A possible Big Ten-SEC alliance might be detrimental to Clemson football.
These days, there are rumors of boardroom scheming between the major football leagues almost every offseason. The Big Ten and the SEC are reportedly negotiating a relationship that may have significant effects on the whole sport, and this year is no exception. The Clemson football program would probably be impacted by that possible transaction as well.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported over the weekend that the SEC and Big Ten will meet this week to continue their conversation about altering the College Football Playoff’s format. According to Dellenter’s article, the two conferences seek a 14- or 16-team model where the top-ranked Group of Five conference winner would receive one guaranteed playoff slot, the ACC and Big 12 would receive two, and the SEC and Ben Ten would receive four. That structure would also comprise one to three at-large
locations.
Furthermore, according to Dellenger, the SEC is thinking about adding a ninth conference game to the calendar.
“The playoff format change would clear the way for SEC administrators to, finally, make the long-discussed move to play nine regular-season conference games and would trigger, perhaps, all four power leagues to overhaul their conference championship weekend,” according to him.
Beginning with the 2026 season, these proposed modifications have the potential to fundamentally alter college football as we know it today. Additionally, they could mark the end of certain exciting non-conference rivalries, like Clemson vs. South Carolina.
Is the rivalry game between Clemson and South Carolina over?
One non-conference game would be eliminated if the SEC added another conference game to each school’s football schedule. Nearly every SEC team currently faces one or two FCS teams, one or two Group of Five opponents, and one or two high-profile out-of-conference matchups.
One of those four out-of-conference games will be a scheduling victim if the league decides to add a ninth SEC game. Since the FCS and Group of Five games are nearly always wins, they probably won’t be removed from the schedule. The two non-league games against respectable opponents will therefore be up to the SEC teams to choose which to skip.
South Carolina would then have an intriguing option. The Gamecocks will play non-conference games against North Carolina (2028–29), Miami (2026–27), NC State (2030–31), and Virginia Tech (2034–35) in the years to come. Would USC prefer to cancel their yearly rivalry with Clemson and maintain those games? Considering that the Gamecocks are just 44-73-4 overall in the rivalry, that would make sense from a competitive standpoint.
Clemson will soon play SEC teams LSU (2025–26), Georgia (2029–30), and Oklahoma (2035–36) in addition to South Carolina. In light of a ninth conference game, the Tigers may thus need to find new opponents for those games if the SEC clubs withdraw. The substitute opponents for such games would probably not be nearly as interesting, of course.
However, there is a possibility that this concept will not be realized. Some SEC colleges, according to Dellenger, aren’t convinced.
“However, conference administrators have remained split on the matter,” according to him. “There is concern that continuing to lose might cost them a berth in the playoffs. In order to play an additional league game, administrators are also asking ESPN for more money, maybe as much as or more than $5 million per school each year.
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