To say the SEC is the best football conference in the nation is like saying the winner of American Idol is a better singer than you and me.
Duh.
This isn't like trying to figure out why there isn't a Channel 1.
The SEC has won the last six national championships by four different schools --- LSU, Alabama, Florida, Auburn
In the last decade, LSU has the most wins and best winning percentage in the SEC. No big surprise. Guess who's second?
Alabama? Really good guess, but no.
Florida? Another good try, but no.
Ole Miss? You need to read the question again.
It's none than Georgia, which will invade Columbia on Saturday night (6:45 p.m. kickoff, ESPN2) to tangle with the Tigers in Missouri's first SEC game as a member of the SEC.
"We are playing a great football team," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "(Georgia coach) Mark Richt has done a great job there."
There's a good reason why the Bulldogs have won 108 games in the last 11 seasons --- they have 35 players currently playing in the NFL. Several players on the present roster will be playing on Sundays in the near future.
"If you look at the job he has done there the past 11 years," Pinkel said, "his win-loss record and the success he's had in the best league in the nation, I'm very, very impressed."
In this mutual admiration society, Richt feels the same about his counterpart.
"I have a lot of respect for what coach Pinkel's doing at Missouri," said Richt, who actually interviewed for the Missouri job before it was awarded to Pinkel.
"I've said all along, when you turn on the film, you see excellence. They have guys who are playing extremely hard and fast."
During his weekly press conference, Richt actually spoke about every Missouri starter on both offense and defense. We'll trim his conversation down to two.
"Their offense starts with their quarterback, (James) Franklin," said Richt, who's in his 12th season with the Bulldogs. "He's a big physical runner and he throws the ball extremely well. Those type of guys are extremely tough to defend.
"On defense, (tackle) Sheldon Richardson, without a doubt, is a great football player. He's very physical and I think he's really poised to have a great year."
Ah, Sheldon Richardson. Last Saturday, the junior said he watched Georgia's game against Buffalo, but "turned it off because it was old-man football."
Not the smartest words ever uttered by man.
"I'll say this," Richt said with a smile, "being over 50, I'm getting AARP stuff in the mail, so I thought is was a compliment, really. He's got a lot of respect for us, that's what I thought.
"I've just never heard it put that way."
For the seventh-ranked Bulldogs, junior quarterback Aaron Murray drives the bus. He completed 59 percent of his passes last year for 3,149 yards and 35 touchdowns.
Last week against Buffalo, Murray was 15-of-26 for 258 yards and three scores.
"He is very impressive, how he handles their offense," Pinkel said. "Fundamentally he is good, he makes good decisions, he makes good throws ... he drives the team."
The Georgia defense is good --- and could, perhaps, be really good Saturday night. It depends on whether standouts Alec Ogletree (linebacker) and safety Bacarri Rambo take the field.
According to reports, both were suspended for disciplinary reasons for four games. Perhaps they're not bad chaps after all, however, and those suspensions could be trimmed to four quarters.
The folks at Georgia are sitting on this like it's a national security secret.
Asked Tuesday if their presence atop the depth chart at their respective positions meant they would play against Missouri, Richt said with a wide grin: "I would just as soon not give them all of our business.
"I would say I'll let y'all know when the time comes."
I think we'all now the answer to that question.
But in the end, this historic game is more about Missouri than two guys from Georgia.
"I think it is very important," senior receiver T.J. Moe said. "But it's not a game-breaker either way. If you come out and not play your best, it's not really going to mess up your season.
"But when you play well early on in the season, you get a lot of confidence and your team really gets on the right track. That's what we're going to try to do."
SEC, here we are.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG