re: 16-team SEC scheduling model(s)

Agree. And over time people are going to be more reluctant to pay increasing prices and fight crowds and late night drives to go watch Bama play Austin Peay or Louisiana Monroe when much better games are on tv.

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Note: The NCAA requires conferences with 12 or more teams to have 2 divisions.

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I thought they just dropped that division requirement. I know the 3/6 or 1/7 models the SEC is deciding on now assumes no divisions.

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Yep, the NCAA recently dropped the 2-divisions requirement. (You quoted an old outdated post.)

As you mentioned in another thread, Sankey prefers the 3-6 model. And to make it equitable, he wants the 3 permanent opponents for "bottom-8" teams (AR, KY, OM, MS, MO, SC, TN, VU) to be 2 other bottom-8 teams & 1 top-8 team, and wants the 3 permanent opponents for top-8 teams (AL, AU, FL, GA, LSU, OU, TA, TX) to be 2 other top-8 teams & 1 bottom-8 team. Also, teams with non-SEC P5 rivals (FL-FS, GA-GT, KY-UL, SC-CU) can schedule those home/always to balance with their alternating 4-5 SEC home/always. Other SEC teams can also do that with non-SEC P5 opponents they schedule. Sankey also wants to drop the SEC requirement to play a non-SEC P5 team so the bottom-8 can play 3 non-SEC "rent-a-win" home games. Thereby, all SEC teams would play 7-8 total home games per year and more competitive/valuable SEC games.

Sidenote: I began this thread advocating 2 divsions, but now I think the 3-6 model proposed by Sankey is a better model overall.

Looking likely you'll win that bet, if I'm still alive.

BamaCentral 22 for ‘22: Who are Alabama's Three Biggest Rivals? (SI)

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With the potential for a nine-game conference schedule on the horizon, today's entry in the series discusses who Alabama's three permanent opponents should be.

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I think I would honestly prefer the Pods, assuming we get Auburn and UT in its. Don't care who else. Vandy for example.

Every two years we would play every team, and every player that stays 4 years would play in every stadium.

1st year:........2nd year:

Tennessee........Tennessee
Auburn...........Auburn
Vandy............Vandy
Ole Miss.........Miss St
UGA..............Florida
Kentucky.........South C
Texas............Oklahoma
LSU..............TAMU
Missouri.........Arkansas

That is a hell of a 2 year schedule. I would only really miss playing LSU every year. Ole Miss, Miss St, Arky, TAMU would really bother me. It would completely suck for Vandy.

Why do you want pods? By doing 3 permanent opponents without pods, Bama could play LSU (w/ AU & TN) yearly instead of Vandy.

I like the 3/6 model with no divisions and think it will win the day. We get to keep our long standing rivalries with the Barn and fifTeenessee and it will allow teams to play a home and away with every other SEC school over 4 years. Looking forward to it.

Stoops' excuse is lame.

SC is an underdog vs CU, but KY, FL & GA are typically favored vs UL, FSU & GT.

Soon? Speculation on more realignment is already rampant, but so far the BIG and SEC are only expanding to 16 teams -- in 2024 & '25.

CFP Expansion, Conference Realignment, NCAA Changes (thread)

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Mark Stoops explains why league coaches want SEC to stay at 8 conference games (on3.com)

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Stoops would have a stronger point if his non-conference rival wasn't Louisville. Yeah, they've had a good squad on occasion, and I get that they are pretty close to on-par with UK. But that doesn't make them so daunting that they justify equivalency to another SEC game. It isn't like it is a guarantee that the 9th SEC opponent will be an automatic loss for Kentucky.

If this argument was coming out of South Carolina right now, it would have more weight. Clemson is obviously playing at a much higher level than their in-state rival Gamecocks, but it hasn't always been the case, nor will it always.

As a 'Bama fan, I would welcome the 9-game schedule with two 8-team divisions. Seven in-division games and either 2 rotating from the other division or 1 permanent and 1 rotating would be fine with me, as long as the major rivalries are protected across the board. And if a permanent P5 rival can be scheduled, that would be great as well. Just make it more formidable than Louisville.