Article:Time to give credit where credit is due...SEC is the best football conference

I start this article with my sincere apologies to my brother in sports, Desert Wahoo. I couldn't to excited last night, cuz I felt your pain bro!

I as sat by my buddy Desert Wahoo (OSU fan from Parma) watching the game here in Phoenix, I started to say to him "rematch next year in the Orange Bowl?" As much as I think it could happen, I couldn't bring myself to say it because I know his heartbreak will happen again. To borrow a definitive article from Columbus, this is THE Southeastern Conference. (for you bloggers, tSEC)  Don't get me wrong, I have a tremendous amount of respect for tOSU and for Jim Tressel, the man is a true class act and darn good football coach. But he can't win against tSEC right. But, it will one happen one day, right Phil Mickelson.

I also love James Lauranits, I hope the Saints try to get him because he is the real deal. I loved the play last night when hester was tackled by him and then helped him up and both were smiling. Remember, OSU has lost two NC games in a row, that means they played in the NC game 2 years in a row. The "almighty" USuC football program played in 2 in a row in 2005 and 2006 and went 1-1. OSU is a greatly respected, classy storied football program. I don't agree with all the OSU bashing I have heard today and I say congrats on a great season.

However, all that being said, I think many people realized last night why the SEC is truly a better conference than the Big ten-leven. Let's be honest, OSU has 3 NC appearance in in 5 years right? What other team from that conference has played for a NC since the creation of the BCS? The SEC has had back-to-back National Champs, one from each division in the conference. (Florida from the East, LSU from the West) and in the 10 year history of the BCS, three diffeence teams from the SEC have been crowned as champs. Among the the so called "big time conferences", none ecven come close to duplicating the BCS success of the SEC. Look Les Miles pissed some people off with his PuC 10 comments regarding USuC's road to the BCS game. But did you see the PuC 10 final records? Yeah, I didn't think so. Here, I'll show you. 4 teams out of 10; USuC, ASU, Oregon, and Oregon State finished with an overall winning record. By comparison, 9 out 12 SEC teams did the same thing, 4 in the East and 5 in the West, the divison LSU won. A 10th tean, South Carolina finished at 6-6. Yeah, Les was right wasn't he? LSU lost two conference games: one to Kentucky who beat an out-manned Florida State team in the Music City Bowl and to Arkansas (a nasty rival) who was blown out by Missouri, who should have been in the Orange Bowl. USuC lost at home to 41 point underdog Stanford.

Look, I got just as sick and tired of hearing about "SEC speed",  as the next Big Ten-leven fan; it was really getting out of hand. I mean this isn't the NCAA Track and Field Championships is it? Truth be told, The SEC has more football players, more playmakers, than the Big Ten. The SEC doesn’t just have more speed; it has more of everything. Let me explain: Glenn Dorsey is the All-American, but the defensive MVP of the game was Ricky Jean-Francois, a tackle who was in on six tackles and part of a sack. It was his second game of the season because he was ineligible up until the SEC championship game. Craig Steltz, the All-American safety, suffered a shoulder injury in the first half, but reserve Harry Coleman made plays in his place. On Ohio State’s first possession of the fourth quarter, after the Buckeyes had gotten some momentum with a touchdown, a drive stopped when Coleman recovered a fumble following a sack.

The LSU defense emphatically outplayed OSU's "#1 defense in the counry" except for James Lauranitis, who is just an animal (pardon the pun)  After a slow start and a beautiful TD run by a great back in Beanie Wells, the #3 defense in the country got on track and LSU's offense started to roar. They scored 31 unanswered points, controlling the line of scrimmage whether on offense or on defense, and forcing the Buckeyes to make the sort of crippling mistakes that the Tigers had inflicted on themselves so often this season. By this time, everyone in Columbus knew their "Bucknuts" had been roated for the 2nd year in a row by the SEC. The stats don't tell the complete story, as most of OSU's offense came on their first 2 possesions of the game, 5 minutes into the 1st quarter and then a meaning-less score against the 2nd/3rd string Chinese Bandits defense to make it look respectful.

The playmakers are not the only thing that separate the SEC and the Big Ten. What about the bravado of the fans? The clocking was ticking down and the full-throated fans started chanting “SEC, SEC, SEC.”  You ever hear a crowd chant “Big Ten, Big Ten”? The passion of the SEC fans cant be matched and after all the bashing the South takes for other things (education, in-breeding, etc) the teams in the conference back it up. OK, so Florida lost to Michigan, the SEC went 7-2 overall in the bowls and 2-1 against the Big ten-leven. Call me biased, dumb, southern, etc but call me a Champion. My team earned it, my conference represents it, and so does the last 2 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS prove it!

A)  3  National Champ game appearances  in 5 years

B)  2 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS in 4 years

Which do you choose???

FEAR the HAT

Geaux TIGERS!