SEC versus PAC-10: Round 2

By Marc Hudgens  |   Wednesday, July 11, 2007  |  Comments( 19 )

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While one conference, the PAC-10, argues the Heisman side of things to justify betterment, the other, the SEC, is using National Championships as the preferred weapon. So let's see how this shapes up in a battle of the two conferences.

HEISMAN WINNERS:
2005 Reggie Bush, USC [PAC-10]
2004 Matt Leinart, USC [PAC-10]
2002 Carson Palmer, USC [PAC-10]
1996 Danny Wuerffel, Florida [SEC]
1985 Bo Jackson, Auburn [SEC]
1982 Herschel Walker, Georgia [SEC]
1981 Marcus Allen, USC [PAC-10]
1979 Charles White, USC [PAC-10]
1971 Pat Sullivan, Auburn [SEC]
1970 Jim Plunkett, Stanford [PAC-10]
1968 O.J. Simpson, USC [PAC-10]
1967 Gary Beban, UCLA [PAC-10]
1966 Steve Spurrier, Florida [SEC]
1965 Mike Garrett, USC [PAC-10]
1962 Terry Baker, Oregon State [PAC-10]
1959 Billy Cannon, LSU [SEC]
1942 Frank Sinkwich, Georgia [SEC]

TOTALS:
PAC-10: 10 winners
SEC: seven winners

The PAC-10 clearly has more Heisman winners than the SEC, which still isn't exactly a slouch in that category. Furthermore, USC's seven accounts for the vast majority of PAC-10 Heisman winners, and it has as many as the entire SEC combined. Therefore, the Trojans have won that battle, giving the team and the conference a boost with three Heisman winners over the past six years. Thus, USC fans do make a solid case if they decided to nickname their team "Heisman U."

On the other side of the fence, SEC people, particularly South Carolina, are going to argue that ex-RB George Rogers belongs on the Heisman list. The issue with that is that the Gamecocks weren't a member of the SEC in 1980.


On the flip side....

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
2006 Florida [SEC]
2004 USC [PAC-10]
2003 LSU/USC [SEC/PAC-10]
1998 Tennessee [SEC]
1996 Florida [SEC]
1992 Alabama [SEC]
1991 Washington [PAC-10]
1980 Georgia [SEC]
1979 Alabama [SEC]
1978 Alabama/USC [SEC/PAC-10]
1974 USC [PAC-10]
1973 Alabama [SEC]
1972 USC [PAC-10]
1967 USC [PAC-10]
1965 Alabama [SEC]
1964 Alabama/Arkansas [SEC] (2)
1962 USC [PAC-10]
1961 Alabama [SEC]
1960 Ole Miss [SEC]
1958 LSU [SEC]
1957 Auburn [SEC]
1954 UCLA [PAC-10]
1951 Tennessee [SEC]
1932 USC [PAC-10]
1931 USC [PAC-10]
1930 Alabama [SEC]
1926 Alabama/Stanford [SEC/PAC-10]
1925 Alabama [SEC]
1922 Cal [PAC-10]
1921 Cal [PAC-10]
1920 Cal [PAC-10]
1908 LSU [SEC]

SEC: 21 titles
PAC-10: 15 titles


The SEC has significant number of titles, thanks to Alabama's 11. In a battle of two super powers, meanwhile, the Trojans dwarf the LSU Tigers with three titles to one, accounting for nine of the PAC-10's National Championships.

Now, there are those who are going to argue their team has more titles than is actually listed here, particularly USC and Alabama fans; the Trojans claim 11 titles, and 'Bama 12. Understandable, if you visit the team's official Web sites. But according to this unbiased site, it's only nine for USC and 11 for the Tide. However, at least in USC's case, it accounts for the 2003 championship, even if the Trojans didn't play in the BCS title game.

The convoluted thing about determining how many titles a certain team has won is that years ago, there were so many 'legitimate' selection committees running around that if just one of these outfits declared a champion, that particular team accepted said declaration and counted it as official regardless if there were countless other organizations that chose another team. The prime example is Alabama's alleged 1941 National title when Houlgate was the lone committee that declared the Crimson Tide the champion; however, the majority of the others, including the AP and National Championship Foundation, declared Minnesota as the title holder. So, because of the mess of trying to separate the wheat from the chaff, it becomes confusing with everybody claiming different things.

Nonetheless, it's clear that the SEC has significantly more titles than the PAC-10.

Which is it that makes the better conference -- Heisman winners or National Championships?

All this said, one thing that stands out from reviewing at stats and history: This really isn't a battle between the two conferences, per se; it's truly USC versus the entire SEC.

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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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CommentsComments: 19  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Bob		10:22 AM
07/11/2007
Well as far as the National Championships go, many Pac-10 teams were traditionally focussed on the Rose Bowl and not the NC as...
No.2
Matt H		11:52 AM
07/11/2007
You must be the product of an SEC education (other than Vandy). Check US News Rankings versus Pac-10 schools like Stanford, USC,...
No.3
Tristan		02:49 PM
07/11/2007
Here's the what: this entire deliberation is much ado about nada! Les Miles and most fans of the SEC (read- not the players or...
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