Since the ascendance of the SEC and the Big Ten over the past decade to so-called superconference status and a power level above the other two Power Four conferences, there has been an ongoing debate over which of the two super conferences reigns supreme in the sport of college football.
That question will be on the table again this weekend with three SEC vs. Big Ten matchups, including Oklahoma at Michigan in a battle of two of college football's winningest and most widely followed programs. As iconic as those two football brands are in the collegiate ranks, they have only gone head-to-head two other times before the showdown on Saturday at the Big House in Ann Arbor.
Oklahoma can help SEC seize bragging rights over Big Ten with Michigan win
The Big House is a more than apt moniker for Michigan Stadium, which is not only the largest college football stadium, but the third-largest stadium in the world. A crowd of over 110,000 was on hand for Michigan's season opener last weekend against Western Michigan, marking the Wolverines' 330th consecutive attendance of 100,000-plus. Needless to say, the crowd noise can be extremely distracting for a Michigan opponent.
This will be Oklahoma's first-ever trip to Ann Arbor for a football game. The Sooners won both of the previous games with Michigan, including 24-13 last season in Norman. But this time, OU is facing Michigan on the Wolverines' home turf, where they have won 32 of the last 35 home games. The Sooners have been a good road team historically and won all four of their true road games last season. They are also 5-0 in their last five road games against Big Ten teams, including a 31-16 road win over No. 2 Ohio State in 2017.
Oklahoma is 14-7 all-time in football against teams from the Big Ten, at the time the games were played, and has won 11 of the last 14.
Also on tap on Saturday is a top-five matchup between top-ranked Ohio State and No. 4 Texas, as well as an SEC-Big Ten non-conference clash between Mississippi State and Minnesota. Both Oklahoma and Mississippi State will be on the road for their intraconference showdowns, while Texas will be at home against the No. 1 Buckeyes.
Ohio State is 3-2 all-time vs. Texas. The two teams played last season in Columbus, with No. 3 Ohio State outlasting the No. 1 Longhorns 14-7. This will be the second time Ohio State has visited Longhorn Country. The Buckeyes prevailed 24-7 in 2006.
A current team from the SEC has won 16 of the last 26 national championships in college football, including eight in a row from 2005 to 2012. By comparison, over the same time period, a Big Ten team won three national titles, three of which belonged to Ohio State.
The Big Ten contends that because teams from that conference have won the last three national championships (Michigan in 2023, Ohio State in 2024 and Indiana last season), the scales of superiority in football have tipped in its favor. The SEC's argument for being the best football conference is that the SEC is the more competitive conference top to bottom, and not just the upper half of the league.
When Oklahoma and Texas joined the SEC ahead of the 2024 season, it only helped strengthen what, in the view of many experts, was already the strongest football conference, particularly during the 2000s. Adding USC and Oregon at the same time the SEC welcomed the Sooners and Longhorns into the fold served as a comparable move by the Big Ten, and the sudden rise to relevance by Indiana, a team with the most losses in college football history, has helped boost the Big Ten's claim to being the better of the two conferences.
The Big Ten, originally established back in 1896, is definitely the older of the two conferences. The SEC has only been in existence since 1934. The current membership of the Big Ten also owns the most national championships in football in the Associated Press poll era (1936-present) with 34. That compares to 22 by current SEC members.
The measure of greatness or the superiority of one entity over another, however, is time-relative. Based on that parameter, over the last 26 seasons, the SEC has demonstrated stronger results. The SEC has a wide advantage in national championships (14-5, 16-6 if you include the new conference members). The SEC has the better overall winning percentage during that same span: .600 (2,604-1,752) to .570 (2,347-1,800).
The SEC can add to that percentage if it is able to take two, or even all three, of the games against Big Ten opponents this weekend.
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