Let's look a little closer at this. In addition to playing 4 ladies field hockey teams each every year the mighty SEC gets this:
Auburn is in the Birmingham Bowl, Birmingham, Alabama, 110 miles from their campus
Mississippi State is in the Liberty Bowl, Memphis, Tennessee, 184 miles from their campus
South Carolina is in the Duke's Mayo Bowl, Charlotte, North Carolina, 92 miles from their campus
Tennessee is in the Music City Bowl, Nashville, Tennessee, 180 miles from their campus
Texas A&M is in the Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida, 963 miles from their campus
Arkansas is in the Outback Bowl, Tampa, Florida, 1,161 miles from their campus
Kentucky is in the Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida, 821 miles from their campus
Mississippi is in the Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, Louisiana, 347 miles from their campus
Louisiana State is in the Texas Bowl, Houston, Texas, 269 miles from their campus
Alabama is in the Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas, 586 miles from their campus (and they play there A LOT)
Georgia is in the Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida, 679 miles from their campus
Now, I know that these places have nicer weather this time of year and more people want to go there (but I will note that there are bowl games in Detroit, New York, Boston and Boise this year) and they go where they are invited. But for Christ's sake, those are de-facto home games for the SEC. All of the Bowl Games the SEC teams are in are also in the SEC footprint. Hell, save for Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas A&M they are all within a day's drive. 2 are in their own Goddamned State and most of the rest are in an adjacent state.
In contrast:
Ohio State is in the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California, 2,237 miles from their campus
Michigan is in the Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas, 1,174 miles from their campus
Minnesota is in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Phoenix, Arizona, 1,642 miles from their campus
Maryland is in the Pinstripe Bowl, New York, New York, 219 miles from their campus
Purdue is in the Music City Bowl, Nashville, Tennessee, 357 miles from their campus
Michigan State is in the Peach Bowl, Atlanta, Georgia, 774 miles from their campus
Wisconsin is in the Las Vegas Bowl, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1,700 miles from their campus
Penn State is in the Outback Bowl, Tampa, Florida, 1,100 miles from their campus
Iowa is in the Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida, 1,250 miles from their campus
None are in their own state nor an adjacent state. Save for Maryland, Purdue and maybe Michigan State, all are a fucking plane ride away. That's time and money.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that the sites need to be changed or rotated or whatever. I understand having the games in Miami instead of Cleveland (for instance) is a no-brainer (although I would rather go to New York City than Birmingham, Alabama, but that might just be me). I just think we need to acknowledge an SEC advantage. That's all.
