Conference supremacy is something that a majority of college football fans care about year in and year out. For decades, the Power Five conferences would pass the crown around with the SEC holding the arbitrary
title for a majority of the 21st century. However, the Big Ten has made a significant push in recent years, winning the National Championship in each of the last two years. In 2025, the Big Ten and SEC make up the Power Two essentially.
Is the Big Ten the best conference in college football this year?
The AP Poll is admittedly a flawed metric as voters can’t even watch every game in a given weekend. However, it’s the simplest place to start. In this week’s AP Poll, the Big Ten holds the top two spots with Ohio State at No. 1 and Oregon at No. 2. Beyond that, the conference has four of the top eight spots with Penn State at No. 7 and Indiana at No. 8. After that there’s a gap before Michigan pops up at No. 20 and Illinois hovers at No. 22.
By the AP Poll standards, only the SEC is even close to the Big Ten. The SEC has just three in the top eight, but does have five of the top 10. They also have 10 of the top 19, which is far superior to the Big Ten. However as we all know, the AP Poll is absurdly subjective and not a great measurement.
ESPN’s SP+ is a much better metric to look at. As a reminder, ESPN defines SP+ as “a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking, so it does not automatically give credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling.”
SP+ has the Big Ten holding the top four spots in the country in Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana and Penn State, in that order. The SEC, however, still holds the advantage in the depth category as 10 of the top-25 teams are from the SEC while the Big Ten has just eight.
In non-conference play, the Big Ten went 7-5 against the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. Notably, the conference went just 1-2 against the SEC, as Michigan fell to Oklahoma, Wisconsin was thrashed by Alabama, and Ohio State upended Texas to start the season.
By the eye test, it feels like the top end of the Big Ten is better than the top end of any other conference this year. However, the SEC may have the high ground when it comes to depth.
What do you think? Is the Big Ten the best conference top to bottom in college football this year? Is it the SEC? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
