Texas Football: Why the SEC could ignore geography in new schedule
The SEC is going to look a lot different in 2024. More than the two teams it added, Texas and Oklahoma, the scheduling could be unlike anything we’ve seen.
A simple eight-team division split makes too much geographic sense, but it appears the league might opt against that model. The league has 16 teams to please, not the least of which is a Texas A&M program that wants its independence from Texas.
A couple models under discussion involve pod and 3-6-6 scheduling. Under both models, each team would play the majority if not all of the conference in a two-year span.
With pods, the same four teams would face each other. For example, that could be Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M or Missouri.
In a 3-3-6 model, each team would have its own unique protected rivals and face half of the remaining league opponents one year and the other half the next. Logical rival options for Texas based on proximity are Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Missouri and LSU.
Here’s a look at why the SEC could opt to ignore geography in its schedule.
Too many teams to appease
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There will be 16 teams in the new and improved Southeastern conference and many of them have strong preferences for rivalry designations. Texas A&M clearly has shown a lack of interest to facing the Texas Longhorns in recent seasons and even could talk its way out of a pod with Texas. In addition the SEC West has strong rivalries that a division split would break up. Those teams might want to play each other with frequency.
No divisions mean everybody plays everybody
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A pod or 3-6-6 model would make everyone play everybody. That would mean a team like Georgia would not be able to avoid LSU and Alabama frequently in the regular season.
Better matchups
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Nobody wants to see Mississippi State vs Missouri every year. And even though it would be costly for Oklahoma to travel to Gainesville to face Florida, the ratings for such a game would outweigh the cost of travel.
Preservation of historic rivalries
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Nobody wants to split Auburn and Georgia or Alabama and Tennessee. The protected rival system allows for teams to play their usual opponents each season.
