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The undeniable is here, staring us all directly in the face. Feel it, sense it, believe it.
The Big Ten is just as much a boogeyman as the SEC. Two villains, one heartbeat.
Long the little brother of the SEC, the Big Ten used to pal around for years with the other downtrodden of college football. It was the SEC’s world, and living in it meant complaining about it.
But look who’s all grown up now.
In less than three years, the Big Ten has executed the masterful deception of an “alliance” with the ACC and Pac-12 against the SEC, the takedown of the Pac-12, and the signing of the largest media rights deal in the history of college sports.
And it has won the last two football national championships.
The Big Ten makes more money than the SEC. The Big Ten now plays better football than the SEC.
Who exactly is the boogeyman here?
The SEC, which prior to Michigan and Ohio State winning back-to-back national titles, had won four in a row and 11 of the first 20 in the 2000s?
The SEC, which annually produces more players on NFL rosters – the Super Bowl champion Eagles had 20 players on their active roster from SEC teams – and dominates the NFL draft every spring?
The SEC, which opened its arms for heavyweights Texas and Oklahoma when they decided to leave the Big 12, thus ushering in the era of super conferences?
Or is it the Big Ten, which in response to Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC, tried to bring Southern California and Notre Dame into the fold — before Notre Dame declined and the Big Ten settled for UCLA?
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The same Big Ten that less than a year earlier agreed to an “alliance” of like minds and institutions with the ACC and Pac-12, in an obvious response to what looked like a mega power grab by the SEC when it added Texas and Oklahoma.
The same Big Ten that then kneecapped its “alliance” partners when it added Southern California and UCLA, and destabilized the Pac-12. That, of course, left the rest of the Pac-12 seeking cover, and led to – I know this is going to shock you – the Big Ten sitting and waiting for the rest of what it wanted (and needed) from the Pac-12 to come to them. At a reduced rate, no less.
The same Big Ten that added the Pac-12’s four prominent television properties (USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington) to land an ungodly media rights deal worth more than a billion dollars a season for the new 18-team super conference.
The same Big Ten that declared in November of 2023 – in the heart of the college football season – that actions from the Michigan football team in respect to its illegal future scouting of opponents over multiple years, “resulted in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition.”
Yet still allowed Michigan to be eligible to win the Big Ten, and play in the College Football Playoff. And sonofagun if Michigan didn’t win the Big Ten’s first national title since 2014, and only its third since 2002.
Winning, everyone, is contagious. It doesn’t matter how you get there, it’s the getting there that matters most.
The Big Ten had two teams in the CFP semifinals, and four teams in the 12-team tournament. One of those teams, Indiana, is the worst power conference program in college football history — yet found a way to the CFP by beating one team with a winning record (Michigan), and losing to the other team it played with a winning record (Ohio State).
Then got blown out in the CFP by Notre Dame, which – surprise! – was a team with a winning record.
Those breaks don’t happen for Big Ten schools, everyone. They’re designated for the SEC boogeyman.
But as a wise sage once said, a rising tide lifts all boats. That or a new, energizing cutthroat attitude changes perception of what must be done.
Could’t beat ‘em, couldn’t join ‘em, couldn’t bear the thought of it all.
So why not start acting like the big, bad SEC?
Take what’s yours, what you want. Don’t apologize, don’t ask for forgiveness. Eat what you kill.
When the 2025 season begins, when pay for play is in full force and the Big Ten and SEC pull further away from the rest of the sport, the storylines explain the hierarchy.
Can loaded Penn State finally win it all? How does Ohio State reload with a new quarterback, and new coordinators, and can freshman phenom quarterback Bryce Underwood rally Michigan?
Can Georgia be Georgia again, will Alabama ever be Alabama again? Is Texas finally, truly back?
Feel it. Sense it. Believe it.
The Big Ten is now just as much a boogeyman as the SEC.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.