It’s no secret the SEC West outperformed the SEC East in 2014.

SEC West teams finished 11-4 against SEC East teams.

After some embarrassing non-conference and cross-divisional losses for Eastern Division teams early, the narrative by the first of October read that Arkansas — the worst team in the West — would win the East. Yes, for a four-week stretch from early October to early November, SEC East teams were playing so badly (or the SEC West was so deep, however you choose to look at it) that pundits began to say that the Razorbacks, at the time winless in SEC play, would win the division.

I have news for you, however.

The East, while mediocre, isn’t as putrid as we thought. And the West, while good, isn’t as invincible as we thought.

Most SEC programs have a permanent and a rotating crossover opponent. How those matchups fall dictates a lot.

Those games are toss-up games more often than not. How a season unfolds for teams and the cross-divisional matchups each team faces affects the perception of each division.

Missouri and Georgia — the East’s two best teams — swept their Western Division opponents, and did so in convincing fashion. The Bulldogs dominated Auburn, holding the Tigers to their fewest points scored and worst offensive output under Gus Malzahn. Mizzou won rather convincingly at Texas A&M, scoring 28 points in the third quarter to take a two-touchdown lead to the fourth quarter.

However, that was the only bright spot for for the SEC East in 2014.

The Eastern Division had two teams with losing records in 2014, while two more finished 6-6. Its counterpart had just one 6-6 team, with the other six clubs from the SEC West finishing with seven wins or better.

The West’s 6-6 lone team — Arkansas — finished on a surge, winning three of its final five games. Yes, Tennessee won three of four down the stretch to finish 6-6, however, its three wins came against less talented teams.

Five of the seven SEC West teams finished with eight wins or better, and that’s against the toughest division in college football. The West tallied the better non-conference wins, beating Kansas State, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Boise State.

The East’s best non-conference win was Georgia’s season-opening win over Clemson.

There is a chasm between the two divisions, that point is not up for debate. However, it’s not Atlantic Ocean-wide.

Missouri’s loss in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday is only a small point in the debate. The Tigers earned their way to Atlanta at 10-2, and won the games they had to win down the stretch after a 34-0 loss to Georgia on Oct. 11.

Though Saturday’s SEC Championship Game is only a part of the conversation, the whole of what the West has done, and with its longevity, says it all.

 The West boasts the two best teams in the conference in Alabama and Mississippi State. However, the middle of both divisions are comparable.

Texas A&M split with its SEC East foes, as did Auburn. Arkansas, lauded as the hottest team in the country entering the final weeks of the regular season, was swept by its SEC East opponents.

The story we’ll remember, however, is that six of the seven SEC West teams were ranked in the top 10 at one point or another in 2014. Just two SEC East teams accomplished such a feat.

But that’s not the whole story. Just as Kentucky’s collapse, Florida’s offensive woes or the SEC East’s 0-4 mark against the ACC on Rivalry Saturday don’t tell the whole story, either.

Some will point and recall the West went 11-4 against the East, but head-to-head doesn’t tell the whole story, as the College Football Playoff committee has shown us.

What is the story, you may ask?

While better from top-to-bottom, the SEC West wasn’t better than the NFC West. Nor was the SEC East so bad some of the newly-crowned high school state championship teams could’ve won in the division.

And the East is in prime position to close the gap, or become the better division in 2015.