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From 2010 to 2022, nine of 13 national champions came from the SEC. The ACC was represented three times, with Clemson winning twice and Florida State winning once. The Big Ten claimed a national title just one time during that span, as Ohio State ran the table as the No. 4 seed in the 2014 College Football Playoff.
But the last two years have been a much different story for the Big Ten, with Michigan (2023) and Ohio State (2024) winning national titles.
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The conference has a chance to make it three years in a row, as a Big Ten member is assured a spot in the championship game as the Oregon Ducks and Indiana Hoosiers are set to square off in the CFP semifinals.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning has been around the block, making stops at Pittsburgh, Arizona State, Sam Houston State, Alabama, Memphis and Georgia. In total, that's five different conferences that Lanning has coached in. That number reached six when the Ducks moved to the Big Ten — a conference that is doing tremendously well, Lanning says.
"I've been a part of a bunch of different conferences, and it's hard to argue that anyone is doing it better than the Big Ten," Lanning said during a media session on Saturday.
History backs Lanning up, as the Big Ten has been more relevant than ever before.
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The 2025 CFP features Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State, with the latter two leading in national title odds for the majority of the season. The 2024 CFP featured those three and Penn State, a program that went through turmoil this season but appears to be rising again after hiring former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell.
With two weeks to go in the 2025 regular season, two more Big Ten teams had chances to make the CFP: USC and Michigan. If the Trojans had beaten the Ducks in their second-to-last game, they'd have had a good chance of making the playoff. Ditto for the Wolverines, who had a chance to make the playoff if they'd have upset the No. 1 Buckeyes in their season-finale.
The historical success of the SEC is undoubtedly impressive, but it's now a new age of college football, one in which the Big Ten is making its case for the best conference in college football — a sentiment that Lanning appears to agree with.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Dan Lanning praises Big Ten, with much success in recent years
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