SEC football injury reports will exist to satisfy sports bettors, says one cynic

FanSided's John Buhler believes that the incoming SEC football injury reports for the 2024 season and beyond are purely a way to satisfy one of the emerging fan markets of college football: sports bettors.

"Regardless, the SEC would not be the first movers in this, as the Big Ten has had a final injury report coming out two hours before kickoff for a few years," Buhler prefaced before saying, "This is to do one thing, and one thing only: Having the gamblers' best interests in mind. Having a more robust one over multiple days like the NFL does could be in line for the SEC. There are obvious pros and cons to this, so we have to wait and see."

This has drawn different reactions around the conference. Kentucky's Mark Stoop was all on board for the idea, while Texas's Steve Sarkisian would rather be fined than have to reveal his personnel's injury statuses before games.

SEC football aiming for uniformity with Big Ten as threat of split from NCAA persists

It's been said that it's "inevitable" that the SEC and Big Ten will split from the rest of the NCAA and stage their own postseason. If that will eventually be the case, it makes sense that the SEC is looking for uniformity with the Big Ten.

Both conferences are neck and neck nearly across the board, with the B1G slightly ahead in revenue but behind the SEC in recent success. Adding Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA was the perfect counter for the Big Ten to the SEC adding Texas and Oklahoma as the conferences look to continue lording over the rest of the country.

If both are functioning nearly identically, it'll be easier to transition from the current Power 4 model, where every conference has different standards and picking a perfect College Football Playoff field is nearly impossible -- as the 2023 undefeated ACC Champion FSU Seminoles' snub showed us -- to a B1G/SEC super conference.