College Football 2012 Rankings: Defense Is Where the SEC Outclasses the Rest

It's Tuesday people! Here at #YB11 that means we're ranking the BCS leagues again. Last week we looked at the scoring side of things as the Big XII set the bar. This week, we're taking a look at the defensive side of the ball and seeing where everyone falls in line.

This is my wheelhouse. My favorite part of football is the defense. My favorite part of college football is the defense. Defense is what makes things go, and it is how teams separate themselves from the pack. Anyone can take a jazzy offense and dress it up right nice, but it takes a smart coach and scheme to get 17-22-year-olds playing defense in sync. 

Well-played defense is a symphony that is truly music for my eyeballs. The defensive line, linebackers and the secondary, working as a singular unit to achieve a goal. Eleven young men playing as one, with the defensive coordinator conducting the show from the sideline.

Appreciating defense doesn't come from scoreboard watching or checking stats. Sure, the best defenses get it done from a limiting yards and points avenue, but that is not true appreciation.

That feeling of understanding can only come from watching a Mike backer shift his line into a new front after a motion, as a safety spins down into the box and the offense plays right into the adjustment for no gain. That's great defense.

As with the offense, we are looking forward, not backward, and that means conference changes are going to be taken into account. Here we go, folks.

6. Big XII

Apologies here to Texas and TCU, two schools who most certainly put a premium on the defensive side of the ball.

Oklahoma is hoping to get its longtime defensive swagger back but after a year in which it was truly human on defense, it will be interesting to see what new-old coach Mike Stoops can get out of his unit.

And that's it. The rest of the league is woeful on the defensive side of things. Sure, the casual fan will say "But the offenses are so good they make the defenses look bad." That most certainly is a cute way to gloss over the shortcomings, but it is not wholly accurate.

What it truly boils down to is a mentality and a talent problem. From the mentality standpoint, it comes down to the approach. Defenses have to expect to stop people before they hit the field.

In the Big XII, with all of its offensive-minded coaching philosophies, the idea is a lot more to just stop them more than they stop us; our offense will do the work. Add in the copious amount of bad technique, missed assignments and missed alignments, and what you have is, at the core, a teaching problem.

This problem is compounded by the talent issues. Great offensive skill talent. Absolutely remarkable group of quarterbacks, wide receivers and even running backs all over the Big XII. On defense though? Not so much.

While Oklahoma, Texas and TCU (given Patterson's unique style) are putting some of their best players on defense, the bulk of the league is giving their defensive coordinators leftovers to play with. You get inferior athletes on defense, superior athletes on offense and that's a recipe for the scorefests that we've seen in the Big XII.

This year will not be much different in the league, although TCU and Patterson's push to get speed all over the field should be a welcomed defensive addition.

5. Pac-12

Tough call on the Pac-12, but thanks to the massive transition in the league, we're going to decide to not give them the benefit of the doubt on what happens with their defenses.

So before people look at Oregon and say there's no defense, remember that this is more about the unknown than the Ducks. Quite honestly, the Ducks and Nick Aliotti are one of two teams that don't give me pause when it comes to the defensive side of the ball in the Pac-12. Oregon has sound principles on the defensive side of things.

With Jim Mora coming to UCLA, I expect the Bruins defense to improve in 2012, but like the other new faces, Todd Graham, Rich Rodriguez and Mike Leach, just how much improvement is going to be the issue.

In teams with less transition, like Cal, Washington and Utah, there are some quality players that have to make the push for better defense. This is purely a transitional tag; the Pac-12 gets a bad rap, but overall the league tends to trend toward pretty sound defenses. Not suffocating units like we've seen in other leagues, but teams equipped to get stops where they can and make use of their talent.

4. Big East

They're not last, folks, and that's a testament to the sound defense that the Big East plays. No, the league does not have the best talent of all the conferences. No, the league is not what comes to mind when you think of elite defenses.

However, the Big East has a host of teams that play fundamentally sound, rules defense. Louisville, with Charlie Strong, is a team that should continue to improve this season, as the former Florida defensive coordinator continues to put his stamp on the program.

At Pittsburgh, for all of its woes on offense in the last few seasons, its defense has had some great talent that shows up just about every week. New coach Paul Chryst, with his ball control style, has brought in Dave Huxtable in an effort to continue this defensive success.

The league itself is not a great defensive league, but the teams are solid at getting the job done. Not a lot of flash, but there is definitely substance to the defenses here.

3. ACC

The Atlantic Coast Conference has a dirty little secret that most casual observers don't realize; there is gobs of defensive talent in this conference. The issue for ACC defenses is not getting better players across the board; it is being consistent.

Florida State will be the cream of the defensive crop. Virginia Tech will be the solid staple that it has been since entering the conference. NC State's defense is one of the more exciting, yet inconsistent groups going into 2012. Wake Forest epitomizes the ideal of "sound defense" that the Big East makes work. Quite honestly, the only bad defenses in the league are Duke and Maryland.

For Maryland, improvement should come in the form of letting Kenny Tate actually play his real position of safety, instead of the hybrid role they shoved him into a season ago. Clemson has room to improve following its embarrassing Orange Bowl outing, but the talent for the Tigers is there; it is merely a matter of getting the guys into the right spots.

The most interesting defense for folks to watch this season will be North Carolina. After several years as one of the better defenses, the Heels are switching to a 4-2-5 scheme that will be quite the experiment.

2. Big Ten

This is the league that finished with the most teams in the top 20 in total defense a season ago. Well, sort of; it tied with the SEC for most teams in the top 20 at six.

In 2012, the league looks to improve upon that strong defensive showing by returning a lot of quality ball players and continuing to place a premium on defensive football. There are great defensive minds on the defensive side of the ball; guys like Pat Narduzzi at Michigan State, Greg Mattison at Michigan and, of course, Luke Fickell for the Buckeyes. The teams play hard defense, they hit, they stop the run and they tackle well.

The only reason the Big Ten is not getting the nod for the top group is its lack of that truly elite unit for 2012. Yes, Michigan State is going to be one of the units battling to get into that group, but losing Jerel Worthy is going to make the William Gholston's job a bit more difficult.

This league is not far off when it comes to being the nation's best. Unlike another conference, the Big Ten has that necessary understanding that defenses are designed to win you games, not simply go out and "not lose" games for you.

1. SEC

We all saw this coming, right? The SEC's beauty on the defensive side comes as a product of superior defensive line talent and an elevated talent level overall on the defensive side of the ball.

This league doesn't shove all of the best players to offense and then ask a defensive coordinator to do his best with a gang of leftovers. The team pull enough quality athletes in to stock both sides of the ball, and the result is tangible.

Alabama, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida will be back at the top of the league, but Vanderbilt is also looking to remain among the nation's top 20 defenses. At Arkansas, we're seeing Bobby Petrino understand that in order to get the Hogs where he wants them to go, changing the defensive culture is going to be the biggest step for his team to take.

Tennessee has brought in Sal Sunseri, a guy that I absolutely love as a coach, to try and maximize what it can get out of their defensive unit. However, even Arkansas and Tennessee cannot match the defensive excitement for 2012 that resides on The Plains.

Former Georgia defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder is in the fold for Gene Chizik, and Auburn is pushing to join the ranks of the defensive elite.