Before this season, the question wasn’t: Which is the best football conference?
           
The question was: Which is the second-best football conference?
           
It was a given the SEC was No. 1. It had five teams ranked in the preseason top 10 polls. It had the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. It had the most players in the NFL. It had the best coaches. It had the last two national championship teams.
           
Who could argue?
           
No one. Until now.
           
One month into the season, the SEC isn’t the nation’s best football conference.
           
The Big 12 is.
           
Before Mike Slive yanks my SEC credentials, let me explain.
           
I partly believe in the old saying that offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. But I believe you’ve got to have both nowadays to win a championship. I’m not sure that Alabama team of 1992 could win a national title today, given how prolific offenses are.
           
You think LSU could have beaten Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl if Matt Flynn had gone 4 for 19?
           
You think Florida could have beaten Ohio State for the 2006 title if Chris Leak had passed for 34 yards?
           
Not many teams can play at a top 10 level without a stout defense. But not many can play at a top 10 level without a productive offense, either.
           
And that’s one reason the Big 12 has been more impressive to me thus far than the SEC. Big 12 teams get touchdowns almost as often as SEC teams get first downs.
           
Four Big 12 teams are ranked in the top seven: Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Texas Tech. Each averages over 40 points.
           
The SEC has two of the top nine: Alabama and LSU. Neither averages 40 points.
            
I think the SEC has better defense. But it’s hard to gauge just how good the defenses are because some SEC offenses are pitiful. The main reason the offenses aren’t very good is the quarterback play isn’t very good.
           
A comparison of the top teams is revealing.
           
Oklahoma has Sam Bradford. Alabama has inconsistent John Parker Wilson.
           
Missouri has Chase Daniel. LSU has inexperienced Jarrett Lee.
           
Texas has Colt McCoy. Georgia has overrated Matt Stafford.
           
Texas Tech has Graham Harrell. Florida has Tim Tebow. OK, Tebow is special, but he’s not having as good a year as Harrell, although Harrell has lit it up against some lightweights.
           
Oklahoma State has Zac Robinson, who has helped his team average over 50 points per game. Vanderbilt has Mackenzi Adams and Chris Nickson, who have guided the Commodores’ offense to the 12th best in the SEC and about 112th in the nation.
           
Kansas has Todd Reesing. Ole Miss has Jevan Snead, who transferred from Texas because he couldn’t beat out McCoy. Snead, by the way, might be one of the top three quarterbacks in the SEC.
           
If Reesing were in the SEC, he’d be the third best quarterback. He might be the sixth best quarterback in the Big 12. Last season, he completed 62 percent of his passes for 3,486 yards and 33 touchdowns against seven interceptions. Josh Freeman at Kansas State completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 3,353 yards and 18 touchdowns against 11 interceptions and he’s not among the upper echelon quarterbacks in the Big 12.
           
Colorado ’s Cody Hawkins is better than half the starters in the SEC.
           
The Big 12 has eight quality quarterbacks with the jury still out on two others.
           
The SEC has two with the jury still out on a few others.
           
The SEC has eight of the nation’s top 22 ranked defenses. That is a bit misleading considering some of the patsy non-conference opponents.
           
The SEC has no offense in the top 25 and only three in the top 50. Six offenses are ranked lower than 75 with two in the 100s. You can’t just point to SEC defenses shutting down SEC offenses because only 15 conference games have been played.
           
The SEC has subpar quarterback play at Kentucky, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Auburn and South Carolina. That’s half the league. And the jury is still out on LSU’s Lee and Casey Dick of Arkansas.
           
Moreover, not one SEC quarterback is ranked in the top 25 in the nation in passing efficiency. Tebow was second in the nation in passing efficiency last year.
           
While the SEC has four teams that could finish in the top 10, those might be the only ones in the top 25. Do you really think Vanderbilt will remain in the top 25? Does Auburn look like a top 25 team?  
           
Is there another SEC team that you think will finish in the top 25?
           
In the Big 12, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas, Oklahoma State all have a good chance to finish in the top 25, and Colorado, Kansas State and Nebraska could win at least seven games.
           
How many SEC teams would you bet on winning at least seven: Alabama, LSU, Florida and Georgia. That’s it. Auburn and Vanderbilt probably will, but it’s not a slam dunk. Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee could, but it’s unlikely that more than one of that trio will.
           
Tennessee, once a power, hasn’t done the SEC any favors by falling off the map. The Vols lost to one of the 40 worst teams in the nation in UCLA, and barely beat a mid-level program in a mid-level conference, Northern Illinois , which was 2-10 last year and might also be one of the 40 worst teams in the country.
           
Tennessee is the Nebraska of the Big 12, only worse this season.
           
Bottom line: The SEC is good, but it’s got too many bad offensive teams to lay claim to the best conference in the country.
          

Who’s Hot and Who’s Not

Who’s hot: Vanderbilt. The last time the Commodores started 5-0, Adolph Hitler was alive. You’ve got to wonder how much longer Vandy can keep winning with and offense and defense that ranks last or next to last in the SEC.
           
Who’s not: The offense at Auburn and Tennessee . Each has an offensive coordinator from a smaller program. Thus far, it hasn’t worked out.
           
Who’s hot: Alabama’s running game. The Crimson Tide is outrushing opponents by an average of about 175 per game.
           
Who’s not: Teams that play the week after facing Tennessee. UCLA lost 59-0 to BYU, Florida lost at home to Ole Miss and Auburn lost at Vanderbilt.


My Power Poll

1.  Alabama

2.  LSU

3.  Florida

4.  Georgia

5.  Vanderbilt

6.  Auburn

7.  Ole Miss

8. Kentucky

9.  South Carolina

10.  Tennessee

11.  Mississippi State

12.  Arkansas

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 1:46 pm and is filed under Homepage, The Ace Reporter . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.