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Message
SEC Cross Divisional Games
Posted on 7/15/12 at 12:05 am
Posted on 7/15/12 at 12:05 am
Understand this is one tough conference. Yet we owe it to every member to discover who truly is the best team.
In the new format, the SEC plays an 8 game conference schedule. Every team plays each team in its own division (6 games) and 2 games against teams in the other division. The conference takes into consideration "protected rivalries" with one cross divisional opponent. We are playing a 6-1-1 format. With that lies the fault in the system. It's unbalanced and creates a faulty championship game.
This year South Carolina plays at LSU and Arkansas at home.
Georgia plays Ole Miss at home and at Auburn.
Let's say South Carolina beats Georgia, but loses to LSU and Arkansas? How can we say Georgia was more deserving when it played a softer schedule?
Programs have good years and bad years. The schedule should reflect that. Instead it ignores this and creates a potential nightmare scenario where a division isn't represented fairly in the conference championship game.
Mike Slive needs to expand to a 9 game schedule. A 6-1-2 would protect rivalries and ensure the integrity of the championship game.
If anyone says "WAIT BUT THEN THE SCHEDULE IS TOUGHER" well duh. That's the point. Maybe a team is unlucky and draws Arkansas, LSU, and Alabama this season. The fact is that then at least two other division rivals are playing them instead of just one.
Records don't matter as much in the playoff era with neutral semifinal sites. The system still leaves two open slots for rivals, games like the Cowboy Classic, or cupcakes.
Thoughts?
In the new format, the SEC plays an 8 game conference schedule. Every team plays each team in its own division (6 games) and 2 games against teams in the other division. The conference takes into consideration "protected rivalries" with one cross divisional opponent. We are playing a 6-1-1 format. With that lies the fault in the system. It's unbalanced and creates a faulty championship game.
This year South Carolina plays at LSU and Arkansas at home.
Georgia plays Ole Miss at home and at Auburn.
Let's say South Carolina beats Georgia, but loses to LSU and Arkansas? How can we say Georgia was more deserving when it played a softer schedule?
Programs have good years and bad years. The schedule should reflect that. Instead it ignores this and creates a potential nightmare scenario where a division isn't represented fairly in the conference championship game.
Mike Slive needs to expand to a 9 game schedule. A 6-1-2 would protect rivalries and ensure the integrity of the championship game.
If anyone says "WAIT BUT THEN THE SCHEDULE IS TOUGHER" well duh. That's the point. Maybe a team is unlucky and draws Arkansas, LSU, and Alabama this season. The fact is that then at least two other division rivals are playing them instead of just one.
Records don't matter as much in the playoff era with neutral semifinal sites. The system still leaves two open slots for rivals, games like the Cowboy Classic, or cupcakes.
Thoughts?
Posted on 7/15/12 at 6:44 am to Roll JaMarcus Roll
A lot of people would agree with what you are saying, but I just don't really think the current format is that much of a problem.
Posted on 7/15/12 at 7:15 am to SabiDojo
Fwiw, your hypothetical played out this past season. S Carolina beat Georgia, then played a tougher schedule, including Bama, while UGA played the lower half of the conference, and beat out USC for a spot in Atlanta
Posted on 7/15/12 at 9:16 am to mamoutiga
Better yet, why doesn't mike slive just recognize that a fairer approach for division champs should be what each team acheives vs DIVISIONAL OPPONENTS.
Posted on 7/15/12 at 9:30 am to Roll JaMarcus Roll
in the old days, we played 10 games. lsu played bama, ole miss, msu and florida every year. we rotated playing the other 5 teams (playing 2 per year). hell, auburn, georgia, tennessee and vandy might as well have been in a differnt conference. we played texas a&m and tulane every year. and yes, i forgot kentucky. my memory is hazy so i'm just gonna guess we played 7 conference games because i'm pretty sure we played kentucky every year. either that or we played 6 and saw the above 5 occasionaly. either way, the sec champ could have really had an easy route, esp considering there was no championship game. i would like to play 9 conference games to solve this conundrum BUT it would probably cost the sec a shot at the 4 team playoff some years, if not many. the sec is a brutal line up with almost no "rest" playing easy teams.
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