College Football Insider: ‘Super Two’ flexing their muscles

In the summer of 2021, the Southeastern Conference stunned the college football world by luring blue bloods Oklahoma and Texas of the Big 12 to join the SEC and further form a super conference. The Big Ten followed suit a year later, grabbing USC and UCLA of the Pac-12, and then further bolstered its membership in 2023 by adding Oregon and Washington.

The fallout saw the Pac-12 dwindle to a two-team conference, and college football’s Power Five conferences become the Power Four — Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12.

Really, though, it’s the Super Two — the SEC and Big Ten — that drive major college football, and that wasn’t more evident than in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.

When the expanded 12-team playoff field debuts with four first-round games on Dec. 20 and 21, the SEC and Big Ten figure to have four teams each in the field, combining to gobble up six of the seven at-large spots.

Under the playoff format, the four highest-ranked conference champions receive first-round byes into the quarterfinals, and this week, those four are No. 1 Oregon (Big Ten), No. 3 Texas (SEC), No. 6 BYU (Big 12) and No. 9 Miami (ACC). Another spot is reserved for the highest-ranked Group of Five champion, and that projects to be Boise State of the Mountain West. That leaves seven at-large spots, and this week, those advancing are No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 10 Alabama and No. 11 Ole Miss.

Only Notre Dame broke through that Big Ten-SEC wall of at-large teams, meaning the ACC and Big 12 will likely be one-bid leagues in the playoff. The closest teams in the ACC or Big 12 to landing at No. 11 or better are No. 14 SMU and No. 16 Kansas State.

Any conference’s goal is to get as many teams as possible in the playoff, and the Big Ten and SEC are flexing their muscles in that regard. Still, some in their ranks want more. Take Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, for example.

“Any team in the SEC that finishes with 10 wins on their season should be in the playoff. I don’t think there’s really any doubt in my mind about that,” Drinkwitz said on a SiriusXM show this week. “… It feels like every game we play in the SEC is a playoff game.”

Drinkwitz, of course, has a horse in the race. His Tigers are 7-2 and No. 23 in the playoff rankings. They’re an extreme long shot to crack the top 11 to get an at-large bid, but Drinkwitz is also doing the politicking for No. 12 Georgia and No. 15 Texas A&M, teams that are close to cracking the top 11.

The playoff field will be announced Dec. 8, a day after the conference championship games. Expect to see a heavy presence of Big Ten and SEC teams. Also expect to hear calls for eventual expansion to 16 teams, in theory giving the ACC and Big 12 a chance to get more teams in.

Playoff, bowl projections

A look at a weekly projection of the College Football Playoff field and the bowl matchups involving Big Ten teams:

College Football Playoff

First round, Dec. 20-21

No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Tennessee

No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Ohio State

No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Indiana

No. 11 Ole Miss at No. 6 Penn State

Quarterfinals

Rose Bowl (Jan. 1): Notre Dame-Tennessee winner vs. No. 1 Oregon

Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 31): Ole Miss-Penn State winner vs. No. 3 BYU

Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1): Alabama-Indiana winner vs. No. 2 Texas

Peach Bowl (Jan. 1): Boise State-Ohio State winner vs. No. 4 Miami

Semifinals

Orange Bowl (Jan. 9): Fiesta winner vs. Sugar winner

Cotton Bowl (Jan. 10): Rose winner vs. Peach winner

Championship

Jan. 20, Atlanta: Semifinal winners

Other Big Ten bowls

Citrus Bowl (Dec. 31, Orlando): Illinois vs. Georgia

Reliaquest Bowl (Dec. 31, Tampa): Iowa vs. Texas A&M

Music City Bowl (Dec. 30, Nashville): Gophers vs. LSU

Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Jan. 3, Charlotte): Michigan vs. Clemson

Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 28, New York): Wisconsin vs. Pittsburgh

Rate Bowl (Dec. 26, Phoenix): Nebraska vs. Texas Tech

GameAbove Sports Bowl (Dec. 26, Detroit): Michigan State vs. Toledo

Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 27): Rutgers vs. N.C. State

Sun Bowl (Dec. 31, El Paso): USC vs. Duke

LA Bowl (Dec. 18, Inglewood, Calif.): Washington vs. UNLV