Two of arguably the best collegiate athletic conferences in
the past decade are starting to make deals to have some of their top-notch
programs meet up on national stages.
Is it a match made in heaven?
The Big 12 Conference and the SEC have started to work
together on setting meetings between the two conferences in the coming years in
multiple sports starting with football.
On May 18, the Big 12 and SEC announced that starting in
2014 and for five years the two league champions would meet up in a New Year’s
Day Bowl game.
How could that be bad?
The past seven national champions have come from the SEC and
Big 12 with the last six belonging to the SEC, with Florida and Alabama winning
a pair of crystal footballs.
So getting what would more than likely two of the Top five
teams in the country to play in a New Year’s Day game, would definitely draw
attention.
Now if the two top teams in each conference are selected for
the four-team playoff, then the next best teams in the conferences would meet
up, which still would be a good matchup considering the strength of each
conference.
Also you can look at the past Heisman Trophy winners as
well.
The last five Heisman Trophy winners, Robert Griffin III
(Baylor) Cam Newton (Auburn) Mark Ingram (Alabama) Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and
Tim Tebow (Florida), have all come from the two
conferences.
Oh and by the way out of those players three have been No. 1
and No. 2 draft picks, creating a new trend in football, “Tebowing”,
and three are the faces of their respective NFL Franchises.
So to have the two league champions from the SEC and Big 12
to meet in a bowl game would be a great idea, because you would have two of the
top teams in the country, possible Heisman Trophy winners, and future NFL Draft
picks clashing in a bowl game.
Who could ask for more?
Well more would be switching gears to the basketball court
and start scheduling marquis matchups on the hardwood.
Four of the last seven national champions in men’s
basketball have come from the two conferences, most recently the Kentucky
Wildcats lifting the trophy.
Along with the titles come the Naismith Player of the Year
Award, which two of the last five have gone to players out of the Big 12
– Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin and the most recent going to Anthony Davis, who more than likely will be the No. 1 pick in this years NBA Draft and
also might play for Team USA this summer in London.
Griffin’s Los Angeles Clippers squad got knocked out of the
NBA Playoffs while Durant is leading the Oklahoma City Thunder into the Western
Conference Finals for the second straight season.
With all that success in the past and of course this past
season with the tournament, 11 teams from the SEC and Big 12 made it into the
big dance and two made it to the final four and of course Kentucky winning it
all against Kansas in the National Championship game - a Big 12 vs. SEC
matchup.
Well the Kentucky and Baylor matchup in the Elite 8, will
not be the last time the two teams meet as on May 16 the two conferences
decided to have a rematch of that game and also have the women’s basketball
teams meet up as well in a doubleheader in December 2013 in Cowboys Stadium.
Like I said on the big stage.
So with football and men’s basketball jumping on board,
don’t be surprised if all of a sudden we have some type of tournament set up
between the SEC and Big 12 in baseball and even women’s basketball.
You break down those conferences in those sports starting
with baseball, since 2000, six of the National Champions have come from the SEC
and Big 12.
In women’s basketball, since 2005, five of the eight
National Champs have been from the Big 12, Baylor twice and Texas A&M, and
the SEC with Tennessee winning back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008.
So the conversation of having these marquis matchups does
not just end with football and men’s basketball.
Would a three-year series between Baylor and Tennessee in
women’s basketball be good?
How about a series between Texas and South Carolina in
baseball?
Either way the past 10 years have proven one thing –
the Big 12 and the SEC are two of the elite conferences in collegiate sports
and not only in football.
Championship after championship, Heisman Trophy winners,
NFL, NBA and MLB first round draft picks and many more reasons to love the idea
of these two conferences setting up marquis matchups in different sports.
So set them up, put them on the national stage and let us
enjoy some of the best athletes in the nation and some of the best teams in the
nation with some of the best coaches Duke it out on the field, the hardwood or
the diamond.
In the end having the Big 12 and SEC work together to form
this relationship was definitely a match made in heaven.