Outback Bowl 2012: Why MSU-UGA is One Big Ten-SEC Match the Big Ten Will Win

Fans arguing about which conference is better is something that makes college football so great. Many fans can agree that the SEC is the toughest conference in college football. They've won the last five national championships and will make it six this year with two SEC teams participating.

But the Big Ten should get the upper hand over the SEC in the Outback Bowl today. It's a matchup that features the Michigan State Spartans and the Georgia Bulldogs.

Both teams are very underrated and ended up just missing out on winning their conference championship.

The Spartans will win this game, though, and here are a few reasons why. 

Michigan State gets after the quarterback

Aaron Murray is one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC and does a fabulous job this season. He will spend a lot of time on his back in this game though. The Spartans are one of eight teams to have at least 40 sacks this year. A total of 17 players have at least half a sack on this team. The Bulldogs are also great at rushing the passer as they have 34 sacks on the year.

The problem is, Michigan State's offensive line has only allowed 16 sacks on the year, Georgia has allowed 29. Michigan State will be able to pressure the quarterback into mistakes and that will improve the Spartans chances of winning this game.

Defense

Despite the fact that Michigan State gets after the quarterback, they also play great overall defense. Their 17.5 points allowed is good for ninth in the country. Their 104 rushing yards allowed is best in the Big Ten and 12th best in the country. They also only allow 168 passing yards which is good for 11th best in the country as well.

The overall defense is ranked fifth in all of college football.

Georgia has a great offense, but we all saw the game against LSU where they only scored 10 points. They also managed less than 300 total yards on offense. Not saying Michigan State is the same caliber as LSU but they play some tough defense that will make things difficult for the Bulldogs.

More battle tested

Although the Bulldogs have been playing better football recently, they haven't beaten any top competition. They lost the first two games against Boise State and South Carolina and received a beatdown by the LSU Tigers. In fact, the only ranked team they beat all season were the Auburn Tigers, who were horrible this season.

Michigan State has beaten ranked teams like Michigan and Nebraska this season. They also beat Wisconsin and made the Badgers work in the rematch for the win in the Big Ten championship.

This will be a great game, but you have to go with the team that has proven more this season.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]