I don't think that's true...
SEC will reopen contract with ESPN - CBSSports.com
It's silly to think that everything the SEC is doing is because they want to "weaken" the Big 12 and hold more "leverage." There's plenty of TV money for everyone, and if the SEC was REALLY interested in wrecking the Big 12, they wouldn't have added TAMU and MU. They would have found a spot for OU, and watched as the rest of the Big 12 dissolved.
This move was about increasing the amount of money available to member schools...that's it. They found two nearby schools who wanted out of the Big 12 and that could get them more money from the TV networks.
The SEC may expand to 16, but only if they can move into areas they're not already in (like NC, VA, or OK). In the end, all of the teams that moved are happier, and all of the major conferences are still functioning. Everybody walks away satisified.
The SEC is two years into a 15 year deal that isn't comparable to what the leagues that have negotiated since then have been able to receive. Adding teams was their only opportunity to gain a "look in" provision.
I do not believe the SEC intent was to destroy the Big 12, but weakening the Big 12 provided them the greatest opportunity since the Big 12 is next in line for Tier I TV negotiations. You are wrong, there is NOT an infinite amount of money the networks will spend to contract college football. If they could find a way to keep more in the kitty until they could claim it, it would be in their interest to do so.
I believe the SEC's main motivation was making a move in order to get out of the TV deal they had only just begun, and the reason was the Pac-12 deal.
