SEC coaches spent the first day of media availability circling the same sore spot: why the Big Ten has owned the sport lately while the SEC has watched from behind.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz jumped into that conversation Monday and aimed his criticism at Big Ten scheduling, saying the league’s non-conference setup has helped fuel its rise. But his argument didn’t line up with what’s actually happened on the field.
“When I distinctly remember last year being in the SEC meetings when we were discussing the eight- to nine-game scenario, and we were being told that if we didn’t vote to go to a nine-game, then the playoffs wouldn’t expand, and so we made that decision," Drinkwitz said. "But in hindsight, we did not recognize, or I didn’t recognize, that they didn’t play an A4 [autonomous four] game.”
The SEC is moving to a nine-game conference schedule this season, matching the Big Ten. Drinkwitz and other SEC coaches, including LSU’s Lane Kiffin, have argued that the setup still isn’t equal because Big Ten teams do not have to play an A4 non-conference opponent.
Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz says SEC coaches already regret moving to a nine-game conference schedule. He says Lane Kiffin has long been in front saying a move from eight games would be an issue.
Drinkwitz points to Big Ten not required to play A4 non-conference opponent.
- Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) July 20, 2026
The problem for that line of thinking is that the Big Ten’s success hasn’t come from paperwork or scheduling quirks. It’s come from winning games.
Last season, the SEC went 5-9 in the postseason, another rough stretch for a league that has long set the standard. The Big Ten, meanwhile, went 3-1 against SEC opponents in head-to-head matchups, and Indiana’s 38-3 rout of Alabama in the Rose Bowl was the loudest statement of all. That game was over early, and it had nothing to do with whether anybody played an A4 opponent in September.
The Big Ten has also been perfect against SEC teams in College Football Playoff meetings over the last three seasons, going 4-0. Those wins came by an average of 20.3 points per game.
That’s the part the SEC keeps trying to talk around. The league that once ruled the sport for decades is now in a different place, and the results keep saying so.
Instead of owning that shift, some SEC voices keep reaching for scheduling as the explanation for why programs like Indiana are beating them. With Cignetti in charge, the Hoosiers look built to keep it going in 2026 and beyond.
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