Brian Smith teases potential Missouri-Oklahoma wrestling dual on SEC Network

Missouri wrestling coach Brian Smith is all about the growth of wrestling and the SEC may be next.

Missouri and Oklahoma, a new SEC school, are the only two schools in the conference that sponsor wrestling. With that, the Tigers and Sooners remain in the Big 12 when it comes to the mat.

But Smith has the ear of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, saying the SEC Network may be possible when broadcasting the Missouri-Oklahoma dual.

“I was eating dinner and my son worked for football for a couple of years with Missouri, so he was listening to the media days and Sankey’s on there and all of a sudden I hear him talking about the old Big 8, the Oklahoma-Mizzou rivalry is back, this and that, and they also bring to wrestling programs that will now be under the umbrella of the SEC,” Smith told On3. “That’s great to hear. I’ve had conversations with Greg Sankey when he’s come to campus, and he’s met the wrestlers because we have some leaders in the athletic department. 

“So he has meetings with various student athletes, so he’s got to meet my wrestlers, he’s met Keegan (O’Toole) before and follows our program. I’ve gotten in his ear. I said, man, we gotta have a match on the SEC Network. So we’re working on that.”

Brian Smith wants wrestling in the SEC

Schools like LSU used to have programs, but cut them years back. But that doesn’t mean those states don’t have high quality wrestling.

Louisiana for instance, has great high school wrestling. Daniel Cormier, a former two-weight UFC champion, is in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame for wrestling.

Although he wrestled at Oklahoma State, before becoming an Olympian and MMA legend, Cormier came from down south. Perhaps there’s untapped wrestling potential down there as Smith suggested.

Getting Missouri-Oklahoma on the SEC Network could expose the sport of wrestling to a whole new audience.

“I really think the south coming from Florida, I think Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, all these schools, all these states that have wrestling but don’t really have D1 programs, would be huge,” Smith said. “I just think that if we get that match on the SEC Network, which is a big deal if we could get it on there one time and he said he would. 

“He marked it down on his phone so I know that’s a big part of why he knows there’s wrestling. I’ve chirped in his ear a few times and we gotta get that match on there and see the following of the south, how many people, wrestlers and high school coaches would watch that match and show the SEC that there is value in wrestling on TV.”