When you are always moving up in conferences and someone is always taking your place in the conference you left behind you are better than them. When you play someone and every time you play them you win and they lose you are better than them. When you are in an auto bid conference and someone is not you are better than them. When you are regularly playing higher level teams and winning and the biggest team the other team faces every year is you and they lose you are better than them. There really used to be no debate to be had and the idea that we should hitch our wagon to them simply because they were close and wanted it was a fringe idea at one point, it should have stayed that way because they brought nothing to our lives while we were the wind beneath their wings.