DESTIN, Fla. — LSU‘s Brian Kelly on Wednesday said SEC coaches favor adding one nonconference game against a Big Ten opponent in a scheduling agreement, but they “need a partner” to do it.
“We want to compete against the Big Ten,” Kelly said, following the last day of coaches meetings at the annual SEC spring meetings. “Look, the Big Ten right now holds it on the SEC. They won the last two national championships. That’s the reality of it. We want to get challenged in that regard, and we’d like to be able to get that done.
“That is up to our commissioner and the ADs to see if that can happen or not, but that’s the wish of the room.”
SEC scheduling has been a major topic of conversation this week as the league works to determine if it wants to stay at eight conference games or move to nine.
Kelly said he would favor playing nine SEC games and adding the additional Big Ten opponent. The possibility of a scheduling partnership between the two leagues developed from multiple in-person meetings of the Big Ten-SEC advisory group, but one SEC source said the topic was “dead in the water” at the commissioner level.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said there are three ways that a scheduling partnership can work: stay out of it, and let it happen naturally like it does now through athletic directors; try to facilitate more; and agree to mandate to play.
“That third one’s incredibly difficult,” Sankey said. “So I understand the position. That’s a long row to hoe to get to the end of that particular row.”
Still, Kelly said the coaches made their “voices clear” this week to their respective athletic directors and Sankey.
“You’ve got to get a partner who says we’re in for that, too,” Kelly said.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said the decisions should be made on what would be exciting for television and what the fans would most enjoy. Pittman said the “SEC wants us to go to nine” conference games.
“So how are we going to do it?” Pittman asked. “Are we going to go to nine, playing ourselves, and maybe invite another conference to play us on a given weekend?”
There’s an overwhelming sense this week from coaches and athletic directors that they’d like to know what the future playoff format will look like before making any scheduling decisions.
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said the coaches didn’t vote on anything this week. He said that while he would be willing to play a Big Ten opponent along with rival Clemson, he still prioritizes the in-state rivalry over other scheduling options.
“For me, I think it’s ironclad,” Beamer said of the South Carolina-Clemson game. “There’s people above me who make that decision, but I would never want that game to go away. Rivalries and rivalry weekend are what make this sport great. … I know how important that game is to the people of South Carolina, and I don’t want that game going anywhere.”
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said the Big Ten has caught the SEC’s attention with Michigan and Ohio State winning the national title the past two seasons.
“It bothers us as competitors,” Drinkwitz said. “We feel like we’re the best conference in college football, and we want to make sure that the ultimate prize at the end of the year is that national championship trophy.
“We haven’t been able to do that the last two years, and I think we’re all competitive enough that’s often what we’re competing for. I don’t know if two years is a data point yet or a trend. Obviously, we have to take a look and see what we can do better.”
