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The weekly docket was full of compelling games. The pandemic caused the SEC to move to a 10-game, conference-only schedule last season. In other words: An eight-game conference schedule puts the SEC’s best teams on a path toward a national championship, while allowing its mediocre teams enough wiggle room to qualify for a bowl game. View Gallery: Greg Sankey: SEC Commissioner in photos “What we do works at both the national championship level and at a level that provides our teams meaningful access to postseason bowl opportunities,” Sankey said then.
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SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has previously defended the league's eight-game conference schedule, including at SEC Media Days in 2018.
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MORE: Six college football teams that could bank a big payday – and an upset Tennessee and Texas A&M will shell out $3.5 million apiece to nonconference foes. Auburn is next in the SEC with $3.58 million in guarantee fees, which will begin with a $1.8 million check to Akron in Week 1. TOPPMEYER: Why stop at 16 teams, SEC? Build a super league and your own college football playoffĪlabama tops SEC programs with $4.4 million in nonconference game payments this year, including $1.9 million payments for games against Southern Mississippi and New Mexico State. Why continue risking the potential embarrassment of paying a team $1 million or more to beat you on your home turf? In 2016, Missouri, Kentucky and Mississippi State each lost to a Sun Belt or Conference USA foe. Georgia State pocketed $950,000 and beat Tennessee in 2019. Those paid games usually play the part of the Washington Generals and go down quietly – but not always. In the SEC's current scheduling format, league members usually play three nonconference games against overmatched Group of Five or FCS opponents. View Gallery: Ranking SEC football coaches in 2021, starting with Nick Saban Signs point toward the SEC embracing a nine-game conference schedule after Texas and Oklahoma join the league, which is scheduled to occur in 2025 but could happen sooner. THANKS FOR THE MONEY: Guarantee games are back, to delight of schools where that revenue is neededīut after years of resisting adding to its conference schedule, the SEC finally appears willing to give paying customers what they want: more conference games and fewer matchups against the likes of Bowling Green, Kent State or Louisiana-Monroe. That's due in part to the SEC's eight-game conference schedule that leaves room for four nonconference games. Seven SEC schools will shell out at least $3.25 million in payments to nonconference opponents this season in what are known as guarantee games, according to a USA TODAY analysis. To combat this, ADs try to attract fans through flash sales or enhance the fan experience with features like improved Wi-Fi and LED light shows.īut here’s a truth most ADs aren’t quick to offer: Scheduling compelling matchups is one of the surest ways to entice fans to attend games while also appealing to television executives, and yet Power Five schools pay multiple nonconference patsies each year to appear in games that are designed to be easy wins for the home team. College athletics directors are quick to bemoan the challenge of filling oversized football stadiums during an era in which fans can watch games on high-definition, big-screen televisions while sipping cheap beer from their recliner.