There’s no debating it. After the conclusion of the 2025 college football season, the best conference in the sport is no longer the SEC but the Big Ten.
With Ohio State following arch-rival Michigan in winning a national championship, the Big Ten has now claimed back-to-back titles, making it the only conference other than the SEC to accomplish that feat in recent memory.
Even Paul Finebaum, colloquially known as “the Mouth of the South,” has to admit that the SEC must bow to a new No. 1 when it comes to conference hierarchy in college football.
“The answer, Greeny, is yes,” Finebaum told Mike Greenberg when asked if the Big Ten owns college football. “The Big Ten, at the moment, owns college football, and there’s no way you can say it doesn’t. When you go back-to-back, that’s generational.”
As Finebaum’s words made their way around the internet, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule made sure to seize the moment and throw a quick jab at his friend in the SEC.
This past summer, Rhule and Finebaum shared headlines when Finebaum told Rhule not to “worry about the big boys,” because Nebraska wasn’t one of them.
“Man, stay in your lane! Job one: win enough games to get to some stupid bowl game. Don’t worry about the big boys, because you’re not one of them,” Finebaum exclaimed. “We saw what you did in the NFL, you were a complete disaster in Carolina. You somehow got this job in Nebraska and you’re talking like you belong at the table with Ohio State and Georgia. You don’t! Just try to win maybe six games, quit choking big games on the final play and leave the punditry to the professionals. Thank you.”
After leading Nebraska to a bowl game and its first winning season since 2016, plus watching the Big Ten rule the 2024 season, it’s Rhule who is getting the last laugh.
