Recently, a tweet showed that over the last five seasons, Alabama Football has led the SEC in wins over ranked teams. There is more to conclude from data when the SEC is compared to the other Power Two conference, the Big Ten.
Every SEC team’s winning % vs ranked opponents over the past 5 seasons 👀 pic.twitter.com/Y176y9ZWaL
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) June 23, 2025
Note: The site BetIQ is used in this post to obtain Big Ten records. For accurate comparison, the site is also used for SEC records. There is a slight difference in the data between the two sources.
Alabama Football is No. 1
Since 2020 (2020-2024 seasons), the Alabama Crimson Tide has played games against 29 ranked teams. Alabama's record is 23-6, for a winning percentage of 79.3%. A complete list of the 34 SEC and Big Ten teams is provided below, but some key points are highlighted.
- Only six programs between the two conferences have a winning five-season record over ranked teams. They are Alabama, Georgia, Washington, Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon.
- The top teams for the SEC are Alabama at 79.3% and Georgia at 76.7%. The top two programs for the Big Ten are Washington at 68.8% and Ohio State at 68%.
- Fourteen Big Ten programs have winning percentages of 35.7% or lower against ranked teams. Only eight SEC football programs have fared so poorly against ranked competition.
- The most glaring lack of success among SEC programs are LSU at 31.8%, Florida at 20.8% and Auburn at 16%. Among Big Ten programs, standing out for poor results against top competition are Penn State at 33.3%, USC at 25%, and Wisconsin at 13.3%.
- The worst SEC program is Vanderbilt at 5.3%. The Big Ten has two programs, Rutgers and Nebraska, at 0%.
All SEC and Big Ten Programs vs. Ranked Teams
Alabama Crimson Tide | 23-6 | 79.3% |
|---|---|---|
Georgia Bulldogs | 23-7 | 76.7% |
Washington Huskies | 11-5 | 68.8% |
Ohio State Buckeyes | 17-8 | 68% |
Michigan Wolverines | 14-9 | 60.9% |
Oklahoma Sooners | 10-7 | 58.8% |
Oregon Ducks | 13-10 | 56.5% |
Texas Longhorns | 13-13 | 50% |
Ole Miss Rebels | 8-9 | 47.1% |
Texas A&M Aggies | 9-12 | 42.9% |
Tennessee Vols | 11-15 | 42.3% |
Kentucky Wildcats | 9-14 | 39.1% |
Illinois Fighting Illini | 5-9 | 35.7% |
Penn State Nittany Lions | 7-14 | 33.3% |
Missouri Tigers | 7-14 | 33.3% |
South Carolina Gamecocks | 8-17 | 32% |
LSU Bengal Tigers | 7-15 | 31.8% |
Michigan State Spartans | 6-13 | 31.6% |
Iowa Hawkeyes | 4-9 | 30.8% |
Mississippi State Bulldogs | 7-16 | 30.4% |
UCLA Bruins | 4-11 | 26.7% |
Purdue Boilermakers | 4-13 | 23.5% |
Minnesota Gophers | 3-10 | 23.1% |
Florida Gators | 5-19 | 20.8% |
Arkansas Razorbacks | 6-23 | 20.7% |
Indiana Hoosiers | 3-15 | 16.7% |
Auburn Tigers | 4-21 | 16% |
Wisconsin Badgers | 2-13 | 13.3% |
Northwestern Wildcats | 1-11 | 8.3% |
Maryland Terrapins | 1-14 | 6.7% |
Vanderbilt Commodores | 1-18 | 5.3% |
Rutgers Knights | 0-13 | 0% |
Nebraska Cornhuskers | 0-16 | 0% |
Some detractors of Alabama Football will point out that four of the five seasons were with Nick Saban leading the Crimson Tide, and for Alabama, all is changed. That could be true, but the top winning percentage among Big Ten teams came in part from the two seasons Kalen DeBoer coached the Washington Huskies. In fact, 10 of Washington's 11 ranked wins were by DeBoer-coached teams.
Admittedly, realignment during the five seasons makes the data somewhat suspect, but ranking teams is probably not greatly affected by conference membership.
Broadly more important than Alabama Football being No. 1 is the reality that the SEC rules college football, not the Big Ten.
Note: Additional data provided by Sports Reference