Big Ten Responds to SEC Challenge

Commissioner Jim Delaney wrote a scathing letter rebutting charges by Tom Lemming and other recruiting analysts that the BT has fallen behind the SEC for its failure to recruit below the Mason-Dixon line and its more stringent academic standards. Delaney uses head-to-head matchups, Heisman winners, and national titles to make his point that the two leagues are at a point of parity.

Wisconsin's most recent bowl victories prove this point. Bucky was not the league's elite team in '05 or '06, but demonstrated the team speed necessary to defeat Auburn and Arkansas teams that were allegedly on a different level. The fastest team on the field in the 2006 Capitol One Bowl was undoubtedly the Badgers, and Ike's chasing down of all-world RB McFadden is a testament to the fact that the BT has the athletes to play with any league, even if the talent comes from our nation's breadbasket.