The SEC and Big Ten Take 58 Percent of College Football’s Playoff Money

Two numbers explain who runs college football. Starting this season, the sport’s new playoff television contract pays the SEC and Big Ten 29 percent each, or 58 percent of the money split among 10 conferences and Notre Dame. The ACC gets 17 percent. The Big 12 gets 15.

Brett Yormark did not dance around what that means. Standing at Big 12 media days in Frisco, Texas, on July 7, the commissioner was asked how his league measures up against the two giants. “I don’t think as a conference we’re the best version of ourselves,” Yormark said.

How the SEC and Big Ten took control of the Playoff

The takeover ran through paperwork, not a press conference. When the sport signed its latest deal, the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed to hand Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey the bulk of control over the playoff’s format. Everyone else signed away the decision.

January showed what that looked like in practice. The field stayed at 12 teams for 2026 because Petitti wanted 24, Sankey wanted 16, and the two could not agree. Eight other conferences had their own opinion, but none of them mattered. The SEC and Big Ten needed nobody’s permission to hold the line, and the sport had to move on without having a vote.

The money gap keeps growing

The playoff deal pays ESPN’s $1.3 billion a year through 2031, and it lands unevenly. Schools in the two big leagues take home roughly $22 million each. ACC schools get $13 million to $14 million, and Big 12 schools about $12 million. Under the old contract, every Power Five school collected about $5 million. The Group of Five splits 9 percent of the pot, the independents 1 percent, and Notre Dame alone draws roughly $12 million. A look-back clause lets the CFP revisit the numbers in 2028.

League revenue tells the same story. The Big Ten reported $1.47 billion in fiscal 2025, the SEC $1.11 billion, and the ACC $826.5 million. Sixteen of 18 Big Ten schools received at least $76 million, with Ohio State pulling in $91.6 million. The SEC set aside at least $70.3 million for 14 of its 16 members. Money like that buys the rosters that fill our 2026 Big Ten preseason power rankings.

Everyone else is asking for access

The television money paid for all of it. Chasing television markets, the Big Ten now runs from New Jersey to Los Angeles and the SEC from Texas to the Atlantic. The old Pac-12 lost its best programs to both leagues and rebuilt itself as a Group of Six conference. Rivalries that survived a century did not survive the checks. The ACC and SEC have since moved to nine-game conference schedules, hoping tougher resumes earn the committee’s attention.

So the leagues left outside keep asking. Yormark once pushed a model that limited automatic bids, arguing teams should earn their way in. This spring he changed course and backed a 24-team field instead, a bigger door for programs that cannot count on the one that exists. “More access is needed, as too many great teams are still left out,” he said in Frisco.

A day later, on the ESPNU set, Yomark explained where his conference actually stands. “I often tell people we’re a bit of a mature start-up,” he said. “I mean, this year is our 30th year, but when you compare us to some of our colleagues, we’re just getting started. And given the composition of the conference and the changes that we’ve gone through the last couple of years, we’re not the best version of ourselves. We have a ways to go.”