The SEC vs. the Big 12

Hey there - I hope that you're enjoying your day.  Here at Bikini Hill, we're going to be experiencing the coolest temperatures that we've seen in a long, LONG, time...  A low of 46 degrees is expected tonight here in San Marcos, America, so I'm in a PRETTY GOOD mood today!  I got into a pretty interesting conversation last night with a friend of mine who is an Arkansas fan, and of course being mid-October, it's football that we're talking about.  He told me that the Razorbacks are 9th in the first BCS rankings that came out this week (I am 100% in favor of a playoff system, and think that the current system is a total joke, but we'll talk about that on another day, and another, and another...), and I responded that their only loss was to Alabama.  The conversation continued, bringing various other teams into it, and my friend made the comment that the Big 12 can't be compared/can't compete (something along those lines...)  :) with the SEC.  THAT'S when I compared them, and started naming names.  ;)  Last year the SEC was a more dominant conference than it is this year when compared to the Big 12.  In the first BCS rankings, we have #1 LSU, #2 Alabama, #9 Arkansas, #14 South Carolina, and #20 Auburn representing the SEC.  BUT, we also have #3 Oklahoma, #4 Oklahoma State, #11 Kansas State, #17 Texas A&M, and #24 Texas leading the Big 12.  By the way, my conversation never got this far with my friend, because he walked away after my continued verbal onslaught of Big 12 teams.  :)  Before he did walk away, he said that Texas shouldn't be ranked.  I responded that their only two losses are to the 3rd and 4th-ranked teams IN THE NATION.  We had earlier discussed the Razorbacks comeback victory against Texas A&M, but if you're going to call that an impressive win, you can't turn around a minute later and say that A&M isn't a good team, right?  ;)  I think that any combination of matchups that you choose for games among LSU, Bama, OU, and OSU would make for GREAT games.  We are guaranteed to see at least two of these games, as LSU will play Alabama, and the Sooners will meet the Cowboys.  I also believe that the SEC has gotten significantly weaker with injuries, with Florida having to deal with John Brantley's leg injury at the QB position, and with South Carolina losing both starting QB Stephen Garica (off-field issues) and superstar RB Marcus Lattimore (season-ending knee injury).  I think that the Lattimore injury will be devastating to the Gamecocks, and the Gators have already been knocked out of the Top 25.  In addition to that, the teams in the Big 12 have to worry about Missouri, Baylor, and Texas Tech squads that are VERY CAPABLE of jumping up and beating you on any given Saturday.  Don't talk to me about how dominant the SEC is against the Big 12, not this year anyway...  ;)  I will be posting my footbal picks again this weekend, and I went 3-2 with my college picks and 3-0 on my NFL selections last weekend, so I'll be feeling pretty confident...  :)  Have a good one!