Jon Joseph Moderator No. 1 Share Posted January 24 What have you done for me Lately? Maybe? But I am in The Not So Fast Group. Top to bottom, recruiting rankings, championships won, NFL draft picks, it's still the SEC. But the gap has closed, no doubt. Looking ahead to 2025-26, preseason-ranked SEC teams' rosters and B1G rosters are not dissimilar and neither are the staffs coaching the teams. It's not like the day when B1G teams had no chance to compete at the LOS. Three preseason games that see Texas at Ohio State, Michigan at Oklahoma, and Wisconsin at Alabama should be interesting. The SEC CFB hegemony may or may not be over. Two years of B1G back-to-back titles does not IMO wipe out decades of dominance. Has Big Ten surpassed SEC in college football hierarchy? Examining the gap between powerhouse conferences - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The Big Ten winning back-to-back national titles has sparked a debate about who sits atop the college football world However, I am hoping that I am yet again wrong. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 2 Share Posted January 24 On the current state of things Other Hand: College football rankings: Ohio State is No. 1 as three Big Ten teams land in top five of final CBS Sports 134 - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State all ranked in the top five of our final FBS-wide rankings for 2024-25 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 3 Share Posted January 24 On 1/24/2025 at 2:05 PM, Jon Joseph said: Two years of B1G back-to-back titles does not IMO wipe out decades of dominance. No, but moving forward, the top 10 of each is as close as ever. It doesn't seem like the SEC is as crazy about basketball, but they are dominating there, though Oregon did beat Alabama. In ESPN's latest Bracketology. SEC has 13 teams, B1G has 10. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 4 Share Posted January 25 Top 6 or 7? This season, yes. Ten deep as of today, I hand it to the SEC and this is where the B1G needs to make up ground. On the other hand, in a season when it just meant more to South Carolina, Vandy, and Florida in the back half, should it not have meant more to SEC-SEC-SEC fans? And therein lies the rub. SEC fans loved to stock-car draft behind The Tide and other top teams but with more balanced coaching and talent levels does it still Mean More when it means more to "lesser" SEC teams? From a mile away you could see that 2024 SEC schedules for some unfathomable reason were weighted against SEC upper-crust teams, Bama and Georgia, and in favor of newbie Texas, Ole Miss, and Missouri. And other than a change in venues, the SEC is doing the same in 2025. And expecting a different result? Not only has the B1G closed the gap but Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick Tony Petitti has closed the most powerful commissioner in the sport gap. When it comes to media revenue, the B1G is in the lead and will not surrender the lead. And on the field it is, no doubt, tightening up. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatOrlando No. 5 Share Posted January 25 To me it's not SEC vs B1G. That's a fun conversation to have but it really points to what the future of CFB is. I don't really like what I think is going to happen because CFB will really just be NFL Lite if the P4 becomes the P2. But that day is coming unless the ACC and Big 12 can consolidate some power and influence. We don't need Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia Tech making the B1G or SEC even bigger. They're already big enough. There's going to be a large gap of years that you won't see conference mates playing each other in football. That's longer than what you'll see in the NFL. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 6 Share Posted January 25 On 1/24/2025 at 4:35 PM, GatOrlando said: because CFB will really just be NFL Lite if the P4 becomes the P2. What could come from a B1G-SEC Conference are Divisions and balanced schedules, like the NFL and a Playoff format that would make sense, and yes, it's good to be a Have. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 7 Share Posted January 25 I agree that SEC owned all those years of dominance, but with no SEC team in the finals the past two years and won by the B1G--it is evident that things are balancing out. 1 2 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatOrlando No. 8 Share Posted January 25 On 1/24/2025 at 5:43 PM, 30Duck said: What could come from a B1G-SEC Conference are Divisions and balanced schedules, like the NFL and a Playoff format that would make sense, and yes, it's good to be a Have. I see what you're saying but if you'd have to have the same amount of teams in each league I would imagine. I can see the SEC absorbing some of the teams I mentioned above but I imagine the B1G would want to still have a couple of those because even if there is an agreement I don't think either side would give full autonomy like the AFL did when they merged into the NFL. That's not even trying to figure Notre Dame in as an independent. Do they get an ultimatum? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 9 Share Posted January 25 Come 2026 will the SEC eliminate the conference champ game and could the B1G follow suit? 2025 SEC Championship Game could be the league's last BAMAHAMMER.COM It may not be probable, but it is possible that the SEC Championship Game will not exist in 2026. There are multiple intertwined reasons why. The main one is th Dropping champ games in a 12-team PO era makes sense; however, media partners will have to agree to drop games that draw many viewers in the SEC and the B1G. With Flex Scheduling, a champion game could be played at the end of the regular season, with the top-ranked team hosting the second-ranked team. But in the B1G and the SEC the top two teams are in the playoff. Why play a game that will lower the seed of the losing team? If Penn State and Texas had made it to the PO championship game, it would have been their 17th game. Playing a 16th game was tough enough. Notre Dame had a lot of guys out with injury and Ohio State had another starting O-line combination. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 10 Share Posted January 25 In 2026 the Power 2 Will Structure a New Playoff Format. Sources: SEC, Big Ten to hold second AD meeting to explore CFP format changes and more SPORTS.YAHOO.COM Is a 14-team College Football Playoff with multi-automatic qualifiers per league possible? The 'association' between the two conferences is logical and necessary for a billion-dollar industry without a CEO. Financially the B1G and the SEC will continue to distance themselves from the ACC, B12, and the G5. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 11 Share Posted January 25 On 1/25/2025 at 8:37 AM, Jon Joseph said: But in the B1G and the SEC the top two teams are in the playoff. Why play a game that will lower the seed of the losing team? Spot on. On 1/25/2025 at 8:48 AM, Jon Joseph said: In 2026 the Power 2 Will Structure a New Playoff Format. Hallelujah! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Author Moderator No. 12 Share Posted Monday at 05:08 PM The Empire Strikes Back. On behalf of SEC football fans enough with the 'Big Ten owns college football' mania BAMAHAMMER.COM On behalf of SEC football fans, pushback is needed about the Big Ten owning college football. Granted the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes have w Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 13 Share Posted Monday at 06:39 PM On 1/27/2025 at 9:08 AM, Jon Joseph said: The Empire Strikes Back. With irrelevant statistics, how many championships the SEC has won since 1998 has nothing to do with which conference is stronger now, and if the SEC wants to say they're stronger from 12 down, go for it. I don't know how Indiana would have done playing an SEC schedule, but that's hypothetical. Alabama losing to Oklahoma, 24-3 was real. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoGaDawg No. 14 Share Posted Monday at 07:53 PM On 1/24/2025 at 5:05 PM, Jon Joseph said: What have you done for me Lately? Maybe? But I am in The Not So Fast Group. Top to bottom, recruiting rankings, championships won, NFL draft picks, it's still the SEC. But the gap has closed, no doubt. Looking ahead to 2025-26, preseason-ranked SEC teams' rosters and B1G rosters are not dissimilar and neither are the staffs coaching the teams. It's not like the day when B1G teams had no chance to compete at the LOS. Three preseason games that see Texas at Ohio State, Michigan at Oklahoma, and Wisconsin at Alabama should be interesting. The SEC CFB hegemony may or may not be over. Two years of B1G back-to-back titles does not IMO wipe out decades of dominance. Has Big Ten surpassed SEC in college football hierarchy? Examining the gap between powerhouse conferences - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The Big Ten winning back-to-back national titles has sparked a debate about who sits atop the college football world However, I am hoping that I am yet again wrong. I’m not sure exactly what to expect going forward. It’s true that the SEC has certainly dominated the sport for the last 25 years or so. It’s also true that the B1G has won 2 NC’s in a row, a statement that the top teams in the B1G can compete with anyone today! IMO the SEC has benefited for years by just the sheer number of top talent that comes from the South. Especially those big guys that can help a team dominate the LOS as you eluded to. The state of GA alone is absolutely loaded more recruiting cycles than not. The B1G on the other hand isn’t lacking in the financial area. I think it’s likely that we see things level out top to bottom in the future. Who knows for sure though what CFB will look like in a few years? I think we are still in a major transition phase for the moment. It’s hard to predict all of the impacts these recent changes will ultimately have. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
