re: Big 12 stronger than the SEC?

I think that it's really hard to say. Florida is, IMHO, the best team out there right now. Aside from that, it really is hard to gauge how good a conference is based entirely on in-conference games. With that said, I would give the edge at this point in the season to the Big 12 because I think that the defenses in the SEC aren't as dominant across the board as they are in most years (although they're still better than most).