Some coaches would rather have SEC/Big 12 Challenge earlier

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The SEC/Big 12 Challenge gives members of each league an opportunity to garner national attention the weekend before the Super Bowl.

But some coaches would rather not have this event taking place Saturday, when they’re in the middle of their conference schedules. They’d prefer to have it before the start of league play.

“The conference season trumps your nonconference season, big time,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, whose second-ranked Jayhawks visit No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge’s headline attraction. “I mean we’re happy to go. We’re excited. We’ll go there and let it ride. But the bottom line is I think the only reason we’re doing it (in late January) is for exposure for our respective leagues.”

Kansas’ showdown with Kentucky is one of 10 SEC/Big 12 Challenge games. Other matchups include Texas A&M at No. 18 West Virginia, No. 25 Florida at Oklahoma, LSU at Texas Tech, Kansas State at Tennessee, Arkansas at Oklahoma State, Texas at Georgia, Iowa State at Vanderbilt, Auburn at TCU and No. 5 Baylor at Mississippi.

For the first two years of its existence, the SEC/Big 12 Challenge took place on multiple days before the start of league play. Last year, it became a one-day event on the final week of January in an attempt to gain more exposure.

The move paid off in that regard. ESPN says the 10 games of last year’s event averaged 846,000 viewers across all ESPN networks, up 46 percent from the previous season.

“To be able to have (it on) this weekend when the NFL is off was just brilliant by the SEC and Big 12,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “I would think if I was another conference, I would say, `Gosh, the SEC and Big 12 have really done something here.’ Everyone’s going to be paying attention to these matchups now.”

TCU coach Jamie Dixon also said he liked having it in late January and Florida coach Mike White said he had no problem with the timing of the event.

Other coaches aren’t happy with the switch. Kentucky coach John Calipari says “I probably would rather have it before the conference (schedule) starts.”

“We got talked into it,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said Tuesday after his Mountaineers beat Kansas . “The thought was that in would get more media coverage this time of year. I think a game like this (Kansas-West Virginia) gets people thinking a little more about basketball early than maybe playing somebody else. But that was the whole deal.

“It was certainly ESPN-driven. It wasn’t the coaches.”