Now that it's started, it can't be stopped: 16 team SEC

I believe that there is now no way around it. The SEC must expand to 16 teams.

The SEC is built on traditional rivalries. A 14 team conference cannot keep those intact, as they require a 6 game commitment to each division, only allowing 2 games for cross division play. This creates a situation where schools with cross division rivalries (notably UGA/Auburn and Alabama/UT) might as well not even be in the same conference as other eastern teams, as they'd have a home and home every 12 years.

Abolishing cross division rivalries doesn't make the sparse play situation much better, as it creates a situation where traditional rivals like Auburn and Georgia could take 6-7 years to have a home and home.

In order to allow teams to continue to act as a conference, they must either continue to expand to 16 teams or go to a 9 game division schedule. The latter creates problems with home schedule incongruities, as well as decreasing the likelihood that lower tier schools make bowl games, so I don't imagine the institutions will acquiesce. However, a 16 team league allows schools to preserve all their rivalries in an 8 game conference schedule, all while turning around all home and homes in 8 years or less.

Here's how it works, in convenient map form:



Potential Schools are targets, WV and VT have a different symbol to note that this scenario could work with either of them.

SW Division: LSU, aTm, Ole Miss, Alabama
SE Division: Auburn, UGA, UF, FSU
NE Division: USC, Vanderbilt, UK, VT/WV
NW Division: Arkansas, MSU, UT, Mizzou

Each team has two cross division rivals, as follows:

quote:

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LSU - UF, Arkansas
ATM - Mizzou, FSU
Ole Miss - MSU, UGA
Alabama - Alabama, UT

Auburn - Alabama, Vanderbilt
UGA - Ole Miss, USC
UF - LSU, UK
FSU - VT/WV, ATM

USC - UGA, MSU
Vanderbilt - UT, Auburn
UK - UF, Arkansas
WV/VT - FSU, Mizzou

Arkansas - LSU, UK
MSU - Ole Miss, USC
UT - Alabama, Vanderbilt
Mizzou - ATM, VT/WV

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So each team would play (3) division games, (2) cross division rivals, and (3) games from each other division, which would create the 8 team scenario.

Teams that are geographically close but not in the same division, would play more often.. so while LSU and Auburn wouldn't be an every-year rivalry anymore, once every three years would still keep it heated. Teams would travel cross-conference less often, keeping travel costs potentially lower.

Conference champions would be determined one of two ways: Either a 4 team playoff (by NCAA approval) or by tiebreaker for the top 2 division champions. Everyone would have enough intertwined games to create a simple tiebreaker to determine.