How the Big Ten Has Infiltrated SEC Media Days Bonanza

Featuring a four-day format intended to highlight some of the biggest names in college football, it's probably not a coincidence that SEC media days happen to fall on the slowest week of the sports calendar, with only the MLB All-Star Game and the ESPYs to compete with for attention.

But as opposed to 2013, when Johnny Manziel's appearance required around-the-clock coverage, or last summer, when Nick Saban's hiring of Lane Kiffin took center stage, this year's SEC media days have seemed to lack the same buzz as its predecessors.

And the Big Ten may just be the biggest reason why.

In fact, of the few notable headlines that the SEC's annual media affair has produced this week, the Big Ten has been either at the root or a major part of most. That was the case on Wednesday, when Saban spoke of the process players go through to get their draft evaluations from the NFL and how it affected Alabama's preparation for Ohio State in last season's Sugar Bowl.

"I just felt like, in our experience last year, our team chemistry from the SEC Championship Game to the playoff game was affected by something," Saban said during his Wednesday press conference. "We're trying to get ready for a game, and all of a sudden, a guy finds out he's a first-round draft pick or a guy that thought he was a first-round draft pick finds out he's not a first-round draft pick, and we're trying to get ready to play a playoff game. I think that it would be better not to submit that information to a player until he was finished competing in college."

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Columnists, blogs and the Twittersphere were quick to paint Saban as an excuse-maker, unwilling to admit that his team was outplayed—and he was outcoached—by the Buckeyes and Urban Meyer. The Crimson Tide head coach went on to clarify his comments, denying that he was attempting to absolve himself of blame for Alabama's second consecutive bowl loss, but by then the damage had already been done.

But what was perhaps even more damning to Saban's SEC media day appearance was that for perhaps the first time since he took over the Crimson Tide in 2007, it wasn't the biggest story of the day in college football.

Paul A. Hebert/Associated Press

That title—just like the national title—would also belong to Ohio State. With three nominations on the night—including Best Team, Best Breakthrough Athlete and Best Coach/Manager—four Buckeye players and Meyer made their way to Los Angeles for the ESPYs, giving Ohio State a nationally televised platform to celebrate its championship season for the final time.

And while the Buckeyes ultimately didn't walk away with any of the three ESPYs they were nominated for, quarterback Cardale Jones proved to be one of the stars of the night as he made Twitter passes at UFC star Ronda Rousey and model Kendall Jenner from his seat in the Microsoft Theater.

In the grand scheme of things, the attention Jones attracted means very little—at least from a football standpoint—and will ultimately be forgotten about by the time the 2015 season rolls around. But it's worth noting that on a day Alabama—and by proxy, the SEC—is used to owning, it was the Big Ten making the headlines and not just because of Ohio State either.

Because while it was the Buckeyes who helped produce the most noteworthy response from Saban's Wednesday press conference, it was Jim Harbaugh who was responsible for the first one, with the opening question of the Alabama head man's presser focusing on Michigan's offseason use of satellite camps.

Saban was diplomatic in his answer, but it was interesting nonetheless that in a week dedicated to the SEC, Harbaugh was still managing to make headlines.

Not just in Hoover, Alabama, either, but internationally as well, as the new Wolverines head coach has been documenting his trip to Paris with his wife Sarah with his ever-popular Twitter account.

Harbaugh's offseason antics may be beginning to draw the ire of critics as contrived with fewer than two months to go until the start of the season, but it's hard to argue with a head coach who manages to make himself relevant by simply posting pictures during his vacation.

Back in Hoover, the only buzzworthy headlines the SEC has managed to produce over the course of the past week have been Dan Mullen's decision to wear Yeezys to his press conference and the return of a confident Bret Bielema clad in Air Force 1 shoes. 

Meanwhile in the Big Ten, Michigan and Penn State have both managed to make waves with apparel-related stories of their own this week, with the Wolverines revealing that their Nike deal is the biggest of its kind in college athletics, per MLive.com (h/t Jerry Hinnen of CBSSports.com), and the Nittany Lions announcing that they'll no longer be wearing names on the back of their jerseys.

But while headlines are nice, the reality is that in order for the Big Ten to truly take over the SEC as the best conference in college football, it will need more stories like Ohio State's earned trip to the ESPYs than the social media-driven stories that often come out of media days.

The Buckeyes proved in January that their conference has gained ground on the field in relation to the SEC, but the Big Ten is still lacking the substance of a league that is just two years removed from a seven-year run of national championships.

"I think the SEC as a league is still one of the, top to bottom, one of the best leagues there are," Saban said. "And that includes the East and the West [divisions]."

For now, however, the Big Ten will settle for the sizzle that it's found, with the reigning national champions and a collection of some of the hottest head coaches in the country on its side.

Whether that will serve as a precursor to the Big Ten eclipsing the SEC in performance as well remains to be seen, but rarely has the conference received this much attention—let alone during another league's media days, with even fans of Big Ten programs making waves in Hoover.

And with the Big Ten's media days set for July 30-31, the league's sudden momentum shouldn't be dying any time soon.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.