Texas - Colt McCoy
Kansas -Todd Reesing
Oklahoma - Sam Bradford
Missouri - Chase Daniels
Texas Tech - Graham Harrell
Oklahoma St. - Zac Robinson
I understand that these guys are all really solid players, but does it warrant the lack of defense we've seen from the Big 12 especially since it is considered by many this year to be the best conference in the nation? Here is a ranking of the Big 12 conference broken down by total defense and where they stack up nationally. Sadly enough there isn't a team that cracked the top 30 in this category, and the total pass defense for this conference is even worse...believe me I've checked. Even the vaunted Oklahoma's and Texas' of the world are nearly giving up 5 yards a play which is REALLY poor considering Texas is ranked #1.
| Year: 2008 | Thru: 10/18/08 |
| Rank | Name | Gm | Avg | Plays | Yds | Tds | YdsGm | Win | Loss | Ties | Natl Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | 7 | 4.59 | 481 | 2210 | 18 | 315.71 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 34 |
| 2 | Texas | 7 | 4.94 | 458 | 2262 | 15 | 323.14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 39 |
| 3 | Oklahoma St. | 7 | 4.88 | 482 | 2351 | 19 | 335.86 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 47 |
| 4 | Texas Tech | 7 | 4.96 | 495 | 2457 | 17 | 351.00 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 58 |
| 5 | Nebraska | 7 | 5.70 | 442 | 2520 | 21 | 360.00 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 64 |
| 6 | Kansas | 7 | 5.12 | 492 | 2521 | 19 | 360.14 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 65 |
| 7 | Colorado | 7 | 5.20 | 486 | 2527 | 21 | 361.00 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 66 |
| 8 | Baylor | 7 | 4.88 | 525 | 2564 | 23 | 366.29 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 73 |
| 9 | Iowa St. | 7 | 6.19 | 464 | 2873 | 28 | 410.43 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 98 |
| 10 | Missouri | 7 | 5.38 | 535 | 2876 | 25 | 410.86 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 100 |
| 11 | Texas A&M | 7 | 5.90 | 488 | 2878 | 31 | 411.14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 101 |
| 12 | Kansas St. | 7 | 5.56 | 540 | 3005 | 26 | 429.29 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 105 |
Now how about those SEC fans who truly do proclaim their conference plays the best defense. I have a simple response to that: Outside of Tim Tebow (who is overrated) and Matthew Stafford from Georgia the remaining QB's in the conference are a bunch of donkeys. I like to think I'm an avid follower of college football, but when I can't name another quarterback outside of the two I previously mentioned that should speak volumes about how things look on the offensive side of the ball in the SEC. It's not like the SEC doesn't get a ton of publicity either. Hell, CBS labels themselves as the home of SEC football! No wonder SEC defenses look like absolute studs...they play against quarterbacks that truly are pathetic and for the most part one dimensional. The West Virginia vs. Auburn game on Thursday night illustrates my point perfectly. The Auburn defense had been labeled their strength this season (mostly because their offense blows), but once they come up against a multi-dimensional quarterback in Patrick White it completely messed with their schemes. They gave up 445 total yards to the Mountaineers and 271 of those were on the ground. Oh, and they got owned 34-17 by a Big East team that has played like crap for most of the year.
Here's how the SEC Conference breaks down nationally in total defense:
TOTAL DEFENSE
| Year: 2008 | Thru: 10/18/08 |
| Rank | Name | Gm | Avg | Plays | Yds | Tds | YdsGm | Win | Loss | Ties | Natl Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina | 8 | 4.22 | 486 | 2049 | 14 | 256.13 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 7 | 4.10 | 456 | 1869 | 10 | 267.00 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 11 |
| 3 | Georgia | 7 | 4.58 | 412 | 1888 | 16 | 269.71 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | Auburn | 7 | 4.11 | 464 | 1909 | 11 | 272.71 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 14 |
| 5 | Florida | 6 | 4.45 | 370 | 1646 | 10 | 274.33 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| 6 | Alabama | 7 | 4.36 | 443 | 1932 | 12 | 276.00 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 7 | Kentucky | 7 | 4.36 | 453 | 1975 | 9 | 282.14 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 8 | Mississippi St. | 7 | 4.81 | 424 | 2041 | 18 | 291.57 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 22 |
| 9 | LSU | 6 | 4.84 | 366 | 1772 | 15 | 295.33 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 24 |
| 10 | Vanderbilt | 7 | 4.92 | 475 | 2337 | 15 | 333.86 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 45 |
| 11 | Mississippi | 7 | 4.99 | 476 | 2375 | 20 | 339.29 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 52 |
| 12 | Arkansas | 7 | 5.54 | 452 | 2505 | 30 | 357.86 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 61 |
Wow, look at that...only 3 teams DIDN'T break the Top 25 nationally in total defense. These statistics don't take into account the complete lack of quarterback play in the conference though. When the final score of the Auburn vs. Mississippi contest was 3-2 you know the conference is absolutely despicable on offense. Nobody back East wants to bring this up though. There is no doubt that both conferences are very good, especially the BIG 12 with their QB's, but these statistics are so skewed if you don't look at them from a proper vantage point. The BCS games at the end of the season that feature match-ups between teams from these two conferences will help shed a little more light on which really is better. In many ways I think it poses the question of which came first: the chicken or the egg? Is QB great play responsible for these statistics or the complete lack thereof?
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