Lane Kiffin, SEC chest puffers should watch Ohio State football’s blowout of Tennessee close — Jimmy Watkins

On By Littum

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tennessee’s game song blares over the Ohio Stadium speakers, but few orange-clad fans are singing “Rocky Top.” Most of them volunteered to leave early during (or more accurately, before) Ohio State’s 42-17 loss at Tennessee on Saturday in the College Football Playoff, which is odd. Because the SEC representatives looked, acted and talked a lot tougher at the start of the evening.

“They thought they were going to take this place over,” Howard said. “We showed them pretty quickly that we weren’t going to let that happen.”

They sure tried. Vols fans filled The Shoe at an impressive rate when the stadium gates opened, to the point where people wondered aloud whether UT could “take over” the road site. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin spent his weekend talking trash on Twitter, the internet’s harshest echo chamber, i support for his conference. And Tennessee players took the field shirtless during warmups, signaling to pregame doubters that December weather can’t stop the South.

Together, the SEC chest thumpers almost convinced me they were macho men. Then the game started and – again, strangely – the volunteers looked a little cool.

Ohio State led 14-0 within seven minutes and 21-0 less than five minutes later. The Buckeyes never trailed and led by at least two scores for over 53 of 60 minutes. When OSU running back TreVeyon Henderson scored a 24-yard touchdown that put Ohio State up 42-10 with 10:53 left, he helped put a new spin on an old Southern adage.

They like to say in SEC land that “Footbawl just maynes more” down there. They point to Nick Saban’s Alabama and Kirby Smart’s Georgia, which won five of the first 10 CFP national titles (though not the most recent), as their flag bearers. And we’re supposed to assume that the other members of the conference nearby are just as impressive.

Even a three-loss, Saban-less Alabama, they shout from their laptops, could play Penn State better than SMU did during Saturday’s 38-10 Big Ten win. Do you pick one-loss Indiana, which lost 27-17 against Notre Dame on Friday, over three-loss juggernauts like Ole Miss or South Carolina? Eye roll.

“Really exciting competitive playoff game @CFBPlayoff,” Kiffin entered into the ether Friday evening. “Great job!!”

Why do these propagandists spend so much time arguing for a supremacy they can no longer prove? “I have no idea,” OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said Saturday. “I don’t know. I know we won today and we played pretty well.” We also know that the Big Ten advanced three teams to the CFP quarterfinals (OSU, PSU and Oregon), while the SEC advanced two (Texas and Georgia). I can’t wait for SEC supporters to formulate their hypothetical retort for this reality.

Here they come: If Alabama made the playoff (read: didn’t lose to 6-6 Vanderbilt), the SEC could have restored its dominance. If the committee paid more attention to top 25 wins (and overlooked ugly conference losses), then Ole Miss or South Carolina would give the South another seat at the table. But if you’re living in reality, those teams are sitting at home puffing their chests and voicing their displeasure with the poor competition we saw this weekend.

Notre Dame led Indiana by 24 before winning by 10. Penn State beat SMU by four touchdowns. Ohio State beat the third-best SEC team by 25 points on Saturday night, but Saban’s performance, shirtless players and sarcastic tweets and have to convince me that the South still plays better football.

Color me skeptical after seeing tons of Orange fans leave Ohio Stadium early Saturday night. Or call me old school for suggesting the SEC proves its superiority on the scoreboard. As long as Georgia beats Notre Dame and Texas beats Arizona State next week — small potatoes for college football’s superpowers — the SEC will earn another chance (fun concept) to put the Big Ten in its place.

They can leave the locker room shirtless, watch their rivals wave internet pom poms and fill the stadium with Southern fans. But if it’s not too much trouble, they should also try to play within two or three touchdowns — at least until the game song plays over the speakers in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, football audiences may wonder where the tough guys went, even misunderstand the conference motto.

“Big Ten Football. It just means more, I think,” Ohio State tackle Donovan Jackson said Saturday.

The scoreboard agrees, if you’re into that sort of thing. If not, enjoy the drive home to SEC country. The Buckeyes enjoyed hosting you so much they played your favorite song in the fourth quarter.

Too bad you didn’t stay long enough to sing.

“What did they call it, Neyland (Stadium) North, something like that?” Jackson said. “Yeah, that was stupid.”