Inside the Big Ten-SEC Playoff Power Struggle with Ralph Russo of The Athletic

In this college football podcast episode, Ralph Russo from The Athletic joins us to break down the complex College Football Playoff negotiations happening behind closed doors between the Big Ten, SEC and other conferences. Our conversation centers on how the number of SEC conference games is driving the debate, explores the Big Ten's push for automatic qualifiers, and examines why these meetings keep happening without real progress. Ralph explains the power dynamics between Tony Petitti and Greg Sankey, why ESPN might not want playoff expansion, and how Brett Yormark is trying to wedge the SEC away from the Big Ten. Plus, the "reimagined" conference championship weekend, whether a breakaway league is possible, and why this feels like college football's most charged moment since the BCS era. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 05:02 - The SEC Decision Tree 16:19 - Power dynamics: Who's really running these meetings? 27:26 - The Unpopularity of SEC & Big Ten Power 36:35 - Reporting challenges and ESPN's actual role vs. perception 42:08 - The future of playoff expansion and what's next 51:19 - Outro and preview season setup _____ A fan of our college football podcast? Leave us a rating and review, and don't forget to subscribe or follow so you don't miss any of our podcast episodes: Apple Podcasts: https://play.solidverbal.com/apple-podcasts Spotify: https://play.solidverbal.com/spotify Amazon Music: https://play.solidverbal.com/amazon-music Overcast: https://play.solidverbal.com/overcast Pocket Casts: https://play.solidverbal.com/pocketcasts Podcast Addict: https://play.solidverbal.com/podcast-addict CastBox: https://play.solidverbal.com/castbox Our college football show is also available on YouTube. Subscribe to the channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@solidverbal Learn more about the show on our website: https://www.solidverbal.com/about Want to get in touch? Give us a holler on Twitter: @solidverbal , @tyhildenbrandt , @danrubenstein , on Instagram , or on Facebook . You can also find our college football podcast out on TikTok and Threads . Stay up to date with our free weekly college football newsletter: https://quickslants.solidverbal.com/subscribe . College football has been our passion since we started The Solid Verbal College Football Podcast back in 2008. We don't just love college football, we live it! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info . Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.