The SEC is rolling in it. And wants to keep it that way.

“It” being big money, that is.

The Southeastern Conference more than doubled revenue from media rights in the first year of its landmark 15-year contracts with ESPN and CBS, according to the league’s Internal Revenue Service filing for 2009-10.

If you look at the breakdown, you’ll get an idea of why the conference hasn’t jumped on board the playoff train.

In the period between Sept. 1, 2009 and Aug. 30, 2010, the SEC reported $153.3 million in revenue from television and satellite radio — up 155 percent from the $60.1 million it reported in the same category in 2008-09. [Emphasis added.] The league also saw a slight gain in revenue from postseason events, reporting $80.9 million in revenue in 2009-10, up from $78.8 million in 2008-09. Those two categories make up the vast majority of the league’s revenue.

The SEC makes almost twice as much from the regular season as it does the postseason.  And it doesn’t share the regular season money with anyone else.

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The king of spring

If nothing else, you’ve got to give Zach Mettenberger credit for knowing when to work up a school’s fan base.  He’s got that down to a fine art.

Georgia’s offensive line: your guess is as good as mine.

I thought about doing a post about the offensive line, but realized it would be little more than rank speculation (except for the center position, of course).  But if you’re looking for some of that, Seth Emerson and MaconDawg are on the case.

Bottom line:  it’s a complete mess right now.  Although at least we won’t be let down by experienced underachievers this season.

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UPDATE: Groo hopes the offensive line can party like it’s 2007.

One man’s vision is another man’s delusion.

Matt Hinton looks at spring game attendance figures and questions Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott’s TV revenues math.

Of course, as I’ve pointed out before, SEC spring football outdraws the first round of March Madness handily.  That doesn’t seem to have an adverse impact on what the NCAA rakes in.  Maybe some network will be dumb enough to let Scott live the dream.

Sun Belt math

Small school + mid-major conference + political budget cutting =  increase in student sports activity fee from $22 per semester to $120 per semester (h/t The Wiz of Odds).

It’s not like that’s going to raise a major fortune, either.

If the implemented fee does pass, the athletic department can draw an addition $1.8 million annually, which would increase its current budget by 25 percent.

And somehow they’re supposed to pay their student athletes, too?

Something in the air

Seen above Florida’s spring game:

As that was FSU’s first win in the series in seven years, it feels good to get your licks in when you can, I expect.

Too bad it’s not something that Urban Meyer will ever forget.

(h/t SPORTSbyBROOKS)