DALLAS — The talk about what Texas coach Steve Sarkisian called “the pageantry” of the Southeastern Conference filled the Omni Hotel throughout SEC media days.

Coaches lauded the legacies of legendary programs. Players praised the league’s history of churning out high NFL draft picks. Commentators commended the ardent fan support, the rabid rivalries and the unquestioned dominance of a conference that has won 13 of the 18 national titles since 2005, the year Texas quarterback Vince Young got to that corner for the winning touchdown against USC in the Rose Bowl.

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But between the lines, what makes the SEC different from the Big 12, which served as Texas' home conference for 28 years?

When asked that question at media days, SEC folks from all angles talked less about the X's and O's than the Jim Bobs and Billy Joes, to update an old college football saying.

“I think one of the main things is just the talent overall,” said Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate entering his third year as the Longhorns’ starter. “Not to say the Big 12 wasn't talented, but I feel like in the SEC, there's a lot more first-round guys. And there’s good coaches that put them in a position to go in the first round.”

Talent unquestionably tops in SEC

Ewers isn’t wrong. The SEC has produced the most first-round picks in 13 of the past 14 years, a testimony to its blue-chip talent. But how does that edge in talent translate to the field? According to the coaches and players, games can come with more simplicity — and more brutality — in the SEC compared with the Big 12.

“The trenches are where this conference is decided usually, year in and year out,” said Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, whose team will make the leap from the Big 12 to the SEC alongside Texas. “We know the challenges, from a roster standpoint.”

So does Sarkisian, who spent three seasons working at Alabama under the recently retired Nick Saban. Since taking over at Texas in 2021, he has focused on recruiting players he likes to describe as “big humans.”

The result? The Longhorns will make their SEC debut with one of the best offensive lines in the country, anchored by left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., a projected first-round pick. They also have a deep defensive front that is likely to feature up to 10 players in the regular rotation.

“They're a big, physical team — they are built like an SEC football team,” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart, whose Bulldogs will visit Austin on Oct. 19 in what looks like one of the preeminent games of the season.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, a close friend of Sarkisian's who worked with the Texas coach at USC and Alabama, said Sarkisian’s time at Alabama had a big influence on his recruiting focus.

“Sark would know well the challenges in the SEC,” he said. “I think they (the Longhorns) are one of the elite rosters in America.”

Jahdae Barron, the Longhorns’ star nickel back, who has 139 tackles over the past two seasons, said Texas got a taste of that physical play in its nonconference games against Alabama over the past two seasons. He pointed out that the Tide often went to a 12 personnel set, lining up with one running back and two tight ends while trying to pound the Longhorns’ defense with the ground game.

“They want to do that until we stop the run and things like that,” Barron said about SEC offenses. “So we're going get ready for the trenches.”

Quinn Ewers getting ready for different defensive looks

The SEC defenses look different from the ones in the Big 12, too. Because of the presence of elite edge rushers as well as lockdown corners, SEC defenses will lean more on man coverage and less on zone schemes that feature five or six defensive backs. Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, a Utah native who spent his first collegiate season at USC, said he had to adapt to that different style when he arrived in Mississippi for the 2022 season.

“The speed of the game sped up a little bit,” Dart said. “In the Pac-12, they’d like to drop eight and you had some time in the pocket to make decisions. But it’s not like that in the SEC. They get on you pretty quick.”

Blake Shapen, the former Baylor quarterback who earned the starting job at Mississippi State in the spring, said he felt the difference in the SEC even during spring ball against his new teammates.

“I feel like the SEC, they're going to test your talent and play a lot more press man and test your athleticism more than the Big 12,” Shapen said. “In the Big 12, there are a lot of zone coverages. You're going to see the zone coverage in the SEC, too, but they will test you a little bit more.”

That’s an adaption that Ewers is already thinking about, even though he still has two weeks before the start of summer camp.

“The Big 12 was kind of a lot of 3-3-5,” he said, referring to the base defense that features five defensive backs. “Some teams in the SEC do it, but a lot don’t, so that's going to be an adjustment that we're going to have to take a look at, for sure.”

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Texas, OU joining SEC: It's 'elite with elite'

Regardless of schemes and personnel, the established SEC programs seemed well-drilled in welcoming Oklahoma and Texas to the conference at media days. Players and coaches from each school quickly praised the newcomers, saying the talent and tradition — Texas and Oklahoma have combined for 11 national titles — will fit in well with a conference eager to keep backing up its boasts about being the nation’s best.

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who starred at Flower Mound Marcus High School in the Dallas suburbs, is a self-proclaimed college football junkie who grew up a fan of former Oklahoma quarterback and Austin native Baker Mayfield.

“I think both OU and Texas are storied programs, and I think adding them into the SEC only does good for the game,” Nussmeier said. “It creates a more competitive environment in the already most competitive conference in college football. I think it's great for the conference, and I think it's great for the game.”

Venables said the addition of his Sooners squad and Texas to the SEC is “a partnership of elite with elite.”

“It’s two programs that in the history of college football take a backseat to nobody,” he said. “I just think it fortifies what was already the strongest conference in all of college football.”

Venables will get no argument from his counterpart in the Red River Rivalry.

“I've been fortunate enough to have spent three years in the Southeastern Conference,” Sarkisian said. “The pageantry of the games, the stadiums that you get to play in, the iconic programs, that's the beauty of the Southeastern Conference. The fact that we get to be part of it, now that it's finally here, is pretty exciting.

“This is an elite conference. It's going to take week-in and week-out work ethic, preparation, innovation, toughness, perseverance, mental fortitude if you get knocked down to get back up. It's going to take all the stuff we went through the last three years and put it in one year, because that's what this conference challenges you on. You're playing at an elite level, week in and week out.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas, OU: Differences between SEC, Big 12 football start with talent