CLEVELAND, Ohio — The eternal debate between the SEC and Big Ten has taken a fascinating new turn this season.

With nine SEC teams currently ranked in the AP Poll, accusations of conference bias are flying once again. But Josh Pate offers a more nuanced take on a recent episode of his college football podcast that challenges both SEC critics and defenders.

Rather than dismissing SEC bias claims outright, Pate issues a challenge.

“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, of course, a lot of their teams are ranked. Well, they’re ranked so that they can prop up themselves by talking about how many ranked wins they have,’” Pate said. “That only fits if you can point to me the SEC teams that don’t deserve to be ranked.”

This shifts the conversation from vague accusations to specific evidence. Are there re

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