re: SEC leaning towards 1 division

The same way you "know" your opinions are right.

Relax, Karen.

These SEC East teams should be careful what they wish for

quote:

---

You know this how? They already have Auburn and Tennessee

---

And you really believe Auburn and Tennessee are as strong on a consistent basis as LSU, Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma? I don’t “know” any of this. At the end of the day, there may be so much trouble getting to a consensus that everyone is comfortable with that they settle on something that gives an advantage to Bama. That doesn’t make that the most likely outcome and certainly not to the degree of certainty that you have laid out your position. Bama having Auburn and Tennessee as 2 of their 3 is going to result in their permanent opponents being a little harder than the other top programs if they get a team like LSU as their third opponent or easier if they get a team like Miss St. If it were just up to the league office I might be inclined to agree with you that the easier schedule for Bama is the more likely outcome. Since it’s subject to a member vote, I believe the opposite is true.

quote:

---

It’s not either/or. In every comment I have made I have agreed that Auburn and Tennessee will be 2 of the 3 permanent opponents for Bama. I’m not suggesting those aren’t two quality programs who are historically in the Top 15. I’m just saying that doesn’t cut it in the new ridiculously powerful SEC that is to come. Granting that we don’t know for sure how Oklahoma and Texas will navigate the step up in conference strength, Auburn and Tennessee are just a notch below the 6 programs above them. Bama would have a distinct advantage not having to face Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida (and maybe Texas) on an annual basis based upon the present reality of those programs. I don’t see the other schools giving them that advantage.

---

What about all the other teams that don't have to play UGA, OU, Florida, Texas every year. LSU will likely be one of those teams as well. Using the traditional rival/geographic proximity metrics, Auburn gets UGA and Bama every year. Who has it harder than them. UGA under the that model gets Florida and Auburn every year.

For 30 years the Auburn/UGA and TENN/Bama game were the 2 games that prevented any kind of scheduling changes to the East/West cross division games.

If I am LSU, I now call that out and say ok, for 30 years this has been the scheduling metric used for who plays who in the East/West Cross division games, we agree with that. We believe in historical games, LSU's 2 longest played games are Ole Miss and Miss. State. We will play those 2. In addition, we agree to play Aggie since they are next door and only a 4.5 hour drive from LSU's campus.

Chris Doering on the SEC morning show with Peter Burns has suggested from his Florida sources that Florida is pushing to move away from the LSU/Florida game and go to a 3 game permanent with teams that are close in proximity to them, In terms of proximity, Auburn and Florida are only 275 miles from each other (to LSU it is 530). Athens is only 304 and SCAR 312. Tuscaloosa is relatively close to Alabama 393 miles (4th closest campus to UF).

somebody is going to have to just deal with it. Miss. State is going to play Ole Miss, and probably Alabama (75 miles between campuses).

In terms of proximity to LSU, Miss. State, Ole Miss and Alabama are the closest 3 with Aggie a close 4th. But Bama is closer to more schools than LSU and in fact is the most centrally located SEC campus.

quote:

---

9 game SEC schedule with 3 permanent opponents. You will play the entire SEC home and away in 4 years.

---

quote:

---

That would still be pods genius.

---

I haven’t read all 11 pages yet but man, some of y’all are dense.

Permanent opponents =/= pods.

I say just go ahead and move to a 10 game sec schedule. It would set up nicely and you would have better attendance and more viewership (more $$$). 5 Perm and 5 Rotating Home Away.

LSU 5:
Alabama
Auburn
Ole Miss
Miss St.
Texas A&M or Ark

quote:

---

I say just go ahead and move to a 10 game sec schedule. It would set up nicely and you would have better attendance and more viewership (more $$$). 5 Perm and 5 Rotating Home Away.

LSU 5:
Alabama
Auburn
Ole Miss
Miss St.
Texas A&M or Ark

---

Good post and forward thinking. Well a 10 game schedule would solve lots of problems, Everyone as you say has 5 Permanents and rotates the other 5 either every other year, or you play 5 in years 1 and 2, then the other 5 in years 3 and 4, then back to the first 5 in year 5 and 6

In that format, using some historic ties and geographical proximity, I can see LSU with Alabama, Ole Miss, Miss. State and Aggie (4 closest campuses) and Auburn would be the next closest campus at about 360 miles.

And yes, I can see the SEC going to a 10 game schedule eventually, once they get the 3-6 thing going and everyone is use to playing 9 games. Let everyone start in week Zero and build in 14 weeks to play 12 games, everyone can then have 2 bye weeks to deal with the physical nature of 10 SEC games.

Once you expand the playoff, that is only going to make more and more bowl games less relevant, and many already are given opt outs, etc.

LSU will play 3 of the following:

Ole Miss, Arkansas, A&M, State and Florida

quote:

---

I’m not saying this would happen, but the only way to make it fair would be to think about the conference as four tiers Top tier is Alabama Georgia, LSU and probably Oklahoma Next tier is Florida, Auburn, Texas and Tennessee Third tier is Ole Miss, A&M, Arkansas, and Kentucky Bottom tier is Vanderbilt, Missouri, MS State and S Carolina Top tier plays their tier plus 2 and 3 Second tier plays their tier plus 1 and 4 Third tier plays their tier plus 1 and 4 Fourth tier plays their tier plus 2 and 3 LSU plays Alabama, Florida and A&M Bama plays LSU, Auburn, and Ole Miss Georgia plays Oklahoma, Georgia, and Kentucky Oklahoma plays Georgia, Texas, and Arkansas Yes, I know it’s absurd and that I’m over thinking it. But this type of idea could result in a more competitive balance for the top 4

---

I do think that is probably pretty close to the way they are looking at this. You’d probably need to flip A&M and Tennessee to facilitate maintaining rivalries. Otherwise, Bama can’t play Tennessee and Texas wouldn’t have A&M. I think Oklahoma and Florida might need to be somewhat flexible in placement. Oklahoma would be the Tier 1 opponent for Texas, but Florida would be the Tier 1 for Georgia, then they play each other. Auburn is going to want Bama and Georgia as well, so they might swap out a Tier 1 for a Tier 2.

LSU- Alabama, A&M, Ole Miss
Alabama- LSU, Auburn, Tennessee
Georgia- Florida, Auburn, Kentucky
Florida- Georgia, Oklahoma, S Carolina
Oklahoma- Texas, Florida, Missouri
Auburn- Alabama, Georgia, Miss St
Texas- Oklahoma, A&M, Arkansas
A&M- LSU, Texas, Arkansas
Tennessee- Alabama, Kentucky, Vandy
Kentucky- Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri
Ole Miss- LSU, Arkansas, Miss St
Arkansas- Texas, A&M, Ole Miss
Miss St- Auburn, Ole Miss, S Carolina
Missouri- Oklahoma, Kentucky, Vandy
S Carolina- Florida, Miss St, Vandy
Vandy- Tennessee, Missouri, S Carolina