It’s the Big 12′s own version of the chicken or the egg: Earth-shattering offenses or less-than-impressive defenses, which came first?

Oklahoma State’s defense surrendered 28.1 points per game in 2008, a number that would have placed it behind all but one Southeastern Conference school, and almost four points more than Georgia’s world-ending 24.5 mark.

Bulldogs and Columbia, Mo. natives quarterback Logan Gray and tight end Aron White talk about the conference they’ve now been pitted against.

ON GROWING UP BIG 12 FANS:

GRAY: “I don’t know if I was a huge Big 12 fan in general, but I grew up watching a lot of Big 12 football. Grew up watching the Missouri Tigers, Nebraska Cornhuskers, that’s who everyone was talking about when I was growing up as a powerhouse, and Oklahoma and stuff. I’m definitely familiar with the Big 12.”

WHITE: “I always really looked up to the guys at Missouri. I knew guys growing up who had brothers on the team or family friends or somebody on the team, and every once in a while I would get that ticket. In high school that was kind of the thing to do on Saturday. Go get the general admission ticket and go sit on the hill at Missouri.”

ON IF BIG 12 DEFENSES GET A BAD RAP:

GRAY: “Anytime you’ve got quarterbacks like Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Chase Daniel last year, Zac Robinson, guys like that chucking the ball around, it’s going to be hard on a defense. I think there’s a ton of good defensive players [in the Big 12] and we know Oklahoma State’s going to be ready to play.”

WHITE: “I guess they’re just not used to playing against different kind of offenses, as far as how SEC teams play football. Just like any other region. If you went out to the West Coast they run a different kind of ball out there. It just comes down to how you prepare for that game and that team specifically. So I wouldn’t knock on anybody’s defense.”

ON WHERE THEIR ALLEGIANCES LIE NOW:

GRAY: “I’m SEC all the way now. If I see another SEC team playing I’m cheering for them and the conference. I definitely know how many players are coming out of the Big 12 and I have tons of respect for that conference because they can play. They’ve had some offenses the last few years that have been throwing up crazy points, and obviously Oklahoma State’s one of them.”

WHITE: “I think it’s going to be cool to go in there and see where we would stack up, where I would have stacked up if I had stayed closer to home … I’m not saying all of our teams would dominate any team from any other conference or anything like that, but I think that definitely all around there’s just a tremendous amount of talent that commits to play football in the SEC.