Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the Big Ten has a chance to topple the king of college football and wear the crown on merit. It already should be considered the best league in the sport.
On January 19, the day of the College Football Playoff national championship game, the Big Ten can leave no doubt about that. That is the truth, and we seek the truth in all things college football, do we not?
Slice it. Dice it. Purée the truth if you’ve got a blender that can manage turning pure nuts into dust to powder your smoothie.
The best take is a fact that folks want to argue. So here’s mine: The SEC ain’t meant more since 2022, and it’s liable not to mean much if the Big Ten continues to make like the Incredible Hulk in “The Avengers” and rag-doll opponents like they are Loki in Stark Tower after running his mouth too much.
“Puny god,” Hulk said.
“Puny” — a synonym for small, weak even.
Hell, if No. 10 Miami stomps out No. 6 Ole Miss in the CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday, I’ll be left with no choice but to start to ask: Is the SEC getting sawft?
If you’ll allow me to introduce evidence, Your Honor, I’ve got a sworn statement from a witness to the SEC’s bygone reign of terror.
The witness worked in the SEC at Alabama and Georgia at their respective heights and even coordinated the Bulldogs’ defense before choosing to move above the Mason-Dixon Line and far enough west to find not just gold in them hills but also where the competition is just better, too.
“I’ve been a part of the SEC, just like [Indiana] coach [Curt] Cignetti has,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning stated at his availability final Saturday forward of his No. 5 group’s matchup with No. 1 Indiana within the different semifinal, on the Peach Bowl, Friday. “I have been part of the previous Pac-12. I have been part of a bunch of various conferences, and it is exhausting to argue that anyone is doing it higher proper now than the Massive Ten. There’s some high quality from prime to backside.”
(Photograph by CFP/Getty Photographs)
Extra proof, if the court docket pleases, Your Honor: 2025 convention bowl data. I’ve listed them from winners to losers to make it simpler for the jury to evaluate the strongest and weakest in school soccer throughout leagues.
- ACC, 8-4
- BIG TEN, 9-4
- BIG 12, 4-4
- SEC, 4-9
- PAC-12, 1-0
- AMERICAN, 5-4
- CONFERENCE USA, 4-3
- MAC, 2-3
- MOUNTAIN WEST, 2-5
- SUN BELT, 4-6
- INDEPENDENT, 0-1
Let the report present: The Massive Ten boasts a 9-4 report, the SEC is floating subsequent to the Massive 12, which hasn’t produced a nationwide champion in 21 years, and the MAC, which has but to provide a CFP group or characteristic a group within the nationwide title recreation within the twenty first century.
[College Football Playoff Predictions: The Blueprint That Could Decide Oregon–Indiana]
What I’m saying, Your Honor, is there’s Meek Mill-levels to this, and the SEC ain’t reached the ultimate stage, the ultimate recreation, of the Faculty Soccer Playoff in two years. And it won’t attain it for a 3rd season in a row if Ole Miss would not return the SEC to its normal of enjoying in nationwide title video games.
Nonetheless, SEC’s run is sort of a ready sundown simply earlier than evening, and the daybreak of the Massive Ten’s kingdom grows nearer as the sunshine fades.
“Definitely, 5 years in the past, there wasn’t a convention that was rolling and dominating,” Lanning stated. “And I feel the way in which you point out that’s the success of the groups within the convention. And there is numerous groups which have had success and a wide range of totally different groups.
“Coach [Cignetti] simply talked about it, however we noticed Michigan and Washington a pair years in the past within the nationwide championship recreation. You see Ohio State. This 12 months, you may see a unique Massive Ten group. And I feel that speaks to the standard and the power of the convention total.”
Hear that? The final two nationwide champions which have come out of the Massive Ten. The Massive Ten is also assured to characteristic a nationwide finalist for a 3rd 12 months in a row with its 2024 and 2025 convention champions taking the Peach Bowl area in by-gawd Atlanta, Georgia, in the home the place the SEC options its convention title recreation.
On Saturday morning, I anticipate to complete my breakfast at Waffle Home and lift a bottle of Milos tea to the convention that appears like the most effective within the land.
The protection rests, Your Honor.
RJ Younger is a nationwide school soccer author and analyst for FOX Sports activities. Observe him @RJ_Young.
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