The Facts Would Like A Word With Nick Saban’s Take On The Big 12

The Big 12 conference reminded Nick Saban that his high opinion of SEC schools is outdated.

Speaking on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, the former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach shared his thoughts on the most recent CFP rankings. He specifically shared that he believes the supposedly tough nature of the teams in the conference works against the SEC by not allowing as many teams to get in.

“The subjective part of this that you can never fix is the conferences are not equal,” Saban said. “They are not equal in depth of good teams. Nor are they equal in the quality of the best teams. To give you an example, let’s just take Ole Miss…So if Ole Miss played in the Big 12, what would their record be? That’s the kind of subjective issues that we have in college football that is never going to change. Unless we put the best 40 teams in college football and put them in a league, very similar to the 32 teams that are in the NFL.”

Ole Miss Hasn’t Dominated The Big 12 In Recent Years

This is a common refrain you hear from anyone who supports the SEC conference: “Our teams are so strong, they would destroy any other conference we played in.” Saban happened to use Ole Miss as an example this season to prove his point.

Now look, maybe this year’s Ole Miss team would dominate the Big 12. They are a stacked squad. Heck, Kirby Smart said after playing them that they should have been undefeated instead of 7-2 when Georgia faced them (Ole Miss also won that matchup 28-10).

But as Saban said, this is a subjective argument, we don’t really have any empirical evidence to support or refute his claim.

Or do we?

The Big 12 brought receipts to this debate, showing that when Ole Miss plays Big 12 schools in recent memory, they have been…oh, what’s the word, winless?

As if that weren’t enough, Ole Miss has a measly 9-8 record against the Big 12 all-time and lost three of five bowl games to this conference. 

The SEC AS A Whole Isn’t As Dominant As People Think It Is

But that’s just one school. Surely the rest of the big, bad, almighty SEC has manhandled a mediocre conference like the Big 12, right?

Not so fast. Since 2020, the SEC only holds an 11-8 edge over Big 12 schools. I would have expected more from a conference that is as intimidating as Saban, Paul Finebaum, and anyone in Dixie Land seem to make it.

Here’s a thought, maybe the SEC isn’t as good as people make it seem. If Alabama can lose to an un-ranked Vanderbilt, Tennessee can falter to unimpressive Arkansas, and Ole Miss drop a game to an LSU team that is a dumpster fire, maybe all this talk isn’t really being backed up by facts. Maybe the powerhouse programs aren’t as dominant anymore.

The SEC used to dominate college football, but that’s not the case anymore. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

But here’s what I’ll hear in response:

• “Road games in the SEC are so hard!”
• “Any matchup in this conference is hard!”
• “Other conferences have weaker schedules!”

To which I would say:

• Have you ever tried to play in Clemson’s Death Valley, The Big House, The Shoe, Autzen Stadium, or Happy Valley? There are tough road environments outside of the SEC.
• Not necessarily. Shouldn’t the good teams regularly beat the worst ones? This year, the good teams are playing poorly on a consistent basis, independent of their opponents.
• Have you seen the four non-conference games these supposed giants play? They are almost always a cakewalk.

Contrary to the commonplace narrative, the SEC as a whole is not miles ahead of everyone else. Whether it’s Ole Miss in the Big 12 or another school in a different conference, SEC schools would have a much tougher time succeeding than most people (including Saban) would admit.