Tag: SEC Spring Meeting

Paul Finebaum believes finances are the biggest reason for SEC schedule debate

Paul Finebaum points to ESPN’s role in SEC’s divisiveness over scheduling model.

The SEC’s scheduling model and the future of the league football schedule are essential topics of discussion at the conference’s Spring Meetings. 

Per ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, there is also a financial obstacle to consider is not just which schools prefer which models.

“I think it comes down to what is the network, meaning ESPN, willing to pay for an additional game?” Finebaum said on the McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning program.

“Now, when they cut this deal originally it had to be discussed. There are always qualifiers in contracts that adjust. And with everything else going on, meaning the 12-team playoff now a reality, which it was not when the original agreement with the SEC was formulated, I think there’s some adjustments that have to be made.”

The SEC’s adoption of a nine-game scheduling model would have its advantages, such as maintaining important rivalries and providing a more comprehensive selection of programming for television networks.

However, ensuring accurate financial figures and modifying the existing media rights agreement presents an additional challenge to an already divided group, as noted by Finebaum.

“I think we all would vouch for the commitment that ESPN has to the SEC and likewise, but it may be a moment in time where it’s taking longer to allocate the correct number of dollars where the SEC finally says, ‘You know, what, OK.”

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What to expect at the SEC Spring Meetings

New schedule format and Conference realignment will be the important topics during the SEC Spring Meeting.

The excitement of Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC may have worn off because, with more teams, the conference has to figure out who will play who. 

SEC coaches and ADs will meet in Florida on Tuesday to discuss one of the most important topics in college football right now: the perfect SEC schedule format. The teams mentioned above will officially begin their SEC play in 2024, which means an eight or nine-game conference schedule will be on hand.

The newcomers will not be able to vote, but they will have representatives attend the meeting. 

If the nine-game format is implemented, each team will have three permanent opponents while playing other SEC teams at least every other year. However, it sounds much more confusing to do it that way, so nobody has agreed to a scheduling format.

According to speculations, the Hogs’ potential permanent three are expected to be Ole Miss, Missouri, and Texas. 

Nick Saban has already expressed his displeasure about Alabama’s potential permanent three (Auburn, LSU, Tennessee), and he is more in favor of the current eight-game format.

The new 16-team conference won’t be divided into divisions. With the current division set up, the SEC West is the overall better side of the SEC, but that could change if Alabama and LSU are shifted to the East with Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida.

A realignment and eight-game conference schedule for the Hogs seems to be the best option. League commissioner Greg Sansky hasn’t given much indication of where these discussions could go, but the entire college sports world will be watching.