A Pithy Defense of Defense in the Big 12

In a year of Big 12 envy, certain fans of other BCS conferences have regularly fallen back on the last decent argument that allows them to cling to the past: The only reason the Big 12 teams have looked so spectacular is that their defenses are so lackluster. The SEC fans (whom I admire for their dedication), with their historically great defenses, are the first and loudest in making this claim. Respectfully though, I believe Urban Meyer's version of the spread, powered by Tebow and Co., has been exposing the mythic SEC defenses as merely good this season. This is relevant because the Gators are probably the only SEC team with an offense comparable to the top Big 12 teams. Florida has scored no less than 30 points in EVERY conference game so far this season. That includes 30 on Tennessee (No. 11 in total defense), 49 on Georgia (No. 30 in total defense), 51 on LSU (No. 21 in total defense), and 63 on Kentucky (No. 26 in total defense). Now ... (link)