When the SEC announced the addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the conference in the summer of 2021, the prevailing thought was that the conference would move to a nine-game conference schedule like the Big 10.
But many schools were not keen on giving up a free win for another conference game pushed back on the idea. When Oklahoma and Texas officially joined the conference last season, the SEC was still playing eight conference games with a temporary scheduling plan that rolls into this fall.
With the SEC’s long term scheduling plan still uncertain, a move to a nine-game conference schedule is building momentum according to a report from The Athletic‘s Seth Emerson and Andrew Marchland earlier this week.
What’s led to the change in tune from the SEC? You guessed it. Money!
According to The Athletic report, ESPN is willing to pay an extra $50 to $80 million annually to the conference if they increased its schedule from eight to nine games. The current partnership sees ESPN pay the SEC $811 million annually for full broadcasting rights in all sports.
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ESPN had previously shown an unwillingness to up its payments to the SEC if they expanded the conference schedule to nine games instead of eight. But after a successful first year of the new deal, ESPN is reportedly more willing to up its offer.
For fans, going to a nine-game conference schedule is a no brainer. In its current eight-game format, teams would not play its rivals every season. Tennessee would not play Florida, Alabama or Georgia every season, instead playing them every other year and at home every four years.
If the SEC decides to move to a nine-game schedule, it’s uncertain what the format would be. The most popular format is a three-six model. Teams would play the same three teams every season while playing six other rotating teams every two seasons.
The issue they’ve ran into with this format is the challenge of creating equally challenging schedules for each team. Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky were the popular three permanent opponents for Tennessee.
This fall, Tennessee will face the same eight SEC teams they faced a season ago at different locations. The Vols will host Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt at Neyland Stadium while playing at Mississippi State, Alabama, Kentucky and Florida.
