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Did Sankey Ever Explain Conference/Team Scheduling
Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:08 am
Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:08 am
Did any official remarks ever come out of the league offices about why a pod or divisional system wasn't picked? I'm aware of the fan pros and cons of the approaches - just curious if Mr. Sankey, etc., ever said anything about it.
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Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:12 am to gaius julius bevo
quote:
Did any official remarks ever come out of the league offices about why a pod or divisional system wasn't picked? I'm aware of the fan pros and cons of the approaches - just curious if Mr. Sankey, etc., ever said anything about it.
Pods are not possible with these teams.
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Tennessee
Well they are possible, but they aren't possible if you want to play all teams 2x every 4 years, which seemed to be the priority.
Alabama needs to play Auburn + Tennessee
Auburn needs to play Alabama + Georgia
Georgia needs to play Florida + Auburn
Tennessee needs to play Alabama + Vanderbilt
This post was edited on 9/23/24 at 11:14 am
Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:15 am to gaius julius bevo
They stuck with 8 games for 2 years as a temporary band aid. They just tried to keep rivalries and everyone played either Texas or OU. This was temporary until 2026 where a long term schedule plan would be put in place.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:17 am to HottyToddy7
Yep. The current scheduling is just temporary.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:21 am to HottyToddy7
quote:This. They just kicked the can down the road for 2 years. They did something similar when we joined in 2012, calling that year a "bridge" schedule.
They stuck with 8 games for 2 years as a temporary band aid. They just tried to keep rivalries and everyone played either Texas or OU. This was temporary until 2026 where a long term schedule plan would be put in place.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:22 am to HottyToddy7
quote:
They stuck with 8 games for 2 years as a temporary band aid. They just tried to keep rivalries and everyone played either Texas or OU. This was temporary until 2026 where a long term schedule plan would be put in place.
They should have put Texas in the West or East and Oklahoma on the other side, then flipped them in Year 2.
All teams would have played the same schedule they are used to and all teams would have played both new teams within the first 2 years. Then, they could have rolled out new schedules for 2026. Just my opinion.
Year 1
West + Oklahoma
East + Texas
Play your division + your cross division rival
Year 2
West + Texas
East + Oklahoma
Play your division + your cross division rival
This post was edited on 9/23/24 at 11:24 am
Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:29 am to BigBro
I’m not sure how the pods will end up working but I do know that UF got screwed during this transition.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 11:38 am to BigBro
Put bama and barners in the east ou tx mo in west problem solved
This post was edited on 9/23/24 at 11:41 am
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:02 pm to BigBro
Any truth to success over the last 5 years was used in part to create schedules? Kind of seems like it....OU has had more success than Texas over the last 5 years and has a pretty stiff conference schedule while Texas's is not as difficult. Georgia has had about as much success as anyone and has a schedule reflective of that. Florida and South Carolina seem to 2 that are counter to that narrative....could be they wanted certain matchups (probably would have been Texas and Alabama had they not just played a home and home instead of Texas and UGA).
At the end of the day UGA has to play Auburn for the sake of the DSOR and Florida for the cocktail party. Alabama and UT must play the TSIO and Alabama and Auburn have to play the iron bowl. With UT and OU now the RRSO is a must as is the ATM/UT game. Those games will only go away with some serious trouble amongst the respective fanbases and they are unlikely to change anytime soon. Ole Miss and MSU also have to play for the same reasons.
At the end of the day UGA has to play Auburn for the sake of the DSOR and Florida for the cocktail party. Alabama and UT must play the TSIO and Alabama and Auburn have to play the iron bowl. With UT and OU now the RRSO is a must as is the ATM/UT game. Those games will only go away with some serious trouble amongst the respective fanbases and they are unlikely to change anytime soon. Ole Miss and MSU also have to play for the same reasons.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:03 pm to gaius julius bevo
quote:
Did Sankey Ever Explain Conference/Team Scheduling
He has minions to do those types of things. He’s Sankey for chrissakes
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:04 pm to swinetime
quote:
Put bama and barners in the east ou tx mo in west problem solved
Seems pretty simple doesn't it? Thats why its unlikely to happen LOL....but it makes sense.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:13 pm to AwgustaDawg
quote:
Seems pretty simple doesn't it? Thats why its unlikely to happen LOL....but it makes sense.
I'm guessing LSU would hate that schedule.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:14 pm to gaius julius bevo
They can't keep the required rivalry games (2 games for several) with an eight game schedule.
I think the SEC wants to get a major financial concession / windfall from ABC or whomever they partner with, to go to a nine game schedule.
I think the SEC wants to get a major financial concession / windfall from ABC or whomever they partner with, to go to a nine game schedule.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:14 pm to AwgustaDawg
I remember this coming up at some point. I believe 8 v 9 games was a sticking point.
Not perfect, but similar to NFL model. How pods are grouped TBD, hopefully keeping some historical rivalries
4 pods, each with 4 teams
Nine game conference schedule / three non-conference*
Example -
Pod A plays : 3 pod teams, 4 Pod B teams, and 1 team each from Pods C and D (based on prior year finish is probably easiest).
Rotate pods each year until 4 year cycle is complete (Year 2, A plays 4 Pod Cs, and 1 each from B & D, etc.)
Teams play each school at least 1 of every 4 years.
*if the team or rival you "need" to play is not in your pod, you can always schedule as a "non-conference" game for the years you do not play
Questions likely around:
How conference champion(s) are determined (I think back to pre-1992 SEC)
Disparity with every other year 5 home / 4 away conference schedule (strength of schedule has often been questioned with previous divisions)
Not perfect, but similar to NFL model. How pods are grouped TBD, hopefully keeping some historical rivalries
4 pods, each with 4 teams
Nine game conference schedule / three non-conference*
Example -
Pod A plays : 3 pod teams, 4 Pod B teams, and 1 team each from Pods C and D (based on prior year finish is probably easiest).
Rotate pods each year until 4 year cycle is complete (Year 2, A plays 4 Pod Cs, and 1 each from B & D, etc.)
Teams play each school at least 1 of every 4 years.
*if the team or rival you "need" to play is not in your pod, you can always schedule as a "non-conference" game for the years you do not play
Questions likely around:
How conference champion(s) are determined (I think back to pre-1992 SEC)
Disparity with every other year 5 home / 4 away conference schedule (strength of schedule has often been questioned with previous divisions)
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:15 pm to BigBro
quote:They bitch about literally everything so WGAF?
I'm guessing LSU would hate that schedule.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:19 pm to Jedi
at some point some historical rivalries probably can't be played every year, and every team with historical rivalries should have thought about that prior to expansion.
It's rather unfair to hamstring the league, or play bias towards those teams post expansion. Move to a system that betters the league and helps with scheduling over keeping all the historical rivalries.
It's rather unfair to hamstring the league, or play bias towards those teams post expansion. Move to a system that betters the league and helps with scheduling over keeping all the historical rivalries.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:22 pm to BigBro
Pods would be possible and still have protected rivalries with a 9 game conference schedule.
It gets easier if you assume for the sake of scheduling that pods come together to form a "division" that alternates every two years.
Year 1 & 2:
Pod A/B
Pod C/D
Year 3 & 4
Pod A/C
Pod B/D
Year 5 & 6
Pod A/D
Pod B/C
With a 9 game schedule Pod A would play each team in Pods A & B and two teams from however you wanted to split up between Pod C & D.
Assuming two of the hypothetical pods were:
Pod A:
Alabama
Tennessee
Vandy
Team X
Pod C:
Georgia
Auburn
Florida
Team Y
The two pods would either be linked in their "division" or Alabama/Auburn could play in 1 protected cross-divisional without much disruption to the rest of the schedule.
The schedule works out as:
4 year period: each team has played each other at least once.
5 year period: every team has completed a Home & Home rotation with all schools.
6 year: all schools have played each of the other pod schools 3 times.
12 year period: All schools have completed 3 Home and Home series with every other Pod.
The one obvious draw back is that the 9 game schedule makes for uneven Home/Away games each year, but I think making sure each of the Pods are balanced keeps that unfairness down to a minimum
It gets easier if you assume for the sake of scheduling that pods come together to form a "division" that alternates every two years.
Year 1 & 2:
Pod A/B
Pod C/D
Year 3 & 4
Pod A/C
Pod B/D
Year 5 & 6
Pod A/D
Pod B/C
With a 9 game schedule Pod A would play each team in Pods A & B and two teams from however you wanted to split up between Pod C & D.
Assuming two of the hypothetical pods were:
Pod A:
Alabama
Tennessee
Vandy
Team X
Pod C:
Georgia
Auburn
Florida
Team Y
The two pods would either be linked in their "division" or Alabama/Auburn could play in 1 protected cross-divisional without much disruption to the rest of the schedule.
The schedule works out as:
4 year period: each team has played each other at least once.
5 year period: every team has completed a Home & Home rotation with all schools.
6 year: all schools have played each of the other pod schools 3 times.
12 year period: All schools have completed 3 Home and Home series with every other Pod.
The one obvious draw back is that the 9 game schedule makes for uneven Home/Away games each year, but I think making sure each of the Pods are balanced keeps that unfairness down to a minimum
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:23 pm to BigBro
quote:
Pods are not possible with these teams.
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Tennessee
A division would get that done.
EAST
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Florida
South Carolina
Tennessee
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
So I understand why no pods, but divisions like they had before would satisfy all scheduling except maybe LSU and Miss schools.
Posted on 9/23/24 at 12:24 pm to SEC. 593
Piss on the pod theory. It’ll never work. You need to have a successive and random schedule at all times for the equity police not to get involved
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