When Urban Meyer arrived at Ohio State in 2012, the Big Ten was not very close to the SEC. Things have changed.
The Big Ten has won three straight College Football Playoff national championships. Michigan won it in 2023, Ohio State won it in 2024 and Indiana won it last season. Meyer's Buckeyes first broke through in 2014-15, when Ohio State won the inaugural College Football Playoff.
What's happened over the past 10-15 years?
Meyer thinks he knows why.
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Meyer explained his theory on the Big Ten taking the reins from the SEC during an appearance on "The Script" podcast
Meyer opens up about Big Ten taking over SEC
Meyer believes that, essentially, the Big Ten got more serious.
"I don't believe the Big Ten was very serious back in 2012. I don't think the opponents' stadiums were very serious. I don't think the recruiting was very serious. You know, I thought the Big Ten conference was OK, but then they'd go get their (expletive) kicked in the bowl games. And I saw it, I came from the SEC, and I was like 'what are we doing?' You know, you go into these stadiums, and they're not hard to play in," he said.
"You have to give Penn State credit. They got real serious. The Wovlerines got real serious. Other teams in that conference got real serious," Meyer continued. "You go in there now with Big Noon, and some of these environments are fantastic. Go ask how the boys are doing in Bloomington, Indiana. They got real serious about the game of football. Illinois, they got real serious. They hired the right guy. They got really good players and they're beating SEC teams in a bowl game. I think the Big Ten, and there's a lot of credit to go around to the ADs, the administrators, etc. the Big Ten got real serious about the game of football."
The Big Ten has multiple national title contenders heading into the 2026 season, too, including Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and Indiana.
