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How Tennessee football is affected by USC, UCLA to Big Ten

By Caleb Calhoun

The Tennessee Volunteer waves a Power T flag during the Vol Walk ahead of a game against Pittsburgh at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.Kns Tennessee Pittsburgh Football
The Tennessee Volunteer waves a Power T flag during the Vol Walk ahead of a game against Pittsburgh at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.Kns Tennessee Pittsburgh Football /
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Fireworks are set off before an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss in a checkered Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football
Fireworks are set off before an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss in a checkered Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football /

4. Later games on ESPN rather than afternoon games on SEC Network

This whole shift in the sport really started back at the end of 2019, when the SEC struck a lucrative deal with ESPN and ABC, ending their CBS partnership. That’s about to go into effect in 2024. Well, the Pac-12’s TV deals expire that same year, and the Big Ten is currently negotiating TV deals for the future.

The Big Ten obviously has an ace in the hole with those negotiations. They have discovered that noon games sell, and they can corner the market with noon games twice now, adding a 3 p.m. time slot for the East Coast with noon games out west. This is likely what they’ll be discussing with Fox Sports 1.

As a result, the Pac-12 will likely be left high and dry. There’s no way they could get a good deal out of this, and they do have a partial contract with ESPN. What does this mean? Well, if the Big Ten will corner the noon market, ESPN and ABC will corner night games with the SEC.

All of this means you could see really late SEC games in what used to be Pac-12 time slots. They’d probably be better draws than they would on SEC Network in regular slots, where they often compete with other games anyway. Taking this all into account, Tennessee football is about to have some epic night clashes going forward.

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