re: SEC Network's 16 team pod proposal lumps LSU with the Misses and A&M.

"Pods" sounds ridiculous (nomenclature only - concept is not bad).

quote:

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Why did someone decide on the term "pod"? I guess four four-team "divisions" sounds too much like NFL.

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Because a "pod" is not a division. Two pods make a division, and you would rotate those every year.

One year, the two divisions would be

Division 1: Pod A + Pod B
Division 2: Pod C + Pod D

The next year the divisions would be

Division 1: Pod A + Pod C
Division 2: Pod B + Pod D

The it would be

Division 1: Pod A + Pod D
Division 2: Pod B + Pod C

To make matters more confusing, I've seen it posted elsewhere each team would have a permanent opponent in the other 3 pods, and the years that you are not playing that pod, you will still play your permanent opponent from that pod. They have to do this so that games like Auburn and UGA still get played if they are in different pods (can't put the five teams involved in the four sacred cow games--Bama/UT, Auburn/UGA, Bama/Auburn, UGA/UF--in the same pod, as the limit is 4). So, you'd play your seven divisional games (the 3 teams in your pod, a four teams in the pod assigned as your divisional opponents that year) plus your two permanent opponents in the other pod for a total of 9 games.

This is way too confusing for the public, and still creates the potential for unbalanced divisions. So, if we do go to 16, they should just get rid of divisions, have 3 permanent opponents, and rotate the other 12, six one year, and six the next, with the two teams with the best record meeting in the conference championship game.