It’s obvious SEC coaches do not respect top-ranked Ohio State’s scheduling this season.

During Wednesday’s appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen downplayed any idea that the SEC lost national traction last fall after its bowl-season demise and later referenced the Buckeyes’ soft remaining slate.

“You kept hearing things in the offseason, ‘the SEC has lost its luster’ and ‘the SEC has lost its power’ and other leagues are catching up,” Mullen said.  “I don’t know that’s the case now. I think what’s always made this league so special is the depth of the league. I think top teams around the country in every conference can play with anybody in the SEC, but we’re in at No. 25 … so we’re the 10th ranked team in our conference.

“And we’re 25th-ranked in the nation. That’s pretty good. You’re going to see that anywhere else. you’re not going to see that depth of teams. And having to play week in and week out this schedule is really what makes this league so tough.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema mentioned Ohio State has ‘one ranked team left on its schedule while we have eight’ during the SEC coaches teleconference.

A record-setting 10 SEC teams appeared in Tuesday’s AP Top 25 and seven of those squads Mississippi State will play the rest of the way, beginning with this weekend’s showdown against LSU.

“You go up and look at the top teams in the Big Ten, they’re playing one ranked team a year,” Mullen said. “They’re getting a lot of time to roll in younger players and have the opportunity to stay healthy throughout the course of the year and really get motivated for that one big game.

“Here in the SEC, especially the West, everybody’s ranked and every single week you’ve got to bring your A-game.”