LSU's Brian Kelly says SEC coaches want game vs. Big Ten - ESPN

DESTIN, Fla. — LSU's Brian Kelly on Wednesday said SEC coaches favor adding one nonconference game against a Big Ten opponent in a scheduling agreement, but they «need a partner» to do it.

«We want to compete against the Big Ten,» Kelly said, following the last day of coaches meetings at the annual SEC spring meetings. «Look, the Big Ten right now holds it on the SEC. They won the last two national championships. That's the reality of it. We want to get challenged in that regard, and we'd like to be able to get that done.

»That is up to our commissioner and the ADs to see if that can happen or not, but that's the wish of the room."

SEC scheduling has been a major topic of conversation this week as the league works to determine if it wants to stay at eight conference games or move to nine.

Kelly said he would favor playing nine SEC games and adding the additional Big Ten opponent. The possibility of a scheduling partnership between the two leagues developed from multiple in-person meetings of the Big Ten-SEC advisory group, but one SEC source said the topic was «dead in the water» at the commissioner level.

Still, Kelly said the coaches made their «voices clear» this week to their respective athletic directors and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

«You've got to get a partner who says we're in for that, too,» Kelly said.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said the decisions should be made on what would be exciting for television and what the fans would most enjoy. Pittman said the «SEC wants us to go to nine» conference games.

«So how are we going to do it?» Pittman asked. «Are we going to go to nine, playing ourselves, and maybe invite another conference to play us on a given weekend?»

There's an overwhelming sense this week from