As the clock ticked towards zero and the Michigan State Spartans flooded the field at the Rose Bowl to celebrate their triumph over the Stanford Cardinal, a wry smile crept across my face. Finally! As in finally, a Big Ten team won the Rose Bowl. Finally, it can be said that the league is a legitimate power along with the SEC, Pac-12, and Big-12. Finally, I won't have to hear about how the South has such superior athletes, coaches, standards of living, and love for football! Yet my elation was short-lived as Ohio State promptly lost a close game to Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Here we go again I thought. Let the criticism reign supreme about the virtues of the SEC and the general ineptness of the Big Ten. Our only real retort is that "at least our kids graduate!" (yea that's showing them!). While most of the SEC schools (save Florida, Vanderbilt, & Missouri) lack the mythical academic prestige of Big Ten member institutions, it's not like these fine schools are trade schools. Attendance at any of these universities provides you with a quality education in whatever field you choose. Smart SEC fans know this and quickly dismiss the weak taunt from the Big Ten. As Marshawn Lynch says, "I'm bout the action boss!"
Even casual football fans recognize that the SEC is the best conference in college football. Look no further than the upcoming NFL Draft or the most recent recruiting rankings for evidence of that. ESPN's new mega television deal with the conference is another example. If you have had a member school win seven out of the last eight national titles, you have reason to beam with pride and arrogance. Yet something about the narrative still gives me pause. While football is an integral part of the southern societal fabric, I cringe at some of the driving force behind some of the crowing. I could spew the usual rhetoric about population shifts and whatnot. I could burden you with statistics that demonstrate how and why the SEC is leaving the Big Ten in the proverbial dust on the football field. Those indisputable facts have been discussed ad nauseum and are not central to my disdain for the SEC fans braggadocio. I always get a visual of Confederate pride in my head whenever I hear about the superiority of the SEC. "Athletes" has become a pejorative for "Blacks" in much the same way "thug" has to describe any Black athlete that is a demonstrative personality. If you were to crash-land from another planet and land in Alabama, you would think that the NFL is filled only with SEC alums.
Football should not become the vehicle to espouse the return of southern dominance over the north. Too often the conversation focuses on this as oppose to the results on the field. If the SEC is beating the Big Ten, it's because of the organizational strength of the individual institutions. Alabama was mediocre before Nick Saban took over, Florida has been a mess every since Urban Meyer (now at Ohio State) departed, LSU has risen to new heights under Les Miles. All three are not even remotely from a southern state. The Big Ten must modify its' model in order to compete top to bottom with the SEC in football. The SEC would be mediocre if Vanderbilt was its' best team. As soon as Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Nebraska all are good at the same time, it will be a boon for the Big Ten conference.
There would be no talk of population shifts and just simply caring more about football than the north.Other than Florida, Georgia, and Texas, none of the southern states have near the population of the northern states. Some inherent advantages the SEC enjoys will never go away (weather, football-centric culture) but to be the best, you have to beat the best. Often times, the only way to do this is to beat the best at their own game. Until then, I'll continue to lament how the best linebacker in Illinois chose LSU!
