With the advent of the new SEC Network, there is now added pressure on the member universities to increase the number of conference games that each school will play during the regular season.
There are now 14 teams in the Southeastern Conference with the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri and both of the newcomers have held their own against some pretty stiff competition.
At present each team in the SEC is required to play eight games against conference opponents out of a 12 game schedule. Each school will play the other 6 teams in their division plus one rival from another division and a rotating team from another division. Prior to 2012 each school had 2 rotating intra-divisional games.
Across the South, Head Coaches and Athletic Directors are taking sides publicly on the possible change. Few issues have been more polarizing in recent times. Around the country other conferences are already making the move. The Pac-12 and the Big 12 are now playing nine game schedules. The Big Ten will go to nine conference games in 2016 and the ACC is talking about it.
Joe Alleva, the AD at LSU, and Head Coach Les Miles have both come down strongly against expansion to 9 conference games. They would prefer 2 rotating intra-division opponents in place of the rivalry game. At present the Tiger’s cross-division foe in the Florida Gators.
Alleva told the local newspaper, “The Ads will not change their votes. The only hope for change is for the SEC (university) presidents to realize it’s not an equitable schedule. They have to have the foresight and wisdom to change it.”
The LSU AD added that the change would also mean 7 more losses for certain teams, meaning the non-conference game that SEC teams would have to forfeit to take on another conference opponent.
But, enter a new factor into the equation: money. Lots and lots of money. The new SEC Network is going to be a gold mine for the participating universities. This could bring extra pressure from the networks, especially ESPN (and, of course, the new SEC Network) for more games, creating more revenues and more profits.
That extra SEC against SEC game will no doubt be a bigger draw than for instance, LSU and Towson, etc, etc. So, all the resolve and reasoning by the ADs in the conference might not be enough when they come up against the sway of the all mighty dollar.
