So, there was another thread recently about pods vs. divisions and how they'd work. I will note that this is just a hare-brained idea to make pods work (I prefer divisions), but I wanted to see how we could make the pod system fair.

The biggest critique of the pod system is that it doesn't leave clear who to put in the conference championship game. I sympathize with this. If we do a pod system based on traditional rivalries, you can't compare records as cleanly as you can division rivals. I think there's a mathematically fair way around that.

I ranked the 16 SEC teams in order of highest to lowest SEC win percentage from 2018-2020 (tu and OU are at the 50% mark because each have only played two SEC games in the last three seasons). From there, I assigned the 16 teams to pods using a snake system. The pods came out as follows (numbers represent SEC win% rank):

Pod A: 1 Bama, 8 OU, 9 Kentucky, 16 Arky
Pod B: 2 UGA, 7 tu, 10 Mizzou, 15 Vandy
Pod C: 3 Florida, 6 Auburn, 11 UT, 14 MSSU
Pod D: 4 LSU, 5 A&M, 12 SCar, 13 Ole Miss

As far as scheduling, each team will play the three other teams in their pod, all four teams from another pod, 1 game against a team from another pod who finished in the same "place" (i.e. 2nd highest win% in pod plays another 2nd best team in another pod) and 1 game against a team from another pod who finished in the opposite "place" (i.e. 2nd best plays 3rd best, best plays worst, etc).

This seems a little complex, so let me map out how A&M's schedule would look under this format.

Games 1-3: LSU, Ole Miss, SCar (from same pod)
Games 4-7: Arky, Bama, OU, Kentucky (whole second pod)
Game 8: Auburn (2nd place team in another pod)
Game 9: Missouri (3rd place team from last remaining pod)

Pod assignments would reset every season to adjust for new information, only keeping the most recent three seasons to avoid historical bias. The top two teams in the conference go to the title game, like the Big 12 currently does.

The only downside to this system is that it's too focused on making a mathematically "fair schedule" at the expense of protecting rivalry games. I can't imagine Auburn and Bama signing up to ending the Iron Bowl, or the Miss schools cancelling the Egg Bowl.

Full disclosure: I have no delusions that Sankey is reading the TexAgs message boards looking for suggestions. Just wanted to see what people would think about scheduling this way.

Need more details.

Interesting and well thought out.

My issue is that you're trying to make "fair pods" but what If Mizzou suddenly becomes a powerhouse, or OU is a 6-6 team in the SEC every year. Teams rise and fall and the pods you have there may not be good in 8 years. Do we realign every few years? We can't do it every year because schedules come out too soon.

I like the idea of regional pods that also prevent several elite programs in the same pod. Say a pod is us, Arky, LSU, and tu. We get 3 games there. Our pod matches up with another pod but a different one each year. Now we're up to 7 pods. Then you could have one team from each of the other 2 pods that you play every year so you hold onto rivalries.

So we could play LSU, tu, and Arky every year. And then our 3 annual outside of pod teams could be Mizzou, South Carolina, and Miss St or something. And our other 3 games come from playing the other 3 remaining teams of a pod. This way you would visit every SEC team every 6 years.

These are the pods that make the most sense:

A&M, LSU, Mizz, Arky
OU, tu, Ole, MSST
UGA, Fla, UK, SC
Bama, Auburn, Vandy, Tenn

You keep some historic rivals in the pods and still allow other games to be played each year (e.g. UGA / Auburn).

I think pods will be set up based on geography and rivalries.

Sec north west pod
Texas
OU
Mizzou
Arky

Sec southwest pod
Tamu
Ole miss
LSU
Miss st

Sec northeast pod
Tennessee
Vandy
Bama
Auburn

Sec southeast pod

Georgia
Florida
Kentucky
South Carolina

Play everyone in your pod plus 2 teams from each pod a home and away. Then play the other 2 teams from every pod after two years home and away

After four years a senior would have played a home and away against every sec team while still keeping the vast majority of rivalries in place. At the bare minimum you get to play one of your rivals at least the twice every 4 years.

If we go pods couldn't we do a 9 game SEC schedule with a conference champion semifinal for pod champions?

Effectively the conference season is 8 games for purposes of getting to the conference championship (3 own pod, 4 rotating pod, 1 other rotation, possibly rotating rivals from other pods), but the 9th game is pod champions competing and the remaining 12 can play each other?

Pod 1 (in order of finish)
UGA
USC
UF
Vandy

Pod 2 (in order of finish)
Bama
UK
Tenn
Auburn

Pod 3 (in order of finish)
Ole Miss
Miss State
A&M
LSU

Pod 4 (in order of finish)
Arky
OU
Mizzou
TU

Assume Pod 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 for the year

SEC playoff week (conference game 9):
UGA hosts Ole miss, Bama hosts Arky (higher records host the lower records, rematches allowed if this it happens because of the game 8 flex for rival rotation) - winners to SEC championship

remaining 12 teams play based on conference standings - too many what ifs to decide how teams 5-16 play each other, but no rematches allowed. highest seed of each matchup hosts.

calzones, my intent is not to argue with your method and kind of like the idea, but rather to try to get around jacking with pods. I just dont see them changing pods each year.

Pods are dumb like Carolina being our cross-division rival is dumb. Ten games. No divisions. Play every team every two years. Rotate like men's basketball.

one thing the OP alluded to that is key...

the league needs to be willing to change or reset the pods after 4 or 5 seasons...if something is not working right...or something is out of balance...or just for variety

Hopefully this is unnecessary for at least 3 years. And maybe longer if the sooners and sipees wuss out.

I hate tu more than a grown, rational man should.

A&M ou and tu will be in the same pod…the Sooner Ags get over this the better off you'll be.

Arky lsu or mu will be the 4th

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

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I think pods will be set up based on geography and rivalries.

Sec north west pod
Texas
OU
Mizzou
Arky

Sec southwest pod
Tamu
Ole miss
LSU
Miss st

Sec northeast pod
Tennessee
Vandy
Bama
Auburn

Sec southeast pod

Georgia
Florida
Kentucky
South Carolina

Play everyone in your pod plus 2 teams from each pod a home and away. Then play the other 2 teams from every pod after two years home and away

After four years a senior would have played a home and away against every sec team while still keeping the vast majority of rivalries in place. At the bare minimum you get to play one of your rivals at least the twice every 4 years.

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Dixie will never allow the word "north" to be affiliated with the SEC

If the SEC goes the pod route, there is no way they separate Texas and Texas A&M.

On rivalry weekend, it's going to be schools from the same state:

Bama / Auburn
MSU / Miss
Florida / FSU
Georgia / GT
etc.

OU will probably do what it can to keep Bedlam as well.

'North' is a dirty word in the South as is liberal and, now, democrat.

West Point Aggie said:

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A&M ou and tu will be in the same pod…the Sooner Ags get over this the better off you'll be.

Arky lsu or mu will be the 4th

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It doesn't make sense to put all 3 of us in the same pod. It will result in "unbalanced" pods.

The SEC will have 8 "major" programs: Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, A&M, LSU, OU, tu
The SEC will have 8 "minor" programs: MSU, OM, Mizzou, UK, Vandy, UT, USC, Arky

The logical pod structure will have 2 from the first list, and 2 from the second list.

A&M/LSU/OM/MSU is the most logical pod I've seen proposed for us. But you could swap out the Miss schools for Arky and Mizzou, but geographically, it makes more sense to have those two paired with OU. To put all 3 of A&M/OU/tu in one pod, then you'll leave another pod with a structure like Georgia/USC/Vandy/Tenn.

PacifistAg said:

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It doesn't make sense to put all 3 of us in the same pod. It will result in "unbalanced" pods.

The SEC will have 8 "major" programs: Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, A&M, LSU, OU, tu
The SEC will have 8 "minor" programs: MSU, OM, Mizzou, UK, Vandy, UT, USC, Arky

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What if I told you we're 5-5 vs. State and 5-4 vs Ole Miss (no game in 2020)?

AGinHI said:

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PacifistAg said:

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It doesn't make sense to put all 3 of us in the same pod. It will result in "unbalanced" pods.

The SEC will have 8 "major" programs: Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, A&M, LSU, OU, tu
The SEC will have 8 "minor" programs: MSU, OM, Mizzou, UK, Vandy, UT, USC, Arky

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What if I told you we're 5-5 vs. State and 5-4 vs Ole Miss (no game in 2020)?

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It's not about W/L. It's about money and marketability.

My problem with the pod idea is that I hate tu and ou and don't want to play them every year.

AWP 97 said:

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My problem with the pod idea is that I hate tu and ou and don't want to play them every year.

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.

Channel that hate to the field and problem solved

West Point Aggie said:

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A&M ou and tu will be in the same pod…the Sooner Ags get over this the better off you'll be.

Arky lsu or mu will be the 4th

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Although it's not what I would want, or even think makes the most sense, I believe you are correct assuming they implement a pod system. Personally, I would love to see tu/UO (it's actually called the University of Oklahoma) split up; sort of a statement by the SEC that "We're in charge." Pipe dream, I know.

My preferred Pods:

1. ATM, tu, Ark & LSU
2. OU, Mizz, Vandy, & Tenn
3. Ole Miss, Miss St, Auburn, & Bama
4. UGA, KY, SC & FL

These make geographic sense and maintain most of the rivalries. As far as rotations, home/away with 2 from each of the other 3 pods seems the most logical way to go. Of course, that would mean the RRR gets a perpetual two-year hiatus. So, practically, just switch the Sooners and Razorbacks.

PacifistAg said:

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It doesn't make sense to put all 3 of us in the same pod. It will result in "unbalanced" pods.

The SEC will have 8 "major" programs: Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, A&M, LSU, OU, tu
The SEC will have 8 "minor" programs: MSU, OM, Mizzou, UK, Vandy, UT, USC, Arky

The logical pod structure will have 2 from the first list, and 2 from the second list.

A&M/LSU/OM/MSU is the most logical pod I've seen proposed for us. But you could swap out the Miss schools for Arky and Mizzou, but geographically, it makes more sense to have those two paired with OU. To put all 3 of A&M/OU/tu in one pod, then you'll leave another pod with a structure like Georgia/USC/Vandy/Tenn.

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Agreed. That's why I think we end up in a pod with LSU ole miss and miss st. You can't have pods with 3 huge programs. So each pod would have two big boys.

The obvious pod would be horn, OU, A&M and Arkansas. This would make the most sense if you were going to do this configuration.

it won't be pods or divisions, it will be 3 permanent ravals for every team.

A&M should get tu, lsu and ark
tu should get A&M, ou and Ark
Ark should get A&M, tu and mizzou
OU would get tu, mizzou and someone else
etc...

we are going to be playing sip, Pig, and Corndog every year when puke and the land thieves join.

I hope there aren't any pods and all teams play each other an equal amount of times preferably in a home and away game within 4 years. That seems most fair. I'm concerned the SEC will screw us over, putting us in an unfavorable pod.

rootube said:

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The obvious pod would be horn, OU, A&M and Arkansas. This would make the most sense if you were going to do this configuration.

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Yep. I get that this is the most hated arrangement on this board, but if we go to a pod system you can take this to the bank.

I have a feeling the divisions will stand - West vs East; OU will be pushed into the West...and tu will somehow be pushed into the East like Mizzou.

CalzadasCalzones said:

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So, there was another thread recently about pods vs. divisions and how they'd work. I will note that this is just a hare-brained idea to make pods work (I prefer divisions), but I wanted to see how we could make the pod system fair.

The biggest critique of the pod system is that it doesn't leave clear who to put in the conference championship game. I sympathize with this. If we do a pod system based on traditional rivalries, you can't compare records as cleanly as you can division rivals. I think there's a mathematically fair way around that.

I ranked the 16 SEC teams in order of highest to lowest SEC win percentage from 2018-2020 (tu and OU are at the 50% mark because each have only played two SEC games in the last three seasons). From there, I assigned the 16 teams to pods using a snake system. The pods came out as follows (numbers represent SEC win% rank):

Pod A: 1 Bama, 8 OU, 9 Kentucky, 16 Arky
Pod B: 2 UGA, 7 tu, 10 Mizzou, 15 Vandy
Pod C: 3 Florida, 6 Auburn, 11 UT, 14 MSSU
Pod D: 4 LSU, 5 A&M, 12 SCar, 13 Ole Miss

As far as scheduling, each team will play the three other teams in their pod, all four teams from another pod, 1 game against a team from another pod who finished in the same "place" (i.e. 2nd highest win% in pod plays another 2nd best team in another pod) and 1 game against a team from another pod who finished in the opposite "place" (i.e. 2nd best plays 3rd best, best plays worst, etc).

This seems a little complex, so let me map out how A&M's schedule would look under this format.

Games 1-3: LSU, Ole Miss, SCar (from same pod)
Games 4-7: Arky, Bama, OU, Kentucky (whole second pod)
Game 8: Auburn (2nd place team in another pod)
Game 9: Missouri (3rd place team from last remaining pod)

Pod assignments would reset every season to adjust for new information, only keeping the most recent three seasons to avoid historical bias. The top two teams in the conference go to the title game, like the Big 12 currently does.

The only downside to this system is that it's too focused on making a mathematically "fair schedule" at the expense of protecting rivalry games. I can't imagine Auburn and Bama signing up to ending the Iron Bowl, or the Miss schools cancelling the Egg Bowl.

Full disclosure: I have no delusions that Sankey is reading the TexAgs message boards looking for suggestions. Just wanted to see what people would think about scheduling this way.

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adderall posting

West Point Aggie said:

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A&M ou and tu will be in the same pod…the Sooner Ags get over this the better off you'll be.

Arky lsu or mu will be the 4th

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The mental gymnastics people are going through to come up with ways we don't have to play the sips every year is astounding.

If it's pods, we'll be in the same pod.
If it's divisions, we'll be in the same division.
If it's permanent rivals, we'll be permanent rivals.

We're going to play the sips every year when they join.

I hate to keep litigating the "we belong in a pod with tu OU and Arky" argument, but I personally hate the idea of being stuck with the other big B12 schools in a pod. It feels like we're being put at the kids table for Thanksgiving. We're an SEC team and belong playing the other SEC teams routinely, not the old SWC/B8 schools. LSU needs to be our new rival, not tu.

Divisions would be a disaster....

We'll essentially be playing a old SWC schedule and playing Bama, Auburn, Florida, and Georgia once a decade.

Oh ffs it doesn't have to be that complicated. We get the new guys, AL& AU go to the east, and Missouri joins the west. Done. No ridiculous formulas, algorithms, semi conference championships, blah blah.

Burnsey said:

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Oh ffs it doesn't have to be that complicated. We get the new guys, AL& AU go to the east, and Missouri joins the west. Done. No ridiculous formulas, algorithms, semi conference championships, blah blah.

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This- the only two traditional cross-division rivalries that anyone cares about is Bama-tenn and UGA-Auburn. This takes care of that. 7 games in division, 2 random from the other side; you get every east team every 4 years, and home and home every 8. It's clean and simple.

West Point Aggie said:

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A&M ou and tu will be in the same pod…the Sooner Ags get over this the better off you'll be.

Arky lsu or mu will be the 4th

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False. It isn't pods. The conference is looking at scheduling choices. They floated the non-division balloon and more games.