tigerdroppings article from 2001.....Big 10 vs SEC

bamaga

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dWarriors88

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I have some friends in the Chicago area that insist that the Big 10 is better than the SEC in football. Well, here is forum for us to duke it out.
I first started out by looking up all the Heisman Trophy winners and seeing from which conference they hailed. I didn't really think that this was a good indicator of conference strength, but my friends insisted on knowing the results.



Big 10 Winners
[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1999 Ron Dayne, Wisconsin TB
1997 Charles Woodson, Michigan DB/WR
1995 Eddie George, Ohio State RB
1991 Desmond Howard, Michigan WR
1975 Archie Griffin, Ohio State RB
1974 Archie Griffin, Ohio State RB
1955 Howard Cassady, Ohio State HB
1954 Alan Ameche, Wisconsin FB
1950 Vic Janowicz, Ohio State HB
1944 Les Horvath, Ohio State QB/HB
1941 Bruce Smith, Minnesota HB
1940 Tom Harmon, Michigan HB
1939 Nile Kinnick, Iowa HB

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SEC Winners

[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1996 Danny Wuerffel, Florida QB
1985 Bo Jackson, Auburn RB
1982 Herschel Walker, Georgia RB
1971 Pat Sullivan, Auburn QB
1966 Steve Spurrier, Florida QB
1959 Billy Cannon, LSU HB
1942 Frank Sinkwich, Georgia HB


[/FONT]​
The Big 10 won this battle 13-7. Unfortunately, the Heisman is very over-hyped (at least it is now-a-days) and way too subjective to be included in this discussion. I told them that the award is won in the media, not on the field. I also had to mention to them that Alabama has won more National Championships than any school in the Big 10, yet it doesn't have one Heisman winner. Nonetheless, they didn't buy my arguments and started to gloat over the results.


Next, I wanted to compare National Championships for each conference. My source would be the final AP rankings since 1936.


Big 10 National Champions
[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1936 Minnesota
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1941 Minnesota
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1942 Minnesota
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1942 Ohio State
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1948 Michigan
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1954 Ohio State
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1960 Minnesota
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1968 Ohio State
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1997 Michigan
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SEC National Champions

[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1951 Tennessee
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1957 Auburn
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1958 LSU
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1961 Alabama
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1964 Alabama
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1965 Alabama
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1978 Alabama
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1979 Alabama
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1980 Georgia
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1992 Alabama
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1996 Florida
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[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]1998 Tennessee

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The SEC triumphed here 12-9. My friends from up north were a little taken aback by this information. To add insult to injury, I noted that five of the nine Big 10 National Championships came before 1950 and they have won only one in the last 30 years. I also noted that six different SEC team have won a National Championship, whereas only three teams have won a National Championship from the Big 10. They tried to claim Michigan State's National Championship in 1952, but I had to remind them that the Spartans didn't join the Big 10 until 1953. They also wanted to claim Penn State's championships in 1982 and 1986, but again I had to remind them that Penn State didn't join the Big 10 until 1993. I could sense they were getting desperate. I then went for the knock-out punch: Head-to-head matchups in bowl games.

I used ESPN.com's bowl sites to obtain the supporting information for head-to-head bowl matchups. As with much information found on the internet, the data can sometimes be inaccurate. For this reason, I will state that the following results are unofficial.

[FONT=Helvetica,Arial,Verdana]Outback/Hall of Fame Bowl

2001 South Carolina 24, Ohio State 7
2000 Georgia 28, Purdue 25 (OT)
1999 Penn State 26, Kentucky 14
1998 Georgia 33, Wisconsin 6
1997 Alabama 17, Michigan 14
1996 Penn St. 43, Auburn 14
1990 Auburn 31, Ohio St. 14
1988 Michigan 28, Alabama 24

Citrus Bowl

2001 Michigan 31, Auburn 28
2000 Michigan State 37, Florida 34
1999 Michigan 45, Arkansas 31
1998 Florida 21, Penn St 6
1997 Tennessee 48, Northwestern 28
1996 Tennessee 20, Ohio St 14
1995 Alabama 24, Ohio St 17
1994 Penn St 31, Tennessee 13
1993 Georgia 21, Ohio St 14

Independence Bowl

1995 LSU 45, Michigan St 26

Sugar Bowl

1984 Auburn 9, Michigan 7
1978 Alabama 35, Ohio State 6

Gator Bowl

1991 Michigan 35, Mississippi 3
1989 Georgia 34, Michigan St 27
1983 Florida 14, Iowa 6

Orange Bowl

2000 Michigan 35, Alabama 34 (OT)

Peach Bowl

1990 Auburn 27, Indiana 23
1987 Tennessee 27, Indiana 22
1982 Iowa 28, Tennessee 22

Liberty Bowl

1986 Tennessee 21, Minnesota 14
1982 Alabama 21, Illinois 15
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By my count, the SEC was 19-10 over the Big 10. My friends were stunned and speechless. They didn't know what had hit them.
My friends aren't ready to concede victory, but one of them was already quoted as saying "Man, we are so brainwashed up here in the Midwest...I didn't realize that the SEC was this superior to the Big 10."

The excuses that will flow from the Big 10 fans will be endless and mind-numbing. Not having the luxury of falling back on statistics to support their case, they will complain that the SEC teams have home-field advantage in bowl games played in the South. Or since Big 10 teams beat up on each other, it is difficult for them to produce a National Champion.

They ignore the fact that the SEC Champion has to play 8 conference games, plus win the SEC Championship game. The Big 10 doesn't have a championship game. The facts speak for themselves. Unless a Big 10 fan can produce tangible evidence in support of their argument, I am satisfied with the conclusion that the SEC historically is a better football conference than the Big 10.
 

JeffAtlanta

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Aug 21, 2007
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At that particular point in time, the Big 10 probably was better than the SEC. Most SEC programs were relatively down during that period and most have had serious coaching upgrades since that time.
 

BamaJama17

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Wow it's amazing how much the times change. Of course Charles Woodson didn't deserve the Heisman nor was Michigan the best team in 1997. That was Nebraska.
 

BamaMoon

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Wow it's amazing how much the times change. Of course Charles Woodson didn't deserve the Heisman nor was Michigan the best team in 1997. That was Nebraska.
Yeah, not matter how you feel about UT or Peyton Manning, he should have been the Heisman winner that year!
 

BamaMoon

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Apr 1, 2004
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Not to mention how many more titles, and awards we have added in the previous 14 seasons
Yes, and if the SEC had the upper hand then, the gap now is so wide that whoever the #2 conference is they are so far behind they can't even eat our dust because it's already settled.
 

JeffAtlanta

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Aug 21, 2007
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Heck, he didn't even include any of our pre-Bryant championships. Alabama alone has more NCs than the Big 10.
Once pre-wire service national titles are thrown into the mix, the BIG-10 national titles start adding up in a hurry.

That's why I've always been against claiming pre-wire service championships externally as it really dilutes Alabama's dominance in national titles.. Once you do you that it muddies the water and everyone has a claim to 5 or 6 national titles.
 

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