SEC boss takes a shot at the Big Ten with college football expansion comments
With the news that Oklahoma and Texas will be joining the SEC in 2024, conference commissioner Greg Sankey saw an opportunity to throw a little shade at the Big Ten ahead of its own realignment.
USC and UCLA will be joining the Big Ten next offseason, adding two Los Angeles based schools to the traditionally Midwest-centered conference.
SEC teams, Sankey said, won't have to travel anywhere near that far to play.
"We really haven't expanded our geographic reach," Sankey said to SEC Network.
"We've expanded the attention, nationally and internationally, with the move to 16. Our longest trip will be from Columbia South Carolina, to Austin, Texas.
"Which is about 80 miles or so further than our current longest trip — Columbia, South Carolina, to College Station, Texas. And we have others in that same range."
Sankey added, "You realize that's actually shorter than what will be the shortest trip for the L.A. schools when they move to the Big Ten?"
Flights from Los Angeles to Lincoln, Nebraska run 1,269 miles, and those from the West Coast to the East Coast are 2,475 miles.
Going from Columbia to Austin takes about 1,011 miles in the air.
So the shortest travel for USC or UCLA to the Big Ten's previously westernmost opponent will be longer than the furthest SEC teams will have to go.
But while the Big Ten teams may have to travel further to play games, the schools should have the money to cover the tickets: the conference inked a seven-year deal with three networks worth over $7 billion in value, the biggest get for any league in college sports in history.
(Sankey)
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