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Although the SEC has defeated the Big Ten (e.g. Ohio State) in the last two BCS national championships, overall, both conferences are very similar and very competitive in both football and men's basketball. For example, in the last 15 years or so when the current Big Ten vs. SEC bowl matchups have been set, the record of Big Ten vs. SEC is approximately .500. However, there are two areas where the SEC is behind and where they will try to catch up: $$$ and exposure. Specifically, the Big Ten makes a lot more money than the SEC and has much wider exposure than the SEC.

1. Revenue. According to recent public disclosures, each Big Ten school makes 32% from sports revenue than each SEC school. According to the Sports Business Journal, in 2006-07, the Big Ten distributed $154.2 million to its 11 schools or $14.0 million per school. According to a variety of sources, for the 2007-08 fiscal year, the SEC distributed $127.2 million to its 12 schools or $10.6 million per school. According to the Sports Business Journal, the primary reasons for the Big Ten's revenue disparity were the new $1 billion ABC/ESPN deal and the Big Ten Network payments.

2. Exposure. With the Big Ten Network, every home Big Ten football and men's basketball game will be televised to a minimum of 35 million homes (and be available in approximately 55 million homes), with a high likelihood of this number increasing in the next several months. In contrast, last year, the SEC had approximately 44% of its home football games that were not televised at all or on a limited PPV and another 16% that were only televised on Raycom's regional package (and ESPN GamePlan). With the BTN's new deal with Comcast (and with Time Warner, Charter and Mediacom likely to follow), the Big Ten has a strong regional distribution and a broad national distribution through DirecTV and Dish (and likely others).

The SEC views themselves as equal to the Big Ten. The SEC sees the revenue that the Big Ten has generated and the exposure the Big Ten has. While the SEC may or may not be able to achieve the same level of revenue or exposure the Big Ten has (the Big Ten has a larger population base and was aided by the common ownership between Fox and DirecTV when the deal for the BTN was made), the SEC has to be looking at what the Big Ten currently has and will not want to be left behind in the collegiate sports arms race. The most effective way of accomplishing this is by forming their own network.