Thread: Big10 > Sec

OSU vs SEC teams in bowl games:
0-8

In the accounting business, we call that "Overrated."

Big Ten commish drops ball on SEC comparisons
Feb. 22, 2007
By Dennis Dodd
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer


Jim Delany didn't do his research.

Earlier this month, the Big Ten commissioner fired off an "open letter" on the conference's website to college football fans comparing his league to the SEC.

The letter, which was subsequently e-mailed to national writers, was a reaction to a story by a Chicago Sun-Times high school writer about the SEC's recruiting dominance over the Big Ten.


Michigan's Alan Branch might be the first defensive lineman taken in the NFL Draft. (Getty Images)
The story was pegged off the absence of a Big Ten team in the recruiting top 10 "for the first time in memory."

To catch up, recruiting analyst Tom Lemming suggested in the article that the Big Ten lower its admission standards: "Then they can get anyone into school they want."

The piece is so full of generalities that maybe Delany couldn't take it any more. (The SEC is good and has fast athletes. Really? Wow.) But in responding, the usually collegial commissioner took some thinly veiled shots at the SEC.

"I love speed and the SEC has great speed," Delany wrote. "... but there are appropriate balances when mixing academics and athletics ... winning our way requires some discipline and restraint with the recruitment process."

Our way? One SEC official said he was "shocked" that Delany went there in terms of academics.

That reinforces stereotypes: that the SEC is a renegade league that sacrifices academics at the altar of football And, that the Big Ten is a bunch of Midwestern elitists.

But for every Northwestern, I can give you a Vanderbilt. What's the bigger football factory -- Michigan or Florida?

All this seems to have sprung from a bad night by Ohio State in the BCS title game, particularly the offensive line. But that's all it was, a bad night.

Florida's defense was dominant. But the highest drafted defensive lineman in April might be the Wolverines' Alan Branch.

There was a time when the Big Ten was slower than the SEC. But Delany's league long ago began going into Florida and California. Tom Brady is from, where, exactly? (San Mateo, Calif.) Ohio State's most versatile player on the 2002 national championship team was Chris Gamble of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Speed? I seem to recall Buckeyes Ted Ginn Jr. and Heisman winner Troy Smith (both from Cleveland) being fleet of feet.

True, the SEC finished with seven of the top 10 recruiting classes (per Rivals.com), and Michigan was the highest ranked Big Ten school at No. 12, but that's a very narrow view.

Michigan beat both Arkansas and Alabama in pulling the nation's No. 4 player, quarterback Ryan Mallett from Texarkana, Texas. Illinois had the best class (No. 17) by a bad team in the country. Ron Zook's class was rated better than five SEC schools.

Of the nation's top 50 players in 2006, the Big Ten signed nine. The SEC picked up 13. Not exactly a rout, and not the whole story. The Pac-10 signed 11 (10 by USC alone).

The whole recruiting argument is stupid anyway. By reacting to it, Delany was citing a source that gives Miss Cleo a good name.

So what's this about? Arrogance, mostly. In any given year the SEC is the best football conference. That hasn't changed, as Delany himself wrote in trying to make his point:

Over the past decade, the SEC leads the Big Ten in national championships 3-2. In that same span, the SEC leads the Big Ten in BCS wins 9-8.

Conclusion: Close counts in the Big Ten.

Here's another way of measuring greatness that doesn't include the mega-conferences:

The Big 12 has played in the most BCS title games (five), including three in a row (2003-2005). USC has re-established its dynasty with two national championships this decade. The Big East and ACC have as many BCS title game appearances as the SEC (three).

By writing about it, Delany almost reinforced the fact that the SEC is the best football league in the country.

The truth is he should have let it go.