re: Not to rehash the SEC’s decision to quit the annual Bama/LSU game. These TV numbers wild

quote:

---

Putting LSU in the mix with Tenn and Auburn would have created (on paper) an imbalance relative to the permanent opponents of other SEC schools

---

It really wouldn’t have. Tennessee is not in the top half of the conference the last 10-15 years and if you narrow it to the last few years, then Auburn isn’t. If Alabama thought one of those two was too good to be their bottom tier opponent, then could have let go of one of those two rivalries. It was their choice to have a high bottom half team as an annual opponent.

As it stands now, Alabama and LSU are the only Top 6 programs that don’t play another Top 6. They created an imbalance in favor of both schools by not pairing them. As easy as Bama’s annual opponents now are, LSU’s are probably even easier.

I know everyone is convinced this was done to placate Alabama. The more obvious reason is that the SEC was hellbent on every team having an annual Thanksgiving opponent. That meant Arkansas replacing Alabama on LSU’s slate. With just a little flexibility in their thinking, they could have had LSU rotate between Oklahoma and Arkansas and had Missouri do the same. That would have left a spot for LSU-Alabama.