The notion that the SEC's reign atop the college sports world is officially over got a massive boost from the Michigan Wolverines' 90-77 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sweet 16 on Friday night.
As Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken hammered home in a column titled, "Michigan's emphatic NCAA tournament win over Alabama reinforces Big Ten's takeover of SEC's mantle," the Big Ten has allegedly surpassed the SEC on the hardwood, too.
"As the SEC grew into the nation’s dominant athletic conference through the first two decades of the 2000s, the Big Ten had little ability to answer outside of complaints and cope. Its insistence on being the league that followed rules — aside from an Ohio State scandal every now and then — would allow university presidents to give each other pats on the back. But when championships were on the line, it didn’t amount to much when Big Ten fans and players were being serenaded with chants of 'SEC! SEC!' Times have changed," Wolken wrote.
"After three straight football titles won by Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana, the Big Ten now has basketball bragging rights, too. The Big Ten is 4-0 against the SEC in this tournament, is guaranteed of at least one Final Four berth when Iowa plays Illinois in the South regional and could deliver two more if Purdue can upset Arizona in the West final and Michigan can beat Tennessee in Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup."
Of course, a Big Ten program hasn't won the NCAA Tournament since Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans in 2000. Until a B1G team wins it all, they don't have any hoops supremacy over the SEC, which had the national champions last year with the Florida Gators.
Big Ten supremacy talking point lacks key context
While, yes, the Big Ten has a monopoly on the CFP title over the past three seasons, the SEC is still the deepest conference by a country mile. ESPN's Bill Connelly's SP+ rankings reveal that the back-end B1G teams more closely resemble the Big 12 and ACC than the "It Just Means More" conference.
Great visualization of a trend the past few years:
— Tyler Vesely (@TylerVesely) March 28, 2026
- Big Ten best at the top
- SEC middle 10 teams are better than any other conference
- Big Ten back end of the conference very similar to lower tier ACC and Big 12 teams
- SEC worst teams better than Big 10/ACC/Big 12 https://t.co/GZ1NXcFAs4 pic.twitter.com/SfgWdmSW7G
Thus far, it's more of a talking point than reality that the Big Ten has surpassed the SEC in most conceivable ways. Besides having recent champions, and, during this past calendar year, a deep pool of true contenders at the top in both sports, the B1G doesn't own every possible advantage over the SEC.
Don't let the headlines fool you to think otherwise.