re: McElroy on Texas to the SEC

quote:

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16 programs in a conference isn't the optimal configuration. Historically it's a path to failure.

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I think it would work well. Break the leauge into pods:

WEST
Texas
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
Arkansas

WEST-CENTRAL
LSU
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Missouri

EAST-CENTRAL
Alabama
Tennessee
Kentucky
Mississippi St.

EAST
Georgia
Florida
South Carolina
Auburn

Everyone plays annually everyone else in their pod (3 games) as well as one extra cross-pod annual rivalry (1 game). These would be:

Alabama-Auburn
Tennessee-Vanderbilt
Florida-LSU
Ole Miss-Miss St
Texas-Georgia
Oklahoma-Missouri
Arkansas-Kentucky
Texas A&M-South Carolina

Every team would then play a 9-game schedule... so 5 opponents would rotate each year. So essentially you'd have 5 slots for the remaining 11 teams in the league... meaning you'd typically play most every team once every two years. The longest you would ever go between playing any single team would be 3 seasons.

Then do a mini-playoff. The pod champs would play semi-finals. Those winners would play a week later in the Championship Game.

So for instance, the WEST vs. WEST CENTRAL Champs would play every season in either Arlington, Houston, New Orleans, or St. Louis.

The EAST vs. EAST CENTRAL Champs would play ever season in either Atlanta, Tampa, or Jacksonville.

Then the Championship could rotate between Atlanta, Arlington, and New Orleans.

That'd be awesome.