August 8, 2025
For better or worse, it looked as if the chaos engine that is college football finally had a hand on the wheel. Two hands, actually: Leaders from the SEC and Big Ten met in February in New Orleans, the most powerful leagues breaking bread to decide the future format of the College Football Playoff. Super conference powers, activated.
But old habits die hard. Only weeks later, the Big Ten still wanted more automatic qualifiers for the Playoff, while the SEC suddenly leaned toward more at-large bids. Just like that, the sport’s newest power couple was already on the rocks as the chaos revved on.
College football has long been plagued by too many forces pulling in too many directions, with no one in command. It’s a confounding existence for such a popular, lucrative sport … but it’s also what makes it so fascinating. We love the mess, exhausting as it might be.