Which Conference is Better, Big Ten or SEC?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 26, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Raekwon McMillan (5) celebrates his first quarter sack with teammate Tommy Schutt (90) versus the Western Michigan Broncos at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won the game 38-12. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten has passed the SEC and is the best conference in the nation?

Rankings don’t really mean anything until the first CFP poll comes out, but they can be used for bragging rights. So which conference is the best in College Football, the Big Ten or the SEC?

We can all agree that it’s not the Pac-12, the ACC, the Big-12 or the American… So that leaves the Big Ten and the SEC. So who is better? It’s only week 7, so nothing is for sure, but here is my take on it.

In the Top-10 of the Week 7 AP Poll, there are 4 Big Ten teams and 3 SEC teams. Altogether there are 7 ranked SEC teams and 4 ranked B1G teams.

To me, rankings outside of the Top-10 is irrelevant. And that’s why the Big Ten is better than the SEC. Let’s take a look at the SEC teams ranked outside of the top 10.

#12, Ole Miss – First of all they have 2 losses, so that alone should disqualify them from being ranked this high. Sure – their losses came to Florida State & Alabama, but notice the important word there… LOSS.

One of their 3 wins came against a sorry FCS school in Wofford. Really, Ole Miss? Wofford? They should be punished for even playing a team of that caliber.

#18, Florida – The media, specifically ESPN, continues their love affair with the Florida Gators. THEY. ARE. NOT. GOOD. I thought we learned this last year in the Buffalo Wild Wings bowl when they got smacked 41-7 to Michigan… Yeah, that was last year – but not much has changed for the Gators.

The only halfway-decent opponent they played is an overrated Tennessee team. And they lost. Florida is 4-1 but their wins came against UMass, Kentucky, North Texas, and Vanderbilt. Not to mention they struggled with Vandy only winning 13-6. Florida is overrated… Again.

#22, Arkansas – Bret Bielema’s squad is weak. At a glance, you can make a case for them to be a ranked team. But when you dive deeper into the data, the Razorbacks true colors show.

Their ranking got bolstered by a road win vs TCU in week 2. As the season progresses, we are finding out how terrible TCU is. Arkansas only won that game by 3. So the win that got them ranked highly in the first place was proven to be fool’s gold.

The Razorbacks also struggled with Louisiana Tech, only winning by 1. That’s not the only inferior team they played. Although they did not struggle in either of them, Arkansas played Alcorn State and Texas State. Two free wins.

Now that we’ve debunked all of their not-so-impressive wins, let’s check out their losses. Arkansas has played 2 good opponents in Texas A&M and Alabama. They were blown out in both games.

Arkansas did not earn this ranking at all, and make a perfect example of the media giving an SEC team the benefit of the doubt. Classic.

#23, Auburn – Honestly, I don’t have a problem with Auburn at 23. I think they’re better than both Florida and Arkansas. The offense is horrible, but they have the athletes. I have to give them credit for at least scheduling a good out-of-conference team.

Other SEC teams should take note. Auburn actually stuck with a good Clemson team, who was struggling at the time, but still, they held Deshaun Watson and Clemson’s offense under 20 points. Auburn did lose to their only 2 good opponents so a #23 ranking is fair.

When comparing conferences, it’s not fair to throw the bottom of the conference in the conversation. Purdue and Kentucky are bottom-feeders and nothing more than that. The correct way to do it is comparing the top of each conference, and the Big Ten is better. Look for yourself: