It's undeniable now, a straight gangster move in this Wild, Wild West era of college sports.
TheBig Tenhas stolen theSECmojo.
Better teams, better players, better stories. Better present — and more potentially damning — better future.
"The playing field has been leveled out as far as finances and things like that," saidMichigan basketball coach Dusty May, whose team is one of two from the Big Ten to advance toSaturday's Final Four.
But don't get stuck on basketball, where the Big Tenhasn't won a national championship since 2000— and currently has two more teams alive in the NCAA Tournament than does the SEC. Which has none.
This is paradigm change five years in the making, running parallel with the explosion of NIL and free player movement. This is the Big Ten flexing, and the SEC retreating.
Iowa State Cyclones fans cheer against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half in the second round of the
2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center on March 22, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Nebraska's Berke Buyuktuncel celebrates with fans following a second-round game in the
NCAA men's basketball tournament between Nebraska Cornhuskers and Vanderbilt Commodores at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on March 21, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Arkansas Razorbacks cheerleaders in the second half against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors during a
first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center on March 19, 2026 in Portland, Ore." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
A Texas Christian University Horned Frogs cheerleader practices before the game during a first round game of the men's
2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, SC." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
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Iowa State Cyclones fans cheer against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half in the second round of the2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournamentat Enterprise Center on March 22, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri.
Because now everyone can pay players. Now the Big Ten's massive and influential alumni bases have skin in the game.
Now it's no longer about where the best (insert your sport) is played, it's who has the most money. As important: the Big Ten's change in personality and philosophy.
Somewhere, at some point, the Big Ten got fed up with playing little brother to the SEC. The gloves came off, and the conference of Legends and Leaders morphed into Bandits and Bounty Hunters.
From strumming a guitar on the stairs for the lonely and bored at the sorority party, to doing keg stands in the middle of the quad at the impromptu frat party.
This all began with the Alliance built by former commissioner Kevin Warren, who held hands with the ACC and the (former) Pac-12 in solidarity against the SEC, whole brandishing an expansion knife behind the Pac-12's back.
It should come as no surprise that a year after the Big Ten did the Pac-12 dirty and stole USC and UCLA (and later Oregon and Washington), Michigan won its first national title in football since 1997.
It wasn't that Michigan won, it's how it unfolded with a no-name analyst concocting an illegal scouting scheme and sucking the oxygen from a championship run built — in no small part — with some key additions from this new fangled contraption called the transfer portal.
A scheme with such audacity, Big Ten coaches had to leak detailed information to the media (and then later give it directly to the Big Ten) before the conference took a stand. But the train was long down the tracks by the time then-new commissioner Tony Petitti stepped in with a meek three-game suspension for coach Jim Harbaugh — his second of the season, but first forthis specific violation.
In other words, tell me you're the SEC without telling me you're the SEC.
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A year later, Ohio State coach Ryan Day — on the verge of losing the best job in college football — threw a truckload of cash at the best defensive player in the SEC (Caleb Downs), the best running back in the SEC (Quinshon Judkins), an All-SEC center (Seth McLaughlin), and a Big 12 championship quarterback (Will Howard) as part of a $20 million roster that still couldn't beat Michigan — but beat the brakes off everyone in the College Football Playoff.
Then came Indiana, the lovable, all-time football loser,who changed everything. And even that began with some newfound Big Ten chutzpah, when IU athletic director Scott Dolson called James Madison coach Curt Cignetti after their in-person interview — just as Cignetti had told his wife he was going to stay at JMU — and said, "Congratulations, you're the Indiana coach."
And didn't give Cignetti — nowthe hottest coach in college football— a chance to say no. Which is sort of like the Big Ten and its takeover of all things college sports.
Kill it, then eat it.
Even missteps off the field have been overshadowed by other bold and brash moves. While Petitti has had a couple of faux pas (hello,capital investment), his unwavering stance on the CFP is beginning to show cracks in the SEC armor.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Tennessee coach Josh Heupel have embraced the Big Ten's idea of a 20- or 24-team CFP, while their own commissioner (Greg Sankey) is in a very publicgame of chickenwith the Petitti over the future format of the billion-dollar postseason.
Sankey wants 16 teams, Petitti wants 20 or 24 teams. It's never a good sign when the SEC's most high-profile coach — and arguably the game's best coach — sides with the Big Ten.
The Big Ten already has the better media rights deal, and delivers more money to a majority of its member institutions (not all of the newbies) than the SEC. The Big Ten has the bigger television markets, and the ability —though not yet realized— to dominate ratings.
There's the possibility of an all-Big Ten final in the NCAA Tournament, which hasn't happened since the Big 12 did it in 1988. If you think that's crazy, hold on to your tall glass of sweet tea.
For the love of all thingsEss Eee See, the Big Ten currently has the No. 1 ranked team in college baseball — a sport the Big Ten didn't give two flips about prior to expansion.
Before, that is, beginning this cutthroat philosophy of kill then eat.
About the same time May's Wolverines advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 2018, LSU was announcing the return hire of former disgraced coach Will Wade. The school trumpeted the move on social media by comparing Wade ― themulti-level NCAA cheater― to Napoleon, and calling him, "General."
"We're coming back to try to hang a banner, win a national championship," Wade said, "Or I'm going to be the first coach fired from the same school twice."
Tell me you've stolen the SEC's mojo without telling me.
Matt Hayesis the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at@MattHayesCFB.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Big 10 now strongest and best conference in college sports. Sorry, SEC
It's undeniable now, a straight gangster move in this Wild, Wild West era of college sports. TheBig Tenhas...
