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Big Ten and SEC to make their reign of college football a little more obvious

The Big Ten and SEC have dominated college football for decades. However, the two conferences may make their reign over college football a little more obvious in the coming days.

By Sam Fariss

Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Big 10 commissioner Tony Petitti (left) and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey attend the game between the LSU Tigers and the Southern California Trojans at Allegiant Stadium.
Sep 1, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Big 10 commissioner Tony Petitti (left) and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey attend the game between the LSU Tigers and the Southern California Trojans at Allegiant Stadium. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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There is no denying that the Big Ten and the SEC run the college football scene. In the life world-altering conference realignment, the two conferences poached the best programs from the Pac-12 and the Big 12.

With Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC and Oregon, USC, Washington, and UCLA joining the Big Ten, the ACC and the Big 12 were left in the dust.

While those four conferences are still considered the "Power Four" conferences in the country, there are really two power conferences, two pretty good conferences, and the rest of the world (don't even get me started on the weird no-man's land of Washington State and Oregon State).

However, the SEC and Big Ten may make their domination of college football even more obvious in the coming days.

As commissioners Greg Sankey (SEC) and Tony Pititto (Big Ten) meet to discuss the future of their conferences, it is expected that they will announce a type of partnership that includes non-conference game scheduling and more.

The conferences already have a joint advisory group that has met numerous times over the past few months and is expected to reconvene, next week, in Nashville. The story was originally reported by ESPN.

A big point of contention that still remains between the two conferences is the number of actual conference games each team plays. Currently, Big Ten programs play nine conference opponents throughout the regular season while SEC programs only play eight.

A source who spoke to ESPN reportedly said, "If we're all going to figure this out, we've got to be on equal footing."

As teams get ready for the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoffs, at least one squad from each conference will earn a spot in the CFPs. However, the stronger that each conference can guarantee that their teams' schedules will look, the better the odds become for more than the one automatic bid to get a place in the Playoffs.

If the SEC and the Big Ten can agree to have their top teams face each other during non-conference play each season, it will become even more difficult for the ACC and Big 12 to argue for more than one of their teams to make the Playoffs each year.

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