SEC’s scheduling shift backfires in Big Ten standoff

By Chris Marler

Once the games kicked off, the expectation was that offseason chatter, realignment, playoff expansion, the nine-game SEC debate, would fade. It hasn’t come close.

🚨 @SEC to implement nine-game conference football schedule beginning in 2026, reinforcing the SEC’s position as the nation’s leader in competitive excellence and fan excitement.

🔗 https://t.co/pMhRTuZGu0#SECFB x #ItJustMeansMore pic.twitter.com/NqzseBDd4E

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) August 21, 2025

The SEC formally announced they would be switching to a nine game conference schedule starting next season. The ACC and its 17-ish teams decided to follow suit. That was in an attempt to fix one of the biggest gripes from other conferences (cough, cough the Big Ten) about universal scheduling being more parallel and equal from conference to conference. 

It didn’t take a genius to see that the Big Ten’s initial complaints were what my overpriced therapist would call “gaslighting.” It was textbook. Add in a dash of recency bias and a heaping helping of SEC fatigue and the ball got rolling quickly. 

Curt Cignetti would win 10 games in the SEC with this Indiana football team. pic.twitter.com/gReFA1yAlh

— Indiana Bison (@TheIndianaBison) July 22, 2025

The slippery slope of the aforementioned concoction that led us here was greased with greed and even more money to be made for the people running the show.

It didn’t take a genius to see what was happening. But it happened nonetheless. The Big Ten, riding a wave of overconfidence after seeing two different teams win two national titles, and the SEC not even playing for either, grew more and more arrogant and demanding on scheduling by the day. It was like watching a 12 year old, who hit a growth spurt before everyone else, win the Little League World Series because he was 6’2” and threw 80 mph despite not being able to pronounce his “r’s” yet and getting a C in Social Studies. 

Regardless, it didn’t matter. 

The SEC, and its 13 national championships in the last 18 years (from five different teams nonetheless), bent to the will of a league that has seen two teams win national titles in the last 59 years yet prides itself on balance and depth. 

There are above-ground pools with more depth than the Big Ten. 

That all set the stage to what happened on Wednesday when the Big Ten announced that they would not follow suit with the SEC and force the teams in their league to play 10 Power 4 Games every year. 

Oh, you missed that? Yeah, grab a seat. Not only did the SEC add yet another conference game in a league that has been more cannibalistic than Hannibal Lecter after a two day juice cleanse. They also decided that every team in the league would have to play a tenth game against a non-conference opponent that is from a Power Four conference or named Notre Dame. With teams like Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Kentucky having a built-in tenth game versus a P4 non-conference game due to in-state rivalries, the SEC wanted everyone to be on the same page. 

Say it with me…

IF WE ARE GONNA TALK ABOUT COLLEGE FOOTBALL WE ARE GONNA DO IT WITH FACTUAL INFORMATION

Here’s a look at some SEC non-conference schedules vs Indiana’s

Multiple teams will play 10 P4 teams every year for the next 5-10 years.

But remember, Mercer… pic.twitter.com/RE5xgSGK4t

— Chris Marler (@Vern_Funquist) July 23, 2025

The assumption that everyone in the conference would be on board with that move was a correct one. After all, nearly every SEC school besides Ole Miss had at least one Power Four non-conference opponent scheduled in the next year. However, the assumption that the Big Ten would return the favor after their own “Summer I Turned Petty” tour, was incorrect. It was wildly incorrect. 

According to On3’s Brett McMurphy, playing a tenth P4 game hasn’t been discussed, and another source added that “there is nothing on the immediate horizon.”

In 2026 all Power 4 conferences will play 9 league games. Big Ten will be only 1 not requiring 1 non-conference power opponent. That likely won’t change. “It hasn’t been discussed,” Big Ten source told @On3sports on B1G requiring 10th power conference foehttps://t.co/iD6hY6CFpO

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 24, 2025

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. There’s no incentive for the Big Ten to make a change, just like there was no true incentive for the SEC to make a massive change in their model before. And, before anyone says “well it’s better for the fan,” sure. That’s why the SEC did it. Their longstanding and unending commitment to the fan. 

That’s why they’ve done such a great job making sure Oklahoma and Texas had equally difficult schedules when entering the league. That’s why they’re so transparent and committed to fixing the officiating problem. That’s why. The fans. 

This was an all-time bag fumbling by the SEC, and they have no one to blame but themselves.