Bob Stoops: SEC dominance is part propaganda

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said the bottom half of the Big 12 compares well to the SEC's worst teams. (Jackson Laizure/Getty Images)

Bob Stoops has given SEC schools and fans something to rally around this offseason. The Oklahoma head coach told the Tulsa World that the same SEC that just had a record 63 players selected in the NFL Draft three months after winning a seventh consecutive football national championship is not above "propaganda."

Speaking during a caravan promoting Sooners football, Stoop said the SEC has ruled the national championship, but the Big 12 and other conferences aren't far from closing a gap many see as gaping.

Here's what Stoops told the Tulsa World.

"Well, it depends on what gap you're talking about," Stoops said. "What are the bottom six doing?

"So they've had the best team in college football," Stoops said. "They haven't had the whole conference. Because, again, half of 'em haven't done much at all. I'm just asking you. You tell me."

Stoops was comparing the strength of the Big 12's bottom-half of teams against the SEC's. Five SEC teams that did not go to a bowl last year -- Auburn, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee were a combined 19-41. The Big 12's bottom half included a combined 29-35 overall record from Texas Tech, TCU, West Virginia, Iowa State and Kansas. Both conferences sent nine teams to 2013-14 bowl games. Of course, many other records and head-to-head outcomes could be factored into the debate.

"It depends on who you want to listen to," Stoops told the Tulsa World. "Listen, they've had the best team in college football, meaning they've won the national championship. That doesn't mean everything else is always the best.

"So you're listening to a lot of propaganda that gets fed out to you," he said. "You're more than smart enough to figure it out. Again, you can look at the top two, three, four, five, six teams, and you can look at the bottom six, seven, eight, whatever they are. How well are they all doing?

"What'd we (the Big 12) have, eight of 10 teams in bowl games this year? Again, you figure it all out."

Texas A&M trouncing Stoops and the Sooners, 41-13