SEC media's latest shot at the Big Ten backfires spectacularly

If you are going to go after the Big Ten, you'd better make sure you have your facts straight. ESPN SEC reporter Peter Burns, he made the poor mistake of taking a shot at the Big Ten and seriously missed.

The USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll dropped Tuesday, the first real preseason ranking before the college football season begins. There isn't much to debate in terms of the rankings, except for a few teams here and there. When it comes to the number of teams ranked per conference, the SEC leads the way with nine ranked teams, closely followed by the Big Ten with 8 teams ranked.

The mistake that Burns made was a crucial one: trying to prove the SEC's superiority over the Big Ten by saying 9 SEC teams play at least five ranked teams while not a single Big Ten team plays that number, and boy, was he very wrong.

As noted at the bottom of his tweet, not only do multiple Big Ten teams play five ranked teams, but two, including Michigan, play six ranked teams. This whole SEC and Big Ten debate continues to get spicier, and this certainly is adding fuel to the fire.

Michigan's schedule alone shows how tough the Big Ten really is

Michigan and Ohio State are the two teams in the Big Ten that, as of these rankings, will play six teams in the Coaches Poll Top 25. Granted, these rankings are bound to shake out differently as the season goes on, but right now, their schedules are loaded with ranked teams.

Kyle Whittingham really has his work cut out for him in his first season at Michigan with six ranked opponents on the schedule, starting with No. 9 Oklahoma in the second game of the season. Here is the list of ranked teams Michigan is set to face:

• at No. 1 Ohio State
• at No. 2 Oregon
• vs. No 6 Indiana
• vs. No. 9 Oklahoma
• vs. No. 17 Penn State
• vs. No. 22 Iowa

So not only does Michigan have to play six ranked teams, but as of right now, they have to travel to play at both No. 1 and No. 2, arguably two of the toughest places to play in college football. The Wolverines are in for a gauntlet of a schedule, and Burns says something like that; it's just laughable and a complete insult.

The SEC may have nine ranked teams, but let's face it, they got some handouts with their rankings, like Missouri coming in at No. 25. Burns is trying to play into this SEC-Big Ten feud, and he really missed the mark by trying to throw out an incorrect stat.

When the SEC is playing a schedule like Michigan's, tell them to come knocking, but until then, leave the best conference in college football alone.

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