After reading this piece by Tony Gerdeman where he touches on the non-existence of SEC "domination" over Big 10 teams in bowl games, I wondered about the details of the actual matchups and the relative conference positioning of the teams that played.
Here's what I found:
Past 4 Seasons
Past 4 Seasons
- Big 10 teams had a higher final conference standing than the SEC in 4 out of 10 (.400) meetings. Big 10 teams had a 3-1 (.750) record in these games
- SEC teams had a higher final conference standing in only 1 out of 10 (.100) games. The SEC had a 1-0 (1.000) record in that meeting
- Big 10 teams had an average conference standing of 2.9 compared to the SEC's 3.7
- In years teams had equal conference standings, SEC teams had a record of 3-2 (.600) against Big 10 teams
- Big 10 teams had a higher final conference standing than SEC teams in 8 out of 21 (.381) meetings compiling a 5-3 (.625) record
- SEC teams had a higher conference standing in 5 out of 21 (.238) meetings with a record of 2-3 (.400)
- Big 10 teams had an average conference standing of 3.6 compared to the SEC's 4.1
- SEC teams were 5-3 (.625) in games where both teams have an equal conference finish
These final two years were not included in the analysis of the original piece, but 10 years seemed less arbitrary to me than 8 years.
- Big 10 team has had a higher conference finish than the SEC in 11 out of 26 (.423) meetings with a record of 6-5 (.545).
- SEC teams still only had a higher conference finish in 5 (out of 26) (.192) meetings in ten years
- Big 10 teams had an average conference finish of 3.3 compared to the SEC's 3.8
- Overall, in the past 10 seasons, SEC teams are 14-12 (.538) against Big 10 teams while being consistant conference finish underdogs
- SEC teams were 7-3 (.700) in games where both teams have an equal conference finish
