A lot of talk about the SEC leaning towards a 9 game conference schedule..

[57stratdawg]

Don’t think that will shock anyone. Probably hurts MSU in the long run. Also, seems like a huge advantage for 1/2 the league every year with an extra home game.

3 & 6 set up:

[TWEET]1560994380248383491[/TWEET]

 

[philduckworth]

It has to be 9. Don't worry state fans, we will still get our liberty bowl.

 

[Msubulldogfan1]

I can see why the opinion is it will hurt state, but I’m gonna wait to see how it’s structured and who the permanent opponents will be before I for an opinion. Def seems like it could impact big OOC matchups tho.

 

[PBDog]

Bama should get lsu instead of us and we should get Arkansas

 

[travis.sixpack]

If I’m Cohen, I tell Sankey, there’s no way Mississippi State will support a 3-6 model if Alabama is our permanent opponent. Or LSU. We got exploited by those two programs for DECADES. Let someone else play them every year.

 

[57stratdawg]

Tough draw with Bama. But, it’s clear the big $ want 9 SEC games. This is like being upset about NIL - you can be mad, but it’s still here.

Over a 5 year stretch, we’ll play UK and OM a combined 10 games. We need to stay 6-4 or better 10 year stretch. If we’re underwater against the OM’s and UK’s in the conference, then 8 vs 9 games isn’t really the issue.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

But Auburn has is way worse than us for the next few years

 

[57stratdawg]

Kentucky looks like a winner on the flip side.

 

[Go Budaw]

So Alabama vs. Mississippi State is a bigger annual revenue generator than Alabama vs. LSU or Alabama vs. Texas A&M? Thats the dumbest **** I’ve ever heard.

Also dumb - Kentucky having BOTH Mississippi schools as permanent opponents. Lets just contrive these artificial rivalries between Kentucky and another state that doesn’t even border it for no apparent reason.

9 SEC games absolutely will happen without a doubt….said that **** a year ago when UT/OU were first announced. But it won’t look like this.

 

[Cooterpoot]

A lot of talk? It's Ross Bjork.

 

[patdog]

When it was announced the two options were a 1-7/7 or a 3-6/6 rotation, it was over for the 8-game schedule. Too many big games would get dropped with only 1 permanent opponent. I know close to half the ADs strongly prefer to stay at 8 games, but that's basically the smaller schools and they won't win. One thing this guy is wrong about is the permanent opponents. Bama-LSU will be played every year. We'll get Mississippi, Kentucky and either Auburn or Texas A&M.

 

[patdog]

We're in no position to dictate anything to the SEC. The good news is, they don't really want Bama or LSU playing us permanently either. Bama will get Auburn, Tennessee and LSU. LSU will get Bama, A&M and Mississippi.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I don’t like it but I think we all knew we would be headed for a 9-game schedule. Most other conferences do it already and they don’t have 16 teams.

I definitely think we end up with Bama because, well, We Are…..

None of what is going on right now helps MSU except the gobs of money we get. So I hope we are doing the right things with it to prepare for the future.

 

[patdog]

We’re not even close to being in Bama’s top 3 rivals. This really won’t be that bad for us. We’ll see less of Bama, LSU and either A&M or Auburn and more of Vandy,Missouri & South Carolina.

 

[Cooterpoot]

This isn't a done deal. Not even close. There's a good bit opposition to it. It would hurt the conference on the national scene.

 

[HailStout]

But Auburn has is way worse than us for the next few years

We may not have much pull, but auburn does. No way auburn agrees to that.

 

[8dog]

Why does it have to be 3 permanents? Why cant it just be 2? And if everyone would stop pretending AU/Ga and Bama/TN is worth anything it could just be 1 permanent

 

[QuaoarsKing]

I think we're a lot more likely to have Texas A&M or Auburn as our last permanent opponent instead of Alabama, but getting Ole Miss and Kentucky as 2 of them is a huge break for us and also likely to happen.

 

[patdog]

It’s a simpler rotation with 1 or 3 permanent opponents. It definitely could be done with 2 or 4, but apparently they want a simple rotation. And don’t kid yourself, games like Bama-Tenn , UGA-Auburn and Texas-A&M are big deals.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Why does it have to be 3 permanents? Why cant it just be 2? And if everyone would stop pretending AU/Ga and Bama/TN is worth anything it could just be 1 permanent

Rivalries are important. Or at least they should be. We see conferences all around the country who have cancelled rivalries to their detriment. That's one thing the SEC has done correctly, and one of the main reasons so many people are 'SEC centric' fans. The B1G may have us beat on sheer numbers due to their alumni bases, but the SEC for the most part watches its other members more than anything.

The B1G was very smart to get USC and their rival UCLA.

This is another reason why I think it would be a great idea to add Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State. Or even Miami or Louisville. I see no reason to continue to go after territory now that we're headed to a la carte streaming rather than cable. Go after quality and watch the number of eyeballs explode.

Why go into North Carolina or Virginia? You REALLY getting any quality there?

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Why does it have to be 3 permanents? Why cant it just be 2? And if everyone would stop pretending AU/Ga and Bama/TN is worth anything it could just be 1 permanent

It fits so nicely with 3/6 that you play everyone in the SEC who isn't one of your 3 permanents exactly twice in a 4-year period. Anything else and it can work mathematically (assuming we always keep 16 or another even number of teams), but it won't be elegant.

 

[RiverCityDawg]

Jim Dunaway is notorious for his bad predictions. His nickname is "Jimmy Landmine" because his picks always blow up in his face.

No way we get Alabama.

 

[8dog]

Those games aren’t any bigger deal than other games we are willing to get rid of some years under this format.

 

[Duke Humphrey]

If you can get UNC, you add UNC…

Why go into North Carolina or Virginia? You REALLY getting any quality there?

National brand in the largest state that is currently NOT in SEC or BIG footprint.

 

[ronpolk]

Rivalries are important. Or at least they should be. We see conferences all around the country who have cancelled rivalries to their detriment. That's one thing the SEC has done correctly, and one of the main reasons so many people are 'SEC centric' fans. The B1G may have us beat on sheer numbers due to their alumni bases, but the SEC for the most part watches its other members more than anything.

The B1G was very smart to get USC and their rival UCLA.

This is another reason why I think it would be a great idea to add Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State. Or even Miami or Louisville. I see no reason to continue to go after territory now that we're headed to a la carte streaming rather than cable. Go after quality and watch the number of eyeballs explode.

Why go into North Carolina or Virginia? You REALLY getting any quality there?

ESPN does not care if someone is consuming their product on cable or an a la carte streaming, but they do what markets are consuming the product. The fact is adding Virginia and North Carolina add big markets that the sec currently does not have and makes a new tv deal more valuable because of new markets

 

[Smoked Toag]

Those games aren’t any bigger deal than other games we are willing to get rid of some years under this format.

Which games?

 

[8dog]

Bama-TAMU, Auburn-LSU, Georgia-TN, TAMU-Auburn. I mean TAMU- TX haven’t played in a decade and no one cares. Its just odd to me that we wouldn’t go to the schedule with the most variety that preserves the actual meaningful rivalries.

 

[patdog]

You’re just wrong in this. We all know the reason Texas dropped A&M. And it had nothing to do with it not being a big rivalry. It’s gonna be a huge deal when they play again.

 

[8dog]

Im not arguing it’s not a rivalry. Im arguing that they didn’t play and everyone was fine. So we can sure live without GA-AU or TN-Bama playing every year. But worst case go to 2 permanents even if the 4 year cycle is a little off. That’s better than Imbalance thru permanent opponents.

 

[olblue.sixpack]

Im not arguing it’s not a rivalry. Im arguing that they didn’t play and everyone was fine. So we can sure live without GA-AU or TN-Bama playing every year. But worst case go to 2 permanents even if the 4 year cycle is a little off. That’s better than Imbalance thru permanent opponents.

You are playing chess with a bunch of guys trying to play checkers.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

If I’m Cohen, I tell Sankey, there’s no way Mississippi State will support a 3-6 model if Alabama is our permanent opponent. Or LSU. We got exploited by those two programs for DECADES. Let someone else play them every year.

As of 2019 when this was written, these were the longest. Not the top or best just longest.

Just FYI

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/s...most-played-rivalries-all-time-entering-2019/

#1 Auburn vs. Georgia

#2 Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State

#3 Kentucky vs. Tennessee

#4 Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt

#5 LSU vs. Mississippi State

#6 Georgia vs. Georgia Tech (no longer in the SEC)

#7 LSU vs. Ole Miss

#8 Alabama vs. Mississippi State

#9 Alabama vs. Tennessee

#10 LSU vs. Tulane (no longer in the SEC)

#11 Florida vs. Georgia

#12 Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt

#13 Auburn vs. Georgia Tech (no longer in the SEC)

#14 Auburn vs. Mississippi State

#15 Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt

 

[patdog]

We're going to have a lot less imbalance with 3 permanent opponents than we have now. I can promise you the SEC didn't add Texas so they could play A&M every 2nd or 3rd year. And the idea of moving UGA-AU, or Bama-Tenn or Bama-LSU to rotating games is ridiculous.

For the record, I would prefer either 2 or 4 permanent opponents & an 8-game schedule. But that’s not what we’re gonna get.

 

[patdog]

In about 8 years, there’s going to be a big battle between the SEC & Big 10 over which one takes North Carolina.

 

[GloryDawg]

There are some big TV money making games being left out of the permanent schedule. LSU vs Bama is huge. Auburn is getting the worse in the deal. Florida is not going to stay down. They will get the right coach in there eventually. That would be brutal for Auburn.

Side note: I did not mine playing Bama every year until Saban arrived. He will be gone and they will not stay at the level they are now. They will still be Bama and tough but not the Bama of today. Saban made them into the power house they are. I just don't see another coach keeping them at that level. He build LSU and Miles kept them at a high level for years but look at LSU today, no one is scared to play them. Kelly will not be their guy.

 

[Go Budaw]

Bama-TAMU, Auburn-LSU, Georgia-TN, TAMU-Auburn. I mean TAMU- TX haven’t played in a decade and no one cares. Its just odd to me that we wouldn’t go to the schedule with the most variety that preserves the actual meaningful rivalries.

Agree with this. Fact is, there will be 9 teams in the new SEC that will be the “haves”. Whenever any two of those 9 teams play each other, its going to be a huge ratings draw. Some of those games will be bigger than others (like Iron Bowl, Bama-LSU, Auburn-UGA, etc.), but all will be big time. But there is no way under any scheduling format for the 9 teams to all play each other every year, so some annual games will have to be sacrificed.

I personally don’t think games like Bama / UT or LSU / A&M hold the same level of intrigue as others, so I think it could definitely work with 2 permanents. It also amplifies the importance of those games in the years that they are played. But we’ll see what the powers that be decide to do. And by “powers that be”, I mean those 9 schools. For better or worse, they are going to make the decision for the rest of the league.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

I'm not opposed if they want to add one more game to the season. Tough on the players but more games. I like the big matchups with the other power 5 or mega conference games. Gives another game to with someone you don't usually play that will be a challenge. And not someone in lower conference we play all the time

 

[Smoked Toag]

Agree with this. Fact is, there will be 9 teams in the new SEC that will be the “haves”. Whenever any two of those 9 teams play each other, its going to be a huge ratings draw. Some of those games will be bigger than others (like Iron Bowl, Bama-LSU, Auburn-UGA, etc.), but all will be big time. But there is no way under any scheduling format for the 9 teams to all play each other every year, so some annual games will have to be sacrificed.

I personally don’t think games like Bama / UT or LSU / A&M hold the same level of intrigue as others, so I think it could definitely work with 2 permanents. It also amplifies the importance of those games in the years that they are played. But we’ll see what the powers that be decide to do. And by “powers that be”, I mean those 9 schools. For better or worse, they are going to make the decision for the rest of the league.

They need to figure out if the playoff is expanding. If it's staying at 4 teams, SEC needs to stick to 8 games. If it goes to 12 teams, then may as well go to 9 because SOS will factor much more into it. You'll regularly have 10-2 or even 9-3 SEC teams making the playoff. They'll get the money AND the playoff appearances.

 

[Go Budaw]

They need to figure out if the playoff is expanding. If it's staying at 4 teams, SEC needs to stick to 8 games. If it goes to 12 teams, then may as well go to 9 because SOS will factor much more into it. You'll regularly have 10-2 or even 9-3 SEC teams making the playoff. They'll get the money AND the playoff appearances.

The playoff is expanding. Its not a matter of “if” but “when” it will go to at least 12 teams. 2025 or 2026 at the latest. There’s another billion dollars on the table to be spread around amongst the Power conference schools, and that’s just at the beginning. That’s another $15-$20 million per year or so for MSU….for nothing. Nobody is walking away from that.

Also, the SEC as a whole is going to be an even more disproportionate winner because they will also get the payout money for teams selected, and we’re gonna have way more of those than every other conference.

The next thing that happens after that will be the Power conferences all going to 9+ league games, and telling the NCAA where to stick it with the 6 win requirement for bowl eligibilty. All the regular bowls under a 12 team playoff regime will be completely meaningless (not that they aren’t already), so the cash grab will continue on the bottom end just like it has at the top end.

 

[johnson86-1]

If I’m Cohen, I tell Sankey, there’s no way Mississippi State will support a 3-6 model if Alabama is our permanent opponent. Or LSU. We got exploited by those two programs for DECADES. Let someone else play them every year.

Aside from the SEC not giving a **** what we think, I'm not sure how dominant Bama is going to remain. I don't think NIL is going to allow Brian Kelley and Jimbo to displace Saban by anymeans, but as far as we are concerned, the talent gap will likely be unsurmountable as long as they don't do a ****** job coaching and as long as they don't lose a starting qb. Certainly prefer somebody else besides Bama, but if we replace Bama with LSU or A&M, I'm not sure that's going to mean much in a couple of yeras.

 

[Go Budaw]

There are some big TV money making games being left out of the permanent schedule. LSU vs Bama is huge. Auburn is getting the worse in the deal. Florida is not going to stay down. They will get the right coach in there eventually. That would be brutal for Auburn.

Side note: I did not mine playing Bama every year until Saban arrived. He will be gone and they will not stay at the level they are now. They will still be Bama and tough but not the Bama of today. Saban made them into the power house they are. I just don't see another coach keeping them at that level. He build LSU and Miles kept them at a high level for years but look at LSU today, no one is scared to play them. Kelly will not be their guy.

Once upon a time, people said the exact same thing you just said about Saban, except they said it about Bear Bryant. Alabama was only able to get to the level where they could hire Saban by the decades of dominance they experienced under Bryant and those that followed him. Hell, Mike 17ing Dubose even won an SEC title there. They are, by far, the most tradition-rich program in the most tradition-rich conference. And they might not find another Saban, but they’ll come damn close to it if they don’t….before too long. We don’t want them as a permanent under any scenario….Saban or no Saban. Literally any other team in the league would be more preferable.