TCU's Gary Patterson Says SEC Has Superior Gene Pool

Gary Patterson is headed to the Big 12, has two BCS bowl appearances, beat Wisconsin in a hard-fought Rose Bowl and has created one of college football's most intriguing programs at TCU. The man knows his football.

He's famous for fielding a team with speed at almost every position, playing tenacious defense and building a program that could always compete with the big boys when it got the chance.

With the Big 12 move on their minds, one would think folks in Texas were geared up to see TCU back on the schedules of Texas Tech, Texas and the like. But Mac Engel of the Star-Telegram explores with Patterson the state of college football in the Lone Star state and reaches some interesting conclusions.

To be more specific, Engel looks at it from a "what's going on here" standpoint when he wonders why the state with its massive population and "football is life" culture can't seem to win the big one while its eastern neighbor, the SEC, keep putting up titles.

Honestly, it's one of those questions that produce many different answers, from the tame to the insane, and getting an actual coach's take on the situation is always intriguing. Patterson makes no bones about it. He comes right out and says, "it's the gene pool."

How about them apples?

They're just born better. That was an interesting way to put it, but Patterson goes on to explain that the skill positions aren't the great divider where the SEC is concerned. It's the linemen. This is something that I think every football fan has heard at this point. The SEC just grows them different up front. 

While Patterson does go back to praise the talents of players in his own state and discuss the positives of the Big 12, my mind can't get off of the idea that coaches are accepting the idea that the SEC just has naturally better players.

It is a scary thought. If the SEC's players, the guys growing up in that region, are inherently better from a genetic standpoint, how is anyone else going to win?

I'd like to think that other schools have a shot at breaking the SEC's stranglehold on BCS titles. But when coaches such as Patterson are conceding the fact that the league just has players born instantly better than their counterparts across the nation, it certainly doesn't bode well for the non-SEC leagues.