Has the Big Ten overtaken the SEC as college football’s best conference? Four Big Ten players with experience against (or playing in) the SEC believe so.
After Ohio State won the national championship in 2024 and Michigan won it all in 2023, there’s a feeling that the (originally) Midwestern league had snatched the (originally) Southeastern league’s throne.
“Yeah, I should say that,” Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith said. “The Big Ten has won back-to-back national championships. The SEC, they did it for a long time, so I feel like the Big Ten, we’re starting to get there. Hopefully we can do it for a long period of time like the SEC.”
That’s even true when talking to Caleb Downs, who might know better than any player in the Big Ten, having played one season in both conferences. He was a freshman All-American at safety for Alabama in 2023 before becoming a unanimous All-American for the Buckeyes in 2024.
“I feel like whatever team wins the national championship can say whatever they want,” Downs said. “The Big Ten’s won the past two years. They can claim whatever they want to claim until someone else takes it.”
"I feel like whatever team wins the national championship can say whatever they want. The Big Ten’s won the past two years."– Caleb Downs
Illinois defeated South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31, Michigan knocked off Alabama in the Reliaquest Bowl the same day and with Ohio State’s wins over Tennessee and Texas in the College Football Playoff, the Big Ten finished 4-0 over the SEC in bowl games in 2024. Fighting Illini defensive back Xavier Scott believes the diversity in types of teams is what separates his conference from its fellow power to the South.
“We have a little bit of everything,” Scott said. “The fact that we just expanded our conference – we have everything you want. If you want somebody to ground and pound, (we’ve got) teams, we’ve got the air raid offensive teams, we’ve got a little bit of everything. I feel like this conference is where it’s supposed to be at.”
Wisconsin is a team that’s struggled against both Big Ten and SEC opponents the last two years, losing to Alabama in 2024 and LSU in the 2023 Reliaquest Bowl before finishing 5-7 in 2024. But even through those experiences getting beaten down from both sides, the Badgers see Big Ten supremacy.
“I’m probably biased. I’m a Big Ten guy, so I would definitely say Big Ten,” Wisconsin cornerback Ricardo Hallman said. “I just think, top to bottom, the guys we’re producing, the people that we’re putting out and just the talent that we have on every Saturday matchup is unmatched.”
The players weren’t alone in placing the Big Ten atop the sport, either. Washington coach Jedd Fisch called it “the best conference in college football.”
“Joining the Big Ten in 2020-24, the best conference in college football, we understand we have a weekly grind of games, not just the ones I mentioned,” Fisch said. “For the last two seasons, our conference showed its strength and dominance with back-to-back national champions. Three out of the last four teams that participated in national championship games were from the Big Ten, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan and Ohio State.”
Perhaps a Big Ten squad will make it three consecutive national championships in 2025. Check out the thoughts of the players on the conference's dominance in the video at the top of the page.
