Lane Kiffin Takes Shot At Big Ten Heading Into The 2026 Season

It's long been a source of pride of SEC football teams that they have both the best and the toughest conference in college football due to how good even the worst teams in the conference are in a given year. LSU head coach Lane Kiffin completely agrees with that idea in his assessment of the ongoing SEC vs. Big Ten Conference debate.

Appearing on Pardon My Take, Kiffin argued that because even the worst teams in the SEC are better than most of the country, it's tougher for the top teams in the conference to make headway compared to the Big Ten. He stated that the SEC's "bottom is harder" than the Big Ten's, from the teams to the stadiums. He said that SEC teams are prone to beating each other up while Big Ten teams have "2-3 hard games a year."

"There's a lot (that goes) into that. I think it's set up in a good way for the top-heavy teams there right now. And it's going to get better," Kiffin said. "We're going to nine games, and our bottom is harder than theirs. And our bottom stadiums are harder (to play in) than theirs. So we're going to beat each other up more, and they're going to sit up there and have 2-3 hard games a year.

"So, their top teams and our top teams, when they go to the Playoffs, they're in better shape. And that stuff matters."

"That (Big Ten) schedule where half your games you don't have to get up for, … many of your good players are out by the fourth quarter, so your play count at the end of the year is less," Kiffin concluded. "One of the really good teams there rested their good players in conference games at the end of the year."

He didn't go into specifics as to which teams rest their starters, but it's not exactly a secret that Indiana did that exact thing against arch-rival Purdue in their regular season finale after taking a 39-point lead in the third quarter. The Hoosiers went on to win the Big Ten and the national title.

Big Ten vs. SEC

Kiffin is far from the first SEC supporter to make that argument and he won't be the last. It's not too hard to make a compelling case that the worst of the SEC last year (Arkansas, South Carolina and Mississippi State) would probably wipe the floor with the worst of the Big Ten (Purdue, Michigan State and Maryland).

But that's why we play the games and it's why it's increasingly frustrating that the two conferences are growing increasingly wary of scheduling each other to square off anymore.

Ohio State seems willing to take on the likes of Texas, Alabama and Georgia over the next six years, but that trend might end soon.

Do you agree with Kiffin?

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 10:23 AM.