The SEC is atop college football until it is not. The conference has won 13 of the last 18 national championships dating back to 2006. The Big 10 and ACC combine for the other five between the Clemson Tigers, Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes.
In addition to national championships, the SEC also produces more NFL talent than any other conference in the FBS. As of September 12th according to an article by SEC Sports, 439 SEC players are currently on active NFL rosters. The SEC also led all conferences in NFL draft picks for the 18th consecutive year with 59, and has also tied or led all conferences in first round NFL Draft picks 13 of the last 14 years.
With all of that being said however, expect the tide to turn in favor of the Big 10 moving forward. Inarguably over the past few years, Ohio State has seemed to emerge as a national contender on an annual basis. And although they just lost their head coach in Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, the Michigan Wolverines won the latest National Championship in 2023 as Big 10 team, defeating Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl which was a College Football Playoff semifinal.
While the Big 10 is still in a “prove it” state to be seen as the best conference in college football, some signs that have happened, and will in the future point to them being well on their way to doing so.
Why will the Big 10 emerge as the best conference in college football?
College football rule changes
Transfer Portal: The NCAA changed their ruling just a few years ago to allow players to transfer immediately without losing a year of eligibility. Prior to 2021, players could only transfer if they graduated or there was a head coaching change without losing a year of eligibility.
The other way was as insinuated- they could transfer, but have to sit out an entire season, therefore losing a year of athletic eligibility which really hurt their chances of development. Therefore, many stayed put. Now that that has changed and players can transfer without any sort of penalty, the strangle hold that coaches like Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Alabama’s Nick Saban seemingly had on the best talent in college football is suddenly dispersed.
Saban alluded to this change in the college football landscape himself in an interview with ESPN when he retired claiming that out of all of the players he met with in the post-season, only one asked how they could get better. Many of the others asked how much playing time they were going to get.
Players now knowing they can transfer and play earlier elsewhere has become the norm, and therefore has caused more parody in college football. And parity includes a conference such as the SEC no longer having the strangle hold it once had.
The legalization of NIL: In addition to the transfer portal, players being paid for their name, image and likeness. With every school relying on boosters, fans and their administration to pony up whatever amount they want for players, this has evened the playing field even more-so.
Receiving a scholarship use to be the only reward for most athletes on FBS rosters, which means a free education for everyone and nothing more. Now, a scholarship is only the beginning of how they ultimately make their decision. For many athletes, the decision now is largely based on how lucrative of an NIL deal they receive.
We have seen players like Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins and former Georgia Bulldog and USC Trojan Bear Alexander transfer schools presumably for larger NIL deals. Sure, you can argue that this hurts their development, and you are probably right. However, it is what it is- and what it is, is evening the college football playing field.
Nick Saban retires
As Saban mentioned, the changes in college football and players lack of desire to improve shifting to more focus on NIL and playing time was not why he got into the sport, and was part of the reason the seven-time national champion head coach retired.
Saban routinely had the top recruiting class in the country for the Crimson Tide and was often times only challenged by Georgia’s Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide had such a strangle hold not only on the SEC, but all of college football that often times the winner of their matchup in either the College Football Playoff or SEC Championship game was really what decided the national championship.
With Saban retiring, there is no clear best team and dynasty in college football any longer, which opens the door not only for more parody in the SEC, but college football as a whole. Saban single-handedly elevated the prestige of the SEC. And with him gone combined with the NCAA’s rule changes in college football, that is a positive for conferences such as the Big 10.
Better coaching in the Big 10
For the past few decades, it has seemingly been Ohio State, Michigan and then everyone else. Present day, you may still feel the same. However, over the next few years, expect the Big 10 to get stronger and stronger, and the influx of better coaching in the reason why.
Matt Rhule (Nebraska), Bret Bielema (Illinois), Dan Lanning (Oregon), Curt Cignetti (Indiana) and Luke Fickel (Wisconsin) are all coaches that have been at their current schools less than five years. All three are proven winners at the FBS level at previous stops and clearly have their programs on an upward trajectory. The current combined record of each of these schools is 33-8.
This group of coaches aside from Cignetti, you can expect as well to stay at their current programs for quite awhile for various reasons. And aside from Lanning, these coaches mentioned are not even thought by many to be the best coaches in the conference.
The two best coaches in the conference by record over the past decade are Ohio State’s Ryan Dayand Penn State’s James Franklin. The two have gone a combined 157-48. Beyond Kirby Smart in the SEC, there seems to be much more of a drop off in the next level of coaches.
While Lane Kiffin, Brian Kelly and Josh Heupel seem to be the best of the rest for their schools at the moment, it in my opinion is clear top to bottom that the Big 10 is set up much better long-term to overtake the SEC as the top conference in all of college football.