re: Why did CBS pay more money for second tier Big 10 games over SEC first tier games?

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I heard on radio this morning that CBS paid more money for the second tier Big 10 games over the 1st tier SEC games. Any reason why they would do that? I’m not complaining because I rather our games to be prime time at night on ABC.

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You've got a case of a media person mixing and matching facts.

CBS is paying more ($330 million) for Tier 2 Big Ten games than ESPN is paying for Tier 1 SEC games ($300 million). The inference drawn is that CBS wasn't willing to pay more than $300 million for the SEC deal, but that probably is false. Truth is, we don't know what CBS offered for that package in 2020. The SEC didn't have to take the highest bid, and had 2 reasons for rejecting a CBS bid (not necessarily valid reasons, but they factored in):

(1) the SEC was pissed about CBS refusing to increase what it was paying for Tier 1 rights in 2012 when the conference added A&M and Missouri, and put out the word in the wake of that decision that the conference would not be re-upping with CBS when that contract expired (Clay Travis was given this information by sources at the time).

(2) By unifying all rights with one broadcaster, the SEC will be able to set game times much further in advance; something which will please fans. The 12 and 6 day selection windows have been hard on fans, and when the deal was announced with ESPN in December 2020, the SEC said one benefit of giving ESPN everything was with regard to scheduling. It remains to be seen exactly how this will play out, but that was one point that the SEC emphasized when they put all their eggs in one basket.

Was that a smart decision? I'm skeptical, but, don't believe this spin when you hear media figures trying to suggest that CBS valued Tier 2 Big Ten games more than they did Tier 1 SEC games.