Lincoln Riley on rankings: ‘the Big Ten and SEC have separated themselves’

USC head coach Lincoln Riley is just the latest Big Ten coach to proclaim the conference the best in football. During an interview with On3’s JD Pickell on Wednesday, Riley claimed that the Big Ten has ‘separated themselves’ from the SEC.

This comes after the conference won its third consecutive National Championship. All three wins came from three different programs. Michigan won in 2023, Ohio State won in 2024, and Indiana won its first-ever National Championship this past season.

Meanwhile, the SEC has not featured a team in the National Championship in three seasons, marking its longest absence in the history of the College Football Playoff. SEC programs were just 4-8 in bowl games this season, with two of the four wins coming against fellow SEC teams. Texas‘ 41-27 win over Michigan, led by interim head coach Biff Poggi, in the Citrus Bowl was the lone bowl win for an SEC program over a Power-Four program in a bowl game.

Lincoln Riley makes bold claim about the Big Ten, SEC

“I think it’s pretty clear that the Big Ten and the SEC have separated themselves,” Riley said. “I think everybody in college football understands that. That’s just the reality of where the situation is, in terms of the schedules. I know everybody wants to sit there and debate those two conferences, but the reality is, both conferences are fantastic. Both conferences, you play elite-level teams very, very often.

“The strengths of schedules are very different, and I think that’s honestly made rankings and Playoff rankings that much more difficult. The discrepancy in schedules right now has never been higher in football than where it is now. You’re asking humans to do a very difficult job, given how we currently rank teams. I think guys know now that if you come to USC and play in the Big Ten, you’re gonna play one of the best schedules in the country. You’re gonna play marquee teams on the road and certainly here in LA at The Coliseum. Your strength of schedule is not going to be questioned.”

The Big Ten, meanwhile, went 11-4 in bowl games this past season, with just one of the 11 wins coming against fellow Big Ten teams. The conference was 3-1 against the SEC and 2-1 against the ACC. If it wasn’t obvious before, the Big Ten has definitely cemented itself as the sport’s premier conference. The SEC needs a National Championship winner (which it hasn’t had since Georgia in 2022) in a dire way, in order to have an argument to proclaim itself as the best conference in America.