SEC Put on Notice as Colin Cowherd Highlights Big Ten Dominance

The SEC is on a mission to end the Big Ten's three-year reign at the top of the college football landscape.

In the years following Georgia's consecutive national championship victories, Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana have all hoisted the College Football Playoff National Championship trophy. In addition to its lack of hardware, the SEC has failed to send a team to each of the last three national championships.

The Big Ten's athletic success has expanded past football in the 2025-2026 academic calendar; Michigan's men's basketball team and UCLA's women's basketball team both hoisted hardware from the NCAA tournament at the beginning of April, bringing in millions of dollars of incentives. The top-ranked UCLA baseball team is looking to snap a streak of six consecutive College World Series wins for the SEC in June.

This run of dominance has turned the heads of sports media pundits across the country. FOX Sports radio and television host Colin Cowherd addressed the Big Ten's run on his show "The Herd."

"For 20 years, the SEC, which is still very viable, used to have a slogan: it just means more. Well, the slogan today in college football is: it just costs more, and the Big Ten makes more. You can point fingers, it's not going anywhere, because there are key indicators," Cowherd said.

"Let me give you four in college sports that are on fire: revenues, ratings, passion and quality. When I'm watching the Big Ten make $70 million just on men's and women's basketball tournaments, you think the Big Ten people want new referendums and massive change? They are doubling down on this."

What has caused the SEC to decline in football?

Big Noon Kickoff ahead of Ohio State's 2025 game against Penn State. — Ohio State mascot Brutus Buckeye fires up the crowd on Fox Big Noon Kickoff prior to the NCAA football game between the Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The SEC still possesses more direct access to elite football talent out of high school than the Big Ten. The talent-rich states of Florida, Georgia and Louisiana were already in the SEC footprint prior to conference expansion, and the footprint has welcomed Texas within the last 15 years.

While it has added the talent pool of California in conference expansion, the Big Ten's key acquisitions are television markets. Rutgers and Maryland are not annual football powerhouses, but their addition to the Big Ten in 2014 meant the league gained a presence near several major East Coast cities. USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon's arrival gave the Big Ten a presence on both coasts.

Big Ten football broadcasts are also housed on more networks than SEC football broadcasts. ESPN is the sole carrier of SEC broadcasts, as CBS did not seek to renew its deal with the SEC after 2023, picking up the Big Ten instead. FOX had already carried Big Ten games for a long time, and NBC joined in with Big Ten coverage in 2023.

Cowherd mentioned that spending and NIL are not the areas for the SEC to blame over the last three seasons. More cash never hurts, but coaches still have to properly identify the players who will help them most out of the NCAA transfer portal. Indiana's portal evaluations under Curt Cignetti showcase how the right additions can make or break a season.

The SEC, particularly at the point of attack, was lackluster in 2025. Among the struggling offensive lines in the SEC a season ago were Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi State, LSU, Texas, Oklahoma and South Carolina. All of those programs have taken measures to address the deficiencies with portal additions.