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Cotton Bowl Countdown: Big 12 vs. SEC

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The Sporting News put together a list of this season’s best non-BCS bowl games yesterday, and the Cotton Bowl came in at No. 1.

No surprise there. It is a top 10 game between 10-2 Arkansas and 10-2 Kansas State in a beautiful, new stadium. What’s not to like? Outside of the BCS title game and the Fiesta Bowl, you could make an argument for it being the third best postseason game out there. Even if you like the Rose Bowl better, the Cotton Bowl definitely looks to be more entertaining than the Orange and Sugar Bowls.

Here is how The Sporting News summed up the game:

“The Wildcats don’t have Arkansas’ talent, but can the Hogs match K-State’s will to win? Bill Snyder plus Bobby Petrino equals two premier coaches.”

I’ve got one more reason why the Cotton Bowl looks like a can’t-miss game: It’s a battle between the Big 12 and the SEC — the two most respected football conferences of 2011.

Or, as a wise e-mailer named David wrote when he suggested I blog about this topic:

“It is the only Big12-SEC matchup of the Bowl Season! The entire conference (Big 12) was fighting for survival what feels like just a few months ago, and with our two most recent turncoats (Texas A&M and Missouri) going to the SEC, this game seems like the only ‘statement’ opportunity to let the SEC know there is another conference in the nation on their level.”


Well said, David.

Though most of us wanted to see the Big 12 and SEC tangle in the BCS title game with Oklahoma State representing the Big 12 and LSU representing the SEC instead of the only-SEC-teams-allowed rematch we got, K-State vs. Arkansas will do just fine.

The Wildcats come from a conference built on spread offenses, high-scoring games and phenomenal quarterbacks.

The Razorbacks come from a conference known for winning national championships (five in a row, and soon to be six), strong defenses and charismatic coaches.

Some of those traits were evident on Nov. 5, when the nation looked on and had to choose between the SEC and Big 12 for the marquee game of the night.

In the SEC, Alabama and LSU were locked in a defensive battle with the Tigers coming out on top 9-6. In the Big 12, K-State and Oklahoma State were in a shootout. Oklahoma State pulled ahead, K-State took the lead, Oklahoma State answered and back and forth they went until Collin Klein overthrew Tramaine Thompson in the endzone on the final play of the game and the Cowboys celebrated a 52-45 victory.

It will be interesting to see how those two styles clash in Arlington.

On paper, both conferences look similar.

The SEC ended the regular season with five ranked teams, six teams have winning records and nine bowl eligible. It also had one miserable team. Mississippi went 2-10 and fired its coach.

The Big 12 came in with four ranked teams, six teams have winning records and eight bowl eligible. It also had one terrible team. Kansas went 2-10 and fired its coach.

In a way, the SEC and Big 12 share two teams. Texas A&M and Missouri will both join the SEC soon. They went a perfectly mediocre 9-9 in Big 12 play this season, giving fans across the conference nine opportunities to chant “Big 12, Big 12, Big 12″ at the end of games.

Who will chant their conference’s name at Cowboys Stadium? Finding out is a big reason why the Cotton Bowl is the best non-BCS bowl game of the year.

Editor’s Note: In 22 days, the Kansas State football team will face Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. With that in mind, I began counting down to the big game in Cowboys Stadium on Dec. 6 with 31 blog posts in 31 days. I use the word “attempting” because I can only think of so many blog ideas at the moment. I’m confident that I can go 31 for 31, but your help is appreciated. Feel free to send a blog idea (or two) my way at krobinett@wichitaeagle.com.


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