quote:
Bama? Your joking right? If your whole argument is that the SEC will screw LSU (a legit argument), then it relies on them giving Bama a break. But, Bama is definitely tied to Auburn and Tennessee, then adding a tough game like LSU has no chance. Bama is getting State.

No, I don’t think they are “screwing” LSU in this scenario nor would it be unfair to Bama. In truth, there isn’t a clear cut top half and bottom half. What there is is an obvious Top 6. There are going to try to make sure each of those 6 plays at least one of the others. They have Texas-Oklahoma and Florida-Georgia. If they don’t pair LSU-Alabama, then those teams are advantaged relative to the other top programs. From there, they want to find 2 teams to play two of those top teams, so that they only need one pair of top 6 teams to play a second top 6. Auburn is obvious as one of those both from a historical strength perspective and rivalry perspective. They get Alabama and Georgia. That leaves 3 teams in the West plus Florida needing another top tier opponent. That’s not a good fit for Tennessee. It is a good fit for A&M. They get Texas and LSU. That leaves Florida and Oklahoma needing another top opponent, which is likely each other.

At that point, Alabama can choose to hold onto their rivalry with Tennessee or they can choose an easier 3rd opponent. I’m sure they would choose Tennessee. The same holds true for either Georgia or Florida. They would probably give Tennessee the choice of rivals. It probably makes more sense to be Georgia since Florida ended up with 2 Top 6 matchups. In no way does Bama get Auburn and Tennessee as their “tough” opponents and even less so does LSU get A&M and Ole Miss. They have to face each other to balance the top, then they can have the other two as well. It won’t be perfectly equal that way, but it’s far closer than if they don’t face each other.