SEC vs. Big 12

[beanman]

So I count 3 titles in the 90s for the SEC(correct me if I'm wrong but: Bama 92, Florida 96, Tennessee 98). Pretty respectible but certainly not like the domination they've shown in the 2000s. What has changed? Herby referred to the Big 12 as a finesse conference last night and I'm wondering if that is why we have dropped off. Is there any team in the Big 12 that has a strong running game?

Look at Texas' D. Last year after all the whining and politics of Mack Brown trying to get his team into the title game Texas was flat out lucky to come out a winner against what I thought was an overmatched Ohio State team. Ohio State was a physical running team(with a mobile QB or course) and Texas didnt look worth a crap to me. Same story last night. I was surprised at how easily Bama sealed off the edge to give huge running lanes to its backs. I'm hoping Pelini is on to something and is going to get us back to being a physical team up front, because I think that's what the Big 12 is missing and until we have teams with great D and dominant offensive lines we will continue to finish second to the SEC. What do you guys think?

 

[GSG]

So I count 3 titles in the 90s for the SEC(correct me if I'm wrong but: Bama 92, Florida 96, Tennessee 98). Pretty respectible but certainly not like the domination they've shown in the 2000s. What has changed? Herby referred to the Big 12 as a finesse conference last night and I'm wondering if that is why we have dropped off. Is there any team in the Big 12 that has a strong running game?

Look at Texas' D. Last year after all the whining and politics of Mack Brown trying to get his team into the title game Texas was flat out lucky to come out a winner against what I thought was an overmatched Ohio State team. Ohio State was a physical running team(with a mobile QB or course) and Texas didnt look worth a crap to me. Same story last night. I was surprised at how easily Bama sealed off the edge to give huge running lanes to its backs. I'm hoping Pelini is on to something and is going to get us back to being a physical team up front, because I think that's what the Big 12 is missing and until we have teams with great D and dominant offensive lines we will continue to finish second to the SEC. What do you guys think?

The bold part was making me sick all game.

 

[default_28]

I used to feel like if a team went undefeated in the Big XII then they would be in the BCS Championship, but the Big XII is what 2-5 in the championship game since the BCS was introduced. In those five losses the Big XII looked pretty outmatched, I know that only Nebraska '01 and Oklahoma '04 were blowouts but the other three losses were to SEC teams. If we don't start winning those games more often, how long until the undefeated team from the Big XII is left out and the undefeated ACC or Big East or Pac 10 team gets to play the SEC champ. If people start viewing us the way they view the Big Ten I can't really argue with them.

I just hope Bowl Pelini is the moniker that starts getting more attention then Big Game Bob or Mack the hack.

 

[Paul in WI]

I think Pelini will get more attention. Since he was at LSU for a very successful stint, it is almost like they give him credibility because he's viewed as an SEC guy that will create an SEC-style team in the B12. This year's defensive showing certainly doesn't hurt that perception. Who knows......I'm talking out my arse....

 

[Nexus]

I think Pelini will get more attention. Since he was at LSU for a very successful stint, it is almost like they give him credibility because he's viewed as an SEC guy that will create an SEC-style team in the B12. This year's defensive showing certainly doesn't hurt that perception. Who knows......I'm talking out my arse....

Actually you're spot on. Ask any SEC coach who Bo Pelini is and they'll praise him immediately based on his 3 yr. performance at LSU.

Now if we could get a serviceable offense....

 

[Count 'Bility]

I think it's simply because of defense and running the ball. The SEC plays with high physicality, and let's face it, the Big 12 has become a finnesse conference. We saw last night Bama just pound away when they wanted to. Oklahoma's offense last year was "supposedly" the best in how many years if not ever, scoring over 60 in what, 5 straight games, but was completely stimied by Florida. I just see the Big 12 has become so obsessed with star QB's and offense over the last 5-8 years, that they forgot that defense is just as important. Over the last two years, you have seen Pelini bring the real fooball of the SEC back to Nebraska. Physical, defense, emphasize the running game, WIN.

 

[Enhance]

I think Pelini will get more attention. Since he was at LSU for a very successful stint, it is almost like they give him credibility because he's viewed as an SEC guy that will create an SEC-style team in the B12. This year's defensive showing certainly doesn't hurt that perception. Who knows......I'm talking out my arse....

This.

There has already been one blogger/writer who has said that Pelini has an SEC style offense in the B12, one that has power running principles but can also spread you out.

Nebraska already proved this year that it can handle the big boys, by using a semi-productive offense with a lights out defense. Nebraska's defense was extremely good this year because of the physical line play. Correct me if I'm wrong, but one of the VaTech players complained about how physical we were following the game this past year, and that he doesn't want to play us ever again.

Hell, if Nebraska had been able to score 7 more points this year, they would have been able to beat VaTech, Iowa State, and Texas. We were 7 points away from being 13-1. That says quite a bit.

The SEC very rarely wins style points, but this they still win. That's what Bo is doing at Nebraska. You can give Missouri their flashy and potent spread attack, but they'll still always end up with 4-5 losses a year consistently.

 

[Blackshirt316]

It's pretty simple there's two reasons.

#1 - The B12 for a while has put the best players almost exclusively on offense. Offense wins games but Defense still wins the rings.

Look at us this year, We had almost no offense and a dominant D and we could honestly play with any team in the nation. On the other hand look at Texas Tech, Most years their offenses were always dominant but they had no D. Could the Graham Harrell/Michael Crabtree teams that put up all those points really beat everyone? They couldn't even win their own division.\

The SEC is just more balanced right now, The best teams in the SEC have half their big time players on Offense and half of them on Defense, if we were doing that as a conference we'd be just as good, we have just as much talent as the SEC, just as much speed and just as good of coaching (well some of us). It's just that for a bunch of teams in this conference have all that speed and talent on one side of the ball.

#2 - Coaching.

They have Urban Meyer (Florida) · Nick Saban (Alabama) · Mark Richt (Georgia) · Bobby Petrino (Arkansas) · Les Miles (LSU) · Houston Nutt (Ole Miss) · Lane Kiffin (Tennessee) · Joker Phillips (Kentucky) · Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) · Gene Chizik (Auburn) · Dan Mullen (Mississippi State) · Bobby Johnson (Vanderbilt)

There are some bad teams in the SEC but I don't see a lot of bad coaches. I see two who are possibly the best in college football right now, I see a few others that have won national titles, a few older guys and a few unknowns/up and comers but no bad ones.

We have Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) · Mack Brown (Texas) · Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State) · Art Briles (Baylor) · Mike Sherman (Texas A&M) · ??? (Texas Tech) · Bo Pelini (Nebraska) · Bill Snyder (Kansas State) · Gary Pinkel (Missouri) · Paul Rhoads (ISU) · Dan Hawkins (Colorado) · Turner Gill (Kansas)

Can we really match them even after we get past the top five, heck maybe top four? Can we even match them at all?

Stoops or Meyer I'd take Meyer

Brown or Saban I'd take Saban

Bo or Miles I'd take Bo

Gundy or Richt I'd take Richt

Pinkel or Kiffin I'd take Kiffin

Snyder or Spurrier I'd take Snyder

Briles or Nutt I'd take Nutt

Sherman or Petrino I'd call it a tossup

Rhodes or Chizik I'd call it a tossup

Hawkins or Joker I'd take Joker

Gill or Mullen is unknown

??? or Johnson is unknown

So I'd personally take two B12 coaches over their SEC counterparts (and one of those is a 70 year old man) with two tossups and two unknowns.

Ain't looking too good there. Not to mention our turnover rate isn't too good lately, expecially the way the last few have gone out.

 

[bshirt]

I think Pelini will get more attention. Since he was at LSU for a very successful stint, it is almost like they give him credibility because he's viewed as an SEC guy that will create an SEC-style team in the B12. This year's defensive showing certainly doesn't hurt that perception. Who knows......I'm talking out my arse....

Actually you're spot on. Ask any SEC coach who Bo Pelini is and they'll praise him immediately based on his 3 yr. performance at LSU.

Now if we could get a serviceable offense....

...or even an "average" offense.

 

[Ohio Pete]

#1 - The B12 for a while has put the best players almost exclusively on offense.

An interesting point and one that I might be related to Texas high school ball. It appears the spread offense now rules in Texas high school football and with the 7-on-7 passing leagues, the players are getting way more reps in this than in power running.