Urban Meyer names one conference that has 'passed' the SEC

The SEC has been the dominant conference in college football for the last 20 years, with most national champions coming from this conference. However, former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer thinks that this era of dominance may be ending.

Speaking on the "Another Dooley Noted Podcast," Meyer said that the Big Ten Conference had become the best conference in college football.

"Well, you know what the SEC’s done? It’s raised the level. But the Big Ten has passed the SEC at the upper part. If you would have told me that 10 years ago, I would’ve said it’s not even close. Because it’s not.”

The Big Ten, at least with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and recent addition Oregon, has been able to not only challenge the dominant SEC over the last few years, but beat teams from this conference. This is something that would not have happened five or ten years ago, when most of the talented players in college football played in the SEC.

Meyer could be seen as a pioneer of recent Big Ten domination. He led the Ohio State Buckeyes between 2012-2018, leading the team to a national championship in 2014. Meyer believes that the approach he took while with the Buckeyes set the wheels in motion for what we are seeing today in the conference.

"I like to think that the Buckeyes really changed that. Then everyone else started investing in their schools."

In 2025, college football will have two dominant conferences, the SEC and the Big Ten. While Meyer thinks that the SEC is ahead of the Big Ten when every member of the conference is taken into account, when only the "powerhouses" are looked at, the Big Ten is stronger, and the top-ranked prospects are heading to these schools instead of the traditional SEC teams.

Urban Meyer on the recent teams from Ohio State and Michigan

Urban Meyer expanded on the idea that the Big Ten is the stronger conference in the recent edition of "The Third Option" podcast. Here, he praised the last two squads from Ohio State and rivals Michigan.

"What I’ve witnessed the Wolverines and Buckeyes do the last two years — you’ve got grown *** men in that locker room. My best teams were when I had men, not boys, in the locker room," Meyer said.

"You look at the Wolverines and Buckeyes, all those kids came back. It’s not 17, 18. You’ve got 21-year-old dudes who have been through the war… My best teams were the same way. … guys who didn’t put up with ***. The locker room was the locker room because they were grown men.”

Ohio State and Michigan have been able to cement themselves as contenders for the national championship each season and have won the last two. To do they, they had to beat strong SEC opponents in the playoff semifinals, which has denied teams from the SEC a spot in the national championship game for the last two seasons.

These teams are creating men who are playing at an NFL standard in college. By doing this, they are able to defeat some of the best teams in the country, winning championships and raising the competition in the Big Ten as a whole.