Indiana HC Curt Cignetti takes shot at SEC after beating Alabama in Rose Bowl

Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Curt Cignetti took a shot at the SEC at Big Ten Media Days.

The last SEC team Cignetti and Indiana defeated en route to a National Championship last season was Alabama. The win and three straight National Championships for the Big Ten had Cignetti speaking confidently at media days.

“We don’t run a hype machine up here in the Midwest,” Cignetti said. “We believe everything is earned, not given. When we fall short, we say we fall short. When we don’t win, we don’t cry a river. We don’t whine and complain. That’s why we’re the best.”

The tension between the SEC and Big Ten has continued to rise in recent years. After the SEC claimed and showed it was the best football conference in college football for quite some time, the Big Ten looks to have taken that title and run with it.

Nick Saban stood up for the SEC at SEC Media Days.

“I think the only reason people are talking about this is we dominated for so long, and we were so good, everybody makes a big deal out of being able to beat us,” Saban said. “That doesn’t mean they’re better than us, and that doesn’t mean that just because you win the championship that you have a better conference. It just means you have one better team.”