SEC rumored to be going to pods for football

[Todd4State]

After Texas and Oklahoma join.

That's awesome news! Because Texas A&M doesn't want to be in the same pod as Texas here's what some think it may look like:

POD 1

MSU, Ole Miss, LSU, Texas A&M

POD 2

Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mizzou

POD 3

Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

POD 4

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky

So the rumor is you play every team in your pod and then six other teams from the other pods. I'm not sure how they will actually rotate the other six but that basically means that we're going to be playing 9 SEC games, 1 P5 game, and then 2 G5 games. Educated guess that the SEC Championship will be between the top 2 teams in the league.

I really like the fact that we're going to be playing the other SEC schools more often plus I like the potential to not have to play Alabama every year. I think that could potentially open us up to some really good seasons. I like the fact that the SEC Championship Game won't be like 12-0 Alabama vs. 7-5 Mizzou or something like that.

This is all rumor but I like what the possibilities could be.

[parabrave]

Naw they will put Bama, Us Aubbie and UT. TAM ARKY UT, Burnt Orange and OK. Mizzou Vandy UK and OM.

[Maroonthirteen]

Yep, I am all for the the PODs and the elimination of Alabama on our schedule every year. Also, some other charter members will have to give up long standing rivalries. But that looks like a fair POD arrangement. You do keep a number of rivalries.

I don't know how you avoid a POD being the old SWC/Big12 but.....there are so many B12 teams in the SEC now.....it is unavoidable. You have to keep UT/OU rivalry game for TV and as long as you have UT/OU playing Bama/UGA/TN/UF/AU on the regular, that is great for TV ratings regardless of their POD assignments.

For baseball, I guess you can have the POD system. Play your 3 POD opponents, then rotate the other 7?

For basketball do you even have a POD system? JUst play all 15 teams and rotate the home and away year to year?

[msstate7]

The sec better make Texas and aTm play every year. I loved that game when I was young, and those 2 are building up some real hate

[Todd4State]

The sec better make Texas and aTm play every year. I loved that game when I was young, and those 2 are building up some real hate

I wonder if they'll make a couple of exceptions in the name of rivalry.

[FISHDAWG]

What's up with the cake walk for Vandy **

[Cooterpoot]

It's not just a rumor. It's going to happen. But I'm sure we'll get screwed with AL or OK along with LSU.

[RiverCityDawg]

I will die on the hill that pods are stupid. Instead, it should just be 3 permanent opponents. You get all the benefits of pods except with flexibility to preserve more of the annual matchups fans want. You can also more easily manage competitive balance if you aren't restricted by pods.

[FISHDAWG]

I will die on the hill that pods are stupid. Instead, it should just be 3 permanent opponents. You get all the benefits of pods except with flexibility to preserve more of the annual matchups fans want. You can also more easily manage competitive balance if you aren't restricted by pods.

wouldn't a pod of 4 teams give you 3 permanent teams ? The geographic footprint of the conference is getting so large that to me it makes sense. I doubt they would do it but would it make sense to have 2 Western division pods and 2 Eastern division pods ? There would definitely have to be some shuffling in order to keep some sense of parity though ..... It's interesting and I'm curious as to what they will do but would we HAVE to go to 9 conference games ? That won't be easy for us

[HoopsDawg]

I wonder if they'll make a couple of exceptions in the name of rivalry.

I would hope not. As stated, you would play 2 teams from each pod home and away. Then you would play the other 2 teams home and away. That would ensure that a freshman would play every team in the conference home and away before graduation. We don't have that now.

[Fader21]

The best pod system would be.

Pod 1: Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Ark

Pod 2: Missouri, LSU, MSU, Ole Miss

Pod 3: Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, Tenn

Pod 4: Florida, UGA, USCe, and Vandy

It keeps most of the rivalries in tack. The only alternative I see is swapping Vandy and Tenn, but that takes away from the 3rd Sat. in Oct, plus it would just be Bama and Auburn beating up on KY and Vandy.

I know Texas A&M doesn't want to be in the same division as Texas but get over it, its a natural rivalry that needs to return.

[msstate7]

Texas and aTm
Us and OM
Bama and auburn
Georgia and Florida

These should be paired no matter what.

[Offshore Dawg]

Bama will insist on playing Tennessee, and Auburn plays Georgia.

[RiverCityDawg]

wouldn't a pod of 4 teams give you 3 permanent teams ? The geographic footprint of the conference is getting so large that to me it makes sense. I doubt they would do it but would it make sense to have 2 Western division pods and 2 Eastern division pods ? There would definitely have to be some shuffling in order to keep some sense of parity though ..... It's interesting and I'm curious as to what they will do but would we HAVE to go to 9 conference games ? That won't be easy for us

Yes, but with pods each team is limited to having the other teams in their pod as their permanents rather than just assigning three permanents to each team based on what makes the most sense.

The games listed below, among others, should be played every year, which can be accomplished with three permanents but not with pods:

State vs ole miss
Alabama vs Auburn
LSU vs Alabama
Ole miss vs LSU
Auburn vs Georgia
Alabama vs Tennessee
Georgia vs Florida

I would also add A&M vs LSU which has become a sneaky good series, LSU vs Florida and Florida vs Kentucky. I would also like to see Texas and Arkansas cook up a rivalry like in the old days along with A&M vs Texas and Texas vs Oklahoma.

We'll lose some of these classic (or just fun) matchups each year with pods, but not if you just assign each team three permanents. Everything else works the same as Todd outlined in the OP.

[Tater]

Here's how you keep every important traditional rivalry.

Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee, State
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Florida
Georgia: Auburn, Florida, SCar
Tennessee: Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Florida: Georgia, SCar, Auburn
State: Ole Miss, Kentucky, Bama
Ole Miss: State, LSU, vandy
LSU: Ole Miss, A&M, OU
Texas: OU, A&M, Arkansas
OU: Texas, Mizzou, LSU
A&M: Texas, LSU, Arkansas
Mizzou: Arkansas, Kentucky, OU
Kentucky: Tennessee, Mizzou, State
Vandy: Tennessee, Ole Miss, SCar
SCar: Georgia, Florida, Vandy
Arkansas: Mizzou, A&M, Texas

Then rotate the other 6 games with H&Hs. You'll play everyone at their place and at home at least once in a 4 year span. Plus you don't lose your rivalry games.

There's wiggle room too. But i stuck with the most traditional rivals.

[Johnson85]

The best pod system would be.

Pod 1: Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Ark

Pod 2: Missouri, LSU, MSU, Ole Miss

Pod 3: Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, Tenn

Pod 4: Florida, UGA, USCe, and Vandy

It keeps most of the rivalries in tack. The only alternative I see is swapping Vandy and Tenn, but that takes away from the 3rd Sat. in Oct, plus it would just be Bama and Auburn beating up on KY and Vandy.

I know Texas A&M doesn't want to be in the same division as Texas but get over it, its a natural rivalry that needs to return.

That would be fantastic for us. And I think you would hear a collective orgasm out of Louisiana if it happened. But there is just too much disparity between Pod 2 and the other three pods. Pod 1 has Arkansas. Pod 2 has Mizzou, MSU, and Ole Miss. Pod 3 has Uk and Tenn. Pod 4 has USCe and Vandy. If you are only going to have one have not in a pod, it has to be Vandy, don't think it can be Arkansas.

[RiverCityDawg]

Here's how you keep every important traditional rivalry.

Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee, State
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Florida
Georgia: Auburn, Florida, SCar
Tennessee: Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Florida: Georgia, SCar, Auburn
State: Ole Miss, Kentucky, Bama
Ole Miss: State, LSU, vandy
LSU: Ole Miss, A&M, OU
Texas: OU, A&M, Arkansas
OU: Texas, Mizzou, LSU
A&M: Texas, LSU, Arkansas
Mizzou: Arkansas, Kentucky, OU
Kentucky: Tennessee, Mizzou, State
Vandy: Tennessee, Ole Miss, SCar
SCar: Georgia, Florida, Vandy
Arkansas: Mizzou, A&M, Texas

Then rotate the other 6 games with H&Hs. You'll play everyone at their place and at home at least once in a 4 year span. Plus you don't lose your rivalry games.

There's wiggle room too. But i stuck with the most traditional rivals.

Thank you. I would suggest a few tweaks, but the concept is spot on.

[Johnson85]

Here's how you keep every important traditional rivalry.

Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee, State
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Florida
Georgia: Auburn, Florida, SCar
Tennessee: Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Florida: Georgia, SCar, Auburn
State: Ole Miss, Kentucky, Bama
Ole Miss: State, LSU, vandy
LSU: Ole Miss, A&M, OU
Texas: OU, A&M, Arkansas
OU: Texas, Mizzou, LSU
A&M: Texas, LSU, Arkansas
Mizzou: Arkansas, Kentucky, OU
Kentucky: Tennessee, Mizzou, State
Vandy: Tennessee, Ole Miss, SCar
SCar: Georgia, Florida, Vandy
Arkansas: Mizzou, A&M, Texas

Then rotate the other 6 games with H&Hs. You'll play everyone at their place and at home at least once in a 4 year span. Plus you don't lose your rivalry games.

There's wiggle room too. But i stuck with the most traditional rivals.

I think the problem with your approach is that it makes it almost impossible to maintain balanced schedules. You are going to have imbalanced schedules regardless, but the pods make it easier to balance them the best you can based on traditional strength.

But at the least, you can't preserve say, Ole Miss v. Vandy. Can't give them LSU, State, and Vandy each year without them having a pretty big advantage. Similarly, you probably can't preserve Bama, UGA, and Florida for Auburn. Just guarantees they are going to have a harder schedule on average.

[RiverCityDawg]

I think the problem with your approach is that it makes it almost impossible to maintain balanced schedules. You are going to have imbalanced schedules regardless, but the pods make it easier to balance them the best you can based on traditional strength.

But at the least, you can't preserve say, Ole Miss v. Vandy. Can't give them LSU, State, and Vandy each year without them having a pretty big advantage. Similarly, you probably can't preserve Bama, UGA, and Florida for Auburn. Just guarantees they are going to have a harder schedule on average.

You can tweak the matchups if you think more competitive balance is needed, but this approach is more flexible than pods so it actually allows for more competitive balance if you arrange it the right way.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Pod 1: State, OM, A&M, LSU

Pod 2: Texas, OU, Arky, Mizzou

Pod 3: Auburn, Bama, UT, Vandy

Pod 4: Florida, USCe, Georgia, UK


A&M will not let UT be in the same pod as them. I feel like this will be a concession the SEC will give them. I still think A&M and Texas will play I just think it will be every two years instead of every year.

Vandy is obviously the team that gets screwed in all of this, but it is either going to be them or UK that ends up in the pod with Bama, Auburn, and UT. And the other pod with Florida and UGA is not much better.

As others have stated I think you take the top two teams in football and that is your SEC championship. For baseball I think you will see the regular 30 game SEC conference weekend schedule with 3 two game midweek series thrown in for a 36 game conference schedule. Basketball you just play all the teams in your pod twice and then play everyone else one time.