Auburn football: SEC referred to as ‘Power 2’ by ESPN along with Big Ten
Auburn football fans understand that the Tigers play in the top conference in the country: the SEC. Having both teams in the College Football Playoff championship game twice in the last five years gets you that distinction pretty handily.
At this point in time, the SEC has just one legitimate competitor that can boast of being a regular feeder to the CFP. That would be the Big Ten, which just added USC and UCLA to expand the conference’s footprint out to southern California. Only two years since 2014-15, the CFP’s inaugural season, have been lacking a B1G program.
With Los Angeles’ two Power Five teams joining the Big Ten, and Oregon, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Stanford also being targeted by the conference, it’s clear that the SEC and B1G are leading the charge in college football’s bold new era of radical realignment.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel interestingly called those two conferences the ‘Power 2’:
"“So to say with any certainty that the Big Ten and SEC aren’t on the cusp of more imminent realignment moves would be correct for now, but that’s seemingly a temporary pause. Is that pause a week? Or a year? But they have established themselves as destinations so alluring that schools outside the “Power 2″ would have to be tempted to join at a cut rate.”"
What makes Thamel’s comments so interesting is that he essentially represents the SEC’s side of things given ESPN’s close relationship with the conference. That context makes this comment about Notre Dame wanting to remain an independent an eyebrow-raiser:
"“The SEC is unlikely to bless any move that prevents Notre Dame from having access to the playoff, as it would push the Irish to the Big Ten. The SEC wouldn’t want to strengthen its rival league like that.”"
These conference executives are playing chicken with millions of dollars, and it’s notable that the Big Ten is seen as the SEC’s rival. When the ACC eventually loses teams like Clemson, Miami, and Florida State, a bidding war could result.
The ‘it just means more’ mantra created by the passion (and revenue) from programs like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida, and Auburn football could help the SEC win those bidding wars when the time comes.