Perhaps the only people who still believe the SEC is a better football conference than the Big Ten are SEC homers like commissioner Greg Sankey. The Big Ten has the last three College Football Playoff champions (Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana), and has gone 4-0 against the SEC during that time, with the sweet tea and grits conference not even getting a team into the CFP. Those are some pretty telling stats. But remember, “It just means more,” right, Sankey?
So what has happened to allow the Big Ten to become the best college football conference and leave the SEC in its dust? If there’s a guy who should know, it’s one who played in both conferences and saw the tide turn. One such coach would be former Ohio State and Florida head coach Urban Meyer, who won two national championships in Gainesville and one in Columbus. Heck, there’s little doubt that he started the slow turn of the Big Ten gaining and eventually surpassing the SEC — at least right now.
Meyer talked about that very subject while appearing on “The Script” podcast. He was asked why he thinks the Big Ten is now the best conference, and he didn’t pull any punches, basically stating that the status quo needed to change, and has.
“I don’t believe the Big Ten was very serious back in 2012 (when Meyer became head coach of Ohio State). I don’t think the opponents’ stadiums were very serious. I don’t think the recruiting was very serious. You know, I thought the Big Ten conference was OK, but then they’d go get their (expletive) kicked in the bowl games. And I saw it, I came from the SEC, and I was like ‘what are we doing?’ You know, you go into these stadiums, and they’re not hard to play in.”
Meyer then talked about the shift that happened and how teams came on board with what needed to be done to close the gap, and it was all about taking things more to heart.
“You have to give Penn State credit. They got real serious. The Wovlerines got real serious. Other teams in that conference got real serious,” Meyer continued. “You go in there now with Big Noon, and some of these environments are fantastic. Go ask how the boys are doing in Bloomington, Indiana. They got real serious about the game of football. Illinois, they got real serious. They hired the right guy. They got really good players and they’re beating SEC teams in a bowl game. I think the Big Ten, and there’s a lot of credit to go around to the ADs, the administrators, etc. the Big Ten got real serious about the game of football.”
Meyer has a point, and he saw it the chase when he reeled in Alabama by beating Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl of the CFP in 2014, then capped it off with a win over Oregon in the CFP national championship game. In reality, what Meyer did at Ohio State made others in the Big Ten raise their game as well, and well, here we are.
I will add, though, something Meyer didn’t talk about that may have contributed even more is the increased use and focus on the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness. That certainly contributed to Indiana’s rise, and Ohio State and Michigan both were able to keep players that would normally be off to the NFL if not for the ability to incentivize them with money to come back to college for another year.
You can also bet the SEC is in the midst of figuring this thing all out because, well, it just means more — or something like that.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer discusses why Big Ten passed SEC
Reporting by Phil Harrison, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
