There still isn’t any use crying over spilled milk.

But it’s probably better than ignoring the spill altogether.

Such is the case in a Dallas Morning News article that asserts – with the assistance of Big 12 coaches and Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne – that the league is ready to stand toe-to-toe with the SEC in 2009. Osborne’s comments are reasonably tame – they usually are on any topic – but even he, of a half-century experience, looks out at the football landscape and sees a level playing field.

We did too, once. You may recall we made this Big 12 > SECassertion for 2008. It was, based on the measurables, a quality bet. And on about, oh, Nov. 22, it looked like a good bet, as undefeated Texas Tech took the field against one-loss Oklahoma in the year’s hottest game, on national television. Mike Leach, Bob Stoops, pirates, Crabtree, Harrell, Bradford, Murray, the Heisman up for grabs…

Some fun!

Three hours later, when OU had fitted the Red Raiders for a casket, the Big 12 began an odd march southward.

Tech struggled in its final regular season game vs. Baylor. Though a thrilling game, Missouri limped into the Big 12 Championship with a 40-37 loss to Kansas. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State engaged in a game of pick-up basketball in bright orange end zones. Worst of all, the Big 12 left it up to the BCS ranking to determine the South champ, giving the nod to Oklahoma over Texas. The Sooners then, not surprisingly, thrashed the Tigers in the league title game.

Meanwhile, the SEC had afternoon heavyweight fight between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Florida, complete with Tim Tebow’s “win one for the Timmer” speech after a touchdown.

While Sam Bradford inched out UT’s Colt McCoy for the Heisman, bowl season, aside from Nebraska’s comeback win over Clemson, was equally middlin’. Missouri outlasted an average Northwestern team in overtime, then acted as if it had cured polio. Oklahoma State flopped out in San Diego vs. Oregon. Texas

Tech lost to Mississippi. Texas needed every last drop of McCoy’s blood to beat Ohio State. And OU outsmarted itself against Florida.

So the Big 12 drove the green in two, then three-putted from 25 feet.

And that was in a year when the Big 12 had all the advantages.

In the 2009 – flip the script.

Yes, the Big 12 again fields Texas and Oklahoma. But the SEC counters with Florida and Ole Miss, and the Rebels, with their own eccentric coach (Houston Nutt) are just as good of a story as Texas Tech was last year. Just as we did last year, we line up the teams based on a general consensus of predicted finish, although we move up Georgia one spot to face Oklahoma State for obvious reasons. Imagine these games on a neutral field:

Florida vs. Texas
Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma
Georgia vs. Oklahoma State
Alabama vs. Nebraska
LSU vs. Kansas
Arkansas vs. Texas Tech
Tennessee vs. Missouri
Auburn vs. Baylor
South Carolina vs. Colorado
Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M
Kentucky vs. Kansas State
Mississippi State vs. Iowa State

How’s that play out for you? Three of the four bottom SEC teams were bowl squads last year (Vandy and UK won their bowl games, as well); Tennessee and Arkansas flamed out in offensive rebuilding years, but should return to the middle of the division in 2009.

We want your take here. Does the Big 12 surpass the SEC given this slate? How about in terms of talent? Exposure? While the Big 12 had seven players go in the first round of the NFL Draft, and may have just as many this year, is the league’s across-the-board talent as impressive as the rosters at the top half of the SEC schools?

So, anyway, pick a winner in the above games, and comment below.

See also: The BCS Comes to UNL

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