SEC coaches and players defend their dominance amid Big Ten's recent success

ATLANTA — There was not a Big Ten player, coach or fan in sight this week as the College Football Hall of Fame hosted SEC Media Days. Still, the SEC's No. 1 rival found its way into conversations all week long.

It's no secret the rivalry has intensified in recent years. Over the last decade, the SEC has won six of the 10 national championships. Two were won by Clemson in that stretch but the last two were won by Big Ten rivals, Michigan last year and Ohio State in January.

The recent success has put a dent in the SEC's reputation as the nation's dominant conference. SEC coaches, players and Commissioner Greg Sankey have no question they're still No. 1.

''For all those of you who like to speculate about super-conferences, welcome to one," Sankey said to open this week's event. "We have common-sense geography, restored rivalries, record-breaking viewership. If you take the consumed viewership hours on linear TV, almost 40% of that viewership was focused on games involving Southeastern Conference universities and teams. Big Ten was next, right around 30%.''

The SEC also boasted 79 NFL draft picks in 2025, more than any other conference and beating the Big Ten by eight.

No one put it more plainly this week than Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz when asked if he thought the SEC was the top conference in college football.

''The top? The top, as in number of draft picks in the NFL? Top as in most viewership? Overall top, deepest conference in college football? Look, the more teams you add to the tournament, there's greater variance to it,'' Drinkwitz said. ''You've got 16 of the toughest competitors in the world who are head coaches in this league. We're all driven to achieve the best, whether that's internally or externally.''

The Big Ten and SEC draw outsized attention in college football for other reasons. The two will soon have a bigger say over the format of the College Football Playoff — they currently differ on that — and their teams are in the mix for the top recruits every year.

Early bragging rights this season between the two behemoths include Texas at Ohio State in a CFP rematch from last season, Michigan at Oklahoma and Wisconsin at Alabama, all before mid-September. The real measuring stick in this league rivalry is always going to be the postseason.

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer knows excellence is the expectation when it comes to SEC football.

''That's our responsibility, to be at the top, right? That's the expectation. I know at Alabama, but also the expectation for the SEC as a whole. I still feel that the SEC top to bottom is as strong as you'll find,'' DeBoer said.

DeBoer isn't wrong when he says it's the expectation. In fact, it's the standard and fan bases from Austin to Gainesville go beyond team cheers on game day. ''S-E-C, S-E-C'' chants on a fall Saturday are not a rare occurrence.

The excitement is part of what drew Cam Ball to Arkansas.

''Growing up, my father would wake me up on Saturdays. If we didn't go to the barber shop, we was at home, just sitting on the couch watching the game, mainly watching SEC games,'' he said.

Playing in the conference he grew up watching still feels surreal.

''Sometimes in a game, it's the first play, and I'll just look up and see an SEC opponent's helmet, and I'll be like, ‘Wow, I'm really here. God is good.' This conference in general, it's just a blessing to be here,'' Ball said.

Alex Afari Jr.'s recruiting journey ended promptly after receiving the call from Kentucky. It was his first and only SEC offer. The decision was easy: Who wouldn't want to play SEC ball?

''Playing in the SEC means a lot," Afari said. "I always want to play against the best players. When I got the SEC offer and that's my only one — I had like Big Ten offers or whatever, but this is my only SEC offer, and I took that chance.''

To Afari, no other conference compares.

''It's not even close, really. I feel like we just got the o-linemen, the d-linemen are just different, the skill players as well. We put the most players in the NFL," he said. ''Every SEC team can beat each other, every SEC team is not weak, so I feel like that's the difference. We don't have any bad teams in the SEC.''

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