There is a constant discourse among college football fans regarding where the best in the country play. To most, the debate is truly only between the SEC and Big Ten. This is particularly true following realignment, which resulted in conferences throughout the country looking like nothing that a fan from a bygone era would have even been able to recognize.

That being said, there is beginning to emerge something of a data set in which support from the conference, which is mainly hosted in the Midwest, is the dominant CFB power.

Indiana’s coach Curt Cignetti, as shared by USA Today, spoke on the current state of the Big Ten. According to coach Cignetti, the belief is more about ‘earning’ any given designation, rather than touting something vague or unobjective, which ultimately leads to pointless, circular conversations.

Fair enough, too. Coach Cignetti is, in fact, coming off a season in which he was able to lead his team to the title. By all means, the Indiana HC guided his unit to the ultimate praiseworthy accomplishment.

His words, however, do go a little deeper. In coach Cignetti’s commentary, the Hoosier HC mentions how tough and physical all teams are and how difficult it is to win on the road.

Critics of this statement may argue that programs like Nebraska and Rutgers would be unable to compete against those formidable rosters such as Alabama or Georgia. This is, however, an unequal comparison.

The top of any conference would, of course, do well on most nights against the rest of the country. Instead, the argument is more about how the middle of the pack would do against each other. More importantly, too, it needs to be asked how often the lower-level teams are able to steal one from a top opponent and how much sap from the opposition, even during an eventual loss.

It is here that the Big Ten is able to provide slightly enhanced challenges and difficulties compared to its SEC counterparts.

There is, at the very least, a great argument that the BIG environment does, in fact, make teams more playoff-ready compared to the rest of the nation.