I don't expect the SEC to ever be in the situation the Big10 is in now. Part of the shock of the Big10 being so terrible is the fact that they were the premier conference for overall college athletics for over 60 years. When you compare the overall athletics, the Big10 still is the premier conference, but only if you are valuing all sports equally. B10 is great at men's basketball right now, but the baseball has never been good to my knowledge, and the football is marginally better than the ACC.

I cannot imagine a situation where the SEC is perceived as worse than 3rd in football. realistically the only conference positioned to compete in reputation is the pac12, the big10 has too many factors holding it back, the big12 doesnt have enough programs, and too many ACC have no reputation for football to build on.

In a lot of ways the SEC rise to absolute dominance coincides with the establishment of college football as a collossal moneymaker. I liken it to Michael Jordan. He was the best player when the NBA solidified itself as a major brand, he will always be the greatest ever in most minds. Same with SEC, it's likely that the SEC will be the number 1 football conference until the demise of western civilization.

This post was edited on 11/3/14 at 10:47 am