Pre-spring practice rankings from Bill Connolly's SP+ computer programming for teams ranked 1 through 138 -

ESPN.com

2026 college football SP+ rankings for all 138 FBS teams

The first SP+ rankings, plus strength of schedule and résumé SP+, for the 2026 season.

Eight Big Ten teams in the Top 25 -

1 Ohio State/ 2 Oregon/ 5 Indiana/ 13 USC/ 14 Michigan/ 17 Penn State/ 21 UW/ 22 Iowa

Using the rankings, here's a hypothetical field for a B1G vs SEC Football Challenge -

First, IMO, 11 SEC teams in the Top 25 is Same SEC, Different Day. Again, we see the middle of the SEC ranked higher than the middle of the Big Ten. This has not played out on the field for the last two seasons.

This 'stuff' is why a hypothetical second Big Ten loss by Oregon last season could supposedly have kept Oregon out of the Playoff. The Ducks went 2-1, including shutting out the B12 champion in Miami.

B1G No. 17 Northwestern would play B1G 18 Purdue.

Games involving at least one Top 25 team.

1 Ohio State vs 4 Georgia

2 Oregon vs 6 Texas

5 Indiana vs 9 Texas A&M

13 USC vs 10 LSU 14

Michigan vs 11 Alabama

17 Penn State vs 12 Oklahoma

21 UW vs 15 Tennessee

22 Iowa vs 16 Ole Miss

33 Illinois vs 19 Florida

37 Nebraska vs 20 Missouri

45 Minnesota vs 24 South Carolina

Matchups without a Top 25 team: 46 UCLA vs 26 Auburn/ 49 Northwestern vs 31 Vanderbilt/ 55 Maryland vs 47 Arkansas/ 61 Wisconsin vs 52 Mississippi State/ 62 Rutgers vs 53 Kentucky

Regardless of my complaints about the rankings, this out-of-conference inventory would be media gold.