Your first problem is having such an ignorant friend. Secondly, the burden of showing any national relevance is on him (and the Big 12, cesspool driven dumpster fire conference), not you. There are no objectively derived metrics that support his ignorant position. The facts relative to television viewership, attendance, conference revenue, inter-conference records, national championships, All American players, Heisman trophies, national reputation and national sports media reporting are clear --- the SEC is the best conference. And, the same metrics indicate that the "dumpster fire" continues to be the worst power 5 conference.