SEC Football vs. Big Ten Football: The Weakest Link Theory
I read an article yesterday by Jake Davis yesterday going into a discussion of Big Ten football vs. SEC football and how the two conferences are actually very close in terms of conference power and skilled teams despite what the mainstream media has to say.
Now, I won't go into which conference I think is better (*cough* SEC *cough*), but when I thought about comparing an entire conference to another as a group, I thought back to the old adage, "You are only as strong as your weakest link."
We all know of Alabama, Auburn, USC, Florida, LSU, OSU, Wisconsin, Michigan (not lately), Iowa and MSU being top teams in their respective conferences, and it is fun to compare these great teams and debate who is better, but since it is the offseason, wouldn't it be so much more fun to compare the worst teams in each conference?
So I picked the four worst teams from each conference in 2010 to evaluate. The matchups will made be by me, trying to pair the worst team with the worst, second-worst with the second-worst, etc. to compete in the Toilet Bowl.
From the SEC I picked the two worst from each division. From the SEC East we have Kentucky 6-7 (2-6) and Vanderbilt 2-10 (1-7). From the West we have Mississippi State 9-4 (4-4) and Ole Miss 4-8 (1-7).
From the Big Ten I picked the four teams at the bottom, which would be Northwestern 7-6 (3-5), Purdue 4-8 (2-6), Minnesota 3-9 (2-6) and Indiana 5-7 (1-7).
So begins my journey to find out which conference is better by applying my Weakest Link theory and pairing the worst teams from each conference and then using my impressive football analyst skills to decide who would win and thus which is the better conference.
SEC vs. Big Ten: Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Northwestern Wildcats
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MSU and Northwestern meet as the best of the worst here, but to me this game would be a no-brainer.
Mississippi State was 9-4 and is a pretty good team even though its 4-4 conference record is not the best. Northwestern is pretty much middle of the pack.
With dual-threat quarterback Chris Relf, who passed for 1,789 yards and ran for another 713 yards while throwing 13 TDs and only six INTs, as well as running back Vick Ballard rushing for 968 yards and 19 TDs, MSU is a tough competitor.
Northwestern has a weapon of its own, though, in quarterback Dan Persa, who threw for an impressive 2,581 yards and 15 TDs with only four INTs, and his favorite target Jeremy Ebert, who had 62 receptions for 953 yards and eight TDs.
The difference maker here will be the defense though. MSU will be able to score since Northwestern ranked 77th in points against. I cannot say the same for the Northwestern offense, as MSU ranked 21st in points against.
This one goes to the Bulldogs.
SEC: 1
Big Ten: 0
SEC vs. Big Ten: Kentucky Wildcats vs. Purdue Boilermakers
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Purdue's offense cannot score, plain and simple. It ranked 105th in points scored in 2010, only averaging 19.7 points a game. Neither of these teams' defenses is impressive at all, but only a high school team would be needed on the field to keep Purdue from scoring.
On the other hand, since we are talking 2010, Kentucky would have senior quarterback Mike Hartline, who threw for 3,178 yards and 23 TDs last year. Enough said.
This one goes to the Wildcats.
SEC: 2
Big Ten: 0
SEC vs. Big Ten: Ole Miss Rebels vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers
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Whew, it is getting tough to find positive things about these teams.
This would be a close game. Both of these teams' defenses are atrocious, with Ole Miss allowing on average 35.2 points per game and Minnesota allowing on average 33 points per game.
Dual-threat quarterback Jeremiah Masoli would be very tough for Minnesota to keep up with, but Minnesota has a fairly balanced attack on the ground and through the air.
I am not sure about this one, so I will go off their schedules. Minnesota has a win over a Top 25 team, while Ole Miss has no Top 25 wins and lost to FCS school Jacksonville State.
This one goes to the Golden Gophers.
SEC: 2
Big Ten: 1
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
SEC vs. Big Ten: Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Indiana Hoosiers
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Well, here we are, the worst of the worst: Vandy vs. Indiana.
Let me start off by saying Vanderbilt is terrible. I mean seriously bad. Indiana also is bad—you do not get a 1-7 conference record by being outstanding—but Vanderbilt is awful.
Here are the top two glaringly bad facts:
Indiana's top two backs combined for a total of 630 yards and seven TDs.
Vanderbilt only averaged 16.9 points per game, making it 112th in the nation.
I thought this would be a close game, but then I came across the fact that Ben Chappell threw for 3,295 yards and 24 TDs and the Hoosiers ranked 14th in the nation in passing yardage per game.
Done and done.
This one goes to the Hoosiers.
SEC: 2
Big Ten: 2
SEC vs. Big Ten: Conclusion
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So which conference is better? To be honest, when I started this I did not expect to end up with a tie, but these outcomes are what my gut gave me.
In my humble opinion, I believe the schedules that SEC schools face outweigh that of any other. Sure, they play some Susie Creamcheese FCS schools during the schedule, but then they go to South Carolina, then to Arkansas and then Florida at home, and don't forget at Alabama coming up at the end of the season.
Feel free to comment with opinions or worse matchups from other years past that might help end this riddle.
Thanks for reading!
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
