SEC-Big Ten Talks Mean More Possible Changes for Hogs, College Football

Pac 12 might have additional options if patient as march to super conferences slowly moves forward

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Andrew Armstrong motions first down against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. / Craven Whitlow-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — If the Pac 12 can be patient for just a little while longer, there might soon be several teams available to join their league that don't require flying from Washington to Memphis numerous times per year.

News came down recently that the SEC and Big Ten are looking to solidify a partnership deal in football that will regularly feature games between the two conferences and also position themselves with more power to insist on more automatic bids for their leagues. It's just one more baby step toward that SEC-Big Ten only league that seems pretty much inevitable, especially once the mandatory payment to all athletes starts kicking in.

This should make the Big 12 and the ACC very nervous because the eventual move to a two or three-division SEC and Big Ten featuring 24 teams each feels almost like a requirement at this point. The 12-team could feature a playoff bye for each division champion, automatic qualifiers for each runner-up, and a spot for the remaining two highest ranked teams from each conference regardless of division.

Sounds like a license to print money, which is exactly why it will probably eventually happen. That means the Big Ten needs to scoop up six more schools, while the SEC will need eight.

The simplest way to do that is to take the three ACC schools that bring financial value and make the most sense geographically go the Big Ten, while the same theory is applied to tapping the Big 12. For instance, perhaps they grab North Carolina, Virginia and Pitt, then add Kansas, Iowa State and Utah.

Meanwhile, the SEC snatches up Miami and Virginia Tech while flipping a coin between Clemson, Florida State and Louisville for the final two spots as none of those schools open up new markets. From the Big 12, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and West Virginia get the nod with the last spot going to TCU.

SEC schools like coming to the Dallas area, no one wants to travel to Lubbock, Colorado will be useless after Deion Sanders quits following this season once his son and Travis Hunter go into the NFL Draft, and the other schools are just too far west to be SEC material. Should the decision be to go with 12-team divisions, that puts Arkansas with Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Missouri, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, TCU and Vanderbilt.

Should they go to three eight-team divisions, the Hogs find themselves with the same teams minus the Mississippi schools, LSU and Vandy. There would be hope for a swap of Missouri to keep LSU, but there are too many Big 8/12 ties to speak that into existence while keeping LSU from sticking with its traditional SEC rivals from back in the soft helmet days.

Meanwhile, the schools not in the SEC or Big Ten can rally together under the NCAA banner and officially resurrect conferences like the Pac 12, Southwest Conference and the Big East. There SMU, Rice, Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas State, UTSA, Tulsa and Tulane battle it out for the right to face Colorado State, Boise State, or which ever one of the many schools with the word State in its name wins the Pac 12 in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 exclusively on Tubi.

The NCAA's Group of Six will put up a lot of fun games that people will still find time to watch much like in the heyday of the MAC when points were aplenty. That would tide them over between playoff games of the Big Ten-SEC-Dr Pepper-Tostitos-Capital One College Football Super Conference brought to you by Regions Bank.

Utah's Isaac Wilson (11) looks to throw a pass in the second half of the college football between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys and the Utah Utes at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept., 21, 2024. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Big Ten West

• Washington
• UCLA
• USC
• Utah
• Kansas
• Iowa State
• Oregon
• Nebraska
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Wisconsin
• Illinois

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Austin Allen (8) celebrates with fans after the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Amon G. Carter Stadium. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

SEC West

• Arkansas
• Texas
• Texas A&M
• Oklahoma
• Oklahoma St.
• Kansas St.
• Missouri
• LSU
• Ole Miss
• Mississippi St.
• TCU
• Vanderbilt

Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Konata Mumpfield (9) scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the College Football game at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati on Saturday, Sept. 7. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Big Ten East

• Northwestern
• Purdue
• Indiana
• Michigan
• Michigan St.
• Ohio St.
• Penn St.
• Pitt
• Virginia
• North Carolina
• Rutgers
• Maryland

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward (1) celebrates with offensive lineman Taylor Broutin (72) after a touchdown against the Virginia Tech Hokies during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

SEC East

• Tennessee
• West Virginia
• Virginia Tech
• Kentucky
• Alabama
• Auburn
• Florida
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Miami
• Clemson-Florida St.-Louisville (Two of the three)

If this were the case, the playoffs would project like this right now:
BYES
Alabama
Texas
Ohio St.
Oregon
AUTOMATIC BID
Tennessee
Missouri
Penn St.
USC
LAST FOUR IN
Georgia
Miami
Michigan
Iowa St.

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green (10) tries hurdling an Auburn Tigers' defensive back Jerrin Thompson (1) as teammate Eugene Asante (9) at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. / Craven Whitlow-Hogs on SI Images

Here's what a sample Razorback schedule would look like in this scenario:
Aug. 31 TCU
Sept. 7 @ Oklahoma St.
Sept. 14 LSU
Sept. 21 @ Vanderbilt
Sept. 28 TENNESSEE
Oct. 5 @ Mississippi St.
Oct. 19 TEXAS
Oct. 26 @ Oklahoma
Nov. 2 OLE MISS
Nov. 16 @ Kansas St.
Nov. 23 TEXAS A&M
Nov. 30 @ Missouri

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