Big Ten, SEC are cooking up an arrangement that will end Notre Dame independence once and for all

A college football coup d'état is taking place right before our very eyes, folks.

ESPN's Heather Dinich reported Monday that the SEC and Big Ten are in active discussions over a scheduling agreement that could be the first step in evolving the College Football Playoff to a near-exclusive tournament for the two conferences.

Dinich cites an SEC source that said the proposal would give "us the maximum number of postseason opportunities." Four automatic bids for each the SEC and Big Ten to be exact.

So, lets do the math on that for a second. There are 12 spots in the current expanded College Football Playoff format (expanding to 14 in 2026). If the SEC and Big Ten get eight of those total spots, it would mean the Big 12, ACC and Group of Six (Pac-12 included) would have to struggle over the remaining four to six.

You might be asking, "how could they circumvent the NCAA and College Football Playoff committee in changing the rules so drastically?" Well, the SEC source's answer, according to Dinich: Eliminate the committee altogether.

"I think anything we can do to take the subjectivity of a committee off the table is really helpful," the SEC source told her. "We may not be able to completely get rid of subjectivity the more we can minimize it. And so [the] idea of multiple automatic spots for a conference has a lot of value. I'm not sure four is the right number."

Not sure four is the right number? Unless playoff expansion is part of this agreement, it sounds like the discussions could be a plot to execute a hostile takeover of college football.

If the Big Ten and SEC form the Evil Empire, it's eat or be eaten for the FBS

An alliance such as this would create more seismic activity in conference realignment than we've ever seen before, especially with the conferences considering a regular-season scheduling agreement.

Notre Dame and any remaining independents would be practically irrelevant without their own negotiated guarantee for the CFP. The Irish could kiss their rivalry with USC goodbye if they don't take the Big Ten plunge.

The ACC is in legal turmoil of its own which could result in devastating departures like Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina and Virginia leaving for the SEC. Losing the ACC as a power conference would be a huge blow to the Big 12's legitimacy, potentially casting it as the leftovers from the Big Ten and SEC's ill-quenched thirst.

If this is the path college football is to take, it will not be long until we arrive at a destination where the Big Ten and SEC are the only two conferences worthy of being crowned national champions. Dare we say it, a super league?

All in the name of praying at the alter of cold hard cash, this proposed system would turn college football into nothing more than a semi-pro league below the NFL. At what point will the NCAA be eliminated altogether and the Big Ten and SEC bound in a two conference organization where it can pay players as it sees fit? Not long now, friends.