I'd like to play TExas every year, but I dont want to just be playing Texas, OU, and Mizzou every year. Part of the appearl to the move to the SEC was playing new teams.

Pods will be necessary with 20 teams.

Pods would not necessitate semfi-final games and the conference would not do that. They would just take the top 2 teams by SEC record, with tie-breakers of H2H, record in pod, CFP ranking, etc., etc. But I highly doubt for those very reasons they will do pods, which seems like more of a fan driven idea to get all teams playing each other more frequently.

My guess is it will be 2 divisions, Bama and Auburn move east, Mizzou moves west. 9 game conference season, 7 in division, rotate the other 2. That way you do play every team at least once every 4 years, though it is every 8 years to complete and home-and-away cycle.

Most importantly from the old-guard SEC perspective, moving Bama and Auburn to the East protects the Bama - UT, Iron Bow, and Auburn - UGA games. Bama - UT and UGA - Auburn are the ONLY reasons we currently have a 6-1-1 sked and we play USC and LSU plays FL. LSU - FL is not a traditional SEC crossover rivalry game, though it is a great series. Bama - UT and The South's Oldest Rivalry and most played game, Auburn - UGA, those are games that MUST be on the schedule. Bama, UT, UGA and Auburn will not vote for any expansion, division/pod makeup, or schedule that does not include those games, period. Ironically Bama has not played UGA much in their history despite being border states.

It is true you could put UGA, UT, Bama and Auburn in a pod, but that is odd fitting as FL would be in a pod with teams not close to them.

99% sure it will be West - East divisions, 9 game conference schedule. playing every team in a 4 year cyle is actually an improvement over what we have right now with the 6-1-1 schedule.

There is no way to stick with 8 conference games unless they do pods. But I also don't see the increased TV $$ without the additional SEC games.

FightinTexasAggie28 said:

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Am I the only one that thinks this is just gonna make the SEC teams beat the crap out of each other even more so than already?

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Give the viewers what they want. SEC cage matches to the death every week. Will they not be entertained. SEC will likely add more big names.

A pod without Texas in it is perfect. Perfect. Or being in the opposite division since we are in the small fraction of East Texas anyway again.

I think the 8 game schedule is more important than everyone seems to think. 4 OOC games with a 4-0 record allows for 2 conference wins and a bowl game. 3 OOC games means more SEC teams sit out of bowl games and the money they provide.

I would like to see 4 pods, split 2 East and 2 West divisions with the best record out of East and West playing for championship. 2 games against the second pod in the division and 3 games playing against the opposite division.