No divisions, 3 permanent rivals, play every one else H/H over any given 4 year span in a 9 conference game schedule was the best idea to me. Pending that, pods could be a reasonable intermediate step or a catastrophe depending on the implementation. If we were in a "far west" pod with OU, pig, and aggy, our scheduling in an 8-game pod arrangement would be very similar to the 9-game rival format. The biggest problem is cases in which there are teams whose rivals don't allow easy division into pods. Aggy, e.g., is the most important rival for Bama, UGA, Gator, and LSU. At least one of those teams will have to interrupt its historical and beloved rivalry, even if aggy doesn't get relegated to the "far west."
I think this is the real answer. Cows, milk, free. Money ultimately talks, which means 9 games is the likely end game.
We'll likely play all those teams more in a boogered-up SEC schedule than we would in any other conference alignment, and I can think of one or two other reasons to put/keep B12 in the rear-view. Patience. 2024 is a bonus year of early departure, and most of us besides @armybrat have a chance to live to see the schedule get fixed.