Scheduling

Question

I come in peace.

Our schools are in the same boat with the upcoming battle over conference scheduling. Our traditional rivalries (yours with bama and ours with auburn) are in danger of being cut so we can play Missouri. Missouri!! The league is getting to the point where money is more important than the traditions that made us the greatest conference in the country. Are you guys as torqued off about the potential of losing the bama rivalry as I am about the auburn rivalry? What are your thoughts on this?

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by UGA_K-9s.

Answer 1

IMO the SEC will go to a 9 game conference schedule. Six divisional games, one traditional opponent from other division and two rotating. You have to remember, of the original SEC members only a couple of teams are playing that long traditional opponent from the other division. UGA-AU (107), UT-Ala (93), OM - Vandy (82). UF-LSU have only played 58 times and UK-MSU 39 times. The new comers USC, Ark, MO and A&M don't have that long tradition.

What I want to see the conference do is move to counting only divisional games for the divisional title. That decide the real divisional champion, not just who had the most favorable schedule.

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by D B Cooper a.

Answer 2

I understand that not all SEC schools have that traditional rivalry, but for those that do it is very important. I'm not so sure that its in the bag that the conference will go to a 9 game schedule either. In an interview with our AD, he indicated that there was a lot of resistance to that in the league. It sounds like most members want to stay at 8. If this happens, I'd rather keep playing auburn yearly as opposed to having a shorter wait to play Ole miss, miss st, etc. I'm seriously concerned that they are going to screw up these old rivalries like bama - UT and au - UGA.

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by UGA_K-9s.

Answer 3

If they stay at 8 games, my guess is they will keep the rivals and simply rotate one game. This of course means it will take 12 years to rotate among the 6 non-rival teams from the other division. Of course I would like to see giving up DIAA non-conference games for a 9th game. UT traditionally has played a great non-conference schedule against the PAC 10, ND, etc. I would hate to see that eliminated. The season ticket holders have become the losers with the softening of non-conference schedules and the schools IMO will start losing out if this trend continues. The TV packages are beginning to cut into season ticket sales and the more cupcakes on the schedule increase this trend. Having been a UT season ticket holder for 40 years, I still enjoy being at the games. But taking everything into consideration, that many SEC teams only have about 4 quality home games out of 7, it would be cheaper to pay scalper prices for those games and not shell out the donation and school charged prices for the cupcake games. It becomes a wash in the overall cost. If you decide to attend a cupcake game, the price is almost at a give away price. Schools better wake up and tend to the ticket buying fan.

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by D B Cooper a.

Answer 4

I think they can add the 1 division game (meaning 6 division games), keep the 1 permament cross-division game (Aub vs UGA, UT vs Bama, etc), and everybody rotates 1 more cross divisional game on a 2 year rotation, and keep it at 8 conference games. It means instead of playing cross-divisional opponents every 5-6 years (other than the 1 permament) you will only see them maybe every decade or so for a 2 season home and away, which I don't like. UT had to give up the Auburn rivalry already due to the '92 realignment, which was right up there w/ the Bama rivalry for UT fans. I really would hate to see the UT vs Bama rivalry go away. All just so UT can play Mizzou every year. From an SEC fan's standpoint, it sux. But it's pretty obvious the powers that be are moving towards the super conferences. The only positive I can see is it may eventually move us to some sort of playoff senario at some point.

Dread

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by ZuiderZee.

Answer 5

From what I hear, Alabama and Tennessee are against losing that annual rivalry. I haven't heard anything from UGA and AU, but I would think the feel the same way. I think those schools would swing a lot of weight when it comes to football scheduling. Also all this talk of super conferences is just a head scratcher to me. We are now seeing problems with a 14 team conference when it comes to scheduling in conference. A 16 or 18 team conference would be even worse. Outside of a conference championship game, it would basically mean you actually would have two separate conferences in one. 14 teams are enough (actually too many IMO) and it will destroy the conferences eventually if it continues.

The old Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association began with Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Washington & Lee. In 1922, six more universities Florida, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt joined. Then Sewanee (1923), Virginia Military Institute (1924), and Duke (1929) joined to make it the first real Super Conference. In 1933 Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, University of the South, Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt left and formed the SEC. Later many of the remaining schools formed the ACC. Bigger is not always better, hope the SEC and others take a look and learn from history. By the way I didn't witness this early progression,

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by D B Cooper a.

Answer 6

I hope we hold at fourteen. Anymore is just too cumbersome.

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by Bluetick88.

Answer 7

Exactly, it ceases to be a real conference as we know it. In my youth, I hated the fact that I rarely saw Tennessee play some of the other SEC teams. From my first time to watch a UT game until the conference went to divisions (35 years) UT played UF (8), UGA (8) and LSU (9) times during the regular season. Not much of a conference rivalry exists when playing other members an average of twice a decade.

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by D B Cooper a.

Answer 8

I would also prefer to see us move to the 9 game conference schedule. It solves the rivalry problem and gives the fans more quality games. I hope the powers that be come to their senses and do this. I'm not holding my breath though. They'll do whatever makes the most money, fans be damned.

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by UGA_K-9s.

Answer 9

I don't like the fact of Missouri or A&M joining the conference. I just don't. Hell, neither are in the F'n Southeast! Even though that tards are riding high right now and we have been on the other end of the cycle, losing them as a yearly rival is BAD.

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by Evol.

Answer 10

I don't like the expansion either. As I said, from an SEC fan's standpoint, there is no value. But that's where we are headed because it's all about the benjamins these days.

Dread

Originally posted on Volquest Chat by ZuiderZee.