There are few things in sports that are not worth arguing about. Sports bars are constantly filled with chatter about who is the best team in the country, who should be MVP, and can anyone beat Floyd Mayweather, Jr. All these debates are fun to have and make sports even more enjoyable for the common fan. However, there are a few topics which have such a clear-cut answer that disputing them would be like arguing that two plus two does not equal four. For example, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all-time. Secretariat is the greatest horse in the history of horse racing. And the Southeastern Conference is the best football conference in America.

There are two ways to analyze conference supremacy, one is to look at which conference is the best right now and the other is to look for the best all-time. First of all, the numbers clearly show that the SEC is currently the best football conference. They have won the last three national championships, have the highest non-conference winning percentage the past 3 years, and possess the most current NFL players. Just look at this week’s top 25 polls. Three of the top 5 and four of the top 10 are SEC schools. Historically, the numbers are just as staggering. The Southeastern conference is the # 1 conference against ranked teams, top 10 teams, and BCS conference teams.

The Southeastern Conference even has the best-all time conference bowl record, which is particularly amazing because of the mismatched opponents they must face. For instance, in the Cotton Bowl, the third or fourth-best SEC school typically plays the second-best Big 12 school. In the Chick-fil-a bowl, the SEC # 5 is pitted against the ACC runner-up. And in the Papajohns.com Bowl, the ninth-best SEC team is matched against the fourth-best Big East team. Yet, in all these games against teams ranked higher in their respective conferences, the SEC continues to dominate.

Despite the SEC’s consistent stronghold on the top football in the country, invariably there will always be those who question its power. And whenever this dissenting attitude gains widespread support, college football suffers greatly. As we all know, the subjective nature of the sport allows pundits and computers to decide national champions instead of players and teams. Consequently, mistakes are sometimes made in choosing the BCS Title game participants. In 2004, the pollsters and computers chose to appoint Oklahoma as Southern Cal’s opponent in the title game, despite the fact that Auburn had finished the season unbeaten in the SEC (a feat that has not since been accomplished). As a result, we ended up having an absolute beat down in the title game, as USC rolled to a 55-19 victory, while Auburn defeated Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. It was clear that the pundits had failed to realize that an undefeated SEC team was inherently superior to an undefeated Big 12 team, and Auburn never got a chance to play for the title.

Believe it or not, a similar catastrophe almost occurred two years later, as a controversy once again emerged in deciding the second national championship participant. Florida and Michigan engaged in a heated popularity contest for the BCS # 2 spot, despite the fact that Michigan already lost its first chance at playing for a national title against Ohio State. A campaign emerged to try create a Big 10 monopoly in the title game with an Ohio State-Michigan rematch. Let’s see, how does the saying go: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”? Fortunately, conventional wisdom prevailed as Florida narrowly edged the Wolverines for the BCS title spot. The Gators then dismantled Ohio State in the championship game, reminding us all to never question the SEC’s status as the best college football conference in America. The moral of these two stories is simply, “never, ever deny a dominant SEC team a chance to play for the title”.

The answer to how the SEC has maintained a competitive advantage over the other conferences has changed throughout the history of the sport. Currently, the explanation lies in the speed and athleticism of their players, especially on defense. While other conferences can grab their fair share of top quarterbacks and offensive lineman, it is the SEC who continually recruits the fastest linebackers, corners, and safeties. This phenomenon has actually caused the SEC to get a reputation of playing ugly, defensive-minded football. The Big 12 and Pac-10 have become known for play the sexy, high-scoring games, while the SEC unfairly gets criticized for offensive-mediocrity only because their defenses are higher quality. This year, however, the SEC offenses seem to be catching up with the defenses, as we have already seen our fair share of Southeastern Conference shoot-outs (UGA-SC, Auburn-Miss. St., UGA-Arkansas).

I know that I sound like Pat Forde and all the other typical SEC Supremacists with this article, but when push comes to shove, there is no denying this conference’s dominance. It will be a long, long time until we find the next Michael Jordan or Secretariat, and it will be even longer until the Southeastern Conference falls off its gridiron throne. Two plus two equals four, just like the SEC plus football equals the best conference in America.

By Brad Matthews

Ramblings From the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist