Ohio State, Oregon Ducks Help Big Ten Usurp SEC As Best College Football Conference?

Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt made an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd and expressed his doubts about the SEC. Klatt believes the Big Ten is starting to take over as the top conference.

“You start looking at this narrative the SEC has built up over the last few years, and late last year it started to crumble,” Klatt said. “The SEC and in particular the best programs within the SEC can no longer just stockpile talent and keep them as backups and even third stringers all the time.”

Klatt explains that the NCAA Transfer Portal and the growth of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals have been a big part of the SEC no longer being able to control college football. In the past, the top SEC schools such as Alabama, were able to recruit elite talent and keep them on the bench until a spot in the rotation opened up for them, even if it took a couple of years. Now, players are not waiting on the bench for as long and entering the portal instead. 

"But now, rather than sitting as a backup at Alabama, you can go and be a starter at some other program and make six figures. And so the talent is not just sitting there. … The depth of talent is now dispersing across the country,” Klatt said. “And what you see is when that happens, it rewards teams that can play quality football at the line of scrimmage and retain talent and get veterans within their organization.”

With the transfer portal and NIL, the time between seasons has turned into what is close to a free agency period. Teams can look into the portal and push to bring in the top talent. Oregon, Ohio State, and Michigan have taken advantage of it already, and more programs are doing so as well.

“In part, it’s kind of the overarching shift of where college football has gone, which has allowed the talent to not get really bogged down in one region. Now all those players are going over for more opportunities, more starting spots,” Klatt said.  

In 2024, Oregon took advantage of the transfer portal, bringing in top talent such as defensive lineman Derrick Harmon. Harmon had one of the best seasons of his collegiate career and became a first-round NFL draft pick. The Ducks also brought in their 2024 starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was a third-round draft selection following a strong season. 

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was also a transfer in 2024 and is expected to be Oregon’s 2025 starting quarterback. Oregon did not face an SEC opponent last season, and their only loss came against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the postseason.

The addition of Oregon through conference realignment and the growth of NIL and the transfer portal is turning the Big Ten into a top conference, possibly passing the SEC.

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