Big 12 vs. SEC
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 4:45 pmTuesday, November 11, 2008
Breaking down the Big 12 vs. SEC Dash style
Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (Schematic Advantage [1] refund now available in South Bend):
The Dash wishes to send a fruit basket and a set of steak knives to Kirk Ferentz and Iowa (2). Thank you, Hawkeyes, for saving college football from a third straight season of sending an overmatched, overrated and outdated Big Ten champion to the BCS National Championship Game. Now that Iowa has taken overly conservative Penn State (3) out of the title mix and Ohio State has removed itself with two losses in a season of great expectation, hopes are high for a worthy title game.
And the Big Ten is free to send its champion to Pasadena, where it figures to be throttled by USC (4). But the parade will be fabulous.
Meanwhile, the Iowa loss had to feel nauseatingly familiar to Penn State fans. Last time their team was 9-0, the year was 1999. The Nittany Lions lost to Minnesota in Week 10 by the same score (24-23) in the same way (late field goal).
That Penn State team cratered, losing its last three games of the regular season. That's not likely this year, since the next opponent is an awful Indiana team, but the lethal damage of that first loss is the same now as it was in '99.
But before moving on to discuss the big boy leagues, let's offer this bit of gratitude to Big Ten country. The Dash does wish to thank Ohio for producing Dashette Melissa Baker (5).
Big 12 vs. SEC: Let The Jawing Begin
Unless some jarring plot twists occur over the next four Saturdays -- and everyone who lived through 2007 knows that can happen -- the champion of the Big 12 will face the champion of the Southeastern Conference for the national title.
(USC and Utah are rooting for plot twists. Lots of 'em. Teams like South Carolina, Florida State, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Missouri have legions of newfound fans in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City).
That would be fitting given those two leagues' general primacy, both this year and in the recent past. Right now the Big 12 and SEC hold spots one through five in the BCS standings (Alabama, Texas Tech, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma). They also have combined to win the past three national championships, and have had at least one representative in the past five title games.
As loyal readers know, The Dash is not huge on comparing conferences -- but it seems unavoidable at this juncture. What follows is your all-purpose breakdown of both essential and nonessential Big 12 versus SEC information.
First, head-to-head, one through 12, as of today:
Alabama vs. Texas Tech. Dash advantage: Texas Tech (6). What the Red Raiders have done the past two weeks trumps the Crimson Tide's achievements to date.
Florida vs. Texas. Dash advantage: Texas (7). The Longhorns have beaten teams ranked sixth (Oklahoma), ninth (Oklahoma State) and 13th (Missouri) by Jeff Sagarin. Gators have beaten teams ranked 12th (Georgia), 19th (Miami) and 20th (LSU). And Texas' one loss looks a lot better than Florida's.
Georgia vs. Oklahoma. Dash advantage: Oklahoma (8). Not once all season have the Bulldogs looked anywhere near as good as the Sooners, who are averaging 57.8 points per game since losing to Texas.
LSU vs. Oklahoma State. Dash advantage: Oklahoma State (9). The Cowboys have one hang-your-hat victory on the books, winning at then-No. 3 Missouri. Closest LSU can come to comparing with that is winning at South Carolina. Tigers also have been dump-trucked twice (by Florida and Georgia) to only once (Texas Tech) for Oklahoma State.
South Carolina vs. Missouri. Dash advantage: Missouri (10). The Gamecocks have come on in the second half of the season, but losing to Vanderbilt remains on their permanent record. Mizzou's two losses both are to ranked opponents.
Mississippi vs. Nebraska. Dash advantage: Mississippi (11). Finally, one for the SEC. The Rebels have the one huge victory in The Swamp and have come close in every loss. In their seventh home game of the season, the Cornhuskers finally beat someone worth noting (kind of) in Kansas on Saturday.
Vanderbilt vs. Kansas. Dash advantage: Vanderbilt (12). Slight edge to the struggling Commodores, who have played a much tougher schedule.
Kentucky vs. Colorado. Dash advantage: Kentucky (13). By the slimmest of margins, which is exactly what the Wildcats have won their two SEC games by -- a combined two points. Both teams count Big East opponents as the best skins on their wall -- West Virginia at home for Colorado, Louisville on the road for Kentucky.
Auburn vs. Kansas State. Dash advantage: Auburn (14), if forced to pick a winner. But the Tigers are so far in the tank right now that they struggled to beat Tennssee-Martin on Saturday.
Tennessee vs. Texas A&M. Dash advantage: Texas A&M (15). If the Volunteers can lose at home to Wyoming, which is in the process of getting its coach fired by its lousy play, they can lose to anyone.
Arkansas vs. Baylor. Advantage: Arkansas (16). This isn't a good Razorbacks squad but it has improved pretty steadily as the season has progressed.
Mississippi State vs. Iowa State. Dash advantage: Mississippi State (17). Bulldogs (3-6) are four points away from being 5-4. Cyclones haven't won since Sept. 6.
Scoreboard: Big 12 6, SEC 6. But they don't give out awards for being better in the bottom half of the league. Winner: Big 12.
Other semi-pertinent compare/contrast information:
Current strong suit -- SEC: Defense. Big 12: Quarterbacks.
Current knock on the other -- SEC on the Big 12: They're playing overrated touch football. Wait until they run up against one of our defenses. Big 12 on the SEC: Can anyone throw the ball in that league? Wait until they try to stop one of our offenses.
Dead man walking -- SEC: Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee. Big 12: Ron Prince, Kansas State.
Multi-threat quarterback -- SEC: Tim Tebow of Florida, 10 rushing touchdowns and 17 passing TDs. Big 12: Colt McCoy of Texas, seven rushing touchdowns and 28 passing TDs.
All-purpose freak -- SEC: Percy Harvin of Florida, 12 touchdowns -- five rushing and seven receiving -- on 76 total touches. Big 12: Jeremy Maclin of Missouri, second nationally in all-purpose yards at 198.5 per game.
Record in BCS bowls -- SEC: 11-4. Big 12: 6-8.
State where they all go to recruit -- SEC: Florida. Big 12: Texas.
Huge neutral-site rivalry game/drunkfest -- SEC: World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville. Big 12: Red River Rivalry, Oklahoma vs. Texas in Dallas.
Rogue basketball school -- SEC: Kentucky. Big 12: Kansas.
Best city -- SEC: Nashville. Big 12: Austin.
Best town -- SEC: Athens. Big 12: Boulder.
Worst town -- SEC: Starkville. Big 12: Ames.
Barbecue of choice -- SEC: Ribs. Big 12: Brisket.
Breaking down the Big 12 vs. SEC Dash style
Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (Schematic Advantage [1] refund now available in South Bend):
The Dash wishes to send a fruit basket and a set of steak knives to Kirk Ferentz and Iowa (2). Thank you, Hawkeyes, for saving college football from a third straight season of sending an overmatched, overrated and outdated Big Ten champion to the BCS National Championship Game. Now that Iowa has taken overly conservative Penn State (3) out of the title mix and Ohio State has removed itself with two losses in a season of great expectation, hopes are high for a worthy title game.
And the Big Ten is free to send its champion to Pasadena, where it figures to be throttled by USC (4). But the parade will be fabulous.
Meanwhile, the Iowa loss had to feel nauseatingly familiar to Penn State fans. Last time their team was 9-0, the year was 1999. The Nittany Lions lost to Minnesota in Week 10 by the same score (24-23) in the same way (late field goal).
That Penn State team cratered, losing its last three games of the regular season. That's not likely this year, since the next opponent is an awful Indiana team, but the lethal damage of that first loss is the same now as it was in '99.
But before moving on to discuss the big boy leagues, let's offer this bit of gratitude to Big Ten country. The Dash does wish to thank Ohio for producing Dashette Melissa Baker (5).
Big 12 vs. SEC: Let The Jawing Begin
Unless some jarring plot twists occur over the next four Saturdays -- and everyone who lived through 2007 knows that can happen -- the champion of the Big 12 will face the champion of the Southeastern Conference for the national title.
(USC and Utah are rooting for plot twists. Lots of 'em. Teams like South Carolina, Florida State, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Missouri have legions of newfound fans in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City).
That would be fitting given those two leagues' general primacy, both this year and in the recent past. Right now the Big 12 and SEC hold spots one through five in the BCS standings (Alabama, Texas Tech, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma). They also have combined to win the past three national championships, and have had at least one representative in the past five title games.
As loyal readers know, The Dash is not huge on comparing conferences -- but it seems unavoidable at this juncture. What follows is your all-purpose breakdown of both essential and nonessential Big 12 versus SEC information.
First, head-to-head, one through 12, as of today:
Alabama vs. Texas Tech. Dash advantage: Texas Tech (6). What the Red Raiders have done the past two weeks trumps the Crimson Tide's achievements to date.
Florida vs. Texas. Dash advantage: Texas (7). The Longhorns have beaten teams ranked sixth (Oklahoma), ninth (Oklahoma State) and 13th (Missouri) by Jeff Sagarin. Gators have beaten teams ranked 12th (Georgia), 19th (Miami) and 20th (LSU). And Texas' one loss looks a lot better than Florida's.
Georgia vs. Oklahoma. Dash advantage: Oklahoma (8). Not once all season have the Bulldogs looked anywhere near as good as the Sooners, who are averaging 57.8 points per game since losing to Texas.
LSU vs. Oklahoma State. Dash advantage: Oklahoma State (9). The Cowboys have one hang-your-hat victory on the books, winning at then-No. 3 Missouri. Closest LSU can come to comparing with that is winning at South Carolina. Tigers also have been dump-trucked twice (by Florida and Georgia) to only once (Texas Tech) for Oklahoma State.
South Carolina vs. Missouri. Dash advantage: Missouri (10). The Gamecocks have come on in the second half of the season, but losing to Vanderbilt remains on their permanent record. Mizzou's two losses both are to ranked opponents.
Mississippi vs. Nebraska. Dash advantage: Mississippi (11). Finally, one for the SEC. The Rebels have the one huge victory in The Swamp and have come close in every loss. In their seventh home game of the season, the Cornhuskers finally beat someone worth noting (kind of) in Kansas on Saturday.
Vanderbilt vs. Kansas. Dash advantage: Vanderbilt (12). Slight edge to the struggling Commodores, who have played a much tougher schedule.
Kentucky vs. Colorado. Dash advantage: Kentucky (13). By the slimmest of margins, which is exactly what the Wildcats have won their two SEC games by -- a combined two points. Both teams count Big East opponents as the best skins on their wall -- West Virginia at home for Colorado, Louisville on the road for Kentucky.
Auburn vs. Kansas State. Dash advantage: Auburn (14), if forced to pick a winner. But the Tigers are so far in the tank right now that they struggled to beat Tennssee-Martin on Saturday.
Tennessee vs. Texas A&M. Dash advantage: Texas A&M (15). If the Volunteers can lose at home to Wyoming, which is in the process of getting its coach fired by its lousy play, they can lose to anyone.
Arkansas vs. Baylor. Advantage: Arkansas (16). This isn't a good Razorbacks squad but it has improved pretty steadily as the season has progressed.
Mississippi State vs. Iowa State. Dash advantage: Mississippi State (17). Bulldogs (3-6) are four points away from being 5-4. Cyclones haven't won since Sept. 6.
Scoreboard: Big 12 6, SEC 6. But they don't give out awards for being better in the bottom half of the league. Winner: Big 12.
Other semi-pertinent compare/contrast information:
Current strong suit -- SEC: Defense. Big 12: Quarterbacks.
Current knock on the other -- SEC on the Big 12: They're playing overrated touch football. Wait until they run up against one of our defenses. Big 12 on the SEC: Can anyone throw the ball in that league? Wait until they try to stop one of our offenses.
Dead man walking -- SEC: Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee. Big 12: Ron Prince, Kansas State.
Multi-threat quarterback -- SEC: Tim Tebow of Florida, 10 rushing touchdowns and 17 passing TDs. Big 12: Colt McCoy of Texas, seven rushing touchdowns and 28 passing TDs.
All-purpose freak -- SEC: Percy Harvin of Florida, 12 touchdowns -- five rushing and seven receiving -- on 76 total touches. Big 12: Jeremy Maclin of Missouri, second nationally in all-purpose yards at 198.5 per game.
Record in BCS bowls -- SEC: 11-4. Big 12: 6-8.
State where they all go to recruit -- SEC: Florida. Big 12: Texas.
Huge neutral-site rivalry game/drunkfest -- SEC: World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville. Big 12: Red River Rivalry, Oklahoma vs. Texas in Dallas.
Rogue basketball school -- SEC: Kentucky. Big 12: Kansas.
Best city -- SEC: Nashville. Big 12: Austin.
Best town -- SEC: Athens. Big 12: Boulder.
Worst town -- SEC: Starkville. Big 12: Ames.
Barbecue of choice -- SEC: Ribs. Big 12: Brisket.