re: SEC rotating schedule through 2025

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Or get rid of permanent opponents.

Nobody cares about TSIO anymore. And Ole Miss/Vandy, Kentucky/MSU are only against it cause they want to play the worst of the worst from the other side annually.

The only permanent opponent matchups that have any sort of national attraction are LSU/UF who are against it and UGA vs Auburn.

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So which programs are actually FOR getting rid of permanent opponents?

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Things stupid people say for $100, Alex.

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Saban in favor of 9 SEC games

Yeah...

Again, these aren't the only possible configurations by any means, but it's always helpful to have a visual:





From a UGA perspective, would I be "upset" about losing UT as an every year game? Maybe... But you get them every other year, and the counter to that is I play Alabama, LSU, aTm, etc every other year too...

I can see obvious complaints on this specific example from teams like:
South Carolina... This permanent mix is pretty fricked up. Alabama perm in addition to probably what is generally the best 2 teams in the current East more often than not in the last couple of decades.

LSU... probably the worst variation with this specific example. Lose Alabama and Auburn as quality every year matchups, and not sure how important the "rivalry" with Arkansas is (some sort of boot on the line, no?)

There was a post not too long ago where someone basically made this same structured schedule but with some tweaks to matchups and it was really pretty good... wish I'd bookmarked it.


Ultimately, I wish the conference would press for *something* like this along with maybe some more structured guidance on OOC scheduling... at least if we start hearing the complaints get too loud for our 8 game schedule. Be innovative... We're the best conference by a wide margin... fricking act like it.

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Saban in favor of 9 SEC games

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Nick back in 2012 had a much better "in favor of" stance:

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“…the #1 priority should be that every player at every school have the opportunity to play every SEC school in his career… rather than be so divisional oriented… it doesn’t have to be nine games, but what scheduling format gives us an opportunity to do that?”

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He was on this shite way before the rest of the country... Dude is tGOAT for a reason.

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2020 vs. Georgia

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1st time we've played Georgia in Tuscaloosa since 2007 the 2nd time since 2002

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Dropping the permanent opponent ensures this will happen.

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But it's wholly unnecessary. The pod approach both allows us to accomplish the goal, while still balancing consistency/tradition for the schools that give a shite about it. And it's closer to a self balancing schedule. It's possible to re-evaluate (much as we do with our current shitty rotational setup) with some set frequency.

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So which programs are actually FOR getting rid of permanent opponents?

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Probably just LSU, Florida, A&M, and South Carolina...

Its a bullshite vote though. Lets look at them:

Auburn/UGA - Its the deep south's oldest rivalry. This is the only one that actually makes sense.

Alabama/Tennessee - This rivalry is completely one-sided. Obviously Alabama wants to keep playing Tennessee. As long as the wheels haven't fallen off, its basically an automatic win. Meanwhile Vols fans continue to holdout hope that they will return to the 90s.

MSU/Kentucky - Why would they want to take each other off the schedule and potentially play an Alabama/LSU/Florida/Georgia more often?

Ole Miss/Vandy - Why would they want to take each other off the schedule and potentially play an Alabama/LSU/Florida/Georgia more often?

Arkansas/Missou - The only difference here is that they are actually pretty close to each other in comparison to other cross-division teams, so the fans can make a trip when they wouldn't want to go across the country somewhere..... But from a football standpoint, why would they want to take each other off the schedule and potentially play an Alabama/LSU/Florida/Georgia more often?...



Then there are Florida/LSU/A&M/South Carolina who have to not only play decent opponents but also travel across the country to make these road trips.

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It's already been moved to september.

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Of the things that you mentioned, this one is the greatest travesty. The magic of this November game will die the second it kicks off in 98 degree heat with 80% humidity.

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I can't believe UGA agreed to this. DSOR in brutal heat of Septemeber, how horrible.

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Probably just LSU, Florida, A&M, and South Carolina...

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So all these years of hashing this out in the off-season and there still won't be enough votes to get anything changed?

Sankey said this week that scheduling changes are on the pantry shelf. There just isn't enough interest from a large enough majority to even get it on the agenda in the SEC meetings.

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Of the things that you mentioned, this one is the greatest travesty. The magic of this November game will die the second it kicks off in 98 degree heat with 80% humidity.

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Right, there's just a "feel" around DSOR. I'm sure TSIO would lose a bit of luster if it was played in week 1 or 2, it just isn't right.

DSOR has been played in November or the very end of October every year since inception in the 1800s with the only excpetions being the '17 SECCG in December and the first ever meeting in February. It's sickening that they can mess with that.