison, the Big East took on one BCS conference champ, no other BCS division winners, no mid major conference champs, and no mid major division winners. Their runner up (Cincinnati) took on the 4th place finisher in CUSA's East Division (Southern Miss), and Rutgers took on the team that finished 2nd to "noted monster" Central Michigan in the MAC West, and got destroyed by UCM on their own field (Ball State).
from about 1 month ago
Given that:
-most Big Ten schools are in the Midwest
-most SEC schools are, appropriately, in the South/Southeast
-most bowl games are played outdoors
-most bowl games are played in late December/early January
would you expect many bowl games to take place during that time of year in Michigan, Minnesota, or Iowa? Are you surprised most bowls take place in the south/southeast/southwest? Really? There's a reason bowl committees typically place bowls in warm weather sites. I would hardly consider it some form of conference favoritism on behalf of the committee. They are interested in getting as many people in the seats as possible, and TX, FL, and CA sound more inviting to Joe Fan than a trip to Indiana or Ohio in late December.
You're more than welcome to move the Rose Bowl to Minneapolis, the Orange Bowl to Indianapolis, the Fiesta Bowl to Chicago, and the Sugar Bowl to Cleveland. But I have an ever so subtle feeling LA, Miami, Phoenix, and New Orleans would do a better job for the committees.
from about 1 month ago
I'm not saying it doesn't make sense to have the bowl games closer to SEC country than Big Ten country. All I'm saying is that if the Big Ten doesn't do as well in the bowl season as the SEC, that alone is not a strong indication that the SEC is superior, because it is a system in which the SEC has distinct advantages. Playing a predominantly ground game in the cold winter weather of the north is a major part of the NFL, but it has almost nothing to do with SEC or bowl season college football.
about 1 month ago
Interesting article. The thing that kind of bugged me the most was that they didnt know who Nutt and Petrino were. Thats a little disheartening to hear. Its not that hard to keep up with coaches, especially if their departures are plastered everywhere like Petrino's was.
about 1 month ago
Nic,
It didn't really bug me as much as it showed the knowledge gap btwn the average fan in the Big 10 and other places.
With that said,(and having a lot of interaction with opposing fan bases esp. in the SEC) we enjoyed the Ohio st fans in New Orleans. they were knowledgable, good natured, and fun to party with. after the game they were exceptional sports.
of course, this is only one man's opinion, but i spent the better part of 4 days down there around the nat'l championship and almost every encounter was a good one.
about 1 month ago
Come on now, the big ten is garbage. It consistently is getting embarrassed on the national stage. How about the rose bowl? How about the last two national championships? How about arkansas thrashing in the cotton bowl? How about michigan getting beat at home by a division 2 school? How about ohio st loosing to illinois at home in front of 100k+ fans and then vandalizing their own campus? The writer of this article does not know what they are talking about.
from about 1 month ago
What does Arkansas losing 38-7 to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl have to do with anything?
about 1 month ago
Im from the south and all I can say is I hope Ohio State doesnt make it to the title game again. Its not fair and its not exciting to watch a team heavily hyped from the big ten embarass themselves year after year. lol. SEC rules!
about 1 month ago
Big 10 is too scared to have a championship game...why? Because they would not have programs go to the NC. It really is pathetic that there is any comparison to the SEC. Don't simply look at the NC or bowl games. Look at the top to bottom strength of the programs. Big 10 is 2-4 teams deep in quality year after year. The SEC is 4-8 teams deep in quality contenders year after year. The recruits that go to the Big 10 marquee schools are amazing athletes, yet these programs have been falling short year after year.
Is it coaching? Is it strength of schedule? Who knows... But this article is absurd.
from about 1 month ago
The Big Ten cannot have a title game because it does not have 12 teams. NCAA rules state you must have 12 teams to have a conference title game.
The only team that makes sense geographically and academically for the conference to add is Notre Dame, and ND has no plans of joining a conference any time soon. So, it's unlikely the Big Ten will have a title game anytime soon. It's not cowardice, but a matter of logistics and NCAA rules.
from about 1 month ago
>Big 10 is too scared to have a championship game...why? Because they would not have programs go to the NC. It really is pathetic that there is any comparison to the SEC.
This is nonsense for several reasons:
1) Under NCAA rules, you are not allowed to stage a conference championship game unless you have at least 12 teams.
2) The SEC does not play a conference championship game to make it tough on themselves. They added Arkansas in the early 90s specifically to include this extra game in their season so they could raise more revenue.
3) A conference championship game is often not very meaningful. Last year, Oklahoma crushed Missouri again. Wow. Virginia Tech revenged their loss to Boston College, leaving them 1-1 against each other. The last two years in the SEC where LSU played Tennessee and Florida played Arkansas were somewhat rare examples of two top teams getting the chance to meet on the field who had not been on each other's schedules.
>Big 10 is 2-4 teams deep in quality year after year. The SEC is 4-8 teams deep in quality contenders year after year.
I don't know what this is supposed to mean exactly, but I count 5 teams from each conference that won 9 or more games and finished in at least one of the major top 25s. And guess what? Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Penn State, and Wisconsin all played each other in the regular season. There were no key matchups left off the schedule. If you throw in the other bowl participants, then we missed:
Illinois/Michigan State
Illinois/Purdue
Wisconsin/Purdue
Ohio State/Indiana
Michigan/Indiana
Which of those matchups do you think prevented us from finding out who the best team in the conference was?
But it took a conference championship game for us to see LSU/Tennessee, otherwise they would not have played each other. And we still missed:
LSU/Georgia
Auburn/Tennessee
Florida/Arkansas
Georgia/Arkansas
Georgia/Mississippi State
Auburn/Kentucky
I see a few pretty important games in there, especially the one between the #1 and #2/3 finishers in the country. Why you see this 12-team split-division championship game system as a superior to what the Big Ten has is beyond me.
And to keep the comparison numerically fair, I left out bowl participant Alabama (if you want to consider them a "quality contender"). They did not have to play Florida or Kentucky.
And FYI, Ohio State / Michigan has decided the outright Big Ten champion the last two seasons.
about 1 month ago
I'm Big Ten all the way...........
about 1 month ago
Good article. The one response who said about the parity comment. They must confuss bad play with parity. Big 10 fans are in my opinion the most biased by far. 'Real football' is code for boring and not creative. Big 10 is probably the 4th best league and could be the 5th this year with Ohio State being the best and Michigan and Illinois who are rebuilding with new coaches and loss of graduation.
about 1 month ago
Who is John Stevens, a singer on American Idol?
about 1 month ago
YEAH YOUR CHAMPION lisn't overrated.
your conference champion has beaten ONE sec team since 1935.
go check it for yourself.
about 1 month ago
I'm hSv and I own a Ar---Kansas website. We thought that the SEC is best. Don't tell anyone butt i'm a Texas fan.
GO LONGHORNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
from about 1 month ago
Hook em Horns
about 1 month ago
"The SEC and the Big 12 are good conferences and they turn out some great athletes. They basically have about 4-6 teams combined in any given year that play big time football and the rest are just "also rans". Neither of them have the parity that the Big Ten has week in and week out."
The second part of that statement is incredibly ignorant and shows the level of college football knowledge in Chicago. Nebraska didn't make a bowl game while Colorado and Texas A&M lost in fringe games. While all this was going on, Missouri won the Cotton Bowl and kansas the Orange Bowl. Anybody who tries to tell me the Big 12 has no parity compared to the Ohio State, Michigan, & Wisconsin-dominated Big 10 is seriously delusional.
And of course they wouldn't know who Petrino is. But Big 10 fans could probably tell you who Les Miles and Urban Meyer are...
Another side note: I'm from Chicago, and I'll admit that a lot of Chicago sports fans are seriously delusional, whether it's about the Cubs, Bears, Illini, Irish, White Sox, or Bulls (Blackhawks fans tend to be generally very, very smart, so I'll leave them out).
But really, go into any conference stronghold and you'll get responses like this. Except, the SEC and Big 12 actually have, you know, reasons to back up their claims.
from about 1 month ago
JJ - you nailed it and as Colin Cowherd would say - "I'm just stating the facts folks."
about 1 month ago
Are you serious? The Big 10 is saying the SEC and Big 12 are over rated? Wow. I thought they would at least get a good education at the Big 10 schools!
The SEC is hands down the best in football right now. It moves in cycles. With kids caring less about tradition now more than ever and just going to a school that guarantees playing time early the Big 10 and Big XII will suffer badly. Also, warm weather schools are beginning to absolutely dominate. It is pretty hard to convince a kid to choose an OSU or Michigan or Nebraska or Penn State over a USC, Texas, UCLA, Florida, etc... Look at the girls in the stands on a November game day and you'll see why.
I mean, come on: Hot women in snow pants, or hot women in short skirts? Google the FSU cowgirls. Wow.
about 1 month ago
*snickers* this article is funny.
I think the Big 11 has some good football teams and can compete with the big boys. But never...EVAH say the Big 11 has the parity that the SEC has...NINE BOWL TEAMS PEOPLE....NINE!!!!!!!!!!!!
about 1 month ago
*snickers* this article is funny.
I think the Big 11 has some good football teams and can compete with the big boys. But never...EVAH say the Big 11 has the parity that the SEC has...NINE BOWL TEAMS PEOPLE....NINE!!!!!!!!!!!! Not to mention had their been another tie-in (Papajohns.com Bowl) there would have ben TENNNNNNNN
from about 1 month ago
...and the Big Ten had 8 bowl teams. And ditto for the bowl tie-in...there would've been nine. This is really an irrelevant statistic.
about 1 month ago
Any conference whose championship can be determined by tie-breakers and teams that don't play each other should just be laughed at on principle.
"Big 10 Champions due to tiebreak rule #3! Woo!"
What a joke.
from about 1 month ago
Yes, it makes much more sense for two teams that have already played each other once to play each other again to determine the conference's "champion".
"SEC West champion and SEC East champion both beat each other this year. But since the SEC East champion won the second time around, they are SEC champions. Woo!"
What a joke. The SEC Championship Game is nothing more than a money grab and you dimwits act as if they play it because they're truly interested in determing the "true" conference champion.
about 1 month ago
retard, (that was weird to type)
while it's true the ccg's are money grabs, it does pit the divisional champions against each other for a deciding game which is actually deciding it on the field (even if they have met previously). the knock on the big 10 is that sometimes the two best teams don't ever face each other.
at least the pac 10 went to a round robin format so that everyone plays each other. but without a conf championship or a round robin, the big 10 is behind the times a little.
imo, someone, somewhere needs to put a gun to ND's head and make them join the big 10 (the majority of ND's rivals reside in the big ten and they could still keep their games against USC and the svc academies)
while we're at it, go ahead and add utah and byu to the pac 10....conf championships for everyone!!!!!
about 1 month ago
I think the Big 10 has dropped seriously in the last few years. Ohio State and Michigan are top tier teams but are consistently overrated. The SEC is the most dominant conference judging from strength top to bottom. If you look at draft numbers by conference the SEC and ACC lead with most players drafted over the past 3 years, then followed by the Big 10.
about 1 month ago
I grew up in Chicago and trust me, that is a Pro town and most fans there are not college football oriented. Since I left I have been a legal resident of 18 states in my 74 years. In my opinion the SEC is best top to bottom and even Vandy will clean your clock if you ain't ready. The Big 12 has 6 or 7 good programs and the Big 10 is very weak after you get past OSU, Michigan and Wisconsin. Illinois came up with a decent team in '07 then got waxed in their beloved Rose Bowl. What really is obnoxious is the Big 10ers know the facts but they resort to name calling like, "inbreds" or "hicks" or "play us in Michigan in December." Look at the facts people......
about 1 month ago
Wow, either there are a lot of homers in that place, or a lot of idiots. I'll go with that they are a bunch of homers. Go look at the facts and then write an article saying the Big 11 is better than the SEC. Bet you can't do it. There's a reason why why SEC sends more teams bowling than anyone, stomps you the Big 11 in the National Championship, and sends more players to the NFL than any league in the country. Go ask an NFL scout where the talent is, it's in the SEC. Doesn't that say it all? The best scouts in the nation say the talent is in the SEC and it shows by the number of players sent there every year. Not to mention the caliber of coaches that are currently in the SEC. Can't even believe we are having this arguement.
about 1 month ago
Doesn't the SEC have a 9-0 record against The Ohio State Suckeyes, i mean Buckeyes. You can't say the sec is overrated because they are destroying everyone. GO KENTUCKY
about 1 month ago
As a Michigan fan, I don't see how any Big Ten fan can't agree that the SEC is the top conference right now. We can throw out "use to be" and "back in the day" all day long, but right now is all that matters. Congrats to the SEC conference and it's fans for fielding the best product. I hope that the Big Ten can undergo a few changes and get back to the top of the heap.
It also warms my heart to hear people bring up anyone who has man-handled the Suckeyes.
from about 1 month ago
"It also warms my heart to hear people bring up anyone who has man-handled the Suckeyes."
Well, obviously since your team can't do it themselves. Gotta rely on other teams to do your job.
from about 1 month ago
I also love how everyone who's posted a comment feels the need to be insult throwing children. It's one thing to talk about a rival but to just randomly insult someone? Grow up.
about 1 month ago
I had to stop reading this garbage becasue you are mostly all retarded. It is cyclical. the SEC is better right now.
about 1 month ago
Another Big 10 fan that doesn't know what he is talking about. I grew up in PA and now live in Georgia and let me tell you something, unlike Columbus which may talk football 24/7 - that is all they do down here and back it up by spanking the Big 10 schools in Bowl games. Try playing an SEC schedule instead of 3 to 4 light weights like THE Ohio State program does. Chicago - getting fans from really a pro football city to tell you that they think the SEC is overrated is like me telling them I think the Cubs have a shot at winning it all this year. Let me suggest you help Hillary with some exit polling in you next gig....
about 1 month ago
SEC and Big 12 football is speed oriented, who can get to the hole first and make the play. Big 10 not so much, the lineman get beefed up so they can move mountains n make holes for their backs, so they can hope their receivers are strong enough to grab the ball and not let the db take it from them. Different regions different football, the majority of teams in the SEC and Big 12 can hold various types of workouts everyday outside. This allows for sprint work everyday in extreme heat, as in in the cold muscles have to be used sparingly and can slow contraction. Slow work-outs provide slower on-field play. The Big Ten outside of Ohio St and Michigan, occasionally have a team or two who can provide a decent match-up with a team from the SEC or Big-12. The Elite Teams(OSU Michigan) in the Big 10 currently can not match up with half of the SEC or Kansas, Missouri, or OU (outside of the BCS). The Big 10 is and will continue to live off of it's history as a powerhouse conference, but the competition in the NCAA is continuing to spread and this is weakening the big 10 every year as players leave their home region to explore new options. The Big 10 needs to start recruiting speed first, strength second and only then will the Big 10 start to be able to compete with the SEC and Big 12 from top to bottom.
about 1 month ago
USC....Florida...LSU.....when was the last time a team north of texas won the Championship? Not over rated
about 1 month ago
how come nobody commented on my pointing out the obvious. forget the big ten champion being 9-0 in bowl games. how many times has ohio state beaten an SEC team since 1935?
one
get the picture?
from about 1 month ago
How many times has Ohio State beaten an SEC team in a NCG in the last two years?
about 1 month ago
The responses in Lincoln Nebraska would be much more intelligent. To be fair, Chicago isn't a great college football town.
about 1 month ago
Polling people in a bar doesn't sound to scientific to me. My Big 10 friends respect the other Conferences. Anyone who doesn't is an idiot.
I would like to see what happens when more Big 10 teams play Bowl games against SEC teams on a neutral field.
Every conference has its weak sisters Ole Miss, Northwestern, Iowa State, etc.
from about 1 month ago
I agree Bob. That is why the first paragraph states it was an "unscientific poll" and in fact, more of a mere opinion poll and I believe that most bowl games are played on what are considered to be "neutral" fields.
about 1 month ago
Well written article and very interesting. I love the fact that the south has sports fans that have an open-mindedness about them that they give the other conferences a chance to defend the honor of their respective conferences. Nothing compares to the grittiness and high-octane play of the Southeastern Conference, and most sports fans know this. However, it is intriguing to see the defense of the Big Ten or Big XII as you travel around the country. I love this sport.
about 1 month ago
I think the most overrated conference now and has been for the last 3 years is the PAC-10. They have some good teams like USC and Oregon but if the PAC-10 is the so called "Toughest of them all" then why lose to teams like Oregon State and Stanford I mean come on Stanford. Are you kidding me? Let's just play football and see who wins.
about 1 month ago
I will look forward to the day when it is Texas and USC for the National Championship again!!!!!!!!
22 days ago
I like this talk about records in bowl games between the SEC and Big 10 over the last few years. To be honest I could care less if the and 8-5 Arkansas, or Auburn team is better than a 9-4 Michigan, or Illinois team. Point is I don't care if the SEC averaged team is worse or better than the Big 10 average team.
Bottom line is, the SEC best team is better than the Big 10 best team. Not only better, but they have dominated the last two NC games.
It is largely recognized that the SEC has the best athletes and the main reason for that is because its southern country. Even the southern teams not in the SEC (Florida St and Miami) have produced some of the best athletes the country has too offer. Texas and California are also hot beds for talent.
This past season, the Big 10 was at best the 4th best conference of the major 6. SEC was number 1, Big 12 number 2 and Pac 10 number 3 in my opinion. You could switch two and three if you like.
Lets look at the facts from last year:
SEC: Had 3 ten win teams, had 9 teams go to bowl games, had 2 teams win (sorry dominate) BCS Bowl games, had 5 teams finish in the top 15 of the final AP Poll.
Big 10: Had 1 ten win team, had 8 teams go to bowl games, had no BCS Bowl wins (actually both Illinois and OSU got dominated), had 1 team finish in the top 15 of the AP Poll.
12 days ago
oh brother. herby quit parading around like mr stevens. and tell me about this mano o mano football. where are they playing it? it's not at the line of scrimmage. take a look at the tapes homer herby.
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