ESPN wants better matchups and will pay top $ for them. While conference expansion is one avenue, more conference games is another.

With our four non-conference games, we play three doormats and one Power 5 school. Hey - everyone does it so I understand.

But if we went to a 9 game - or dare I say 10 game - SEC schedule, what a bonanza that would be for ESPN. With a 10 game schedule, we could have two divisions, play our 7 division games, and then have three from the other side - either with one permanent and two rotating or some variation thereof.

Imagine our schedule with:

Texas
OU
Arkansas
LSU
Missouri
Mississippi
Mississippi State

And crossover games of perhaps:

Auburn
Florida
Georgia

Every week - EVERY SINGLE WEEK - a great game with national appeal - and there would be a plethora of games just like that every week.

We don't need to expand to have a bigger inventory of great games. We just need to let Appalachian State and Sam Houston State go do their own thing.

Now imagine adding Clemson, Florida St, Miami, Va Tech, NCSt to that lineup.
As well as Bama...as an Aggie i want to play them every year....regardless.

You know the divisions appear dead in favor of playing all SEC teams every. other. year…???

I thought the 10 game SEC-only-season was the silver lining that came out of 2020. Every week felt like it mattered and could change the division races.

I think the SEC is going to 9 games regardless, but it irritates me that 10 games probably won't happen. I'd love to see the OPs proposed 10 game season (7-1-2 format) while keeping the historic east/west divisions. I think everyone (players, fans, media) would love that too, except for the coaches that like padding their record with cupcakes.

Saban would whine and moan to no end if the SEC moved to 10 conference games.

Aggieair said:

---

I thought the 10 game SEC-only-season was the silver lining that came out of 2020. Every week felt like it mattered and could change the division races.

I think the SEC is going to 9 games regardless, but it irritates me that 10 games probably won't happen. I'd love to see the OPs proposed 10 game season (7-1-2 format) while keeping the historic east/west divisions. I think everyone (players, fans, media) would love that too, except for the coaches that like padding their record with cupcakes.

Saban would whine and moan to no end if the SEC moved to 10 conference games.

---

10 games only makes sense if the playoffs are expanded and all the other leagues are doing tgst as well, otherwise you put your teams at a disadvantage when trying to get them into the playoffs

Is it more fun to play extra cupcakes and go 11-1 and make the playoffs or play extra conference games and go 10-2 and be left out ?

There's no doubt the playoffs are going to be expanded. 2025

You are right about it not being 10 conference games yet. But that's probably also inevitable.

As for Saban, he's been pushing for 9 conference games and less cupcakes

BMX Bandit said:

---

There's no doubt the playoffs are going to be expanded. 2025

You are right about it not being 10 conference games yet. But that's probably also inevitable.

As for Saban, he's been pushing for 9 conference games and less cupcakes

---

I think that's the next step

I'm betting that the The 3-6 scheduling format wins out and we go to 9 games in 2025 and not coincidentally the playoff expands

I haven't seen any support for the 1 permanent rival.

It quite there, but seems the scenerio you just posted is almost a forgone conclusion

There will always be permanent rivals such as Tennessee/Alabama, UGA/UF, A&M/LSU, A&M/tu, tu/OU, OM/MSU, Alabama/Auburn, LSU/OM, etc. These games will be played annually no matter what.

It never made sense to me that schools play other schools who aren't on the same level of football. FBS does not need to be playing FCS schools. P5 should be playing P5. Maybe P5 could play a game against G5 but even that is questionable to me. NFL teams don't play exhibition games against colleges or CFL or anyone other than the teams in their league.

AWP 97 said:

---

It never made sense to me that schools play other schools who aren't on the same level of football. FBS does not need to be playing FCS schools. P5 should be playing P5. Maybe P5 could play a game against G5 but even that is questionable to me. NFL teams don't play exhibition games against colleges or CFL or anyone other than the teams in their league.

---

Fcs games need to go

Playing teams in g5 is fine, as there are always some g5 teams that are pretty good and need to prove themselves like Cincy, boise etc…

Plus those g5 s hooks need to play at the same level as the p5 schools in order to maintain fan support and athletic budgets

That perception of playing at the highest level drives that

If they are "officially" knocked down to their own level, that goes away and fan interest wanes for those g5 schools

I'm all for having more competitive games, particularly early season intersectional games like we had decades ago. You don't have to have 20 team conferences to achieve that though. Many of the marquee matchups being envisioned with schedules promoted above are going to end up being between two 3 loss teams instead of a clash of undefeated.

bv86ag said:

---

Now imagine adding Clemson, Florida St, Miami, Va Tech, NCSt to that lineup.
As well as Bama...as an Aggie i want to play them every year....regardless.

---

If we could do this, sure. If we are talking about adding lower tier programs and splitting our money with them - no way.

wbt5845 said:

---

ESPN wants better matchups and will pay top $ for them. While conference expansion is one avenue, more conference games is another.

With our four non-conference games, we play three doormats and one Power 5 school. Hey - everyone does it so I understand.

But if we went to a 9 game - or dare I say 10 game - SEC schedule, what a bonanza that would be for ESPN. With a 10 game schedule, we could have two divisions, play our 7 division games, and then have three from the other side - either with one permanent and two rotating or some variation thereof.

Imagine our schedule with:

Texas
OU
Arkansas
LSU
Missouri
Mississippi
Mississippi State

And crossover games of perhaps:

Auburn
Florida
Georgia

Every week - EVERY SINGLE WEEK - a great game with national appeal - and there would be a plethora of games just like that every week.

We don't need to expand to have a bigger inventory of great games. We just need to let Appalachian State and Sam Houston State go do their own thing.

---

Expansion is happening, so you either act like the SCC and B10 and pick off the valuable schools or you act like the B12 and sort through the leftovers.

Or you continue to be a picky buyer of elite schools and hold at 14-16 if there's nothing available you like. We are in the elite. Adding anyone that lowers the prestige or revenue for current ADs makes zero sense.

There are remaining valuable schools out there just not a lot of them. It seems unlikely there is only a single Florida school in big boy football for example. I am confident there are also elite teams in the PAC remaining. From a TV market perspective (if that mean's anything anyone) the B10 owns NY/NJ/Chi/LA that is all three of the largest media markets. The only big ones they lack are Texas and Florida. I'm sure they have to be eyeing Miami or FSU. The only thing probably holding them back is their insistence that they are too smart to be associated with rednecks.

Suppose reports that the B10 media rights will surpass the SEC in revenue distribution per school. Do you really want to fall 10-15 million per year behind Purdue etc…. ? Why wouldn't the B10 make a play for all th AAU universities in the south? tu, A&M, Georgia, Gtech, Florida, NC, Virginia etc…? Basically create a B10 a south division and supercharge the media rights deal?

Quote:

---

Why wouldn't the B10 make a play for all th AAU universities in the south? tu, A&M, Georgia, Gtech, Florida, NC, Virginia etc…?

---

The Big 10 does not care about AAU designation anymore. They might say they do, but no one can believe that anymore.

Georgia Tech and Virginia aren't getting a seat at the new table.

Texas A&M isn't leaving the SEC. Ever.

If we could get rid of Missouri, it would be perfect. There is nothing interesting about that school, and they are a big 10 fit if there ever was one.

Texmexag said:

---

Suppose reports that the B10 media rights will surpass the SEC in revenue distribution per school. Do you really want to fall 10-15 million per year behind Purdue etc…. ? Why wouldn't the B10 make a play for all th AAU universities in the south? tu, A&M, Georgia, Gtech, Florida, NC, Virginia etc…? Basically create a B10 a south division and supercharge the media rights deal?

---

Explain how this works. "Hi I'm a network executive who didn't think the Big10 was nearly as valuable as the SEC, but after they picked up another 6-8 mid-tier teams, I now think they are much more valuable on a per team basis." The math just doesn't work. Sure you'll get Michigan-USC, but that comes along with more Purdue-Arizona type of games. Those just don't have the draw, whether they are OOC games or in the same Big47 conference or whatever. Per team that math never works out to be worth more than an SEC schedule.

Quote:

---

Suppose reports that the B10 media rights will surpass the SEC in revenue distribution per school. Do you really want to fall 10-15 million per year behind Purdue etc…. ? Why wouldn't the B10 make a play for all th AAU universities in the south? tu, A&M, Georgia, Gtech, Florida, NC, Virginia etc…? Basically create a B10 a south division and supercharge the media rights deal?

---

This is easier to understand than a preschoolers coloring book, btw.

The Big10 is going to announce a huge deal, bigger than ours, sooner, bc of the timeline.

The SEC players, which, includes OU/TX, have a pretty good idea of what they're getting next.

The people have to be thinking 10 years down the road.

If you think that TX didn't have conversations with the Big 10/Fox/ESPN before deciding on the SEC, doing the math on what we all get, you're not paying attention.

ESPN isn't giving away A&M, TX, UGA, FL.

NyAggie said:

---

Aggieair said:

---

I thought the 10 game SEC-only-season was the silver lining that came out of 2020. Every week felt like it mattered and could change the division races.

I think the SEC is going to 9 games regardless, but it irritates me that 10 games probably won't happen. I'd love to see the OPs proposed 10 game season (7-1-2 format) while keeping the historic east/west divisions. I think everyone (players, fans, media) would love that too, except for the coaches that like padding their record with cupcakes.

Saban would whine and moan to no end if the SEC moved to 10 conference games.

---

10 games only makes sense if the playoffs are expanded and all the other leagues are doing tgst as well, otherwise you put your teams at a disadvantage when trying to get them into the playoffs

Is it more fun to play extra cupcakes and go 11-1 and make the playoffs or play extra conference games and go 10-2 and be left out ?

---

I think everyone knows the playoffs are going to expand at the end of this contract, no matter what. There's more money to be made there. So I'm fine with that assumption.

And 10 conference games would still work well with a 12 team playoff. You can look at the NY6 teams over the past years as a prediction of what a 12 team playoff would look like. There's always been at least one team in the NY6 with 3 losses, and at least once there was a 4 loss team.

My ideal world, teams still play one nonconference game against a Power opponent, then one cupcake of their choosing.

Aggieair said:

---

NyAggie said:

---

Aggieair said:

---

I thought the 10 game SEC-only-season was the silver lining that came out of 2020. Every week felt like it mattered and could change the division races.

I think the SEC is going to 9 games regardless, but it irritates me that 10 games probably won't happen. I'd love to see the OPs proposed 10 game season (7-1-2 format) while keeping the historic east/west divisions. I think everyone (players, fans, media) would love that too, except for the coaches that like padding their record with cupcakes.

Saban would whine and moan to no end if the SEC moved to 10 conference games.

---

10 games only makes sense if the playoffs are expanded and all the other leagues are doing tgst as well, otherwise you put your teams at a disadvantage when trying to get them into the playoffs

Is it more fun to play extra cupcakes and go 11-1 and make the playoffs or play extra conference games and go 10-2 and be left out ?

---

I think everyone knows the playoffs are going to expand at the end of this contract, no matter what. There's more money to be made there. So I'm fine with that assumption.

And 10 conference games would still work well with a 12 team playoff. You can look at the NY6 teams over the past years as a prediction of what a 12 team playoff would look like. There's always been at least one team in the NY6 with 3 losses, and at least once there was a 4 loss team.

My ideal world, teams still play one nonconference game against a Power opponent, then one cupcake of their choosing.

---

I think it may eventually get to that point, but not right away.

first step is the 3-6 model (9 conference games) and playoff expansion.

I think you'll see that play out for about 5-10 years before the next round of expansion happens and you get to a number of teams in the league that allows for 10 conference games and an even rotation of playing non-permanent rivals.

if the SEC gets to 18 teams, you can then have a 3-7 model.

The Chicken Ranch said:

---

Texas A&M isn't leaving the SEC. Ever.

---

I know but it's still going to be fun to watch around here if/when Baylor gets added. LOL, Katy bar the door..

I'm telling you, the SEC olds think Baylor is cool, and the sips would support it.

Just wanted to bump this to say that, once again, I was right.

Hopefully we are near the end of the cupcake out of conference games for all of P5 football. We will finally see a little more objective measure of who actually is the best not whose most popular with the media and able to game their schedules each year.

bv86ag said:

---

Now imagine adding Clemson, Florida St, Miami, Va Tech, NCSt to that lineup.
As well as Bama...as an Aggie i want to play them every year....regardless.

---

Or not.

rootube said:

---

wbt5845 said:

---

ESPN wants better matchups and will pay top $ for them. While conference expansion is one avenue, more conference games is another.

With our four non-conference games, we play three doormats and one Power 5 school. Hey - everyone does it so I understand.

But if we went to a 9 game - or dare I say 10 game - SEC schedule, what a bonanza that would be for ESPN. With a 10 game schedule, we could have two divisions, play our 7 division games, and then have three from the other side - either with one permanent and two rotating or some variation thereof.

Imagine our schedule with:

Texas
OU
Arkansas
LSU
Missouri
Mississippi
Mississippi State

And crossover games of perhaps:

Auburn
Florida
Georgia

Every week - EVERY SINGLE WEEK - a great game with national appeal - and there would be a plethora of games just like that every week.

We don't need to expand to have a bigger inventory of great games. We just need to let Appalachian State and Sam Houston State go do their own thing.

---

Expansion is happening, so you either act like the SCC and B10 and pick off the valuable schools or you act like the B12 and sort through the leftovers.

---

Or not.

Texmexag said:

---

Suppose reports that the B10 media rights will surpass the SEC in revenue distribution per school. Do you really want to fall 10-15 million per year behind Purdue etc…. ? Why wouldn't the B10 make a play for all th AAU universities in the south? tu, A&M, Georgia, Gtech, Florida, NC, Virginia etc…? Basically create a B10 a south division and supercharge the media rights deal?

---

Is Georgia an AAU school? I didn't find them listed on the AAU website. Two other Georgia schools are: Tech and Emory.

The Chicken Ranch said:

---

Texas A&M isn't leaving the SEC. Ever.

---

You're right. The SEC is a perfect fit culturally and otherwise in the SEC.

medwriter said:

---

The Chicken Ranch said:

---

Texas A&M isn't leaving the SEC. Ever.

---

You're right. The SEC is a perfect fit culturally and otherwise in the SEC.

---

I wouldn't say never. Maybe in 90 years.

medwriter said:

---

The Chicken Ranch said:

---

Texas A&M isn't leaving the SEC. Ever.

---

You're right. The SEC is a perfect fit culturally and otherwise in the SEC.

---

ESPN/Disney is going to play a big role on what the SEC becomes.

I have a little concern that the SEC changes.