re: If SEC stays with 8 team SEC schedule for 2025

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What other SEC team does this?

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The fact that no one does it now does not preclude it from happening in the future. The only reason it doesn’t happen now is that every team in the league has a long-standing last week rivalry game except LSU, A&M, Arkansas, and Missouri. They wanted to throw A&M a bone to replace Texas and Arkansas-Missouri made sense geographically. In the new conference alignment, it will be the same situation only replacing A&M with Oklahoma. Sure, they could choose to just make LSU-Oklahoma permanent, but that presents complications for determining who the permanent opponents are for every team now that there aren’t going to be divisions. They aren’t going to force LSU and Oklahoma and Arkansas and Missouri to be permanent opponents just for the ease of the last week. That’s especially true if teams only have 1 permanent opponent. OU and Texas are guaranteed permanent opponents. They will decide the best configuration of permanent opponents, then figure out the final weekend from there. There’s no reason at all why it can’t rotate for those 4 schools vs creating an artificial “rivalry” with Oklahoma.

Money is stopping the 9 game schedule.

ESPN said they won’t pay more to SEC for 9 games. They’re in a very tough financial situation & can’t throw money around anymore. Disney looking to spin them off as a separate company & force them to earn their own way

Sec teams playing 9 games means there’s 8 more losses SEC teams will absorb. Those losses could prevent bowl appearances or worse CFP appearances which would cost the league big money.

Unless ESPN pays more, I’d be surprised to see the SEC go to 9 anytime in the next couple yrs. Blame conference office for not having the foresight to negotiate an increase in TV rights in the initial contract if they increase # of conference games. ESPN controls the money & they seem to hold the cards right now

Hence - there WILL NOT be only 1 permanent opponent. Who would it be?

Oklahoma? They have to play UT
Arkansas? They play Missou on thanksgiving
Alabama? Iron Bowl
Florida? UGA in Jacksonville
A&M? They play Texas on thanksgiving

There will be more than 1 permanent opponent

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Arkansas? They play Missou on thanksgiving

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That was a completely artificial pairing with no history. Arkansas and LSU had played on Thanksgiving weekend for 20 years when A&M and Missouri joined and that was tossed to the wayside. Arkansas and Missouri have only been playing that weekend for 12 years. There’s no reason they can’t toss that aside in the same way if there are allocations of permanent opponents that make more sense.

They could’ve just as easily done LSU/Arky & OU/Mizz on thanksgiving.
It was intentional

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They could’ve just as easily done LSU/Arky & OU/Mizz on thanksgiving. It was intentional

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Sure they could have done it that way, but I fail to see why doing it one way or the other tells us anything about long term intentions. If I am right that they intend to alternate those matchups, either configuration is consistent with that long term plan. Neither one would preclude the possibility of rotating. Maintaining the status quo for Arkansas-Missouri was the easiest temporary solution. It also keeps the option open to that staying a permanent fixture in the absence of any long term solutions being decided. I’m not at all saying that won’t happen. I simply said it didn’t have to be that way. There was no reason to change now until they know for sure what the long term will be.

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If I am right that they intend to alternate those matchups

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will not happen

Ole Miss and Alabama have been LSU's greatest, most intense rivals over the last 75 years. Others temporarily may have offered bigger games (Auburn for a brief stretch), but over the long haul the teams that most motivate our fan base are Ole Miss and Alabama.

I've hated the conference expansion since it was announced, but if we lose our longstanding rivalry games, I'll lose passion for the game. Feed me Texas A&M and Oklahoma every year and

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Bama game losing its luster my arse. I don’t care who’s coaching Bama, I hate them no matter what!

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That's your (LSU) point of view.

Bama would rather keep Auburn and Tennessee, at the very least.

I'm kinda surprised LSU-Florida didn't make the cut. Fla also has UGA (another team lots of people want to keep on schedule), but outside that I would say LSU would have been high on Fla's list, just as Fla was high on ours.