An Open Letter to Bob Stoops from The SEC: Thoughts on the Oklahoma head coach and The Big 12 (excerpted in the Oklahoman)

This Off-season Bob Stoops decided to talk bad about the SEC... Now we're going to talk about Bob and his conference

I was reached by Jason Kersey for my thoughts on Bob Stoops. You can read that article featuring my opinion along side those of Clay Travis, Paul Finebaum, Tim Brando and many other people who are way more well known than me HERE

Dear Bob,

     From our viewpoint, you calling out the SEC in the off-season is just kind of silly. Stoops called out the SEC's schedules and the have and have-not culture of the Super Excellent Conference (SEC) while football was on vacation. OU did beat Alabama last year. We don't dispute that. Granted, Alabama has a history of not showing up in "consolation games" under Saban (see: versus Utah in the 2009 Sugar Bowl). Alabama threw caution to the wind against Oklahoma and decided to throw passes on first down quite a bit in that game. That's not how Nick Saban and "the process" is supposed to operate. Analysis of tendencies aside, Oklahoma won the game in a convincing fashion. Hats off to them. They played well. It was THAT game though. Against THAT Alabama team. Then Bob had to go and get all uppity with us.

     If we're going to use one game to make blanket statements about leagues then let's just point to Iowa State getting blown out by 20 at home to FCS North Dakota State. If we want to talk about schedules then let's talk about Baylor playing a non-conference slate with teams that may or may not be actual accredited universities. They play nobody out of the league. The joke floating around is that one of the many cutting edge features at Baylor's new stadium is the security system that locks out any decent non conference opponents. 

     The most or second most prestigious team in the Big 12 is Texas. I could explain why they're bad by using thousands of words. For the sake of brevity, let's just point out that Texas got beat for the second year in a row by BYU last Saturday. And I mean BEAT. Like beat in a slash-and-burn manner where everyone has to pack up and leave town to start anew somewhere. Baylor's rise has been legitimate. I say that for two reasons. The first, I like Art Briles as a human being and he seems like a "legit guy." The second, because I doubt the Baptists are buying up a bunch of players or anything close to it down there in Waco. Following the rules and bylaws of the NCAA is "doing things legitimately" even by the strictest definition of the word. But I digress... My point here is that Baylor was defeated handily by Central Florida in their BCS bowl game. Nobody used that to make any blanket statements about the Big 12 (until right now). 

     What I always remember about Stoops is that he's Spurrier junior. He wore the visor and everything and looked like a young Steve on the UF sideline. Without his defense Florida never wins a title. I like to think he learned to talk from Steve. What Stoops has failed to realize is that Spurrier's quips were always clever and funny. Bob's remarks about the SEC didn't strike any humorous chords.

     So here's the deal Bob. We, the people of the SEC, always kind of respected you. You were like the little sister that grew out of the shadow of her more attractive and socially established elder sibling and got her own swag. But remember Bob, we are the older sister that taught you all you know about being cool. You can't forget who made you. If you want to talk about Oklahoma being good then you can Bob. It appears you have a contender there. We know this because we have about five title-caliber teams a year. (#BLESSED)  You are a good coach with a good team that will beat a middling Tennessee squad on Saturday. Sadly, due to the comments you made, the focus this week will be on you instead of your football team. The Big 12 is a joke though Bob, and by calling us out, you became a punchline too. Can't wait to see you in January.

Love,

The SEC