The future of college sports, and football in particular, feels more uncertain than ever. The NCAA, athletic conferences, universities, and even the U.S. government are working toward a solution that will appease all the powers that be, particularly at the top college football programs in the country.
The head coach of one of those programs, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, even believes that if an agreement that the SEC is satisfied with can’t be reached, the conference should break off and form its own league.
“I’m not afraid of that. I’m not afraid to break away and say that our conference is strong enough to go out and play,” Smart said. “If we could actually function financially, it would make our programs more stable. We could support things financially. I’m talking about all the sports, and do our own rules – I’d be all for that.”
ESPN’s Matt Barrie is all for the idea, noting that the SEC is even more strongly positioned than college football’s other mega conference, the Big Ten, to do its own thing.
“Here’s the difference between the Big Ten and the SEC,” Barrie told Greg McElroy during an appearance on Always College Football. “The SEC’s automatic wins used to be Vanderbilt, and, you know, when Dan Mullen was there, it wasn’t Mississippi State anymore, but Mississippi State. I mean, those used to be the two games where you’d go in and be like, ‘hey, I feel pretty good about our chances to get a win.’
“Well, now Jeff Lebby’s got Mississippi State as a thorn in everybody’s side. And now you’ve got Vanderbilt… They just flipped a five-star quarterback from Georgia to come play at Vanderbilt. Those are your two outs? Like, those are your two easy teams? South Carolina, what are they, 4-8 a year ago? They have as much talent as anyone on their roster. So point being, you don’t really get an off week. ”
“For the SEC to say they can break off and do their own thing, that’d be pretty entertaining. Because every team is pretty damn good, whereas the Big Ten, you’re kind of a top-heavy league with nothing in the middle or bottom.”
Could the SEC REALLY break away? @GregMcElroy and… pic.twitter.com/Jha2xKIhtJ
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) June 2, 2026
Barrie then compared the SEC’s strength from top to bottom to the Big Ten’s.
“Big Ten, I don’t know. But I know Oregon’s a mainstay. I know Ohio State is a mainstay. And I know Penn State and Michigan every other year, and USC with Lincoln Riley. That’s all I know about that league, right? So for the SEC to say they can break off and do their own thing, well, that’d be pretty entertaining.
“Because every team is pretty damn good. Whereas the Big Ten, you’re kind of a top-heavy league with nothing in the middle or the bottom.”
Despite the last three national championships being won by Big Ten teams, Barrie is far from the first ESPN analyst to question if the conference can actually stand with the SEC. Former Auburn Tigers quarterback Cam Newton even pointed toward the SEC’s higher television viewership as evidence of the conference’s supremacy over the Big Ten.
Barrie’s case is a bit different in that he is set to become the new host of SEC Nation, the SEC Network’s flagship Saturday morning pregame show. He’s certainly taking his new role seriously, as he positions the SEC as the premier conference in the sport despite its recent lack of results.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.