The debate about which conference is better between the SEC and the Big Ten got fresh juice when Bret Bielema took to the podium at the Big Ten Media Days. Curt Cignetti added some more fuel to the fire. The Big Ten has produced three back-to-back national champions. However, this dominance wasn’t there last decade. Urban Meyer has a unique perspective, having won national championships in both conferences.

“Quite honestly, the Big 10 was bad,” Urban Meyer said on the Triple Option podcast on August 7. “Maybe bad’s a little hard, but it was not a good conference. I mean, top to bottom, the SEC versus the Big Ten in 2012, it was apples and oranges. It was completely different. Seriousness about the game, the stadiums, the fan bases, the recruiting, and the development of guys going to the NFL, where that’s all changed. And credit to the Big 10. They have passed the SEC.”

In his remarks, Bielema mentioned that the SEC is still stuck in 2005 while the Big Ten has moved ahead with time. That was also the period when Meyer was building his Florida team. He led the Gators to two national championships in an era when the SEC was the most dominant. Nick Saban arrived at Tuscaloosa in 2007 and carried on that SEC momentum.

However, Meyer is also one of the few head coaches who have won in the dominant SEC era. Dabo Swinney’s Clemson is the only other team that consistently took on the SEC and ended up on the winning side. Meyer did it at Ohio State.

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On the other hand, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban is still not ready to concede that the Big Ten is better than the SEC. For him, it’s more than just winning the national championship. There are other factors, including the number of players you send to the NFL, the strength of schedule, and how the conference looks from top to bottom.

For Saban and many other SEC defenders, the Big Ten is a top-heavy conference. But that point is losing its value, given that even mid-tier Big Ten teams end up beating SEC teams in bowl games. Moreover, the conference has also taken over in terms of producing NFL talent.

In the 2026 NFL draft, the SEC didn’t have a single player in the top five picks. It was only when the Chiefs picked LSU CB Mansoor Delane that we saw a representation from the conference.

The likes of Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, and even Indiana can now compete with SEC programs in recruiting. That’s what Bielema hinted at when he said that the NIL era has made it easier for teams like Illinois to compete.

However, it won’t take a lot for the SEC to return to its dominant ways. They have teams that can challenge for the national championship, and once that happens, Greg Sankey can claim that his conference has won three nattys in the past six years.