{"id":88895,"date":"2026-07-06T13:30:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T17:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=88895"},"modified":"2026-07-06T15:20:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:20:21","slug":"who-wins-the-sec-b1g-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/07\/06\/who-wins-the-sec-b1g-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Wins the SEC-B1G Challenge?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We are <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/07\/05\/55-days-away-from-college-football-kickoff\/\" target=\"_self\">55 days<\/a> away from college football and 14 days from <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.secsports.com\/championships\/fbmd25\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SEC Media Days<\/a>. We can just start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Before we dig deep into the preseason and in-game analysis, let&#8217;s try to take full advantage of &#8220;talkin&#8217; season.&#8221; &#8220;Bear Bryan&#8217;t Burner&#8221; posed an interesting question this week on Twitter: who would win the SEC-B1G challenge?<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, unlike college basketball, college football does not partake in a total conference-on-conference challenge. Heck, unlike the lil ole SEC, the B1G doesn&#8217;t even require its teams to play a 10 P4 opponent in its schedule. This allows the current reigning national champion, Indiana, to play the likes of Culver Military Academy, a former B1G school, the University of Chicago, and St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud. Ok, we have made that up, but it&#8217;s not too far from the Hoosier out-of-conference <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/aclk?sa=L&amp;pf=1&amp;ai=DChsSEwik663F6ryVAxWXiMIIHd7sG4YYACICCAEQARoCamY&amp;co=1&amp;ase=2&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwgajSBhBEEiwASicJU1FbJOfpNiMo7hzqeTEXIm-gPiR_cpmNSPGO5l6q-obhcHUAiXfBJhoCJC8QAvD_BwE&amp;cid=CAAS0gHkaAD5Qn2u_cyUPtjc2qnAby5FSIPnGxpFpNTG_dPoGr-dgp9BNxrmi5GN55uLTqCiCN4_ORwz3vORV6d2Qnl7DWvgRWuH0pdP61brdBKlfx6ewlbxeZx_NOOrrEqeRFCnK0jj9qLbyj5LKVa8HqO0AkkucL5d7Yz15k3_PCYQNgVCIevXlci-EC3CFGrKRiYbqaIy6J4Z2shujK96RIVBIZB_uclFgTnSwfnNO-oFS5j2F5GU0kB-FzpGsVWtaxzy2Nq61i8XJQQiErDVShQWBRk&amp;cce=2&amp;category=acrcp_v1_32&amp;sig=AOD64_1a3DHA9P566VGBFCMELOgk-QldBQ&amp;q&amp;nis=4&amp;adurl=https:\/\/iuhoosiers.com\/sports\/football\/schedule?gad_source%3D1%26gad_campaignid%3D23327685553%26gbraid%3D0AAAAADiGPxxpc1FYM_wWXumTnML0w_PzH%26gclid%3DCjwKCAjwgajSBhBEEiwASicJU1FbJOfpNiMo7hzqeTEXIm-gPiR_cpmNSPGO5l6q-obhcHUAiXfBJhoCJC8QAvD_BwE&amp;ved=2ahUKEwizjqfF6ryVAxU_risGHaCeD30QqyQoAHoECA4QDw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">schedule<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>An SEC-B1G Challenge would be exciting in 2026. There has been a pissing contest between the two conferences on who is the true king of the castle. The B1G currently has the advantage, winning three straight national championships. But 2026 is a new year. So, let&#8217;s look into our crystal ball to see who wins the SEC-B1G challenge.<\/p>\n<h2>Who Wins the SEC-B1G Challenge?<\/h2>\n<p>All matchups are based on the 2025 conference standings. We&#8217;ve broken our matchups into three categories: winning the bragging rights games, winning the molly wops, toss-ups, and Sun Belt relegation candidates. For a B1G perspective, check out Ohio State insider <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/author\/drewcrabtree\/\" target=\"_self\">Drew Crabtree<\/a> for his predictions.<\/p>\n<h3>Winning the Bragging Rights Games<\/h3>\n<p>Here are five games the SEC can use to beat their chest.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Texas A&amp;M vs. Michigan\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nThree yards and a cloud of dust. Teams that love defense and running the ball down your throat. This would be a fun helmet game. Mike Elko has the 12th Man dancing with the current #1 recruiting class. Kyle Whittingham is trying to rebuild a dumpster fire in Ann Arbor. Give the nod to the Aggies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Texas vs. USC\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Sark Bowl? Can we play this one at the Rose Bowl instead of Austin or the Coliseum? Sark has the Horns cooking, and Arch will have a plethora of options on offense to lead a potent offense. The gangster move of the offseason was bringing in Boom Mushchamp off the retirement list to lead the Horns&#8217; defense. Look for USC to resemble Lincoln Riley&#8217;s brisket after this one.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oklahoma vs. Iowa<\/strong><br \/>\nPunting and defense. The first one to ten probably wins this one. John Mateer is looking jacked and ready to build off an up-and-down and injury-plagued Year 1 in Norman. Kirk Ferentz isn&#8217;t sexy, but he is consistent. Mateer and the Sooners prove too tough for the Hawkeyes to keep up.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mizzou vs. Minnesota\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nThis game has an 11 am or 11:45 am kick-off all over it. Neither team is sexy, really embraced, or remembered by their conference cohorts. Eli Drinkwitz likes it that way. He is a bit of a heel and likes to get under the opposing team&#8217;s skin. We could see Drink and Tigers sinking the Gopher&#8217;s boat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>More Winning the Molly Wop<\/h3>\n<p>These games wouldn&#8217;t be close and may even be called boring. They are wins, but will anyone even remember or think about them after they are done?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>LSU vs. Nebraska\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nThis is a game that is probably more sizzle than steak. The Lane train is off and running in Baton Rouge, and big things will be expected quickly. Nebraska hasn&#8217;t been relevant since it ran the triple option. Their uniforms are also hideous. Assuming Lane and the Tigers are awake for the 11 am kick, they win this one easily by two or three touchdowns.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Florida vs. Northwestern<\/strong><br \/>\nFlorida has found their man to lead their program (they hope). Jon Sumrall has pushed all the right buttons in the offseason. Questions of who will be QB1 are quelled by having Buster Faulkner on the X&#8217;s and O&#8217;s. Northwestern is a cute story, but they also hired Chip Kelly as their OC. It seems like a long time since Kelly has really done anything to impress anyone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mississippi State vs. Rutgers<\/strong><br \/>\nJefferson Pilot called and said they don&#8217;t want to show this game. Maybe FloSports is interested? Rutgers is a dumpster fire and just not a good look in the B1G. Hail State is trying to find someone who can follow Mike Leach. Jeff Lebby hasn&#8217;t done much in two years, but could handle the Badda Bing boys.<\/li>\n<li><strong>South Carolina vs. Wisconsin<\/strong><br \/>\nShane Beamer needs to win. He had lots of talent on his roster last year, led by Quarterback LaNorris Sellers, receiver Nyck Harbor, and Edge Dylan Stewart. A move to Nike sends a clear message to Carolina in 2026: Just do it. Even with the Gamecocks&#8217; struggles, Wisconsin has been worse. Luke Fickell is somehow still the head. This one wouldn&#8217;t be close, too bad there isn&#8217;t a Bloomin&#8217; Onion on the line. We&#8217;ll settle for a Foster&#8217;s,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Toss-Ups<\/h3>\n<p>Are we saying the SEC will lose? No, never. But these games pose a viable challenge and would also be really fun to watch.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Georgia vs. Indiana<\/strong><br \/>\nMaybe we will get this matchup in the 2026 CFB Playoffs. It&#8217;s still weird to think that the Hoosiers won a national championship, but here we are. Curt Cignetti and Kirby Smart are two of the best coaches in the game. Look for a late Smart second-half adjustment for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/06\/14\/georgias-2026-schedule-flexes-its-muscle\/\" target=\"_self\">Dawgs<\/a> to send the Hoosiers crying.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ole Miss vs. Oregon<\/strong><br \/>\nTalk about the sizzle bowl. There would be just as much talk, if not more, about the uniforms of the two teams as about the play on the field. They have the two best quarterbacks in 2026. Whoever gets the home game has the advantage.\u00a0 Another potential great CFB Playoff matchup.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tennessee vs. Washington<\/strong><br \/>\nAnother one where home-field advantage would dictate who wins. We argued that Oregon and Washington could bring an electric home-field vibe when they were trying to leave the Pac-12 a couple of years ago. These teams are similar; we give the Huskies an edge because their quarterback is returning, even though he really didn&#8217;t <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/01\/07\/the-chaos-of-demond-williams-decision\/\" target=\"_self\">want to<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Auburn vs. Penn State<\/strong><br \/>\nBoth teams have new coaches. Both teams have an inferiority complex and think their teams should be better. This game would be a Campers World RV Bowl matchup, with the rosters from USF (Auburn) facing Iowa State (Penn State). We give the nod to Auburn, even though we don&#8217;t feel great about it. Yay, Eagles? Tigers?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kentucky vs. UCLA\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nAnother new coach&#8217;s battle. Will Stein is one of the brightest young minds in the game and has one of the most difficult rosters and teams to try to climb out of a hole.\u00a0 Bob Chesney is a climber and will have to see if Westwood is serious about being good in football long term. We give the nod to Stein and the Wildcats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Sub Belt Relegation Candidates<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Alabama vs. Ohio State\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nLet&#8217;s look at Alabama&#8217;s last three games. A blowout loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship. Battling back from a 17-0 deficit to defeat lowly Oklahoma in the First Round of the CFB Playoff. Getting Molly Wopped by Indiana in the Rose Bowl. If that isn&#8217;t reason enough to get relegated to the Sun Belt, maybe losing to Ryan Day and the Buckeyes will do the trick.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vandy vs. Illinois\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nClark Lea post-Diego Pavia is going to be interesting. And by interesting, we mean not great. Brett Bielema will enjoy winning this game 13-10.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Arkansas vs. Maryland\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nIf this game is in September, our money is on Maryland. If it is in November, we are calling the Hogs. Jefferson Pilot picks this one up because Tyson Chicken brought a bunch of ads.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>SEC-B1G Challenge Winner<\/h3>\n<p>The SEC wins the challenge 12-4. Georgia and Ole Miss win the toss-ups. The conference stays at 14 when Alabama and Vandy are relegated.<\/p>\n<p>Main Image: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are 55 days away from college football and 14 days from SEC Media Days. We can just start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Before we dig deep into the preseason and in-game analysis, let&#8217;s try to take full advantage of &#8220;talkin&#8217; season.&#8221; &#8220;Bear Bryan&#8217;t Burner&#8221; posed an interesting question [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4424,"featured_media":60302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,35574,35588,35583,2,35578,35579,35585,35582,3,35577,35587,35580],"tags":[244,86,383,37,36221,204],"class_list":["post-88895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-alabama-crimson-tide","category-arkansas-razorbacks","category-auburn-tigers","category-featured","category-georgia-bulldogs","category-kentucky-wildcats","category-mississippi-state-bulldogs","category-ole-miss-rebels","category-sec","category-south-carolina-gamecocks","category-tennessee-volunteers","category-vanderbilt-commodores","tag-florida-gators","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-missouri-tigers","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-texas-am","tag-texas-longhorns"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88895"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88914,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88895\/revisions\/88914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}