The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/751827
4 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2016 BIG TEN VERSUS SEC Dear The Wolverine: Year in and year out we are told that the SEC is by far the best football con- ference in the land and that all other conferences pale by comparison. To be sure, the SEC is a very strong football conference and fields many powerful teams annually. But let us look at the numbers. Since 1950 to date, four of the top 10 college football programs with the most wins (Ohio State, Michigan, Ne- braska and Penn State) are in the Big Ten, not the SEC. Alabama is the only SEC team to crack the list of top-10 winners. Granted, Nebraska and Penn State won many of their games when they were not Big Ten members, but they are now clearly identified with the Big Ten. I assume that the SEC schools would argue that they don't have as many wins because their conference is so strong that the teams knock each other off due to their balance. Therein lies the historical myth of the SEC. Throughout the 1950s, '60s and into the '70s, the SEC teams played only six (and in a few cases seven) conference games in their 11-game schedule. Did they schedule non-conference games against Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michi- gan or Notre Dame? No, quite to the contrary, they fed on the likes of Rice, Chattanooga, Tampa, Wake Forest, Hardin Simmons, Tulane, Memphis, Arkansas State and many other lower- level teams. To illustrate the point, in the 1950s one SEC school was ranked in the top 20 with a seemingly impressive 8-3 re- cord. They were blown out by Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, but racked up conference wins over Vanderbilt, Ken- tucky and then-SEC doormat Tulane. They won five non-conference games against Rice, Tennessee Tech, Chatta- nooga, Tampa and Furman. While the SEC schools play more conference games today, they are still scheduling good old Chattanooga, Presbyterian, Georgia State and other lightweights. True, in the past 30 years our beloved Wolverines have suffered defeat at the hands of Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and a couple of other SEC schools. But in the same period of time we have beaten Alabama, Auburn, Ar- kansas, Florida, Mississippi and other SEC schools. Numerically, we have an edge in the head-to-head clashes with SEC teams, so their long-term domi- nance has not been established. The SEC constantly talks about how rabid they are about football and often point to their strong high school foot- ball programs. While those are valid points, don't you think the folks in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas could easily advance the same argument? Now if you're talking about NASCAR races, I'll give our deep-south brethren the nod, but not in football. Harvey Dasho Walnut Creek, Calif. Harvey, we're guessing if you asked them, they'd be focused hard on a "what have you done for me lately" argument. Yes, Michigan has a national champion- ship and Ohio State two over the past 20 years (and Penn State fans will argue they should have had one in 1994), but the SEC has controlled a lot of late. You're absolutely right that Michigan has nothing to apologize about when it comes to head-to-head meetings against the SEC. But that league will continue to point to playoff meetings such as last year's 38-0 demolition of Michigan State as proof that the Big Ten can't keep pace. Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer will make a strong push to change that talk. December 2016 • Vol. 28, No. 5 ISSN 1048-9940 Editor John Borton The Wolverine.com Editor Chris Balas Football Recruiting Writer Brandon Brown Contributing Writers Austin Fox Zach Libby Orion Sang Managing Editor Ryan Tice Contributing Editor Steve Downey Editorial Intern Leland Mitchinson Layout And Design Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller Contributing Photographers Lon Horwedel Per Kjeldsen Cover Photos Lon Horwedel and Per Kjeldsen Publisher Stu Coman Business Manager Linda Autry Circulation Manager Gail Evans Marketing/Merchandise Manager Beverly Taylor Director Of Advertising Michelle Delee-Hamilton Customer Service Lauren Saunders The Wolverine is published monthly. A one-year (12 issues) subscription is $52.99. The Wolverine is printed at The Papers in Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Wolverine, P.O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702. Periodical postage paid at Durham, NC 27702 and additional offices. For advertising or subscription information, call 1-800-421-7751 or write The Wolverine, P.O. Box 1304, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. The Wolverine is a publication of Coman Publishing Company, 324 Blackwell St., Suite 1020, Durham, NC 27701. E-Mail Address: thewolverine@comanpub.com Subscription questions: gevans@comanpub.com Web Site: www.thewolverine.com FROM OUR READERS Michigan's Jim Harbaugh and Ohio State's Urban Meyer have helped re-establish the Big Ten as a national power; the two were 78-9 at Ohio State and Michigan, respectively, as of Nov. 15. PHOTOS BY PER KJELDSEN