The Big Ten and SEC failed to reach an agreement late last week on further College Football Playoff expansion, keeping next year’s bracket at 12 teams. Neither of college football’s two most powerful conferences are willing to budge on their vision for the CFP’s future, leaving the tournament at an impasse for now as they struggle for power. But on the field, there’s no doubt which league is ahead.
Despite occupying five spots in this year’s CFP, the SEC failed to reach the national title game for the third consecutive year. On the other end, the Big Ten claimed its third straight national title — all three from different teams — after Indiana’s dominant 16-0 run in 2025-26. But the Big Ten’s dominance was more than just top-heavy.
The Big Ten posted an 11-5 bowl record, good for a .688 winning percentage that ranked No. 1 nationally, followed by the ACC (9-5) and the Big 12 (4-4) among Power leagues. The SEC’s disappointing 4-10 finish included marquee losses by Alabama, Vanderbilt and LSU.
Welcome to college football’s new era, one where the balance of power tilts heavily to the north after years of southern dominance. According to legendary coach Nick Saban, NIL has a lot to do with that shift.
“In this day and age of the culture we have now in college football, paying players, name, image and likeness, transfer, it’s an advantage for the Big Ten,” Saban told AL.com. “You’ll never convince me otherwise. The North. Because people in the South would not go to the North unless you paid them.”
Saban acknowledged Indiana’s rise is “good for college football” and provides hope that “everybody can turn a program around” after his former assistant, Curt Cignetti, put the rest of the sport on notice in 2025.
Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was among the first to call the race in favor of the Big Ten last summer — and, for now, he’s right. The conference’s 2024 CFP run marked the peak of a changing of the guard that began a year earlier, when Michigan stopped Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe at the goal line in the Rose Bowl, ending the SEC’s bid for another national title.
After Indiana’s 2025 championship, the gap appears wider. Since Georgia’s 65-7 win over TCU to claim the national title at the end of the 2023 season, the SEC is just 1-5 in playoff games against nonconference opponents. That stretch includes Alabama’s 35-point loss to Indiana in Pasadena, Miami’s upset of Texas A&M and the Hurricanes’ win over Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl.
SEC pushing chips in on 2026
Coming out of the 2026 transfer portal cycle, SEC programs notched the top three classes — LSU, Ole Miss and Texas — along with six of the top 12 overall, including Kentucky’s best-ever showing of the transfer portal era at No. 9. During the 2025 season, seven programs ranked inside the top 12 of the previous portal cycle reached the playoff, including first-time participants Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Miami.
Roster retention and talent acquisition remain two critical components in building an elite two-deep, and the SEC has shown impressive strength in both areas during the early years of NIL through aggressive resource deployment.
Following Friday night’s commitment from five-star offensive tackle transfer Jordan Seaton, LSU further bolstered its top-rated portal haul ahead of Lane Kiffin’s first season. The Tigers are virtually guaranteed a top-10 preseason ranking in August based on the talent assembled across a loaded roster.
At Texas, the allure of Arch Manning’s return has made the Longhorns an attractive offseason destination for high-end transfers. Manning is coming off arguably his best overall performance after leading Texas past Michigan in the Citrus Bowl, and the Longhorns have since added weapons around him, including Auburn transfer Cam Coleman at wide receiver and NC State’s Hollywood Smothers in the backfield.
In the ongoing SEC-Big Ten supremacy debate, Texas will host Ohio State on Sept. 12, an early-season matchup that could go a long way in shaping each team’s path to the playoff.
Indiana proved to be an exception to the roster-talent rule this season, as Curt Cignetti went unbeaten with a roster rated 72nd nationally, according to the 247Sports Team Talent Composite. Eight impact players in the Hoosiers’ two-deep arrived two recruiting cycles earlier from James Madison, while Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza ranked as the fourth-best quarterback in the portal when he moved from Cal.
The SEC will also move to a nine-game conference schedule for the first time in 2026, which could enhance the selection committee’s evaluation of at-large résumés based on strength of schedule. SEC schools are also required to play at least one Power Four opponent — or Notre Dame — annually, meaning that beginning in 2026, at least 10 of each team’s 12 regular-season games will come against Power Four competition.
Over the summer, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said his league “has the best hand to play” in the future expansion debate. Like other Power conferences outside of the Big Ten, the SEC has long advocated for a 16-team playoff format.
If the SEC plans to halt the Big Ten’s run next season, the league will need its heavyweights operating at full capacity while knocking off frontrunners such as Ohio State (13/2), Indiana (7/1) and Oregon (9/1).
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