In the summer of 2021, the Southeastern Conference stunned the college football world by luring blue bloods Oklahoma and Texas of the Big 12 to join the SEC and further form a super conference. The Big Ten followed suit a year later, grabbing USC and UCLA of the Pac-12, and then further bolstered its membership in 2023 by adding Oregon and Washington.
The fallout saw the Pac-12 dwindle to a two-team conference, and college football’s Power Five conferences become the Power Four — Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12.
Really, though, it’s the Super Two — the SEC and Big Ten — that drive major college football, and that wasn’t more evident than in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.
When the expanded 12-team playoff field debuts with four first-round games on Dec. 20 and 21, the SEC and Big Ten figure to have four teams each in the field, combining to gobble up six of the seven at-large spots.
Under the playoff format, the four highest-ranked conference champions receive first-round byes into the quarterfinals, and this week, those four are No. 1 Oregon (Big Ten), No. 3 Texas (SEC), No. 6 BYU (Big 12) and No. 9 Miami (ACC). Another spot is reserved for the highest-ranked Group of Five champion, and that projects to be Boise State of the Mountain West. That leaves seven at-large spots, and this week, those advancing are No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 10 Alabama and No. 11 Ole Miss.
Only Notre Dame broke through that Big Ten-SEC wall of at-large teams, meaning the ACC and Big 12 will likely be one-bid leagues in the playoff. The closest teams in the ACC or Big 12 to landing at No. 11 or better are No. 14 SMU and No. 16 Kansas State.
Any conference’s goal is to get as many teams as possible in the playoff, and the Big Ten and SEC are flexing their muscles in that regard. Still, some in their ranks want more. Take Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, for example.
“Any team in the SEC that finishes with 10 wins on their season should be in the playoff. I don’t think there’s really any doubt in my mind about that,” Drinkwitz said on a SiriusXM show this week. “… It feels like every game we play in the SEC is a playoff game.”
