Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley made news Tuesday, for comments he made regarding the University of Georgia's defensive rankings. On ESPNU's Sirius XM channel, Riley made this comment to Danny Kanell and Taylor Zarzour:
"If you throw Georgia in the Big 12 every year, there is no way they are a top-five defense in the country. That's not a shot at Georgia. They were absolutely one of the best defenses last year. It's a compliment to our league (the Big 12)."
There is probably some merit that Georgia wouldn't have ranked that high defensively if you punt them in the Big 12, but the inverse is also true. If you were to out a Big 12 school in the SEC, they probably wouldn't rank as highly offensively.
Georgia beat Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl 54-48, and earned a spot in the National Championship game, where they eventually lost to Alabama.