Big Ten Facing 'Growing Problem' In Ongoing Battle vs. SEC

The Big Ten is facing a “growing problem” in its ongoing battle with the SEC.

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The Big Ten and the SEC are at a different level than everyone else in the college football world. The Big Ten has won the past three national championships, with Michigan winning in 2023, Ohio State winning in 2024 and Indiana winning last season.

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But, as the Big Ten has dominated the College Football Playoff as of late, it’s the SEC that has been winning the TV ratings battle.

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Ben Koo of Awful Announcing shares that it’s a growing problem for the league that has some hitting the panic button.

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The SEC has dominated the Big Ten in the TV ratings department to start the season.

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“The Big Ten is winning National Championships and making more TV money than the SEC. But there is a growing problem…,” Koo wrote.

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“The widening gap in TV ratings and the quality of the TV product itself, compared to the SEC, has many hitting the panic button.”

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The Big Ten is winning National Championships and making more TV money than the SEC. But there is a growing problem…
The widening gap in TV ratings and the quality of the TV product itself, compared to the SEC, has many hitting the panic button.https://t.co/QybDxLb8wFpic.twitter.com/Mt38lrpFsk

— Ben Koo (@bkoo) October 1, 2026

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The SEC has dominated the Big Ten, thanks to its big early season games and its prime windows on ABC and ESPN.

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Most-watched Week 4 games, per Nielsen:
Texas-Tenn (ABC): 9.7M
Ole Miss-UF (ABC): 8.3M
A&M-LSU (ABC): 5.7M
Ore-USC (NBC): 4.6M
Iowa-Mich (CBS): 4.5M
Northwestern-IU (FOX): 3.9M
Illinois-Ohio St (FOX): 3.7M
S Car-Bama (ESPN): 2.9M
Okla-UGA (ESPN): 2.6M
Everything else < 1.5M

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) September 30, 2026

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Andy Staples of On3 believes there’s an ideal solution.

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“There are two very obvious moves:

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1) Don’t schedule all crap non-con games in September.

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2) Make teams play conference games in the first three weeks.

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The Big Ten’s numbers will get better because the games will get better. But the SEC’s games were interesting all along.”

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Ultimately, if the Big Ten is making a ton of money – and it is – it’s probably not that pressing of a problem, but the conference – and its TV partners – would certainly like to close the gap with the SEC.

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This story was originally published by The Spun on Oct 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.