|
Year after year the debate continues. The trigger question: Which is the most dominant athletic conference in the NCAA? To get the variables out of the way, let's get everyone on the same page. We're talking football. Dick Vitale, you can bust out the ACC pennant as I'll give them an honorable mention, but please, save the yap yap about Duke and UNC for March. Again, we're talking football! Let's be honest, there are only 5 conferences worth mentioning: The ACC, SEC, PAC-10, Big XII and Big 10. Every year, conference strength fluctuates, and a campaign for a national championship will emerge out of at least one of these conferences. But which conference, year in and year out, produces the best football? If you're willing to push your foolish school pride out of the way, the answer is easy. It's the SEC. I can hear the scoffs from all other conference fans, because that's the “easy” answer. You're absolutely right, that is the easy answer! How can you argue that an athletic conference full of squads such as LSU, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and South Carolina isn't better than yours? You can't. And if you think you can, keep in mind that these are just the SEC teams that will more than likely see a 2007-2008 bowl berth. If the conference with Oklahoma and Texas is the Big XII, then the SEC is the Best XII. Likewise, if the conference that hosts the Michigan vs. Ohio State rivalry is the Big 10, then the PAC-10 is the Best 10. Now, Big 10ers and Big XIIers, don't fault me, fault the schools from your conference. They've been playing ball that has proven to be “less than” in recent years, against conference foes that aren't even conference worthy. As far as I'm concerned, you slide to 4th and 5th on the depth chart, behind the ACC. To appease the fans of the “Big” conferences, let's venture out on a limb. I would like to suggest that the Big 10's THE Ohio State University, Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin, join the Big XII's Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Nebraska in THE NEW Big 8 conference, and I'll automatically put your combined conferences at number 3 on the power list before a game is even played! And now you understand what the SEC has to deal with, week in and week out. In 2007, the PAC-10 will lay down one of their strongest conference offerings in quite some time. From top to bottom, they're solid. Sure, there's Stanford, on the mend from a season that was as appetizing as 5 alarm chili on a 100 degree day, but the program has found life and hope under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. What It All Comes Down To The PAC-10 contains the team ranked #1 in the 2007 pre-season coaches and AP polls. The SEC contains the team ranked #2 in the same polls. The difference between these two conferences and all the others lies in the fact that even when these teams play their best, there are inter-conference battles that will push them to the limit. Not just one, Michigan and OSU fans...multiple conference battles! The ACC: To make good on my word, Dickie V., here's an honorable mention. Better than the Big 10 and Big XII, not as good as the SEC and PAC-10. SEC, PAC-10, ACC, Big XII, Big 10, in that order - It's how it is.
|
Print
E-mail
Del.icio.us
Digg
