The Big Ten has become the SEC’s partner-in-crime as it pertains to taking hold of college football. With another College Football Playoff formatting shift possibly on the horizon, On3’s Ari Wasserman broke down why the Big Ten has morphed into an antagonist.
From Underdog to Villain: The Big Ten’s Rise as the SEC’s Playoff Power Partner
With its pile of national championships and having knocked down the first domino of making over college football as we knew it, the SEC is no stranger to boos. The Big Ten, however, isn’t innocent either and has become an object of ire within the sport’s landscape.
Wasserman explained how feelings toward the storied midwestern league have changed since it annexed USC and UCLA — and later Oregon and Washington — in order to prop itself up.
“I do think it is kind of funny, too, that 10 years ago, everybody used to just yell about SEC bias. Like, ESPN SEC bias,” Wasserman said Tuesday on “Andy & Ari On3.” “And I still think you get that to a certain extent from a large portion of the crowd who haven’t moved on from it yet. But I think that, as the years go on and these things continue to happen, that the Big Ten is becoming quite villainous itself. In kind of like a co-captain (sort of way).
“Like, the SEC is Batman and the Big Ten is like a more powerful Robin, and what they’re gonna do is try to pitch a system that favors their two conferences to get as many possible teams automatically qualified into the tournament and then also bastardize the process in order to advance them deep into the tournament before they even have to play a game.”
Last week in Los Angeles, those at the top of the Big Ten supported a “4-4-2-2-1” CFP format, which would give both it and the SEC four automatic qualifiers. The ACC and Big 12, the other two power conferences, aren’t in agreement.
“It does feel like we’re trying to separate the two from the rest of the sport without doing it,” Wasserman said. “It feels like the beginning of the superleague, and then everybody’s gonna wanna be a part of those leagues and everybody’s gonna resent them for existing.
KEEP READING: ‘Grave Concerns’ — LSU AD Scott Woodward Sounds Alarm on Future of College Athletics
“And it’s just creating a divide between them and college football because I feel like, in general, the four automatic qualifiers for those two conferences make sense on the surface … but, at the same time, too, I think the ACC and the Big 12 admitting to that and going into it is an acknowledgement that they’re second-class citizens in their own sport.”
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball!
