SEC needs a new motto, because Big Ten rules college sports

It just means more agony.

The SEC used to be the best conference in college sports, and it lorded its superiority over its peers. It’s not the best anymore. At least, it’s not the best in football or men’s basketball. The Big Ten stole the crown, and the SEC cannot hide from reality.

The Big Ten won the past three college football national championships, but the problem goes deeper than that. The SEC hasn't even reached the College Football Playoff national championship game since 2023 Georgia won it all.

Now, as insult to injury, the Big Ten sent two teams to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, while the SEC sits at home.

On this edition of “ SEC Football Unfiltered ,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams address the SEC's reality and how dire the situation is.

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Is the SEC still the best conference? Or, does the Big Ten rule?

Adams:The Big Ten wears the crown in football. That's a fact. You can’t argue trophies. You can’t argue the scoreboard, either.

Indiana 38, Alabama 3.

The SEC didn’t just lose its leg to stand on. Indiana devoured the leg.

Toppmeyer:Agreed, and the Big Ten’s claim of superiority is helped by the fact three teams produced the past three national championships. Michigan , Ohio State and now Indiana won titles since the last SEC crown. The Big Ten is no one-hit wonder.

What about the SEC’s depth?

Adams:That’s where the SEC’s problem worsens. For a while, even if the Big Ten was better at the top, the SEC was better in the middle. I’m not so sure about that anymore. The SEC looked pretty lousy in postseason games last season, illustrating the depth of the problem.

Toppmeyer: Reseed the Final Four? That idea is as bad as last time I heard it

Adams: If misery loves company, Tennessee and Alabama can be bedfellows

Toppmeyer:The Big Ten’s crème de la crème has been sweeter than the SEC’s for a few years. Now, it’s sweeter down ballot, too.

Iowa 34, Vanderbilt 27.

Illinois 30, Tennessee 28.

Those were postseason scorelines.

Texas saved some face for the SEC by beating Michigan, 41-27, in the Citrus Bowl, but, on the whole, the SEC’s claim of superior depth eroded.

The SEC used to flex unmatched muscle in the boardroom, too, but even that ability is gone. The conference tried to grow the playoff to 16 teams for the 2026 season and beyond, but the Big Ten erected a road block and stopped the SEC’s CFP expansion plans in their tracks.

So, the Big Ten is better at the top, as good in the middle, and it’s a thorn in the side of the SEC’s boardroom operations.

Where does that leave the SEC? Well, maybe it can still say its last-place team is better than the Big Ten’s last-place team.

How’s that for a new conference motto? Our last-place team would beat your last-place team.

On second thought, I’m not sure that’s true. Notre Dame played the worst teams from the SEC and Big Ten in consecutive weeks last fall. The Irish beat Purdue 56-30, then trounced Arkansas 56-13.

Back to the drawing board for the SEC.

OK, but how strong is the Big Ten’s claim of basketball superiority?

Adams: The Big Ten's basketball claim isn’t as entrenched. In 2025, the SEC delivered one of the best basketball performances by a conference ever, and Florida won the national title.

The Big Ten started to make its claim for the basketball throne around the time Iowa bounced the defending champion and No. 1-seeded Gators in the second round of this tournament. Then, Michigan waylaid the SEC's last-team-standing, Tennessee.

This year, the SEC qualified 10 teams to the Big Ten’s nine bids, but the Big Ten produced a better tournament record, four Elite Eight teams and now two teams in the Final Four. At least for this season, the Big Ten rules basketball.

Toppmeyer: The Big Ten’s claim of basketball superiority would be strengthened if either Michigan or Illinois wins the national championship. The conference’s tournament performance has been strong, much stronger than the SEC’s this year, but the SEC finished the job in 2025 thanks to Florida. The Big Ten still has not produced a basketball national champion since 2000 Michigan State. For the Big Ten to fully assert in its basketball status, it needs a champ.

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Blake Toppmeyer  is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist.  John Adams  is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel.  S ubscribe to the  SEC Football Unfiltered  podcast, and check out the  SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Big Ten rules college football and basketball, so SEC needs a new motto