re: Over at ESPN, more talk of Auburn moving to East div., so.......

Long overdue.

Auburn moving to the East would help balance out divisions from a strength standpoint. Historically, there were three "Big 6" programs on each side of the conference, so it made sense. The problem is that Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Texas A&M are the "Next 3" behind the Big 6, and they are all on that western side. Mississippi State has also shown far more promise during the past 15-20 years than say Vandy & Kentucky.


Just look at it in terms of AP Poll points since 2000. If you total up each teams' points for finishing in the AP Top 25 at the end of each of the past 16 seasons, the West has 723 points, and the East has 552 points....a pretty decent gap, IMO.

#1 Alabama- 210
#1 LSU- 210
#3 Georgia- 172
#4 Florida- 159
#5 Auburn- 137
#6 S. Carolina- 81
#7 Missouri- 70
#8 Tennessee- 65
#9 Ole Miss- 56
#10 Arkansas- 46
#11 Texas A&M- 36
#12 Mississippi St.- 28
#13 Vanderbilt- 5
#14 Kentucky- 0

Essentially the biggest problem is the West has by far the two strongest programs of the past 1.5 decades... and the East has by far the two weakest programs of the past 1.5 decades. This creates a noticeable imbalance.

Auburn has also performed well for the West, coming in at a strong #5 spot (137 points)... far ahead of South Carolina who is #6 (81 points). The fact of the matter is that the top 3 programs in the West (LSU, Alabama, & Auburn) combine for 557 total AP Poll points since 2000.... which is more than the entire 7-team Eastern Division (552 points)

That 723-552 gap shrinks to just 656-619 if you switch Auburn and Missouri. That gap shrinks from 171 down to just 37. Switching Auburn and Mizzou would likely result in the West STILL being slightly stronger from top to bottom, but it would go a very long way towards shrinking that gap.

The problem is also this: South Carolina actually comes out to be the #6 SEC program in the AP since 2000... I don't think anyone expects them to replicate that during the NEXT 15 years. Meanwhile, Texas A&M comes in as the #11 program (out of 14) since 2000.... with their facility upgrades and obvious commitment to build a winning program, I think most any prognosticator would project them to finish better than 11th in the SEC over the next 15 seasons.

Also, even though Alabama ties with LSU in AP Poll standing since 2000, Alabama essentially gave everyone else an 8-year jump.... having minimual success from 2000-2007. Their performance over the next 15 seasons should likely average out to be better than the last 15 years, believe it or not.

So the gap looks like it could actually get worse if nothing is done to try to fix it.