By Harry King

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas athletic director did his darnedest to knock down the Razorbacks-to-the-Big-12 rumor with a straightforward, unambiguous statement.

The next day, the UA chancellor added oomph to the denial with “… we’re not going anywhere,” and “… we’re staying in the SEC.”

Plug your ears, turn off the computer, believe Jeff Long and David Gearhart, and note the insight from Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon. Tweets are not facts, she said this week after Tom Izzo decided to turn down the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Still skeptical? Then weigh the SEC against the Big 12 in the areas that matter most — stability, revenue sharing and prestige — and identify a legitimate reason for Arkansas to pull up stakes.

Until Texas came to the rescue a few days ago, the Big 12 had been reduced to five leftovers without a conference. Who is to say how long it will be before another team or two tires of kowtowing to Texas or the Longhorns get a hankering for some other affiliation?

During all the expansion speculation, the SEC was THE major football conference with a pat hand. The SEC did not seek new members and none of the current teams fished around for an invite to another league.

In the SEC, TV revenue is shared equally among the 12 schools and the boodle is slightly more than $17 million per … for another 14 years. On top of that, membership in the SEC is bound to have enhanced Nike’s interest in the Razorbacks.

Whatever the Big 12 is called, Texas and the other nine will not share equally. The conference will continue to put some TV money into a pot to be shared by all 10 and some TV money into another pot to be paid out to those responsible. In 2009, Texas received $15.5 million, Nebraska got $12.8 million, Oklahoma $12.7 million and Oklahoma State $12.4 million. The other eight got less.

The money will improve when the league negotiates new contracts with Fox and ESPN, but in this league, Texas and OU will be the biggest earners because of their numerous TV appearances. Arkansas would compete with Oklahoma State and Texas Tech for the next two spots in the pecking order.

Football in the Big 12 is good at the top; not so good on down the line. Even though Florida and Alabama were the class of 2009, it is the weekly tests that set the SEC apart.

Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas are not as competitive as Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State, Kentucky and South Carolina — all of whom finished below .500 in the SEC last year. A casual fan will choose the SEC every time.

During the past dozen years, four SEC teams have won a total of six national championships and an unbeaten fifth team (Auburn) did not have an opportunity to compete in 2004. During that same period, Texas and Oklahoma won one each and no other Big 12 team was in the picture.

Just last year, the SEC had five schools with average attendance of 90,000 to 100,000. Texas was the only Big 12 team with better attendance than Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Alabama and Florida. More than half of the stadiums in what used to be the Big 12 have a capacity of 60,000 or less.

To be the best, you have to beat the best, and the SEC is the best.

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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.