Bruce Pearl claims Big Ten is 'not as strong' compared to SEC in football

Bruce Pearl isn’t only an SEC spokesman when it comes to college basketball. During an appearance on the Gary Parrish Show Monday, the Auburn head coach defended SEC football while taking a jab at the Big Ten.

“Top to bottom, Big Ten football is not as strong as the SEC,” Pearl said. “Go to Mississippi State when they’re having a bad year, and half your kids are in the hospital when you leave the game. It is every single night. I thought our SEC football teams were exhausted.

“Now, you’re at Ohio State, or you’re at Penn State — two teams that got deep into the playoffs… They only had two or three games on the entire schedule that were like about seven or eight games for Ole Miss or Alabama or Auburn, or any of the SEC teams. And I think those football guys were exhausted.”

Most SEC teams had a stronger strength of schedule than Big Ten teams due to the depth of the conference. Nonetheless, the Big Ten ultimately had the last laugh, with Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon each finishing within the top five of the final AP Top 25.

Most importantly, the Buckeyes brought home the national championship to the Big Ten. It’s the second year in a row a Big Ten program has won the national title, with Michigan winning it all the previous year.

Bruce Pearl believes teams that have a weaker regular season schedule have an advantage in the postseason. Moreover, Pearl said this reality doesn’t only apply to football, but basketball too.

“Memphis and Gonzaga, those two teams, are sort of putting up with their conferences [through] January, February, and all they’re thinking is about March. They’re so excited,” Pearl said.

“By the time they get to March, and they’re playing against great teams they’ve been watching on TV all year long with something to prove because nobody’s been talking about Memphis, and people are sick and tired of hearing about Auburn, Alabama, Florida and all these great SEC teams. There’s something to that.”

Pearl believes SEC teams may be too exhausted after their grueling conference play schedule to play to their potential during March Madness. Alas, Auburn’s gauntlet of a schedule hasn’t slowed it down yet.

Under Pearl’s leadership, the Tigers are 25-2 and the No. 1 team in the nation. If Pearl’s lucky, he’ll be wrong and his team will continue to look like the best team in the country during the postseason.