New SEC divisions and pods thread (Page 30 starts recent discussion)

[TXSooner518 2438]

Yep, I agree that OU will get Mizzou in reality. 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

While we are all spit balling here...

Alabama: Auburn, LSU, Tennessee
Arkansas: Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Florida
Florida: Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn
Georgia: Florida, Auburn, South Carolina
Kentucky: South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Missouri
LSU: Texas A&M, Alabama, MSU 
Ole Miss: MSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt
MSU: Ole Miss, South Carolina, LSU
Missouri: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky
Oklahoma: Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M
South Carolina: Kentucky, MSU, Georgia
Tennessee: Vanderbilt, Florida, Alabama
Texas: Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas
Texas A&M: LSU, Texas, Oklahoma
Vanderbilt: Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss

I see most lists splitting Bama and LSU up, but that game needs to be played annually. So much has been riding on that game for about a decade.

I'm not super happy with they way that MSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, LSU and Vandy are divvied up in this scenario, but something has got to give. 

I don't really think that any of this is going to significantly impact strength of schedule. If you are getting one of the lower tier teams in your permanent match up, all it means is that you're going to rotate through the big dogs more frequently in the rest of the schedule.  You may have it easier one year, but the next year it is going to come back around to bite you in the ass. There really isn't anywhere to hide in this conference with a 9 game schedule.

[closetohumping 17432]

45 minutes ago, TKthunder2 said:

I’d bet you a mortgage payment, assuming the 3-6-6 model, that OU gets Texas and Mizzou. Their #3 is the only part that is really open to debate.

I hope aggy is there 3.

[Reynolds Woodcock 4738]

I married into an LSU family, and all of my in laws want their permanents to be “original 10” schools. They view Arkansas and A&M as manufactured rivalries, and would prefer Ole Miss, Florida, and either Bama or Auburn. I suspect they will be disappointed. 

[TrashMaster G 17537]

2 hours ago, Helobious said:

What’s with this “pod” fan-fiction nonsense? The commissioner already said it’ll be division format.

Tell me you're not paying attention w/o telling me you're not paying attention.

[jimmyjazz 45877]

On 2/14/2023 at 3:24 PM, babysdaddy said:

It should be.  We played there last time.  It's only fair and it will make those fucking gooners lose their minds.

What you don't understand is SEC! SEC! SEC! and because A&M is a long-standing SEC blueblood, having the first game at Kyle Field is the only respectful solution.

[gmr548 16575]

That's what's so weird to me...they're talking about Texas getting those 3, but the others aren't getting the same? Guess they really don't want to be labeled as a "pod"

OU has played Arkansas four times in the past 100 years. Given that we’ve played Auburn four times in half of that time frame, do you also think Auburn is an obvious permanent opponent for Texas?

OU was in the Big 12/Big 8/preceding conferences with Mizzou forever. Texas and Mizzou are the two no brainers for them.

That’s just one example of these things not necessarily being congruent from school to school.

[gmr548 16575]

I hope aggy is there 3.

I think it’ll be a rando. Florida or South Carolina or Kentucky or something.

[BrazilHorn 6586]

If OU gets Mizzou and aggy as noted above that’s some weak ass shit. 

[PencilPusher 454]

I’ll play the role of contrarian here as I believe the final grouping of 3 for Texas will not be the obvious 3 of OU, Ag, and Pig. Cant imagine that they’ll make us completely happy with our perm 3 rivals (assuming UT communicated this as their desire) while screwing longer term SEC members by not honoring all of theIr wishes. I expect a lot of horse trading to take place before the schedule is finalized and that no one will be completely satisfied. 

My guess is Pig isn’t on the final list as the embers of that rivalry are barely flickering in the conscious of most college football fans. Since we all believe that TV will have some say, they’ll want UT to play OU and Ag every year as it is likely the expected ratings for those 2 games would exceed UT/Pig and thus Arkansas would be odd man(pig) out. Not sure who would be the replacement in that scenario….it is possible it is someone we wouldn’t expect. 
 

Also, the 3 permanent rivals aren’t set for all time…it could be that in the next TV contract ESPN (or whomever) armed with ratings data might cajole the SEC into some changes to maximize viewership. If Pig isn’t one of the original 3 but the ratings for the matchups that happen exceed expectations and are better than the ratings for the games against the currently unnamed 3rd permanent opponent, a swap would likely happen. 

All logic dictates that OU, Ag, and Pig are the games…but logic hasn’t often applied in these situations. 

[utee94 15797]

4 minutes ago, PencilPusher said:

I’ll play the role of contrarian here as I believe the final grouping of 3 for Texas will not be the obvious 3 of OU, Ag, and Pig. Cant imagine that they’ll make us completely happy with our perm 3 rivals (assuming UT communicated this as their desire) while screwing longer term SEC members by not honoring all of theIr wishes. I expect a lot of horse trading to take place before the schedule is finalized and that no one will be completely satisfied. 

My guess is Pig isn’t on the final list as the embers of that rivalry are barely flickering in the conscious of most college football fans. Since we all believe that TV will have some say, they’ll want UT to play OU and Ag every year as it is likely the expected ratings for those 2 games would exceed UT/Pig and thus Arkansas would be odd man(pig) out. Not sure who would be the replacement in that scenario….it is possible it is someone we wouldn’t expect. 
 

Also, the 3 permanent rivals aren’t set for all time…it could be that in the next TV contract ESPN (or whomever) armed with ratings data might cajole the SEC into some changes to maximize viewership. If Pig isn’t one of the original 3 but the ratings for the matchups that happen exceed expectations and are better than the ratings for the games against the currently unnamed 3rd permanent opponent, a swap would likely happen. 

All logic dictates that OU, Ag, and Pig are the games…but logic hasn’t often applied in these situations. 

Except, there aren't any traditional SEC teams clamoring for the pigs or ags as their perma-rivals.  Texas is likely the only one asking specifically for either of those two schools.  

It's not that the SEC is going to go out of its way to make Texas happy, it's just that they might as well, since nobody else gives a shit about those two schools.

Edited February 16, 2023 by utee94

[TheContractor 70]

On 2/14/2023 at 12:51 PM, utee94 said:

Everyone still has to play 6 of the other teams 2 years, and the other 6 the following 2 years.  I don't think anyone's going to have both Alabama and Georgia on the schedule as their perma-rivals and no other teams in the SEC are consistently playing at that kind of level, so overall I think it's all going to average out.

 

 

Auburn will , thats why their 3rd has to be vandy. 

[TheContractor 70]

24 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Except, there aren't any traditional SEC teams clamoring for the pigs or ags as their perma-rivals.  Texas is likely the only one asking specifically for either of those two schools.  

It's not that the SEC is going to go out of its way to make Texas happy, it's just that they might as well, since nobody else gives a shit about those two schools.

Texas is the easiest 3: Ou, Aggie, Arky. Its a lot of teams in the East that will be harder to equally divide. Ou has to get someone hard from the East bc its 2 guaranteed will be Texas and Mizzou, cant give them Arkansas as a 3rd. 

Just now, TheContractor said:

Texas is the easiest 3: Ou, Aggie, Arky. Its a lot of teams in the East that will be harder to equally divide. Ou has to get someone hard from the East bc its 2 guaranteed will be Texas and Mizzou, cant give them Arkansas as a 3rd. 

Florida make the most sense. 

[TheContractor 70]

5 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

While we are all spit balling here...

Alabama: Auburn, LSU, Tennessee
Arkansas: Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Florida
Florida: Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn
Georgia: Florida, Auburn, South Carolina
Kentucky: South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Missouri
LSU: Texas A&M, Alabama, MSU 
Ole Miss: MSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt
MSU: Ole Miss, South Carolina, LSU
Missouri: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky
Oklahoma: Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M
South Carolina: Kentucky, MSU, Georgia
Tennessee: Vanderbilt, Florida, Alabama
Texas: Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas
Texas A&M: LSU, Texas, Oklahoma
Vanderbilt: Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss

I see most lists splitting Bama and LSU up, but that game needs to be played annually. So much has been riding on that game for about a decade.

I'm not super happy with they way that MSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, LSU and Vandy are divvied up in this scenario, but something has got to give. 

I don't really think that any of this is going to significantly impact strength of schedule. If you are getting one of the lower tier teams in your permanent match up, all it means is that you're going to rotate through the big dogs more frequently in the rest of the schedule.  You may have it easier one year, but the next year it is going to come back around to bite you in the ass. There really isn't anywhere to hide in this conference with a 9 game schedule.

Not bad but you must hate Auburn and Florida bc they dont like you, haha. Tennessee just cant get Vandy, its just too easy a guaranteed win. 

[TheContractor 70]

If Auburn is stuck with Bama/UGA, i gave them Vandy bc anything else is not really fair. Florida has a gripe, rightfully. But giving them LSU isnt any different and Ou has to get a stronger 3rd opponent other than Tx/Mizzou. No long term, true rivalry is left out. Closest is UGA/Tenn , Tenn/Vandy(but thats Tenn cant come out that easy) and a relatively new one in Lsu/UF. You can say Arky/LSU and Arky/Aggie but thats a stretch. 

[gmr548 16575]

0% chance they split Vandy-Tennessee, imo

[mdmost 42997]

I'm going to imagine each school was given their choice of a rivalry that is sacrosanct to them. For us, it's OU. For Arkansas, it's us. For Tennessee, it's Alabama. I could see aggy saying they have to play LSU. Then you the regional/in-state rivalries that have to continue. Texas/aggy. Alabama/Auburn, Ole Miss/Miss St. Then you have the final one that's more fungible. If you fit as a rival to another school or it's a long standing tradition, it goes there. Not every school is going to be someone's chosen rival so that's where it gets fishy. I doubt anyone's going to say they want to play South Carolina as a rival. That's where you get the automatic game against Georgia. 

So in my best guess, you get those 3 tiers added into the pot. Tier 1-requested rival. Tier 2-in-state/border rivalry. Tier 3-long standing/you are that school's "rival". Texas would get OU (tier 1), aggy (tier 2), Arkansas (tier 3). Tier 1 makes sense to me because some games are just no-brainer rivalry games like Auburn/Alabama so those two don't have to waste a tier 1 pick on either. There's the obvious problem of not everyone can be Alabama's rival so the criteria would slide to how old the rivalry is.

My best guess on the tier 1 for each school:

aggy-LSU

Alabama-Tennessee

Arkansas-Texas

Auburn-Georgia

Florida- Georgia

Georgia-Auburn

Kentucky-Tennessee

LSU-Florida or Alabama

Mississippi State-Alabama or LSU

Missouri-OU

Ole Miss- Alabama or LSU

South Carolina-Georgia

Tennessee-Alabama

OU-Texas

Texas-OU

Vanderbilt-Kentucky

 

This is all a best guess on my part. The problem is 4 schools would say Alabama is their main rival (LSU, Miss State, Ole Miss, Tennessee). Auburn is obvious so that takes away 1 choice. Tennessee gets in, so that leaves one more of LSU/Miss State/Ole Miss. For balance and tradition, Miss State gets the nod as they've played each other the longest. So Alabama gets Tennessee, Auburn, Miss State for their 3. I think the stumbling block will be balancing out each group so no one is getting 3 tough as hell opponents each year. 

Best guess for all 3:

aggy-LSU, Texas, OU

Alabama-Tenn, Auburn, Miss St

Arkansas-Texas, Mizzou, Ole Miss

Auburn-Georgia, Alabama, Miss St

Florida-Georgia, LSU, South Carolina

Georgia-Florida, Auburn, South Carolina

Kentucky-Tennessee, Vanderbilt, South Carolina

LSU- Florida, aggy, Ole Miss

Miss State-Alabama, Ole Miss, Auburn

Mizzou-OU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt

Ole Miss-LSU, Miss State, Arkansas

OU-Texas, Mizzou, aggy

South Carolina-Georgia, Kentucky, Florida

Tennessee-Alabama, Kentucky, Vanderbilt

Texas-OU, aggy, Arkansas

Vanderbilt-Kentucky, Tennessee, Mizzou

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by mdmost

[Magus Ossis 2797]

I’m not so sure we’ll see OU/aggy as rivals. They don’t have a super-rich history together, and aggy is going to cry and whine not to have to play OU. With enough time they’ll come up with 77 different excuses.

[mdmost 42997]

Yeah, there's always going to be weird outliers. OU only has 2 real/traditional rivals. So the 3rd is going to be a reach. I'd imagine it's between Arkansas and aggy for proximity. 

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

6 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

What you don't understand is SEC! SEC! SEC! and because A&M is a long-standing SEC blueblood, having the first game at Kyle Field is the only respectful solution.

Just a few months ago they spontaneously decided they had been promised the first game would be at pyle because the league had to offer that to them so they would go quietly with the unanimous vote which wouldn't have been necessary if they hadn't pitched a fit and shit on the floor in public at the AD meeting where they leaked the move.

The real comedy acid test comes when they deal with the cognitive dissonance that comes with the first game at Pyle:

- play both corndog & the sipsaway in the same year and both home in the same year, which further erodes their 1-in-25-year chance of escaping the league with only 1 loss in the new setup where they can't duck all the powers for years at a time

- play @redstick twice in a row to avoid the home/home away/away situation above

which is it aggy?  which one demonstrates your Authoritai?

[TKthunder2 4985]

2 hours ago, mdmost said:

I think the stumbling block will be balancing out each group so no one is getting 3 tough as hell opponents each year. 

Best guess for all 3:

aggy-LSU, Texas, OU

lulz 8 teams in the new SEC have BCS/CFP titles and you have aggy as the only school that has 3 of the 8 as rivals. All others are playing 1 or 2 max.

I’m not aggy fan, but I can’t see the SEC shitting on them that badly (though I’d laugh if they did).

Other than that, this is a really solid plan that I think would satisfy just about every team in the SEC outside of College Station.

Only a few active rivalry misses (some of which for competitive balance and simple mathematics have to occur):

aggy/Arkansas (this was always forced anyways, everyone knew Arkansas just wanted a Texas annually again)

Arkansas/LSU (again this was forced to since neither had a rival for rivalry weekend, conference could make sure they have LSU and aggy opposite each other on their schedule so they for sure play 1 of these two each year)

Ole Miss/Vandy (this one is real but both keep their #1 and #2 rivals so it’s expendable)

Alabama/LSU (massive loss by not having this game but more so on LSU’s side than Bama, this one has to go to keep a competitive balance, Bama can’t be rivals with Auburn/Tenn and LSU and have a 4th major game from UF/UGA/Texas/OU that would just be too much)

UF/Tenn (doesn’t have as many matchups as it made out to be, Tenn is in high demand as Vandy&Kentucky’s #1 rival, and UF has UGA&LSU so dropping Tenn makes sense, especially since you know they would have dropped them in order to restore their annual game with Auburn if they could. Tenn could have UF/UGA opposite each other on the schedule so they play at least one every year and Florida could mirror the same setup with Tenn/Auburn too)

[mdmost 42997]

Ha, I don't think I intentionally did that with aggy. But I think aggy is going to do this to themselves by insisting they get LSU every year to maintain their "rivalry" that they've been trying to make a thing since getting into the SEC. It makes some sense given their proximity. In the long run, it's a better "rivalry" than Arkansas/aggy will be. We're a given for aggy. So if the third is Arkansas and not OU, that means OU is left with a weird "rival" like Ole Miss or Arkansas loses a team they've played for 30+ years like Ole Miss or Miss State. My idea was more about preserving tradition since that always seems to get lost when expansion happens. I guess though if we're going that route, Arkansas and aggy have the longer tradition than OU and aggy. Again though, I'm having a tough time thinking of who OU gets if you remove aggy. 

I think the rotation of 6 will be such that a Bama/LSU series and a UF/Tenn series is more of a highlight when they happen, like when we played Nebraska back in the early days of the Big 12.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

6 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

Alabama/LSU (massive loss by not having this game but more so on LSU’s side than Bama, this one has to go to keep a competitive balance, Bama can’t be rivals with Auburn/Tenn and LSU and have a 4th major game from UF/UGA/Texas/OU that would just be too much)

With regard to Bama/LSU going away and competitive balance… I don’t think you can plan it out that way. Tennessee has been shit for forever until this year and Auburn is on their third coach in four years. You just can’t tell who is going to be good year to year. And if you check Alabama’s schedule even this year, they have auburn, tn, lsu and… Texas.  I think you’re more likely to see less ambitious ooc scheduling going forward, especially when the sec bullshit late season cream puff disappears. 

Also, as much as we look at history and rivalries and tradition, we shouldn’t overlook the real driver in all of this and that’s the tv networks. I imagine espn is pushing the agenda to get as many great matchups as possible each year. Bama v Mississippi State just isn’t going to move the needle like Bama v LSU. Why wouldn’t they want that game every year instead? And this applies conference wide. Auburn should play Georgia, Bama and Florida. Florida should play auburn, Georgia and Tennessee. A&M should should play lsu, ou and Texas. Who isn’t going to tune in to those games every week? 

As long as it’s not impacting playoff berths, the conference should be good with this too. There’s going to be a pretty good argument that three loss sec teams are going to get in over some one loss teams around the country. 

[Wulaw Horn 19063]

15 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

Tell me you're not paying attention w/o telling me you're not paying attention.

Other option is he’s paying attention but just really stupid. 

[Js1 85258]

4 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Other option is he’s paying attention but just really stupid. 

New motto?

[Josef Pwag 1738]

11 hours ago, PencilPusher said:

I’ll play the role of contrarian here as I believe the final grouping of 3 for Texas will not be the obvious 3 of OU, Ag, and Pig. Cant imagine that they’ll make us completely happy with our perm 3 rivals (assuming UT communicated this as their desire) while screwing longer term SEC members by not honoring all of theIr wishes.

It isn't about making us happy. It isn't about making old school SEC members happy.

This is all about money, which means keeping the networks happy.

Do you think the networks will be happy if they don't get TX/OU, TX/aggie & TX/arkie every year? 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Josef Pwag

[Wulaw Horn 19063]

20 minutes ago, Josef Pwag said:

It isn't about making us happy. It isn't about making old school SEC members happy.

This is all about money, which means keeping the networks happy.

Do you think the networks will be happy if they don't get TX/OU, TX/aggie & TX/arkie every year? 

My guess is they’d be happier with texas v lsu than arky. 

[Wulaw Horn 19063]

Wake forest played NC State one year in a non conference game. Maybe it was UNC. It was a bit odd, but if the SEC misses a rivalry that two schools care about as a permanent fixture they could always choose to schedule each other as a non conference…

Edited February 16, 2023 by Wulaw Horn

[Texas Wahoo 3389]

38 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

With regard to Bama/LSU going away and competitive balance… I don’t think you can plan it out that way. Tennessee has been shit for forever until this year and Auburn is on their third coach in four years. You just can’t tell who is going to be good year to year. And if you check Alabama’s schedule even this year, they have auburn, tn, lsu and… Texas.  I think you’re more likely to see less ambitious ooc scheduling going forward, especially when the sec bullshit late season cream puff disappears. 

Also, as much as we look at history and rivalries and tradition, we shouldn’t overlook the real driver in all of this and that’s the tv networks. I imagine espn is pushing the agenda to get as many great matchups as possible each year. Bama v Mississippi State just isn’t going to move the needle like Bama v LSU. Why wouldn’t they want that game every year instead? And this applies conference wide. Auburn should play Georgia, Bama and Florida. Florida should play auburn, Georgia and Tennessee. A&M should should play lsu, ou and Texas. Who isn’t going to tune in to those games every week? 

As long as it’s not impacting playoff berths, the conference should be good with this too. There’s going to be a pretty good argument that three loss sec teams are going to get in over some one loss teams around the country. 

I was looking at the list of SEC champions and two things struck me.  First, no team that has joined the SEC since 1932 has ever won an SEC championship; and second, only six teams have won an outright SEC championship since Ole Miss in 1963.  So really, Alabama, UGA, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, and Auburn are the only ones that have won championships in sixty years.  If you add Texas, OU, and A&M (purely based on willingness to spend), then you have nine potential champions and seven also-rans.  Optimal fairness would probably be to give all nine of the potential champions two other potential champions and one of the others.  Each of the others can get one or two potential champions to fill out the schedule, but it does not really matter.

[YouLoveMyPenises 79]

1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

With regard to Bama/LSU going away and competitive balance… I don’t think you can plan it out that way. Tennessee has been shit for forever until this year and Auburn is on their third coach in four years. You just can’t tell who is going to be good year to year. And if you check Alabama’s schedule even this year, they have auburn, tn, lsu and… Texas.  I think you’re more likely to see less ambitious ooc scheduling going forward, especially when the sec bullshit late season cream puff disappears. 

Also, as much as we look at history and rivalries and tradition, we shouldn’t overlook the real driver in all of this and that’s the tv networks. I imagine espn is pushing the agenda to get as many great matchups as possible each year. Bama v Mississippi State just isn’t going to move the needle like Bama v LSU. Why wouldn’t they want that game every year instead? And this applies conference wide. Auburn should play Georgia, Bama and Florida. Florida should play auburn, Georgia and Tennessee. A&M should should play lsu, ou and Texas. Who isn’t going to tune in to those games every week? 

As long as it’s not impacting playoff berths, the conference should be good with this too. There’s going to be a pretty good argument that three loss sec teams are going to get in over some one loss teams around the country. 

Hell look at the Big 12 when it was created. The North was the toughest division in football. Nebraska was at their peak, Colorado was 6 years removed from a national title, and K State was a legit contender. The South was a mess, OU was at their lowest point in history, Texas was floundering, Tech was pre Leach, OSU was somehow still worse than OU, Baylor was Baylor. A&M was the only competitive team in the bunch.

 

Things change.

[closetohumping 17432]

10 hours ago, Magus Ossis said:

I’m not so sure we’ll see OU/aggy as rivals. They don’t have a super-rich history together, and aggy is going to cry and whine not to have to play OU. With enough time they’ll come up with 77 different excuses.

They had some battles in the Big 12 and they have a mutual enemy.  Geo proximity.  This can work.

[TrashMaster G 17537]

11 hours ago, Magus Ossis said:

I’m not so sure we’ll see OU/aggy as rivals. They don’t have a super-rich history together, and aggy is going to cry and whine not to have to play OU. With enough time they’ll come up with 77 different excuses.

ISWYDT

[Wulaw Horn 19063]

1 hour ago, YouLoveMyPenises said:

Hell look at the Big 12 when it was created. The North was the toughest division in football. Nebraska was at their peak, Colorado was 6 years removed from a national title, and K State was a legit contender. The South was a mess, OU was at their lowest point in history, Texas was floundering, Tech was pre Leach, OSU was somehow still worse than OU, Baylor was Baylor. A&M was the only competitive team in the bunch.

 

Things change.

Yep. And within 10 years the south was the best division in CFB and the North was a joke. 

[Tex Long 4382]

On 2/11/2023 at 1:44 PM, bullet said:

My son goes to Auburn.  aggy was playing at Auburn the day after a parent's night.  We decided about 3 weeks before to go to parent's night.  The closest hotel we could find was in the Atlanta suburbs!  if you are going to an Auburn game, plan well ahead.

By that line of reasoning, next trip to LSU, stay in N'AWLINS, you'll be 20-30 miles closer and anyone, fool or philosopher, would take NOLA over 'LANTA.

[locodos 5387]

22 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I thought LSU-Florida parting as rivals was mutual? Both sides have bitched plenty about playing each other. 

 

Not that I've seen.  All the Gators I know look forward to the game.  I'm sure there are some but I'd say they are a small minority.  You will hear grumbling from the die hard "Titles are the only thing that matters" guys that UGA gets an easier schedule...  but that's about all I've seen. 

[horn4life 3759]

How fucking funny would Texas vs OU, A&M and LSU be with... A&M vs Texas, OU, and Arky.   

Hell one of you photoshop geniuses create and leak a memo... It would be worth is just to watch the complete mental breakdown of the Aggie base for a few hours. 

 

 

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

7 minutes ago, horn4life said:

How fucking funny would Texas vs OU, A&M and LSU be with... A&M vs Texas, OU, and Arky.   

Hell one of you photoshop geniuses create and leak a memo... It would be worth is just to watch the complete mental breakdown of the Aggie base for a few hours. 

 

 

That's funny because that sounds like a pod and pods aren't happening.

[Texas Wahoo 3389]

18 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

That's funny because that sounds like a pod and pods aren't happening.

Ah yes, a five team pod in which all of the teams do not play each other...

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

Athletic Article: Who should SEC football teams face on their schedule? Our experts break down the votes

Spoiler

The beauty of the soon-to-be SEC scheduling model is everybody will face everyone else at least twice every four years. So the debate about each team’s fixed, annual opponents doesn’t matter that much, as fun as it is. Especially if it’s a nine-game schedule, ensuring that the most important, most historic rivalries — Texas-Texas A&M, Georgia–Auburn, Alabama–Tennessee — will happen on an annual basis, no matter what, and the other matchups aren’t a huge deal.

But, hey, it is fun.

That’s why The Athletic surveyed fans last week about which three teams should be the annual opponents for each SEC team starting in 2024 when Oklahoma and Texas join the conference. There were 2,182 responses, and we roll out the results in this story, along with analysis for each team on how it may play out.

A few caveats: This was an open, unscientific survey, so there’s no way of knowing how many fans of each team voted for each team’s survey. There might even have been non-SEC fans. But with more than 2,000 responses, the survey results are still interesting.

Note: Not all votes are listed, just the top four or five in each category.

Alabama
Choice 1: Auburn 1,458, Tennessee 67, Georgia 38, LSU 29

Choice 2: Tennessee 720, LSU 506, Georgia 149, Auburn 84

Choice 3: LSU 517, Tennessee 375, Mississippi State 160, Ole Miss 153, Georgia 97

The Iron Bowl survives! Well, it always would, and going to a nine-game schedule also will keep Alabama-Tennessee as an annual game. (And, one assumes, on the third Saturday in October.) The question is what would be Alabama’s third annual game, and the people’s choice is LSU. But that’s only a recent rivalry, spurred on by Nick Saban’s presence and the big games between the two teams, especially 2011. Georgia is in the same vein: Kirby Smart leaving one program for the other, and all the championship matchups (SEC and national).

There’s not a great way to make it work with Georgia, which has three other games it will need on its schedule. LSU could work, but Mississippi State, located about 80 miles from Tuscaloosa, is also a prime candidate. — Seth Emerson

Arkansas
Choice 1: Texas 464, LSU 316, Missouri 275, Texas A&M 124, Oklahoma 105, Ole Miss 64

Choice 2: Oklahoma 284, Texas 277, Texas A&M 274, Missouri 239, LSU 131

Choice 3: Missouri 270, Texas A&M 245, Oklahoma 242, Texas 237, LSU 155

Arkansas was a member of the Southwest Conference from its inception in 1915 until 1991, the year before it joined the SEC, so it has plenty of history with fellow SWC charter members Texas and Texas A&M. And yet LSU and Missouri sneak in there as popular choices. Arkansas-Missouri has a nickname — the Battle Line rivalry — but only 14 meetings, nine of them since Missouri joined the SEC. There’s much more history with LSU — 68 meetings and also a rivalry name (the Battle for the Golden Boot).

The closeness of the vote shows how tough it is to pin this down for Arkansas. The safest bet seems to be Missouri, along with at least one of the old Southwest Conference opponents, while the third probably will be dictated by how the other combinations work. — Emerson

Georgia leads the all-time series with Auburn 63-56-8. (Dale Zanine / USA Today)
Auburn
Choice 1: Alabama 1,413, Georgia 43

Choice 2: Georgia 1,045, Florida 123, LSU 93, Ole Miss 60

Choice 3: Florida 331, LSU 254, Ole Miss 214, Mississippi State 208

Interestingly, more people voted for Auburn as Alabama’s top rival rather than the other way around. A few weary Auburn fans apparently entered the chat. But it was still overwhelming, as was Georgia for the second rivalry. Neither will be a problem in the SEC’s official calculus. But the third spot, like with almost every team, is wide-open.

Auburn probably would prefer it not be Florida. That would be nine national championships in the past two decades for Auburn’s three fixed opponents. But it may end up that way in order to make it work, unless Auburn puts up a ferocious lobbying effort or just accepts that it’s still only one-third of the annual SEC schedule and one-quarter of the overall schedule. — Emerson

Florida
Choice 1: Georgia 1,305, Tennessee 55, Auburn 35, Alabama 34

Choice 2: Tennessee 534, LSU 311, Auburn 170, South Carolina 148

Choice 3: South Carolina 330, Tennessee 325, LSU 225, Kentucky 153, Auburn 135

There’s no debating Florida’s chief rival and nemesis, although there might be a debate about the Cocktail Party remaining in Jacksonville. Tennessee took the No. 2 spot comfortably, a series that originated out of the divisional split in 1992 and became must-watch. While the Gators own a 24-7 edge, the game sparks a buzz among both fan bases, and the Vols might be trending up again after last year’s win.

South Carolina at No. 3 is surprising. In a Gators fans survey last year, the Gamecocks finished a distant fifth behind LSU and Auburn. Maybe tastes have changed — or maybe like many fan bases sketching out this three-rival setup, Gator Nation wants to avoid playing certain juggernauts every year. Obviously, Florida-South Carolina lacks the vitriol and national appeal of Florida-LSU, although it added some heft when Steve Spurrier had things looking up in Columbia.

It will be intriguing to see whether LSU-Florida remains an annual matchup under the reformatted schedule, mainly because the Tigers have three legit rivalries on the West side that warrant preserving. — G. Allan Taylor

Georgia
Choice 1: Florida 1,105, Auburn 283, Alabama 134

Choice 2: Auburn 781, Florida 321, Tennessee 154, South Carolina 112, Alabama 89

Choice 3: South Carolina 641, Tennessee 396, Auburn 113, Alabama 82, Kentucky 61

The first two are easy: Florida is clearly Georgia’s top rival, and Auburn its most historic. The Cocktail Party will stay no matter what — whether in Jacksonville or home sites — but the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry would be lost on an annual basis if the SEC kept the eight-game schedule. But that doesn’t appear likely.

The third game is the most debated, and South Carolina being the third choice here is the most practical one. While the Tennessee game has been the more heated rivalry since 1992, the teams met only sporadically before then (21 times between 1899 and 1991). South Carolina was a more common border clash (44 times before 1992). — Emerson

Kentucky
Choice 1: Tennessee 738, Vanderbilt 129, Florida 114, South Carolina 94, Missouri 87

Choice 2: Vanderbilt 415, South Carolina 209, Tennessee 184, Missouri 166, Florida 97

Choice 3: Vanderbilt 276, Missouri 267, South Carolina 226, Tennessee 106, Florida 86

If there’s a special trophy, it’s a rivalry, right? In that case, Kentucky-Tennessee is a rivalry that at least Big Blue Nation would like to preserve, despite comically lopsided results. UT leads the series 83-26 with nine ties and has won 35 of the past 38 meetings. But for 75 years, until an alcohol-related crash involving UK players a week before the game, they played for ownership of the wooden Beer Barrel. That’s as close as the Cats come to having a traditional rival in a conference they haven’t won in almost 50 years. Plus, the Vols and Vanderbilt make the most sense geographically, just 175 and 275 miles from Lexington. If those two are near-locks as permanent opponents, the third choice is less obvious.

South Carolina and Missouri were neck and neck in our fan survey after UT and Vandy. Kentucky likely would be fine with either of those, as it has won seven of nine against the Gamecocks and seven of eight against the Tigers. But Florida is a lot sexier matchup, and Mark Stoops has closed the gap on the Gators. Since snapping a 31-game losing streak in that series, the Cats have won two in a row and three of the past five. Which is to say, they’d probably be fine with any permanent opponents that aren’t SEC West teams, Texas or Oklahoma. — Kyle Tucker

LSU
Choice 1: Alabama 684, Ole Miss 184, Texas A&M 176, Arkansas 154, Florida 85

Choice 2: Texas A&M 246, Ole Miss 212, Arkansas 188, Florida 181, Alabama 174

Choice 3: Texas A&M 286, Ole Miss 202, Florida 154, Arkansas 144, Texas 144

It feels like the two guarantees to be among LSU’s three permanent opponents are Texas A&M and Ole Miss. The Aggies have become true LSU rivals the past few years with recruiting battles, coaching negotiations and postgame fights, and it makes geographical sense. Meanwhile, Ole Miss is a traditional, longtime LSU rival that makes sense and has long seemed like a given.

Then things get tricky. LSU is a weird program that has as many legitimate rivals as anyone — Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Mississippi State — but is arguably nobody’s No. 1 rival or even the No. 2 for some. As the survey shows, fans — and TV networks, I assure you — want Alabama to be on here, but I wonder if the SEC will avoid giving the Tide a brutal slate of LSU, Auburn and Tennessee.

In recent weeks, people around the program think Alabama will be the choice because of how big of a television game that has become in the past 15 years. I’ll say it finishes as Alabama, Texas A&M and Ole Miss, but don’t rule out Arkansas being the third. — Brody Miller

Ole Miss
Choice 1: Mississippi State 1,218, LSU 58, Alabama 32, Arkansas 20

Choice 2: LSU 541, Alabama 161, Arkansas 109, Mississippi State 79

Choice 3: Arkansas 170, Alabama 153, LSU 152, Auburn 125, Oklahoma 69

The Egg Bowl is granted. The Magnolia Bowl doesn’t get as much publicity, but LSU and Ole Miss have met 111 times since 1894. After that, however, the Rebels may be another team whose third game is a way to make the schedule grid work. If it’s Arkansas, that’s far from a contrived rivalry, as the programs have met 69 times since 1908.

There have also been 70 meetings with Alabama. But an intriguing one would be Auburn, which you could either call the Pine Box Bowl, after Tommy Tuberville, or the Hugh Freeze Bowl. — Emerson

go-deeper
GO DEEPER

What could SEC schedule format, opponent structure be with Oklahoma, Texas?

Mississippi State
Choice 1: Ole Miss 1,176, Alabama 13, Arkansas 11

Choice 2: LSU 275, Alabama 168, Arkansas 129, Auburn 112, Missouri 108

Choice 3: Arkansas 148, Texas A&M 148, Vanderbilt 132, Auburn 131, LSU 111

The second choice will be interesting for Mississippi State because both LSU and Alabama might be filled up. That probably depends, when it comes to the secondary matchups, on whether the SEC aims for the best television matchups or makes geography and tradition more of a priority.

Mississippi State has played LSU 115 times and Alabama 107 times, but do those fall by the wayside? The only certainty is the Egg Bowl will remain. — Emerson

Missouri
Choice 1: Arkansas 648, Oklahoma 220, Kentucky 141

Choice 2: Oklahoma 380, Kentucky 189, Arkansas 151, Texas 142

Choice 3: Oklahoma 228, Texas 170, Vanderbilt 156, Texas A&M 154, Kentucky 147

Missouri was a weird fit in the SEC, and an even weirder fit in the SEC East, so it would be perfect for its three new fixed opponents to all be non-East teams. Arkansas, which was Missouri’s cross-division opponent for the past decade, is an obvious first choice.

Oklahoma, which played Missouri 95 times before the Tigers left for the SEC, is the obvious second choice, rekindling the Tigers-Sooners Peace Pipe game. The third game could be another “we had to make it work” situation. — Emerson

Oklahoma
Choice 1: Texas 1,237, Arkansas 57, Alabama 18, Missouri 16

Choice 2: Texas A&M 697, Missouri 237, Arkansas 232

Choice 3: Missouri 431, Arkansas 379, Texas A&M 200, LSU 84

Keeping the Red River Rivalry is obvious. As noted above, renewing the Missouri rival is a solid second choice. While the voters like the Texas A&M matchup, there isn’t a huge history between the programs: They have met only 31 times.

The history with Arkansas is even less: 14 meetings. So it could end up being Texas A&M or an effort to create a sexy annual matchup with a team like LSU. — Emerson

go-deeper
GO DEEPER

Who should each team play when Texas, Oklahoma join SEC?

South Carolina
Choice 1: Georgia 625, Florida 194, Kentucky 130, Tennessee 102, Vanderbilt 66

Choice 2: Florida 307, Kentucky 254, Georgia 203, Tennessee 164, Vanderbilt 96

Choice 3: Vanderbilt 239, Kentucky 225, Tennessee 224, Florida 151

Georgia is the closest thing to a certainty. Even then, there’s no SEC team the Gamecocks have to play every year until Clemson joins the conference. (Just kidding! Maybe!) South Carolina has formed some semi-rivalries with fellow SEC East teams Florida (shared Spurrier legacy), Tennessee and Kentucky.

For years South Carolina’s cross-division opponent was a random choice: Arkansas because they joined the conference together in 1992, then Texas A&M because, well, nobody really knows. As long as it’s three eastern teams, South Carolina will be fine with it. — Emerson

go-deeper
GO DEEPER

A new version of college football is coming next year — here’s what has to happen between now and then

Tennessee
Choice 1: Alabama 734, Florida 174, Vanderbilt 173, Georgia 94, Kentucky 85

Choice 2: Florida 323, Georgia 241, Kentucky 221, Alabama 200, Vanderbilt 186

Choice 3: Vanderbilt 383, Kentucky 259, Georgia 171, Florida 166

The voting got it exactly right. Tennessee-Alabama is not negotiable. The 2022 game alone should earn that rivalry another decade, even though it had been more than a decade since the previous UT win. The third Saturday in October should be more interesting moving forward. And Tennessee-Florida — the most important game in the league in the 1990s — has done enough, including several wild finishes in recent years, to remain an annual tradition. That’s much more attractive than Tennessee-Kentucky.

Vanderbilt is an easy choice as the third UT opponent, to keep things from being outrageously tough on the Vols, to preserve an in-state rivalry and to honor history. Remember, Robert Neyland was hired in 1926 to see if Tennessee could do something about that football juggernaut in Nashville. Also, it’s Tennessee 6, Vanderbilt 5 in the past 11 meetings. — Joe Rexrode

Texas and Oklahoma will move to the SEC in 2024. (William Purnell / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Texas
Choice 1: Oklahoma 841, Texas A&M 448, Arkansas 63

Choice 2: Texas A&M 740, Oklahoma 467, Arkansas 79

Choice 3: Arkansas 687, LSU 200, Missouri 139

Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Arkansas make the most sense as annual SEC opponents for the Longhorns, so no surprise that fans voted those three by a wide margin. The Red River Rivalry is one of the best games in the sport, the return of the Texas-Texas A&M game is long overdue, and the atmosphere Razorbacks fans provided for the Longhorns’ trip to Fayetteville in 2021 made clear how much the Hogs still care about their former Southwest Conference foe.

If it’s not those three as the permanent Texas foes, count me as disappointed. — Sam Khan Jr.

Texas A&M
Choice 1: Texas 1,115, LSU 102, Arkansas 57

Choice 2: Oklahoma 572, LSU 337, Arkansas 148, Texas 133

Choice 3: Arkansas 364, LSU 287, Oklahoma 201, Missouri 154

We’ve gone 11 years without Texas and Texas A&M meeting on the field — 11 too many, as far as I’m concerned — so it’s natural to see the Longhorns as the top vote-getter here. I would have expected to see LSU as the No. 2 choice, given how much the Aggies have come to enjoy that game since entering the SEC, so seeing Oklahoma as the second-highest vote-getter is a surprise. The Sooners and Aggies have played only 31 times.

Arkansas as the No. 3 choice makes sense; the two are former SWC mates and have played some dramatic games since they started sharing a conference again (and even played as nonconference opponents before the Aggies joined the SEC). Of note: Even though LSU wasn’t No. 1 in any of the categories, the Tigers were No. 2 in each and received more total votes than Arkansas but fewer than Oklahoma. Texas, LSU and Arkansas would make the perfect permanent trio for the Aggies. — Khan

Vanderbilt
Choice 1: Tennessee 863, Kentucky 149, South Carolina 37, Missouri 36, Ole Miss 35

Choice 2: Kentucky 451, South Carolina 262, Missouri 120, Tennessee 103

Choice 3: Kentucky 260, Missouri 232, South Carolina 206, Ole Miss 147

Keeping the in-state battle with Tennessee is a no-brainer. Fun fact: Vanderbilt beat the Vols only nine times from 1927 through 2011 but won five times in a seven-year span from 2012 through 2018. Kentucky also makes a lot of sense — both geographically (Lexington is a little more than 200 miles from Nashville) and historically (the teams have played every year since 1953).

The third game should be Ole Miss. Ole Miss has been the only SEC West team Vanderbilt has played every season since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 1992, and there have been fun games between the two programs. — Mitch Light

 

[Cuernavaca 254]

I am personally hoping that OU draws Arkansas instead of a&m just so they don't get another game in the state of Texas every year.

[billfromlaketravis 11445]

4 minutes ago, Cuernavaca said:

I am personally hoping that OU draws Arkansas instead of a&m just so they don't get another game in the state of Texas every year.

This. They’ll be pushing for aggy to be sure. 

[markstanco 12570]

SIP, I dont see it scrolling up a page or two, but another scenario: 

[YouLoveMyPenises 79]

5 minutes ago, Cuernavaca said:

I am personally hoping that OU draws Arkansas instead of a&m just so they don't get another game in the state of Texas every year.

I mean, it doesn't really matter. We're the same distance from Austin to DFW. Playing in Waco, College Station, or Lubbock hasn't really improved our recruiting presence in Texas to any significant degree since we were in the Big 8, and only occasionally played in Texas other than Dallas.

 

I'd rather play Arkansas in the first place, because A&M is weird and the less we have to do with them the better. Every other year in College Station doesn't really put Oklahoma in any better spot than playing there every 4 years.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

16 hours ago, TheContractor said:

Not bad but you must hate Auburn and Florida bc they dont like you, haha. Tennessee just cant get Vandy, its just too easy a guaranteed win. 

TN is 6-5 in their last 11 against Vanderbilt.

[Cairn Horn88 8259]

Let's just cross our fingers. I'm sure it will all work out.
In the meantime, "wooooh them Texas boys about to catch an asswhuppin. They gon' learn you don't mess with this big, bad conference..."

secrant:

[jimmyjazz 45877]

It's astonishing how wrong these writers get things, apparently just to have a "take":

Quote

specially if it’s a nine-game schedule, ensuring that the most important, most historic rivalries — Texas-Texas A&M, Georgia–Auburn, Alabama–Tennessee — will happen on an annual basis, no matter what, and the other matchups aren’t a huge deal.

Texas-Texas A&M?

Georgia-Auburn?

Alabama-Tennessee?

 

Yeah, Texas-Texas A&M is an historic rivarly, but it pales in comparison to Texas-OU, as 'bama-Tennessee  pales to ''bama-Auburn and frankly Georgia-Auburn pales to Georgia-Florida (and maybe Georgia-Tennessee, if not just because of good old southern hate).

Edited February 16, 2023 by jimmyjazz

[utee94 15797]

3 hours ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

Let's just cross our fingers. I'm sure it will all work out.
In the meantime, "wooooh them Texas boys about to catch an asswhuppin. They gon' learn you don't mess with this big, bad conference..."

secrant:

Indeed.  We actually hate the SEC, and this is part of our plan to destroy it from the inside.

Mission KPIs are all green and mission objectives well within reach.

Fuck the SEC.

[billfromlaketravis 11445]

6 hours ago, markstanco said:

SIP, I dont see it scrolling up a page or two, but another scenario: 

We’re not fucking playing Tech. Please take your screen and start slamming it against your face. 

[Ignatius 4017]

On 2/15/2023 at 2:45 PM, Helobious said:

What’s with this “pod” fan-fiction nonsense? The commissioner already said it’ll be division format.

Lol WTF are you talking about?

[Bevo Num1 1011]

We’re not fucking playing Tech. Please take your screen and start slamming it against your face. 

This. Fuck playing Tech every year.