Everyone says the SEC is harder. The Big Ten has won three straight national titles. So we ran the numbers.
The short answer
The SEC is harder to survive. The Big Ten is harder to beat. Both are true, and the data shows exactly where one ends and the other begins.
How we measured
We rated every FBS team using all 1,853 games from the last two seasons (2024 and 2025, since the conferences expanded). Each team gets one number: how many points better it is than an average FBS team on a neutral field, after adjusting every score for who it played and where. Then we checked every claim below against three published systems — SP+, ESPN's FPI and SRS. Every claim here holds in at least three of the four.
1. Week to week, the SEC is tougher
The average SEC team rates about 1.8 points better than the average Big Ten team by our numbers. SP+ and FPI put the gap closer to five. Either way, a random Saturday in the SEC is a harder game.
2. But the Big Ten owns the top
Line both leagues up best to worst and the picture flips at the top. Ohio State and Indiana rated better than anyone in the SEC over the last two years — in all four rating systems.
3. The SEC owns the rest
From tenth place down, the SEC leads at every single rank, by about three points per spot on average. The SEC's bottom half looks like the Big Ten's middle: a team finishing 13th in the SEC would be a top-ten Big Ten team.
4. Titles are won at the top
In the last three playoffs, the Big Ten is 4–0 against the SEC, by a combined 135 to 54:
2023 CFP Semifinal: Michigan 27, Alabama 20
2024 CFP First Round: Ohio State 42, Tennessee 17
2024 CFP Semifinal: Ohio State 28, Texas 14
2025 CFP Quarterfinal: Indiana 38, Alabama 3
What it means
If you're an SEC team, the schedule wears you down. If you're the best team in the Big Ten, nobody in the SEC has been better than you lately. This season it's tighter: as of Oct. 27, Ohio State is No. 1 in SP+, with Georgia and LSU right behind.
Get the data
Every SEC and Big Ten team from the last two seasons (2024–25), rated by our model and checked against SP+, ESPN FPI and SRS. Ratings are points better than an average FBS team on a neutral field.
# | Team | Conf | Ours | SP+ | FPI | SRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ohio State | Big Ten | +21.9 | 30.6 | 26.2 | 25.6 |
2 | Indiana | Big Ten | +19.8 | 26.2 | 25.1 | 22.5 |
3 | Oregon | Big Ten | +16.6 | 25.9 | 22.5 | 19.6 |
4 | Ole Miss | SEC | +15.0 | 25.9 | 20.0 | 17.5 |
5 | Texas | SEC | +13.7 | 20.1 | 22.3 | 16.0 |
6 | Georgia | SEC | +13.5 | 24.2 | 21.8 | 16.1 |
7 | Penn State | Big Ten | +13.3 | 21.4 | 18.0 | 16.9 |
8 | Alabama | SEC | +12.1 | 19.9 | 21.5 | 15.4 |
9 | Texas A&M | SEC | +10.9 | 18.9 | 16.3 | 14.4 |
10 | Iowa | Big Ten | +10.4 | 17.8 | 13.2 | 13.1 |
11 | USC | Big Ten | +10.3 | 14.4 | 15.6 | 13.8 |
12 | Tennessee | SEC | +9.1 | 18.5 | 17.6 | 13.0 |
13 | Vanderbilt | SEC | +8.6 | 12.6 | 11.8 | 11.7 |
14 | Washington | Big Ten | +7.4 | 10.8 | 9.5 | 11.1 |
15 | South Carolina | SEC | +7.1 | 11.4 | 11.9 | 9.8 |
16 | Oklahoma | SEC | +7.1 | 13.9 | 13.4 | 9.8 |
17 | Illinois | Big Ten | +7.0 | 11.2 | 7.6 | 10.6 |
18 | Michigan | Big Ten | +7.0 | 11.5 | 11.8 | 9.9 |
19 | Missouri | SEC | +7.0 | 14.2 | 12.6 | 9.7 |
20 | LSU | SEC | +6.8 | 13.1 | 12.1 | 10.6 |
21 | Florida | SEC | +4.8 | 8.7 | 10.1 | 8.6 |
22 | Auburn | SEC | +4.2 | 10.6 | 10.4 | 7.3 |
23 | Minnesota | Big Ten | +3.4 | 6.0 | 5.2 | 6.7 |
24 | Nebraska | Big Ten | +3.2 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.5 |
25 | Arkansas | SEC | +3.1 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 5.0 |
26 | Rutgers | Big Ten | +1.3 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 3.8 |
27 | Kentucky | SEC | +0.9 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 3.0 |
28 | Northwestern | Big Ten | 0.0 | -1.2 | -0.8 | 0.6 |
29 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | -0.3 | -0.7 | 3.7 | 3.1 |
30 | Mississippi State | SEC | -2.1 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 0.3 |
31 | UCLA | Big Ten | -2.5 | -5.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
32 | Maryland | Big Ten | -3.2 | -1.6 | -1.1 | -1.4 |
33 | Michigan State | Big Ten | -3.5 | -4.0 | -1.5 | -1.6 |
34 | Purdue | Big Ten | -8.5 | -11.2 | -9.3 | -4.8 |
Your turn: what debate should we settle next? Reply and tell me.
— Pete, boxscore.data
Sources: CollegeFootballData.com (game results, SP+, FPI, SRS); CFP results verified against College Football Playoff and AP recaps.