Many Alabama football fans dislike Urban Meyer, going back to his six seasons at Florida that produced two BCS National Championships. What Alabama fans fondly remember is Nick Saban's 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide ending Meyer's Gators' Glory with a 32-13 Alabama beatdown in the SEC Championship Game. The game took a mental and physical toll on Meyer.
Not only did Meyer recover, after a season of respite in 2011, Urban moved on to Ohio State and won another Natty. In that 2014 season, the Buckeyes beat Saban and Alabama Football 42-35 in a Playoff semi-final.
Meyer's three Nattys give him considerable cred. It is one thing to criticize flash-in-the-pan Natty winners like Les Miles and Ed Orgeron. But, going back to 1909, only seven (major division) college football head coaches have more National Championships than Urban Meyer.
So when Urban talks about college football, we should pay attention. Except when he is wrong. Recently, Urban was wrong. Meyer said the "Big Ten has passed the SEC." In fairness to Meyer, his claim included "at the upper part."
Any reasonable review of college football's most recent five seasons would not produce proof that Meyer is correct. Yes, the B1G has improved, but 'Top Dogs' over the SEC's top teams? No way.
ESPN's most recent SP+ rankings, published after teams had completed all spring work, refute Meyer's claim. In the updated Top 25, 14 of the top 17 teams are members of the Big Ten or the SEC. Alabama Football, ranked No.2 leads the way for a total of 10 SEC teams, including Georgia (No. 4), Texas (No. 5), LSU (No. 9), Ole Miss (No. 11), Tennessee (No. 13, Florida (No. 14), Texas A&M No. 15), Oklahoma (No. 16) and South Carolina (No. 17). Only four B1G teams are ranked in the top 17. Also ranked in the SP+ Top 25 are Missouri (No. 21) and Auburn (No. 25). Two additional Big Ten teams are also ranked: Illinois at No. 19 and Indiana at No. 23.
There is another perspective that has merit. Meyer is simply doing his job. On the Fox Sports payroll, he must extoll the virtues of all things Big Ten. His counterparts at ESPN must do the same for the SEC. Brad Crawford, for CBS Sports and 247Sports, is another example in which media contracts with conferences shape editorial content. Crawford has little choice but to agree with Meyer.
The best teams and conferences cannot be ranked without a good algorithm for Strength of Schedule (SOS). By late October, some accurate SOS rankings will be insightful. For the preseason, check out Bill Connelly's effort below. Thirteen of college football's toughest SOSs are for SEC teams. Way behind are Big Ten powerhouses Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, and Michigan.