Georgia president, AD weigh in on conference scheduling conundrum

Anticipation for SEC Spring Meetings next week in Destin, Fla. is at an all time high with so much for the conference to discuss. One of the items certainly on the docket is the league’s future plans for scheduling with Texas and Oklahoma set to join the league before long. How will it look? University of Georgia president Jere Morehead and athletic director Josh Brooks weighed in on Thursday.

“I think everything is being discussed,” Morehead told media members after the athletic department’s spring board meeting. “We’re going to have a joint presidents-AD meeting during the Destin meeting, but I’m not at a point of predicting what outcomes will occur at this stage. The athletic directors have been in much more discussion about this, so part of this is for the presidents to have a discussion with the athletic directors to see where they are.”

“Sixteen,” Brooks joked when asked how many different opinions there were among the league’s athletic directors on how things should look. “But I’ll say this, especially with me being one of the younger SEC ADs in the room, it’s a great group. I think the strength of the SEC is that we put the conference first when we make decisions like this. There’s never going to be any schedule scenario where everybody’s happy, but everybody understands that we have to do what’s best for the conference. That’s the deciding process as we’re working through different options.”

Several rumored SEC scheduling formats have swirled around social media recently including the idea of an all-SEC playoff. Others have been more tame in nature, keeping divisions as a part of the discussion as well as variations of schedule rotations with yearly permanent opponents.

For Bulldog fans, one of the biggest desires is keeping the traditional rivalries alive as much as possible. Georgia-Florida, better known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, and Georgia-Auburn, the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry dating back to 1892 and tied for the second-most played matchup with 126 meetings, were two that Brooks and Morehead were asked about specifically.

“Those things are important but, again, we’re 1/16th, right? So, we can push for what’s important to us but, again, we’re one of 16 teams that votes and we’re very respectful of the conference and what direction we go,” Brooks said.

“I think that’s where the commissioner comes in. I think we have by far the greatest commissioner in all of college athletics and I think he will work through all of those kinds of issues, because every school has issues like Auburn and Florida and has what’s on their list,” Morehead added. “I think in the end we’ll get to a good outcome, but I don’t know whether it will be resolved next week or if it will take longer.”

And while the discussions between athletic directors certainly has included topics like creating more scheduling variability, what’s stood out the most to Brooks throughout the entire process of conference re-alignment and the changes that come with it has been the way that the schools have put the SEC first. After all, it just means more.

“I’ve been very impressed with everyone understanding what’s best for the conference and putting that first when making decisions,” Brooks said. “I think one of the components that’s been discussed – and people know here – is the variability in schedules and getting teams to play each other that haven’t played each other much. I know it’s been well documented that our fans have not been to College Station yet. Elements like that come up in discussion, and ADs want to do what’s best for the conference, what’s best for providing a great experience for our student athletes, for our fans and what’s best again for the conference.”

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