The SEC vs. Everyone Else

I'm not normally one of these people who says the Big 10 sucks every year, but the Big 10 sucks this year. It just does. Ohio State does not deserve to play in the national championship game with that schedule.

The Big East has more good teams than the Big 10, for certain. How is this an argument?

 

And yet, the Big 10's No. 3 and 4 teams last yeear beat SEC teams in bowl games.

 

Different year, sir.

Do the match-ups. Stack the top conferences against each other, top to bottom, and think about this year. What do you think would happen? Just curious.

 

I am in a benevolent mood today. Don't count on it lasting too long.

 

Looking at the standings, if 1-8 in the Big East played 1-8 in the Big 10 this weekend we'd have these match-ups:

UConn vs. Ohio State
West Virginia vs. Michigan
Rutgers vs. Wisconsin
Louisville vs. Purdue
Illinois vs. Cincinnati
Penn State vs. South Florida
Northwestern vs. Pitt
Indiana vs. Syracuse

At worst it's a split- Ohio State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, WVU, Louisville, USF and Pitt.

And I'm probably giving Louisville and Pitt too much credit. The only absolute locks for the Big East are West Virginia and USF.

 

I won't.

 

Like I said, I don't doubt that the SEC is the best conference. But there are teams with some glaring weaknesses there, too. They're not dominant from top to bottom. They're solid from top to bottom.

 

LSU Arizona State
Alabama Oregon
Auburn UCLA
Tennessee Southern Cal
Georgia Oregon State
Florida Cal
South Car. Stanford
Kentucky Arizona
Miss State Wash St.
Vanderbilt Wash.
Arkansas Hawaii (wildcard)
Ole Miss Boise State (wildcard)

How much fun would this be?

 

OK ... this is even better.

LSU Arizona State
Alabama Oregon
Auburn UCLA
Tennessee Southern Cal
Georgia Oregon State
Florida Cal
South Car. Hawaii (wildcard)
Kentucky Boise State (wildcard)
Miss State Stanford
Vanderbilt Arizona
Arkansas Wash St.
Ole Miss Wash.

 

Ohio St would lose 2-3 games if in the SEC.

 

This year is sort of the same reason so many MVC basketball teams were so high in the rankings a couple years back. They played a few tough games out of conference, and then beat the shit out of each other during the conference season.
It kept the losses from hurting too much and made sure the victories seemed so much more impactful.
The SEC East had five of its six teams ranked in the top 20 a couple weeks back, but those five teams only had one or two important non-conference victories.

 

Ridiculous. It's easy to remember that Michigan lost to App State, because it was such a hideous loss. But Michigan is a damn good football team as it's turning out. To say WVU would be a lock in that is insane.

That said, a case SHOULD be made that Ohio State doesn't belong in the title game, even at 12-0. Because at 12-0 last year, against a better schedule the Buckeyes still got destroyed in the title game. Still, the Buckeyes are unbeaten. They play eight games against Big Ten teams, all of which are full of big-time athletes. If they get through that unscathed, they deserve the spot. It's not their fault no SEC team can suck it up and win every week.