If you go back far enough then Yale and Harvard are powerhouses, The SEC was Tough back in the day also, how far back are you talking? Okay lets take the AP champs
40sMinn,Minn,OS,ND,Army,Army,ND,ND,Mich,ND
Man Notre Dame was dominant that Decade 4 National Champs
Yall had 3 National Champs and us none
50s OU,Tenn,MSU,Maryl,Ohio state,, OU, OU, Aub, LSU,Syracuse
Decade for Oklahoma 3 champs
Big 10 2 champos and SEC 3 Champs
60s Minn,Ala,USC,Texas,Ala,Ala,ND,USC,Ohio state
Decade team was Ala with 3
SEC 3 and Big 10 1
70s Neb,Neb, USC, ND, OU, OU, Pitt, ND, Ala, Ala
Big 12 won 4 of the 10
Sec 2 Big 10 0
80 UGA,Clemson,PennState,Miami,BYU,OU,Penn State,MiamiND,Miami,CU
Hey is Penn State in the Big 10
okay SEC 1 Big 10 1
okay from the 40s to the 80s SEC got 9 Champs and yall got 7 pretty close.
But really I dont think that is the Measure of a conference, I mean look at the Big 12 for years they were OU and Neb and all they had to do was beat one team and win their bowl and they were in, Now they put some dominating teams on the field but would you call the big 12 a Tough conference?
Anyway I enjoyed looking at all those old champs, In Retrospect I think the Big 10 is a tough conference, But I stand by my statement that the Pac 10 is a bunch of Candy A$$es
Since you were bringing up Strength of Schedule check out this site
http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/misc/schedule_rankings.php
It has ALL TIME Strength of Schedule and your Beloved Michigan is #1 the rest are Texas, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Northwestern, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Iowa. WOW! SEC has 4 Teams and Big 10 has 3, I think that shows that when it comes to Toughest conference we are just a little Tougher than yall but Hey look at SEC and Big 10 combined 7 of 10!!!!!!! Wow that means if your team aint in the SEC or Big 10 well you are just not running with the big Dogs!
You know whay would prove waht conference was the best?... ... ... ... ..... You Knew it was coming... ... ... . A PLAYOFF!!! PUT UP OR SHUT UP! LETS LINE UP ON THE FIELD AND RUMBLE! Till that day there will always be controversy, sigh