Let's talk scheduling in the New SEC

[Buzz Killington]

Now that the Kinda smaller 12 has released Texas and Oklahoma to join the SEC in 2024, how do you see the schedule setting up?  There has been talk of a pod system or changing up the divisions.  There has even been mention of a haves and have nots divisions.  The most popular talk lately has been of the divisions being blown up and moving to a 9 game schedule where each team gets 3 permanent rivals and then 6 other games that will rotate year in and year out. 
If they do go to a 3-6 setup, who should Auburn's 3 permanents be?  Obviously Alabama and Georgia would be there...but who is 3rd?  LSU?  Florida?  Tennessee?  Vandy?

If they decided to keep the East and West setup, it would seem easy to me for them to keep almost everyone's 1st and 2nd rivals, but the 3rd might be in jeopardy...so, how important is that 3rd rival?

What I would love to see is keeping the East and West, but actually making them match the geography.

West:                                                                East:
Arkansas                                                            Alabama
LSU                                                                   Auburn
Mississippi                                                          Georgia
Mississippi State                                                 Florida
Missouri                                                             Kentucky
Oklahoma                                                          South Carolina
Texas                                                                 Tennessee
Texas A&M                                                          Vanderbilt

In this setup, each team would play the other 7 in their division and 2 from the opposite division would rotate on the schedules.

If they go to the 3-6 model you would lose the possibility of a championship game and would lose some pretty good rivalries as well.

Opine.

[wesfau2]

Pretty sure I read that the divisions are DOA.

I like the 3-6 model.

Why not snag Vandy as our 3rd?  Might as well take a break mid-season.

[GH2001]

Now that the Kinda smaller 12 has released Texas and Oklahoma to join the SEC in 2024, how do you see the schedule setting up?  There has been talk of a pod system or changing up the divisions.  There has even been mention of a haves and have nots divisions.  The most popular talk lately has been of the divisions being blown up and moving to a 9 game schedule where each team gets 3 permanent rivals and then 6 other games that will rotate year in and year out. 
If they do go to a 3-6 setup, who should Auburn's 3 permanents be?  Obviously Alabama and Georgia would be there...but who is 3rd?  LSU?  Florida?  Tennessee?  Vandy?

If they decided to keep the East and West setup, it would seem easy to me for them to keep almost everyone's 1st and 2nd rivals, but the 3rd might be in jeopardy...so, how important is that 3rd rival?

What I would love to see is keeping the East and West, but actually making them match the geography.

West:                                                                East:
Arkansas                                                            Alabama
LSU                                                                   Auburn
Mississippi                                                          Georgia
Mississippi State                                                 Florida
Missouri                                                             Kentucky
Oklahoma                                                          South Carolina
Texas                                                                 Tennessee
Texas A&M                                                          Vanderbilt

In this setup, each team would play the other 7 in their division and 2 from the opposite division would rotate on the schedules.

If they go to the 3-6 model you would lose the possibility of a championship game and would lose some pretty good rivalries as well.

Opine.

Agree but East is wayyyy too top heavy. You've got hitsortically 5 of the best 6 teams in Sec history there - Au, Bama, UGA, Tenn, Fla. Oklahoma is a heavy weight but not what they were from even 5 years ago. Texas aint shit, lets be honest. LSU to me is their big boy in the west.

[CCTAU]

Meh. We will get what we get. And it won't be what we want.

That is one helluva East division though.

[Snaggletiger]

As far as permanent opponents go, Bama is really the only one I would never want to lose.  I'd trade out LSU for FUGA, not because we've been getting our asses handed to us the last decade, but I've come to love the AU/LSU rivalry. 

[Buzz Killington]

Why not go all Bar Brunt on our 3 and make it Missouri, Vandy and, um..Vandy.

[Snakebite]

Why not go all Bar Brunt on our 3 and make it Missouri, Vandy and, um..Vandy.

It’ll be the Turds, the leg humpers, and the landsharkblackbearrebels. They, the media, and the interwebz are doing all they can to make that a rivalry that sticks due to recent history.

[jmar]

Why not go all Bar Brunt on our 3 and make it Missouri, Vandy and, um..Vandy.

I'm for this. It's how legends are made.

[Kaos]

The thought of a wide open SEC schedule takes me back to a time I’d rather forget. 

How many of Bahr Brunt’s eleventy tween sec titles were won because they had Vandy when we had Georgia? Schedule was rigged for them. 

And when that didn’t work they pretended they couldn’t get anybody else to play them and added an extra SEC game.  That’s why the 1972 Auburn team that beat them didn’t get the Sugar Bowl or an SEC banner.  They got it by virtue of having an extra SEC game.  Both had one loss.  Theirs was to us.   But they were 7-1.  We were 6-1.  Damn. 

Probably wouldn’t have mattered.  USC went 12-0 and trashed Ohio State in the rose.  They were getting the trophy no matter what.  But if we’d played Texas or OU or Penn State and won would have been in the discussion. 

Whatever happens (and I’m still out) I’d hate to see Auburn thrown back in that rigged scheduling nightmare. 

[djsimp]

id rather do away with permanent rivals all together with this non-division setup. Perhaps keep bama but outside of that, rotate them all. What other school in the conference, or nation even, has a schedule like Auburn when you account for bama/dawgs every year? I say keep one rival and let the rest take a number.

[Snakebite]

id rather do away with permanent rivals all together with this non-division setup. Perhaps keep bama but outside of that, rotate them all. What other school in the conference, or nation even, has a schedule like Auburn when you account for bama/dawgs every year? I say keep one rival and let the rest take a number.

I am with you on this one.  Would love a break from the yearly grind that only Auburn seems to face.  Plus, it is not much of a rivalry when you've been taking it raw for the better part of 15 years.

[Snaggletiger]

I am with you on this one.  Would love a break from the yearly grind that only Auburn seems to face.  Plus, it is not much of a rivalry when you've been taking it raw for the better part of 15 years.

Hey, some of us like taking it ra.....I mean....yeah, who needs that?


How bout that Super Bowl, huh?

[Snakebite]

Hey, some of us like taking it ra.....I mean....yeah, who needs that?


How bout that Super Bowl, huh?

I didn’t see but maybe 10 snaps in the opening quarter. I gots a 2 year old princess to wear out.

[Kaos]

I didn’t see but maybe 10 snaps in the opening quarter. I gots a 2 year old princess to wear out.

Ok, Joe Biden.

[Snakebite]

Ok, Joe Biden.

This one stung a little. 1 point to K.

[WiregrassTiger]

iWhat other school in the conference, or nation even, has a schedule like Auburn when you account for bama/dawgs every year?

The hillbilly volunteers

[GH2001]

The hillbilly volunteers

With Florida being shat, they get a break after that while we get to deal with LSU.

[WiregrassTiger]

With Florida being shat, they get a break after that while we get to deal with LSU.

No doubt. And I’m sure that you remember when we played Bama, lsu, Georgia, Gaytors, hillbillies and tech every single year. Plus black bears and miss state, of course. I guess state was every year. I don’t remember. But then we had Vandy some (that was a treat) and wasn’t it two ooc teams? Some of the old timers will remember, maybe. I was a mere kid.

[Snaggletiger]

Toughest schedule ever played, IMO.  Worst screw job out of a Natty in history. My counselor says that if I stay with my medication and a few more years of therapy, that tic will eventually go away.  Look at where each team was ranked when we played them.  FSU wasn't ranked at the time, but were undefeated. And for the last 5 games of the season, we played #5, #7, #4, #19 and #8. Texas was #3 earlier in the season.  That Maryland team had Boomer Esiason at the helm.


1983 Season / 11-1 Overall / 6-0 SEC
Date      Score   Location   Att.
09/07/83   W   (4) Auburn 24, Southern Miss 3   Auburn, Ala.   73,500
09/17/83   L   (3) Texas 20, (5) Auburn 7   Auburn, Ala.   73,500
09/24/83   W   (11) Auburn 37, Tennessee 14   Knoxville, Tenn.   95,185
10/01/83   W   (10) Auburn 27, Florida State 24   Auburn, Ala.   75,625
10/08/83   W   (7) Auburn 49, Kentucky 21   Lexington, Ky.   57,989
10/15/83   W   (5) Auburn 31, Georgia Tech 13   Atlanta, Ga.   55,112
10/22/83   W   (5) Auburn 28, Mississippi St. 13   Auburn, Ala.   71,500
10/29/83   W   (4) Auburn 28, (5) Florida 21   Auburn, Ala.   75,700
11/05/83   W   (3) Auburn 35, (7) Maryland 23   Auburn, Ala.   75,600
11/12/83   W   (3) Auburn 13, (4) Georgia 7   Athens, Ga.   82,122
12/03/83   W   (3) Auburn 23, (19) Alabama 20   Birmingham, Ala.   77,310
01/02/84   W   (3) Auburn 9, (8) Michigan 7   New Orleans, La. (Sugar Bowl)   77,893

[GH2001]

No doubt. And I’m sure that you remember when we played Bama, lsu, Georgia, Gaytors, hillbillies and tech every single year. Plus black bears and miss state, of course. I guess state was every year. I don’t remember. But then we had Vandy some (that was a treat) and wasn’t it two ooc teams? Some of the old timers will remember, maybe. I was a mere kid.

the 80's were also littered with seasons where we also played Aggie, the Horns and the Noles.