Bret Bielema might not have had the most ideal of seasons, but he walked away a happy man after winning the Music City Bowl. That victory was enough to give him bragging rights over the SEC.

The SEC has historically dominated college football. Most of the storied programs belong to this conference, and they pretty much make most of the playoff conversation. But the other big players in the sport aren’t far behind. The last two national champions came from the Big 10. After Illinois defeated Tennessee in the Music City Bowl, Bret Bielema threw some shade at the SEC.

“I think SEC is now [0-3], and we’d be [5-1] in the Big Ten? I’m gonna take that every day, right? So a little propaganda there, but propaganda is good propaganda.” The Illinois head coach said in the post-game press conference.

The SEC didn’t have great bowl games this year. Missouri lost to Virginia, a team that has been sensational this year. LSU ended its turbulent year on a disappointing note with a 38-35 loss to Houston. And Illinois handed the conference its third defeat, with a 30-28 victory over Tennessee. The Big 10, on the other hand, was undefeated in non-playoff bowl games until USC lost to TCU.

Even in the playoffs, the SEC isn’t faring that well. Sure, 5 of the 12 teams were from the prestigious conference. But that’s come down to three for the quarterfinals. Texas A&M exited the playoffs on a heartbreaking note, Oklahoma blew a 17-point lead over Alabama, and Ole Miss won’t have an easy time against Georgia. The Tide, too, is just barely getting through during this part of the season. Big 10 players Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State don’t have much reason to worry about.

Since being unceremoniously dismissed from the SEC, Bret Bielema seems to have come out stronger. His time in the conference had forced out yet another dig at the SEC before playing Tennessee.

Bret Bielema threw shade at Arkansas, comparing bowling history

Illinois football is on a great run under Bret Bielema, who is now 19-7 as the Illini’s head coach. Additionally, he’s a back-to-back bowl winner, having achieved this feat over SEC teams. However, he himself struggled during the time he was in the SEC, leading Arkansas. Now that he is in a much better place than the Hogs, Bielema launched one more attack at Arkansas before the Music City Bowl.

“When I was at Wisconsin, I never missed a bowl game… When I was at Arkansas, we went to three straight, but I missed that last year, and that wasn’t good enough for them. So, I got shooed out the door,” Bielema said.

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The coach led the Badgers to 7 bowl game appearances, but he did not coach his last. Bielema was also on a roll as Big 10 Champion, winning his last 3 with Wisconsin. But after hitting his second career low at Arkansas, he was promptly let go. Ironically, Arkansas hasn’t fared as well as it had hoped to after Bielema. Since then, Bielema and Arkansas football both have a 2-1 record in bowl games. Unlike Arkansas, Illinois is in a much better position than Arkansas, which has been scrabbling for wins this season.

The SEC’s dominance seems to be waning at this point in the CFP era. Greg Sankey called for the conference to be given 7 berths in the playoffs. It turns out that no matter how many seats the SEC gets, that number will quickly thin out. This season, Sankey’s National Championship hopes rest on Georgia alone. The Big 10, however, will find it easier to continue its newly begun streak in winning the coveted title.