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Mad Dog Minute: BCS Championship Jan. 5: Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo gives five reasons why you have to like Florida in the national title game.

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Michael Oher, an African-American lineman at Mississippi, played the Cotton Bowl with “SEC” written in the blackened shade under his eyes. The Rebels backed up his bravado with a resounding 47-34 victory over Texas Tech.

“We had to represent,” Oher explained afterward. “There was a lot of talk of the Big 12 being better. It’s not true. We had to show ’em.”

Even those natives who don’t consider themselves SEC fans have to give the conference its due. Just listen to David Franklin, a civil engineering student at Georgia Tech (an ACC member) who’s got family ties to the Big 12.

“Depth-wise, the SEC is the best football conference in the country — and my brother plays for the University of Oklahoma,” the 20-year-old junior said. “Even though the Big 12 is strong this year, I still think you have to go with the SEC top to bottom.”

And Franklin spoke before his school was wiped out 38-3 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl by LSU, an SEC powerhouse that won the national championship a year ago but was a bit down this season.

The truth be told, there’s probably not that much difference between the SEC and the other top conferences, national titles notwithstanding.

During the regular season, SEC teams went 37-11 in non-conference games, but only 6-9 in games against opponents from other BCS conferences. The Big 12, by comparison, went 8-8 against other elite-level leagues and 38-10 overall outside the conference.

In the still-to-be-completed bowl season, the SEC holds an impressive 5-2 mark with that one big game remaining, but the Big 12 (4-2) is right on its heels and the Pac-10 bested them both with a perfect 5-0 mark.

Still, not a week goes by without some player or coach from the SEC talking about how demanding it is to win consistently in a league where half the members have at least one AP national championship in their trophy case. Just ask Phillip Fulmer, who guided Tennessee to No. 1 a decade ago. Or Tommy Tuberville, who led Auburn to a perfect season just five years ago. Both were forced out after disappointing seasons.

“If you look at the statistics and the toughness of the schedules and bowl results, there’s a lot of difference. That’s reality,” said Casey, the Gators’ tight end. “There aren’t any gimmes in the SEC. There are some in other conferences.”

So, let the rest of the country call them rubes. Just be prepared to pay the price on the football field.

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