Last week's SEC Media Days gave that conference the chance to insist the Big Ten hasn't surpassed it despite winning the last three national championships. The SEC took full advantage of that opportunity, with former Alabama coach Nick Saban making perhaps the loudest case.
Barely an hour into Big Ten Media Days, the rivalry came to the forefront again as Illinois head coach Bret Bielema discussed the difference between the two conferences and commissioner Tony Petitti's ability to evolve.
"To sit in the room with both of those guys, with Tony and the vision and experience that he has and to be in the room with (SEC commissioner Greg) Sankey - I know he's gotta protect the SEC, and they kinda wanna live in 2005 forever," Bielema told reporters Tuesday, according to WCIA3's Glenn Kinley. The coach continued: "But I think the forward-thinking in college football is an awesome thing."
Bielema was swiftly asked to elaborate on his comment.
"I think I just made the headline, right?" Bielema said with a smile.
The Illini coach has ample experience in both the SEC and Big Ten. He served as head coach at Wisconsin from 2006-12 and then at Arkansas from 2013-17.
Bielema struggled to replicate his success with the Badgers after joining the Razorbacks and was fired with an 11-29 conference record. He recognized the gulf between the two leagues at the time, but he said the current era is different because of how the college landscape has evolved in general.
"I went to the SEC and it was a completely different league, in my opinion, than the one I was in with the Big Ten prior," Bielema said. He added, "The two biggest components are the transfer portal and revenue share - NIL, however you want to describe it. When those two elements came into college football, the whole world changed. ...
"The quarterback I have now, we would not have gotten if that world existed five years ago, I know that. Neither would my left tackle, my left guard, my center, and my right tackle - wouldn't be here playing for me."
The Big Ten has current bragging rights given its national championships, and Bielema can stake his own claim to conference supremacy: Illinois played Tennessee in the Music City Bowl last season and escaped with a 30-28 victory.
