That quote has two parts to it.
Kelly is saying “yeah…we’ll go to a 9 game conference schedule, so long as we can play a Big10 team as part of our non-conference slate.”
Think of the ripple effect.
You think if Iowa is forced to play Mississippi State in the non-con, they are going to be all gung ho about keeping Iowa State on the schedule? The SEC isn’t going to drop their game with The Citadel in this scenario. They will drop their early game with Miami (or name another P4 school) instead.
If no Cy-Hawk game (for example), because of SEC/Big10 collusion, who do Big12 and ACC teams schedule in the non-conference?