The Big Ten and SEC are in preliminary talks about hosting a series of nonconference games against each other to strengthen their dominance and financial advantage over the rest of the FBS, sources tell CBS Sports. I admitted it. According to USA Today, which first reported on the discussion, teams in the FBS’s two strongest conferences will play up to 12 to 16 “challenge” games, similar to blockbuster non-conference matchups in major college basketball. It is said that it will be done.
For television purposes, media rights holders will likely be primarily interested in big brands like Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and LSU to begin with.
Officials said their eyes were opened this season when administrators realized there was revenue potential in games like Texas-Michigan and Alabama-Wisconsin. These games were scheduled before the latest round of realignment, but more games in the future will boost revenue for two conferences that already far outpace the rest of the FBS in terms of revenue.
ESPN owns the SEC’s media rights and would likely have the most rights to make such a deal happen. Big Ten media rights are split between Fox, NBC and CBS.
Negotiations are “very preliminary” and financial terms have not yet been discussed, the people said.
“This has a long way to go,” said a person familiar with the talks, adding there was a “desire” to continue exploration.
Major college sports are about to experience the financial stressors of revenue sharing (and possibly collective bargaining) in the future, and any way to generate more revenue these days needs to be taken seriously.
Big Ten commissioner and former television executive Tony Petiti is among those interested in creating as many meaningful games as possible. Such an agreement would certainly solidify a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. The FBS Conference and CFP have until December 2025 to present rights holder ESPN with a new format and structure for 2026 and beyond. This format could include automatic qualifying spots for multiple conferences.
The Big Ten and SEC appear to be receptive to this idea, as players can now be selected even if they lose multiple games in the expanded playoffs. These “challenge” games reinforce the intensity of the schedule and don’t necessarily penalize teams for losing.
For example, Texas (prior to joining the SEC) added Ohio State, Michigan State, Georgia State and Florida State to its nonconference schedule with that idea in mind.
One school of thought is that for the SEC to match the Big Ten, it first needs to play nine conference games. The SEC has long talked with ESPN about the value of a ninth conference game. That would mean schools like South Carolina (Clemson) and Florida (Florida State) would play 11 Power Four games per season, including their “challenge” games.
These new non-conference games won’t be a huge benefit, but they will be more valuable than, say, the existing MAC-Big Ten games.
This conference will be a huge hit once the current media contracts expire. These non-conference games will likely be built into contracts that expire in 2030 (Big Ten) and 2034 (SEC). It would also raise concerns in the rest of the FBS about these two conferences being separated.
At this point, it’s important to create more quality content, especially as the season ends in November. An idea to further expand the playoffs starting in 2026 with an automatic qualifier was scrapped earlier this year. The SEC and Big Ten will each get four automatic qualifiers in a 14-team field. The Big 12 and ACC each have two AQs.
The Big 12 and ACC will likely be against AQ at this point because it would limit their ability to get teams on the field. The FBS league is expected to begin discussing these topics again after this season. The SEC and Big Ten met last week to discuss furthering their common interests.
