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Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz says college players, thru NIL, are making more money than his brother-in-law, who is a pediatrician. “He saves lives.”

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 30, 2023

Anybody wanna tell him who else is making more money than his brother in law?

Splitting the scheduling baby

How it’s starting…

SEC commish Greg Sankey asked about benefits of 9-game SEC schedule: “opportunity to play (secondary rivalries) every year instead of every other year. Those are huge games.” Sankey also mentioned amount of “passion” league games draw. He said decision will not be money driven &…

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 29, 2023

How it’s probably gonna go.

As officials arrive Monday for this week’s meetings, they are (hurray!) closer to a resolution on the scheduling format. But it’s not what many expected.

Under consideration is a one-year, temporary eight-game conference schedule in 2024 that will, at least for one year, preserve both primary and secondary rivalries.

Why eight? Capilouto’s concerns are echoed by many in the league. What’s the impact of a ninth league game on an athlete’s health? And how will the selection process play out in an expanded CFP?

But a third question has lingered and gone mostly unanswered for a year now: the extra money from ESPN, which is not contractually required to provide more money for a ninth game.

Without the incentive of additional revenue from the network, more than half of the league is in support of remaining at eight games in the first year that Texas and Oklahoma begin play in 2024. The expectation is that ESPN, in the midst of layoffs, will not commit to additional revenue for a ninth game—at least not now.

The temporary, one-year eight-game model is a placeholder for a potential nine-game schedule to start in 2025, if ESPN enhances the deal.

Boy, that has the sad inevitability of truth to it.  Dreams die hard, especially when they’ve got a dollar sign floating in front of them.

When they say it’s not about the money, SEC spring meetings edition

Nothing like rolling out the greatest hits.

“It is very fair to say that it is not just about the money,” says Kentucky president Eli Capilouto. “As we focus more on student-athlete well-being, one has to understand the implications of this in light of new (CFP) formats and length of the season. What does it all mean in a bigger context is what we should consider. What does it mean for bowl participation and length of season? All those things come first.”

Bonus points for the doing it for the kids reference… although that “focus more” is a bit revealing, no?

More money talk with Greg Sankey on the scheduling format debate and ESPN additional revenue:

"(If) all you do is chase money, you make really bad decisions and I'm watching that in college sports right now. … We won't do that here."

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 29, 2023

Yeah, right.

Jeff Schultz ($$):

The reality is that even if the SEC rejects a proposal to increase each football team’s conference schedule from eight to nine games, every member school still will be able to do the Scrooge McDuck swan dive into a pile of gold coins. Because when every university from Georgia to Vanderbilt begins the year with a $50 million distribution from conference media rights before ever having to schmooze a donor or sell a ticket, a T-shirt or a $7 hot dog, there’s not a lot of motivation to change.

This is why I have no sympathy for the Haves versus Have-Nots debate in the conference. If Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State want to complain they can’t compete with the revenue streams at Georgia, Alabama and Texas A&M, they can always leave the SEC and take less of a financial guarantee somewhere else.

Heh.  Whatever else happens this week, I don’t foresee a rush to the exits.

Your cheery Tuesday morning thought

More than that, it just feels right.