re: Finebaum took up the "Auburn to the East" thing again today.

I think there is a much better answer.

Somebody needs to let North Carolina know they would be welcome in the SEC. And that they can continue to play Duke. To their heart's content, especially in basketball.

Same to Virginia. If it says "no," try for Virginia Tech.

Even if/WHEN we go to 16 teams, the SEC will NEVER split schools from the same state into 2 seperate groups.

Therefore, Miss/MSU, Ala./Aub., & Tenn./Vandy will be forever joined at the hips.

On top of that.....Ala./Aub./UGA/UF/Tenn.....5 of the original Big 6 all in the same division is too much of a non-balance & we'll NEVER hear the end of "The SEC West is too weak" arguments.

Then (until recently) imagine LSU feasting on 3 cupcakes every season in Vandy/Miss./MSU.
Most years:
1 - LSU/Mizz./TA&M
2 - LSU/Mizz./TA&M
3 - LSU/Mizz./TA&M
4 - Arkansas
5 - Vandy/Miss./MSU
6 - Vandy/Miss./MSU
7 - Vandy/Miss./MSU

Or, or, or...

We could just disband the conference, all become badass independents, and all schedule whoever we wanted, whenever we wanted.

Hmmmm...

I would hate it. I want LSU to play Ole Miss, A&M and the AL schools every season.

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Why won't people stop with this 9 game bullshite? You guys fail to consider that 9 games is unfair because some teams will have 5 home games and others will have 4. Logistically speaking, it's a nightmare and it's unfair. Alabama will always have 5 home games.

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Oh STFU, pac 12 has been doing for years. If the west coast yuppies can do it without anybody complaining how it's unfair then it's kind of sad that you are. I bet you probably think Florida deserves a participation ribbon for this season too, right?

Maybe you'll have 4 conference home games this year but you'll live and you'll have 5 the next and you'll be giddy with your advantage.

Slive is about to retire so you won't have to worry as much about Bama snaking in a scheduling advantage.

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standpoint of competitive balance.

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The east having 4 of the big 6 is balance?

Some of you people need to realize that Florida and Tennessee are in historically bad droughts, they will be back eventually. In the interest of fairness, you need to have the big 6 split up 3/3. Period. And the "big 6" isn't just some arbitrary Internet term, they're the only 6 current sec teams who have ever won the league and have won like 95% of the leagues national titles. Those teams need to be split.

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Move Vandy and Missouri west and Alabama and Auburn east. It solves all problems and allows to continue with a permanent cross division game.
The new cross division games should then be....
Ole Miss vs Georgia
Vanderbilt vs Tennessee
Missouri vs South Carolina
Texas A&M vs Alabama
Arkansas vs Auburn

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Not bad, but I think the exact opposite is needed even though I like what you are trying to accomplish.

To start, there is no reason to even have a east and west division. The recent NCAA rule changes regarding conference championships removed the rule that forced east and west divisions. We don't have to have them.

So, what we do instead of getting rid of the permanent rivalry games is we only have like 2 of them per team. Alabama would play Tennessee and Auburn every year. Auburn would play Alabama and Georgia every year. I guess Georgia would play Auburn and Florida. etc. If 3 is needed, then so be it.

All the other games rotate. And with all those games rotating, we will play every SEC team in the country every 2 or 3 years.

Take the 2 teams with the best records, use the normal common sense tie breakers, and in the event of a 3 way tie take the highest 2 that are ranked in the CFP committees weekly ranking.

Or, can just get rid of the rival games to and just rotate all 8 games. That would be fine with me. But I figure keeping the few rivalry games every year will appease the traditionalists.

Auburn to the east. I support.

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Finebaum

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Who?