Agreed. The Big Ten has improved their talent level and that's a trend not a blip on the radar. It's mostly at the top though, at the school's that care like Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.
It's hard to say what will happen, since the "rules" keep changing to the point that it seems now there are no rules.
The House settlement still needs to be approved, but it also doesn't guarantee that there will be no more court cases.
At the moment, talent acquisition seems to be tied to how much money a school is able to spend, and the Big 10 schools have more resources than the SEC.
Some information from that article, which opened my eyes quite a bit ...
1. TV revenue is higher for Big 10 schools ...
... Big Ten schools will be making an average of $100 million annually in media rights alone when the current deal expires in 2030. The SEC is expected to top out at $75 million.
2. There seem to be more wealth with ties to the Big 10 than the SEC.
Meanwhile, the state of Alabama, which has dominated the sport in many ways,
doesn't have anyone on the Forbes 400 list. Auburn trustee and avid fan Jimmy Rane is the richest Alabama resident with a net worth of $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.
I took a look at the Forbes list, and there were a decent number of people who reside in Florida.
But it is unclear if they actually have ties to UF.
As an example, #385 is Michael Jordan, and he went to UNC.
Also, if you think that this affects only a handful of schools ...
...Google co-founder Sergey Brin is the world's seventh-richest man at $152 billion. Brin got his undergraduate degree at Maryland as his father, Michael, was a mathematics professor at the school. Like his Google cohort Page, Brin hasn't shown much affinity for college athletics but he has the kind of wealth that could transform his alma mater's prospects.
Again, the point is that the resources are there at a Big10 school that has not been known as a football power, but has the potential to change.
Such resources don't seem to be available to SEC schools, based on the article.
3. Big 10 schools have generally
a larger student population which results in larger alumni fan base, which in turn results in more money.
Big Ten schools are huge (66,901 students at Ohio State) with expansive alumni networks from states that are generally more populous and wealthy than SEC states.
4. Stadiums at Big 10 schools are also in general larger, generating more game revenue.
Time will tell if the Big 10 will continue with the current trend, and I am basing all this on a couple of articles, and I am usually critical of what passes as journalism with it's selective ignorance.
But they have presented some interesting arguments describing the current state of college football.
