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CLEMSON -- To most of us, the following Week 7 games in the SEC last fall probably didn't move the needle much:
Kentucky-Georgia.
Alabama-Mississippi State.
Florida-LSU.
Auburn-Arkansas.
Those four games all attracted more than 2 million viewers, according to Sports Media Watch.
Last season the ACC had six intra-conference games, total, that surpassed 2 million viewers.
Gulp.
Earlier today on The WestZone message board, we relayed more eye-opening ratings numbers:
In 2021, 72 college football games registered at least 3.5 million viewers. Almost half of those games were league-only competition in the Big Ten (18) and SEC (17).
The other conference combined to produce just six intra-conference games that cracked 3.5 million. Four were in the Big 12, all involving Oklahoma. The other two were in the Pac-12.
Gulp again.
It's accurate to say the SEC is running things on the field, having claimed 12 national titles in the past 16 seasons.
It's also accurate to say that the SEC and the Big Ten are running things in media rights, as the windfall of cash is only going to get greater moving forward.
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If the ACC's precarious positioning wasn't already obvious, Ohio State AD Gene Smith further highlighted it last week when asked how much the Buckeyes' scheduling preferences would incorporate the tri-conference partnership announced last summer among the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC (you know, that Alliance thing).
The paraphrased gist of his answer is that a ninth conference game in the Big Ten, plus future non-conference matchups with attractive SEC opposition, are more desirable than putting ACC games on the schedule.
