The real college football bowl season starts in earnest on January 1st, and culminates with the BCS Championship Game next Monday night between Ohio State and LSU in New Orleans. Of course, the BCS has made most of the games irrelevant, because they really don’t mean anything. There’s only one game that matters, the one that determines the BCS Champion.
This year’s Buckeyes vs. Tigers match up has also started a feud between the Big 10 and SEC, two of the major college football conferences about the superiority of the SEC. Certainly, the southeastern portion of the country is the hotbed of the sports, collegiately. Also, there is no question the SEC is a deeper conference than the Big Ten, with its sixth and seventh best teams being superior to Indiana, Iowa, and Northwestern. However, is the SEC’s best really better than the Big 10’s best?
Yesterday, there were two matchups between the two leagues, Tennessee defeated Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl, and Michigan knocked off Florida in the Florida Citrus Bowl. So, it was a split. The rubber match will be the BCS title tilt. The latter game was particularly interesting in that Ohio State held Michigan to under 100 yards of total offense when they played six weeks ago, yet the Wolverines went up and down the field on the Gators. Granted, the OSU-Michigan game was played in a driving rainstorm, but it was still an impressive defensive performance.
The day after Thanksgiving, I watched an Arkansas team move the ball with relative ease against the same Louisiana State team the Buckeyes will play on Monday night. Granted, the Razorbacks have the premier runner in the country in Darren McFadden, but they also have a poor passing attack, which means the Tigers could focus on the running game, but still couldn’t stop it. One conclusion could be that the gaudy offensive numbers put up by SEC teams is a result of poor defenses throughout the conference.
The SEC supporters point out their record against other conferences is very good, particularly against the Big Ten. My argument would be when was the last time an SEC team came north in late October or November to take on Penn State or Wisconsin? It never happens. Whenever a northern team takes on an SEC member, it usually is in pristine weather conditions, either at the beginning of the season when the weather is nice, or in a bowl game which is held in beautiful weather or a domed stadium. I wonder how the spread offense used by Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators would fare on a windy, cold day in the north?
The Big Ten for the most part has recruited for size, not speed. However, Jim Tressel has bucked this trend, and with Illinois’ Ron Zook in the conference, and Michigan’s hire of Rich Rodriguez, the Big Ten is going to get faster. These three coaches will start a return to power for the Big Ten, but the gap isn’t as large as some may think. Part of the problem is everything is stacked in favor of the southern schools. Heck, the BCS title game is virtually a home game for LSU. Still, don’t be surprised if the Buckeyes become the first team to repeat as BCS champs.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 