The SEC has ruled college football—at least the very top spot—for five years now, and with the #1 and #2 teams coming from the SEC this season, it would be hard to argue that the SEC isn't the best conference again—at the top. But top-to-bottom, does the Big Twelve have an argument? And how do the top three to five teams in the 2011 SEC stack up against the Big Twelve from 1971?
First let's look at the top teams in the SEC, and how they compare to the perhaps best conference performance of all time, the Big Eight's in 1971.
2011 SEC teams
1. Alabama (55) 12-1 1495
2. LSU (1) 13-1 1425
3. Oklahoma St.(4) 12-1 1399
4. Oregon 12-2 1250
5. Arkansas 11-2 1198
1971 Big 8 teams
1. Nebraska (55) 13-0 1100
2. Oklahoma 11-1 990
3. Colorado 10-2 746
The SEC came close to replicating the Big 8's feat from in 1971 where it took the top three spots. Arkansas lost only to #1 Alabama and #2 LSU and finished fifth. In '71, Colorado lost to Nebraska and Oklahoma and took third.
Arkansas' placement reflects a change in thinking among pollsters.
Team Losses Wins
1971 Colorado at #1 Nebraska 31-7 at #11 LSU 31-21
at #2 Oklahoma 45-17 at #17 Houston 29-17
2011 Arkansas at #1 Alabama 38-14 #9 S Carolina 44-28
at #2 LSU 41-17 vs #15 Kansas St 29-16
Colorado was no closer to beating Nebraska and Oklahoma than Arkansas was to beating Alabama or LSU. In fact, the margins are uncannily similar, and all four were road games. Did Colorado beat other noteworthy teams? During the regular season the Buffaloes beat #11 LSU while Arkansas beat #9 South Carolina. Colorado beat #17 Houston, 29-17 in their bowl game; Arkansas beat #15 Kansas State 29-16.
It would be hard to find two more similar résumés than that.
So why did Colorado finish #3 while Arkansas only end up #5? One, I think pollsters in 1971 were impressed with the Big 8 having the clear #1 and #2 teams, and were attached to the idea that, if you only lost to the top two teams, you should be the #3 team. Colorado didn't play them close at all, or beat any of the rest of the top 10; their only argument was that they hadn't been shown to be lower than #3.
The pollsters had also just seen Nebraska beat Alabama 38-6, and dropped the Tide to #4. Alabama, strangely enough, beat the same top 25 teams that Colorado did, LSU and Houston, but in addition had wins over #9 Tennessee, #12 Auburn, #15 Mississippi, and #20 USC. How on earth can you put Colorado ahead of them?
In short, I think the pollsters were overexuberant in putting Colorado #3 that year. This year's ranking of Arkansas at #5 is a lot more level-headed. Oklahoma State deserved to be #3, and Oregon played LSU a lot closer. Plus, when you lose to the #1 and #2 by a combined 48-52 points, it's not likely that you are the 3rd best team in the country.
So while the Big Twelve had the top three teams in the country in 1971, the SEC's 2011 season was really just as good. They had the #1, #2, #5, #9, and #19; the Big 8 had no other teams except the top three.
The main difference at the very top is that Nebraska and Oklahoma were uncontested #1 and #2, with wins over the #3 and #4 teams. This year, neither Alabama or LSU had to play #3 Oklahoma State.
Which brings us to the Big Twelve of today. Are they better, top-to-bottom, than the SEC?
Here are the top seven in our final Success rankings:
# Team rec Overall Strength Success
1. LSU 13-1 58.91 [ 2] 32.47 [ 2] 26.43 [ 1]
2. Alabama 12-1 59.01 [ 1] 35.12 [ 1] 23.88 [ 2]
3. Oklahoma St 12-1 51.20 [ 3] 31.71 [ 3] 19.49 [ 3]
4. Arkansas 11-2 27.34 [ 9] 18.38 [ 13] 8.96 [ 4]
5. Baylor 10-3 21.18 [ 16] 13.81 [ 21] 7.36 [ 5]
6. Oklahoma 10-3 33.10 [ 5] 25.98 [ 7] 7.12 [ 6]
7. Kansas St 10-3 20.83 [ 17] 13.76 [ 22] 7.06 [ 7]
#1, #2, and #4 are SEC teams. #3, #5, #6, and #7 are Big Twelve teams. That demonstrates just how much the two conferences dominated in 2011.
The Big Twelve had a fantastic year against other conferences, losing only 3 non-conference games before the bowl season. They finished 33-5 in non-conference games, best of any conference, but the SEC wasn't far behind:
Rec (ALL) FBS only BCS conf only
Big Twelve 33-5 (86.8%) 27-5 (81.8%) 12-5 (70.6%)
SEC 47-8 (85.5%) 35-8 (81.4%) 14-5 (73.7%)
And, when you count FBS games only, it's a virtual tie. Looking at just games between BCS conferences (or AQ conferences, as is the currently fashionable label), the SEC is 14-5 to the Big Twelve's 12-5. That two-game difference comes down to the only interplay between the leagues: Arkansas' 42-38 win over Texas A&M, and the Razorbacks' 29-16 victory over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.
The Big Twelve can argue that it was 15-0 against non-BCS FBS teams, while the SEC had three losses (Boise State over Georgia, and two by Mississippi). And Oklahoma State never got the chance to take on the best SEC team. But the two games against Arkansas gave the league two chances to take the SEC's crown, and they came up short. Though the Razorbacks never seriously challenged as the SEC's top team this year, they ended up being the ones that showed the conference is still the best.
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