.jpg)
1 hour ago
3
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti fielded more questions about the conference's relationship with the SEC than anything else at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday in Chicago.
"Our fans, the SEC fans, really like the rivalry," Petitti said. "I think it would be great if we played each other more. From a fan perspective, having a rivalry with the SEC and the Big Ten is a great thing."
He can say that now. Petitti said that next to a podium strategically placed to the right with three College Football Playoff championship trophies which the Big Ten won in succession with Michigan (2023), Ohio State (2024) and Indiana (2025); the last two coming in the 12-team era. The Big Ten is on top – and Petitti knows it.
Yet instead of emphasizing that, he went on to describe a productive working relationship with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey in regards to pushing the College Football Playoff to 24 teams and the ins-and-outs of the Protect College Sports Act. That working relationship, Petitti said, is better than ever.
The Big Ten and the SEC don't need to form their own Super League. They just need to keep this tug of war for control of college football on the field. Right now, the Big Ten is winning – and if you need any more proof just look at the trophies and early preseason polls. Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon – which is still looking for that first national championship – are consensus picks in the top five of most preseason magazines. What else do SEC fans not want to hear?
"The top of the Big Ten is the kings of college football – but now the meat of the Big Ten is elevated," Big Ten Network analyst Jake Butt said Wednesday on BTN.
With that in mind, perhaps Petitti knows that the Big Ten can wield that influence more as long as the Big Ten has the advantage on the field against the SEC. That’s the play right now.
SEC MEDIA DAYS: Lane Kiffin ditches social media | Steve Sarkisian under pressure
Is the Big Ten better than the SEC right now?
What is your preferred metric? At SEC Media Days last week, the conference leaned into factors such as attendance, conference depth and non-conference scheduling with the move to nine conference games. Nick Saban – who won six national championships at Alabama through the Bowl Championship Series and College Football Playoff eras – defended the SEC.
"I think the only reason people are talking about this is we dominated for so long, and we were so good, everybody makes a big deal out of being able to beat us," Saban said. "That doesn't mean they're better than us, and that doesn't mean that just because you win the championship that you have a better conference. It just means you have one better team."
This is a rare miss from Saban. The SEC built their reputation with national championships; not playoff appearances. Six different SEC schools won national championships since the BCS era in Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee. Four of those schools won multiple national titles. Saban won more than everybody else. That is the predominant way to measure conference strength, and Petitti wasn't afraid to call like it is at least for the last two seasons.
"The Big Ten has dominated the first two seasons of the expanded college football playoff," Petitti said.
Petitti cited that 14 of the 22 playoff games the last two years have featured Big Ten teams. Indiana leads all FBS schools with 27 wins the last two seasons, followed by Ohio State and Oregon with 26 wins apiece. But it comes down to the head-to-head battles against the SEC.
Inside Big Ten's advantage vs. SEC in CFP era
The SEC won five national championships from 1998-2009, which was frequently cited at the time. The conference was 21-19 against the Big Ten in that stretch. The SEC stretched that head-to-head advantage to 29-17 in the 2010s, a run that included six more national titles.
It's 19-17 in favor of the SEC in the 2020s, and in the last three years it's 12-11 in favor of the SEC. To Saban's point, that's a barometer to measure a conference – and it's close. It's just not the best metric.
Look at the four CFP games between the Big Ten and SEC teams the last three seasons. Michigan beat Alabama 27-24 in the 2024 CFP. Ohio State beat Tennessee 42-17 and Texas 28-14 the following season. Indiana hammered Alabama 38-3 last year. That's a 4-0 record with an average margin of victory of 19.3 points per game, including two seasons since Oregon, USC, Washington and UCLA made the Big Ten an 18-team super-conference.
"Our teams are ready for the CFP," Petitti said. "Our travel looks like the CFP travel, you're going all over the country. How we play, the difficulty of the road in the Big Ten – I just think that's overlooked. The reason we've been so successful is that our teams are prepared."
You can't argue with that assessment from any corner in the country. The SEC used to have this as their trump card against the Big Ten.
Before that, from 1998-2022, the SEC was 5-1 against the Big Ten in either BCS championship games or CFP playoff games. LSU, Florida and Alabama beat Ohio State in championship-game settings. Georgia beat Ohio State and Michigan in the CFP semifinals. The Big Ten's only victory was the Buckeyes' 42-35 victory against Alabama in the 2015 Sugar Bowl, which was also a rare miss by Saban.
Those showdowns between the SEC and Big Ten resonate far more than the SEC's 50-41 record against the Big Ten in postseason games since the 1998 season. Petitti didn't do it – but he could have just looked at those trophies at any point.
"I think these three trophies are the reflection of the commitment of our institutions to play great football," Petitti said. "We have great coaches. … I think we've made the investment in the resources. We have been able to succeed in the current model. That doesn't mean we don't want to make the changes to it."
MORE: Forecasting the 2026 CFP field
How Big Ten-SEC are working together
Petitti shied away from working Super League talk and preferred to highlight the work relationship with Sankey. Petitti said he talked to SEC commissioner "five times" about the looming Protect College Sports Act, and the work with College Football Playoff expansion has been collaborative. Yet Petitti did not elaborate on whether the Big Ten would make a non-conference Power 4 opponent a mandatory piece of the schedule – one of the jabs from SEC counterparts last week.
"Our focus now is seeing clarity around the playoff and access and how that's going to work before we make the next decision," Petitti said.
Instead, Petitti lauded the meat of the Big Ten. USC's Lincoln Riley is under pressure to make the program's first CFP appearance. Michigan and Penn State are resetting with Kyle Whittingham and Matt Campbell, respectively. Washington, Iowa and Illinois are top-25 caliber teams.
How do you parlay it? Schedule more games like Ohio State-Texas and Michigan-Oklahoma in Week 2. Those cross-over games between teams immersed in the two best rivalries in college football stick out in September. Lean into the Big Ten-SEC rivalry on the field, and it might just fix some of the issues in college football off it.
"The fans love the rivalry," Petitti said. "We want to double down on that."
English (US)