re: So are we going back to the old 10 team SEC, sign me up!

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On man not me I hope the SEC stays intact like its planned for in July and if there are more adds get them from the ACC .... no more from the Big12.

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I mean I understand this opinion from the newbies, but there have been exceptional rivalries that have essentially ended due to expansion, and I think people are starting to get fed up with it and miss the old days. I would say Auburn has suffered more than most.

Up through 1988, Auburn had 5 legit rivals along with a handful of other annual opponents. Our rivalries:

1. Alabama- played annually ever year since 1948. The rivalry was stopped between 1908-1947 because it was so heated and only because the state legislature got involved did it start back up.

2. Georgia- The oldest rivalry in the South. Only world war has interrupted this one since 1892.

3. Florida- played annually from 1927-2002 with the exception of some years around WW2.

4. Tennessee- played annually from 1956-1991. During the 1980s it often had SEC Title implications.

5. Georgia Tech- To my grandparents’ generation, Auburn’s two main rivals were Georgia and Tech. Tech dropped to #3 once the Iron Bowl started back up in 1948, and once they left the SEC in 1964, they slid down behind Florida and eventually Tennessee. But Auburn continued to play Tech annually up through 1988 until this rivalry finally came to an unfortunate end.

We lost the Tech rivalry in 1989.
We lost the Tennessee rivalry in 1992.
We lost the Florida rivalry in 2003.

The only bright spot in all of this was a new rivalry created in 1992 with LSU…. Which is I would say unanimously thought of as the SEC’s best NEW rivalry that was created due to expansion…. Of course it too has now been taken away as of 2024.

And for what? So Auburn can play Missouri and Arkansas more often?

In the 30 years prior to the first expansion in 1992, Auburn played Tennessee 30 times, Florida 30 times, Mississippi State 30 times, and Georgia Tech 27 times. We will play none of those next season.

But we will play Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Missouri, and Oklahoma whom we played a total of 16, 6, 1, 1, 1, and 1 time, respectively during those same 30 years…. All as conference opponents in 2024.

Rivalries are what makes college football special. And these next two seasons just ain’t it in terms of our schedule.