Why Big Ten, SEC football will probably expand, start their own league

What would 20 or even 24-team Big Ten, SEC conferences look like?

In order for both conferences to benefit greatly from leaving the NCAA, they need to at minimum expand to 20 teams each. The Big Ten further expanding essentially depends on if and or when Notre Dame joins the Big Ten. The SEC after Oklahoma and Texas joins their conference looks to focus on adding Clemson and other teams from the ACC to their conference.

This is what the SEC and Big Ten can look like in 2026, for example, if they want to create two super conferences and break away from the NCAA.

Two ways of looking at the future of expansion with these two conferences with 20 teams in their conference. Adding four other schools, the conferences could divide into two 10-team divisions or four pods that could be called divisions as well. Let’s look at what a 20-team Big Ten and SEC would look like.

Big Ten (2 divisions)

West

• Iowa Hawkeyes
• Minnesota Golden Gophers
• Nebraska Cornhuskers
• Wisconsin Badgers
• Illinois Fighting Illini
• Northwestern Wildcats
• USC Trojans
• UCLA Bruins
• Oregon Ducks
• Washington Huskies

East

• Maryland Terrapins
• Michigan State Spartans
• Michigan Wolverines
• Ohio State Buckeyes
• Penn State Nittany Lions
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights
• Georgia Tech Yellowjackets
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• Purdue Boilermakers
• Indiana Hoosiers

SEC

West

• LSU Tigers
• Texas A&M Aggies
• Mississippi State Bulldogs
• Ole Miss Rebels
• Arkansas Razorbacks
• Texas Longhorns
• Oklahoma Sooners
• Alabama Crimson Tide
• Auburn Tigers
• Missouri Tigers

East

• Georgia Bulldogs
• Florida Gators
• Tennessee Volunteers
• Kentucky Wildcats
• South Carolina Gamecocks
• Vanderbilt Commodores
• Clemson Tigers
• Florida State Seminoles
• Virginia Tech Hokies
• North Carolina State Wolfpack

Let’s look at what a 24-team conference for the Big Ten and SEC would look like.

Big Ten (4 pods)

West

• USC Trojans
• UCLA Bruins
• Oregon Ducks
• Washington Huskies
• Iowa Hawkeyes
• Nebraska Cornhuskers

Midwest

• Illinois Fighting Illini
• Purdue Boilermakers
• Indiana Hoosiers
• Wisconsin Badgers
• Minnesota Golden Gophers
• Northwestern Wildcats

North

• Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• Michigan State Spartans
• Michigan Wolverines
• Penn State Nittany Lions
• Ohio State Buckeyes
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights

South

• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
• Virginia Cavilers
• North Carolina Tar Heals
• Maryland Terrapins
• TCU Horn Frogs
• Miami Hurricanes

SEC

West

• LSU Tigers
• Texas A&M Aggies
• Texas Longhorns
• Oklahoma Sooners
• Arkansas Razorbacks
• Oklahoma State Cowboys

Southcentral

• Mississippi State Bulldogs
• Ole Miss Rebels
• Alabama Crimson Tide
• Auburn Tigers
• Georgia Bulldogs
• Vanderbilt Commodores

North

• Missouri Tigers
• Kentucky Wildcats
• Duke Blue Devils
• Louisville Cardinals
• Pitt Panthers
• Tennessee Volunteers

Southeast

• Florida Gators
• South Carolina Gamecocks
• Clemson Tigers
• Florida State Seminoles
• Virginia Tech Hokies
• North Carolina State Wolfpack

Time will tell if the Big Ten and SEC will leave the NCAA but the recent moves by both conferences suggest that it is a real possibility. If both conferences were to expand to 24 teams, it would be difficult as seen above to create fair and balanced divisions. However, if both were to expand to 20 teams, it would be more manageable to create more fair and equal divisions.

Last but not least, least take a look at a schedule of a team and a possible playoff bracket.

• Week 1: at Michigan State (Non-Conference)
• Week 2: UCLA (Non-Conference)
• Week 3: Texas (Conference)
• Week 4: at Florida (Conference/Division)
• Week 5: Vanderbilt (Conference/Division)
• Week 6: Bye
• Week 7: at Clemson (Conference/Division)
• Week 8: Missouri (Conference)
• Week 9: Tennessee (Conference/Division)
• Week 10: at Kentucky (Conference/Division)
• Week 11: South Carolina (Conference/Division)
• Week 12: Florida State (Conference/Division)
• Week 13: at Virginia Tech (Conference/Division)
• Week 14: vs. Notre Dame at a neutral site in the first round of the playoffs

The above is just an example but you can see that the SEC and Big Ten would get an enormous media rights deal as every week would have amazing matchups between the two conferences.