Sounds like we are going to a 6-2-1 schedule

[curmudgeon]

Kentucky and Vandy are our likely permanent East opponents.

Auburn gets stuck with Georgia and Florida
A&M gets South Carolina and Missouri
Ole Miss gets Georgia and Vandy
Alabama gets Tennessee and Kentucky
LSU gets Florida and Tennessee
Arkansas gets South Carolina and Missouri

Possible MSU Rotation
2015-16: Tennessee
2017-18: Missouri
2019-20: Florida
2021-22: South Carolina
2023-24: Georgia

Not finalized, will be in Destin this summer, but this has been at least an option presented.

Auburn, LSU and Florida are currently raising hell. The other 11 schools seem to be fine with it. But it does allow for 5 SEC home games one year and four the next.

[maroonmania]

The bad part of a 9 game schedule, besides making it harder to attain bowl eligibility, is it removes part of the fairness when some teams get 4 home games in the league while others get 5.

[slickdawg]

We sold our souls to ESPN, and they want more conference games.

[sandwolf]

Where is this coming from? I would be completely shocked if we wound up with Vandy as our other permanent opponent from the East......things just never seem to work out like that for us.

[Covercorner2]

UT should be raising hell with that model....

[dawgs]

what's the point of being in a conference if you don't see teams for nearly a decade? 1 permanent and 2 rotating is a MUCH better format. i like playing florida and uga, those are the games i remember, not playing ****ing vandy and kentucky year after year after year. yes i know this makes our schedule tougher. no i don't think it's crippling for the program and we'd still be the same team.

look, it would not be difficult to establish bama/tenn and uga/auburn as permanent cross-divisional opponents (and whatever other teams actually have a legit claim to a cross-divisional rivalry) and then still set up a steady rotation for every other matchup. bama/tenn/aub/uga wouldn't rotate on quite as often since they always have 1 game locked up, but it wouldn't be a 10 year gap between matchups. entering the data in a computer would spit out a rotation that would work in a second.

but what do i know, i'm just a guy that likes watching good games and actually wants to regularly see everyone in the conference rotate through our schedule.

PS - no way in hell the sec let's anyone get both kentucky and vandy as their permanent cross-divisional rivals, in the same way i there's no way in hell an east team gets 2 of msu, OM, and probably ark.

[scottycameron]

no way they let us (or anybody else for that matter) have vandy and Kentucky as a permanent. I'll dance in the streets if it happens but that is a pipe dream.

[smootness]

They won't end up with 2 permanent cross-division opponents when they go to 9, and if they ever did, some of those schools should be up in arms about it.

Auburn could go 6-0 against the West, including a win over Alabama, and beat South Carolina but lose to both Florida and Georgia, while Alabama could go 5-1 against the West with the loss to Auburn but then beat a murderer's row of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Vandy, but Alabama is considered the West champ? That would be crazy.

It would take exactly one year of that schedule before a few of those teams blew it up, if not before.

If they did 2 permanent opponents, no one should get both Florida and Georgia, and no one should get both Kentucky and Vandy.

Personally, I think it should be 3 rotating opponents. I know it would make scheduling a lot tougher, but it's the only fair way to do it.

[jumbo]

no way they let us (or anybody else for that matter) have vandy and Kentucky as a permanent. I'll dance in the streets if it happens but that is a pipe dream.


yes this would be awesome if that's how it plays out. but I also agree with sticking to 1 permanent rival and rotating 2 so we can play everyone more often.

[nsvltndog]

In this model, Vandy gets MSU and Ole Miss.


PS - no way in hell the sec let's anyone get both kentucky and vandy as their permanent cross-divisional rivals, in the same way i there's no way in hell an east team gets 2 of msu, OM, and probably ark.

[archdog]

yes this would be awesome if that's how it plays out. but I also agree with sticking to 1 permanent rival and rotating 2 so we can play everyone more often.

^^^^this^^^^^

[dawgs]

In this model, Vandy gets MSU and Ole Miss.

and i'm saying that it won't work out that way. i know what the model says, it says msu gets kentucky and vandy. i'm saying there's no way that a system flies with some teams matched up yearly with bama AND lsu while divisional rivals gets msu and OM. or where one team gets uga and florida while another divisional rival gets vandy and kentucky. i understand teams fluctuate, but over the years, you have a good idea of who is an elite or high level program and who is not.

i mean, if that model even legit or just a wishlist made up by curmudgeon? i can slap something on paper and say that's how it'll be, but that doesn't actually mean it's a legit proposal.

[gtowndawg]

UT should be raising hell with that model....

Not so fun huh?

[scottycameron]

Not so fun huh?

wait a minute, we have KY permanent now. Tenn has Bama. I don't see what you're getting at????

[ShotgunDawg]

I think the 9 game schedule works in our favor in possibly winning the West one day. Sure, it may hurt our bowl eligibility, but, in years where we have 5 home games, and Bama or LSU only have 4, we could have an advantage that we have never had.

[M.Fillmore]

We sold our souls to ESPN, and they want more conference games.

Absolutely correct.

[dawgs]

We sold our souls to ESPN, and they want more conference games.

espn and cbs money made this conference what it is today

[sleepy dawg]

If this is what it's come to, then they may as well just end divisions and go to 3 permanents and the rest rotating.

And if we do go to 9 SEC games, I don't ever want to see a team like OK St. on our schedule again... ever.

[dawgs]

If this is what it's come to, then they may as well just end divisions and go to 3 permanents and the rest rotating.

And if we do go to 9 SEC games, I don't ever want to see a team like OK St. on our schedule again... ever.

when the major conferences separate from the NCAA completely or into their own division, all but like 1 game a season is going to be like ok st.

also, every other major conference is at 9 conference games now. i don't know why msu fans like to schedule our way to Ws instead of beating decent teams.

[Todd4State]

I will say this:

If Scott made a deal where we would play OSU and South Carolina in 2013 and in exchange we would get Vandy and Kentucky as permanent opponents- then he should get AD of the year. Especially since we still got a bowl game out of it anyway.

[Todd4State]

when the major conferences separate from the NCAA completely or into their own division, all but like 1 game a season is going to be like ok st.

also, every other major conference is at 9 conference games now. i don't know why msu fans like to schedule our way to Ws instead of beating decent teams.

Because wins are how you build a winning program. Even the traditionally "bad" teams in the SEC are not easy when you consider the scope nationally. We barely beat Kentucky last year and Vanderbilt has been as good as anyone else. Arkansas is a bowl team in most other conferences.

[Political Hack]

this will suck. 9 conference games is garbage. it's all about the money so they should just require each university to play one BCS conference school at home each season. Will force everyone to have 10 tough games and usually result in a home and home schedule with 2 quality opponents each year, one of which would the sec network would have TV rights to.

[Political Hack]

if they force tougher schedules... I like the 8-4 split as is.

[Todd4State]

this will suck. 9 conference games is garbage. it's all about the money so they should just require each university to play one BCS conference school at home each season. Will force everyone to have 10 tough games and usually result in a home and home schedule with 2 quality opponents each year, one of which would the sec network would have TV rights to.

I don't know what you mean by forcing us? I'm sure whatever we end up with we would probably end up with an OOC of Jackson State, an alumni road trip game to Tulane/Memphis/South Alabama and then a HC game against a Sun Belt team. I don't know if we'll get Vandy or not, but I suspect we will keep UK at the very least. Then we win the Egg Bowl- and that's at least 5 wins plus possibly Vandy, that's 6.

[dawg21]

The insane amount of money the SEC is geared up to make in the next decade helps us possibly more than any other member of the SEC. 9 game schedule, don't like its but its worth it. Its not far down the road and the national champion system will be a playoff between conference champions and maybe one at large. I would prefer more rotation rather than less. We'll be going to 16 teams within the next 5 years (a North Carolina school and a Virginia school).

[drunkernhelldawg]

what's the point of being in a conference if you don't see teams for nearly a decade? 1 permanent and 2 rotating is a MUCH better format. i like playing florida and uga, those are the games i remember, not playing ****ing vandy and kentucky year after year after year. yes i know this makes our schedule tougher. no i don't think it's crippling for the program and we'd still be the same team.

look, it would not be difficult to establish bama/tenn and uga/auburn as permanent cross-divisional opponents (and whatever other teams actually have a legit claim to a cross-divisional rivalry) and then still set up a steady rotation for every other matchup. bama/tenn/aub/uga wouldn't rotate on quite as often since they always have 1 game locked up, but it wouldn't be a 10 year gap between matchups. entering the data in a computer would spit out a rotation that would work in a second.

but what do i know, i'm just a guy that likes watching good games and actually wants to regularly see everyone in the conference rotate through our schedule.

PS - no way in hell the sec let's anyone get both kentucky and vandy as their permanent cross-divisional rivals, in the same way i there's no way in hell an east team gets 2 of msu, OM, and probably ark.

I agree. I'm disappointed that our permanent opponents and not exciting football teams. It won't help our credibility either.

[curmudgeon]

Here's what was told me. We end up with either Kentucky and Vandy or Kentucky and South Carolina, period. Its the only way it works out. Arkansas keeps South Carolina because of them coming in together (I know it means nothing, but that's what was told to me).

So either A&M gets Vanderbilt and we get South Carolina or vice versa. A&M-South Carolina is potentially a national game every year, and we take advantage of our lack of sex appeal and get Vandy as permanent. Until we win the West and someone notices.

[Todd4State]

Here's what was told me. We end up with either Kentucky and Vandy or Kentucky and South Carolina, period. Its the only way it works out. Arkansas keeps South Carolina because of them coming in together (I know it means nothing, but that's what was told to me).

So either A&M gets Vanderbilt and we get South Carolina or vice versa. A&M-South Carolina is potentially a national game every year, and we take advantage of our lack of sex appeal and get Vandy as permanent. Until we win the West and someone notices.

Before they came up with the current format South Carolina and Kentucky were our permanent opponents. Vanderbilt used to be with Alabama and Ole Miss.

I'm not sure how everyone else feels, but personally I'd rather see MSU play Vanderbilt every year and go to Nashville every other year as opposed to Columbia. Nothing against Columbia- but Nashville is cooler.

[Todd4State]

One interesting thing that I just now noticed. The "original" 10 SEC members all play each other under this arrangement and the other four expansion teams all play each other.

[BulldogBear]

If we go to 9, the way you balance the schedule and make it fair is set up the rotation in such a way that one division is playing 5 home games and the other 4, then opposite the next year. So, everyone in the same division is in the same boat for conference games. As to the setup.... I don't believe for one second that it'll be 6-2-1. It'll be 6-1-2 in the final draft. You play everyone home and away in six years and they can even give Saban what he wants by having the rotation be annual with two each. They'll come around every 4th season. Every class will get to play every school in the SEC at least once.

A sample using State as the control:

6 games vs. West
1 game vs. Kentucky

Y1: South Carolina & @Tennessee (Freshman year)
Y2: Vanderbilt & @ Florida (Sophomore year)
Y3: Georgia & @ Missouri (Junior year)
Y4: Tennessee & @ South Carolina (Senior year)

...and so on and so forth

One rotating opponent is home and one is away, your 6 division games are 3H and 3A, all permanent cross div opponents are either home or away setting up the common 4 or 5 home games per division depending on which year it is

[drunkernhelldawg]

I wonder if anyone has considered doing away with the permanent opponents and rotating all of it. I'm not too excited about building a rivalry with Kentucky. It's doing nothing for me.

[dawgs]

I wonder if anyone has considered doing away with the permanent opponents and rotating all of it. I'm not too excited about building a rivalry with Kentucky. It's doing nothing for me.

that would be ideal imo. but bama/ut and aub/uga are going to fight that.

however, i don't think it'd be that difficult to set up a rotation for everyone except bama/ut and aub/uga if they wanted to maintain their legitimate historical rivalries. but that way the rest of us wouldn't be tied to some random sec east school. 10 schools would rotate all 3 cross-divisional games, the other 4 would rotate 2. since bama, ut, aub, and uga are all traditional powers, there shouldn't be any competitive issues since they are all wanting to maintain these games and know going in, it could make their schedule tougher than some of their divisional competition.

another option would be to rotate the permanent cross-divisional opponent among the other 10 schools for each cycle through the rotation. so every 6 years we'd get a new "permanent" cross-divisional opponent between florida, vandy, usce, mizzou, and kentucky. bama/ut and uga/aub can keep each other. that way it's not as messy as above, but we still vary things up a bit for the rest of us that don't have a need to maintain a "rivalry" with a cross-divisional program.

[TUSK]

TUSK approves this!

"Alabama gets Tennessee and Kentucky"

[Pollodawg]

I will say this:

If Scott made a deal where we would play OSU and South Carolina in 2013 and in exchange we would get Vandy and Kentucky as permanent opponents- then he should get AD of the year. Especially since we still got a bowl game out of it anyway.


If we played Okie Lite last season and now we are getting UK and Vandy in return as permanent East rivals, I'll take it in a heart beat. With Franklin gone, you can bet Vandy will slide right back in the toilet, and UK will always be UK.

[drunkernhelldawg]

If we played Okie Lite last season and now we are getting UK and Vandy in return as permanent East rivals, I'll take it in a heart beat. With Franklin gone, you can bet Vandy will slide right back in the toilet, and UK will always be UK.

To me, it's a total nightmare to envision Vandy and KY on our schedule every single year. I think it hurts us in every aspect except possibly W-L record, which is not a given either.
It hurts recruiting because it puts us in the patsy club. It hurts fan support for the same reason. It hurts our image. I want the toughest teams in the conference if we're going to make them permanent.
If all we care about is bowls and W-L record, let's see if we can join the SWAC.

[dawgman]

Going to a 9 game schedule will keep the conference from meeting its bowl quota and will ultimately be bad for ESPN and all the other money grubbers.

[Pollodawg]

To me, it's a total nightmare to envision Vandy and KY on our schedule every single year. I think it hurts us in every aspect except possibly W-L record, which is not a given either.
It hurts recruiting because it puts us in the patsy club. It hurts fan support for the same reason. It hurts our image. I want the toughest teams in the conference if we're going to make them permanent.
If all we care about is bowls and W-L record, let's see if we can join the SWAC.


To each his own I guess. But you do know how you build a winning program right? What's the key word there?

[Pollodawg]

A conference win is a conference win as far as I'm concerned.

[Quaoarsking]

To me, it's a total nightmare to envision Vandy and KY on our schedule every single year. I think it hurts us in every aspect except possibly W-L record, which is not a given either.
It hurts recruiting because it puts us in the patsy club. It hurts fan support for the same reason. It hurts our image. I want the toughest teams in the conference if we're going to make them permanent.
If all we care about is bowls and W-L record, let's see if we can join the SWAC.

Why? We'll still be playing Alabama, LSU, Auburn, and Texas A&M every year. Vanderbilt should be an upgrade over our 4th non-conference patsy, so this would raise our SOS.