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Why Big Ten provides an answer to SEC's scheduling question

The SEC's scheduling debate will renew when the conference's spring meetings begin later this month. It's that age-old question of whether to stick with eight conference games or bump up to nine. Advertisement Maybe, that's the wrong question, though, and the SEC should be asking: Would a Big Ten-SEC challenge be better than a ninth conference game? On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate the merit of adding a ninth SEC game versus sticking with the status quo. Retaining the eight-game format would sacrifice the annual nature of some secondary rivalries. But, could containing the SEC schedule to eight games encourage the conference to pursue more bold non-conference scheduling? Subscribe to SEC Football Unfiltered iTunes | Google Play | Spotify Advertisement Is that worth it? Well, that depends. TOPPMEYER: College football fans, donors drove the clown car in NIL era, but was that so bad? ADAMS: Kentucky and Vanderbilt should stop wasting money on football SEC football schedule format Toppmeyer and Adams are intrigued by the idea of an SEC-Big Ten football challenge – so intrigued, that they like the concept of an interconference clash better than a ninth SEC game. Toppmeyer: I've long supported the idea of the SEC increasing to nine conference games, which would put it in line with the Big Ten and Big 12. Also, a ninth conference game would work in tandem of my other wish-list item: that every SEC team would play a minimum of 10 games against power-conference opponents. Advertisement Nine SEC games + one non-conference games = 10 real games and only two cupcakes. But, if the SEC collectively would consider eight SEC games + one challenge game against a Big Ten opponent + one additional non-conference game for a total of 10 real games, I might go for that idea. In fact, I'm picturing four of these SEC-B1G challenge games unfolding on each of the first four Saturdays of the season, spicying up the September schedule. Adams: If the SEC wants to prove its supremacy, what better way than to put it on the line throughout 16 non-conference games against the Big Ten? Consider what happened in basketball. The SEC skunked the ACC in the SEC-ACC challenge. That sent a loud signal that the SEC was legit, and it charted the course for the SEC to qualify 14 teams for the NCAA Tournament. Advertisement For football, I usually tend to think the more conference games, the better. But, the more I think about this blue-sky idea of an SEC-B1G challenge, the more I think I'd rather see Vanderbilt put it on the line against Northwestern than play Missouri in a ninth SEC game. Where to listen to SEC Football Unfiltered Apple Spotify iHeart Google Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. John Adams is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Subscribe to the SEC Football Unfiltered podcast, and check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Big Ten provides an answer to SEC's scheduling question