SEC wants conference to stay at 16 teams according to sources
Per Matt Hayes of Saturday Down South, SEC sources claim to want to end conference expansion after the addition of Texas and Oklahoma. An unnamed SEC athletic director told SDS that "We’re positioned at 16 (teams) for a robust future, the need just isn’t there.”
Hayes also consulted another SEC source that expressed the conference's disposition towards other Power Five conferences expanding.
Hayes: 'I don’t see any (expansion) move as threatening to us,' an SEC source told SDS.
When asked if Notre Dame to the Big Ten would be a threatening move, the SEC source said, 'Why? I’ll put our product vs. anyone’s product. So we’re going to just add schools to add schools? There’s no value in that.'
As of July, UCLA and USC are set to leave the Pac 12 for the Big Ten in summer of 2024. The Big Ten is still exploring expansion options past the Bruins and the Trojans, which may "force the SEC to change its stance" towards expansion according to Hayes.
"The reason is twofold: value and the desire to keep college football intact," Hayes says. "That value isn’t just monetary. As important as big number games (ratings) are for future media rights deals, SEC presidents believe the success of the product on the field — and the resulting exclusive nature of the product — has been the critical factor in booming growth over the past 2 decades."
As SEC Media Days rapidly approaches, commissioner Greg Sankey's words from last year's media days ring truer than ever - the times they are a-changin'.
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