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Urban Meyer declares the SEC the top conference in college football: 'They're back'

Danby: Daniel Hager1 hour agoDanielHagerOn3
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© Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The third edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings dropped Tuesday night, featuring nine SEC teams in the Top 25. This includes five of the 12 teams currently projected to be in the College Football Playoff (No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Georgia, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 8 Oklahoma, and No. 10 Alabama) and two of the four programs with first-round byes (A&M and Georgia).

Due to the strong depth in the conference, College Football Hall of Famer Urban Meyer declared the SEC as the “top conference in college football.” It is the first time in the last few years he has done that, on the latest edition of ‘The Triple Option‘ podcast.

“They’re back,” Meyer said. “Obviously, they’ve got to go win the national title, but as far as strength and depth of conference, it was hard to say for the past two years with the (Michigan) Wolverines and Ohio State winning the National Championship. But from top to bottom, certainly the top was won by the Big Ten. And I watch a lot of it. I watch it on TV, but also on my computer. It’s different, Mark. The SEC is back as the top conference in college football.”

Meyer highlights Alabama’s schedule when discussing how strong the SEC is

“I look at Alabama‘s schedule, and it’s every week, man,” Meyer continued. “It’s every week. How do you quantitatively say as a committee member… you’re seeing teams play no one. I shouldn’t say no one, but relatively speaking to the SEC schedule.”

Meyer is referring to Alabama‘s ridiculously strong conference schedule, which has seen it face five ranked teams in seven conference games. In such games, the Crimson Tide went 4-1 with wins over No. 5 (No. 4) Georgia, No. 16 (No. 14) Vanderbilt, No. 14 (No. 22) Missouri, and No. 11 Tennessee (No. 20). Their one loss came at home to No. 11 (No. 8) Oklahoma last Saturday by a score of 23-21. They fell six spots in the Rankings due to that loss, although they boast one of the strongest resumes in the country.

Meanwhile, the Big Ten boasts the top two teams in the Rankings in No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana. Without the two programs meeting in the regular season, they have faced just three ranked opponents in 15 combined conference games. The quality of play in the SEC has just been stronger, and that has led to strong representation in the College Football Playoff Rankings.