(10-13-2015 11:15 PM)JRsec Wrote: 96 pages into this thread, speculation about almost every angle and Big 12 school, and what does the Big 12 have that would bring value to the SEC? Oklahoma & Texas and to a lesser extent Kansas.
If the SEC landed Oklahoma and Texas they will have added to the two highest content value schools left in realignment.
What should we do to get them if they can't leave little brothers behind? Take little brother.
Oklahoma State, choose one (Baylor or Texas Tech) would move us to 18 and 3 divisions of 6. If Texas is not an option then OU, KU, OSU, KState might (I said might) be workable.
And yes, I support just OU with OSU if necessary. Yes that duplicates a small market, but with two schools which are among the top 30 grossing schools in the nation, and with two schools that could each play an annual game in Dallas along with A&M making the Big D SEC country.
I have to question the wisdom of 3x6 divisions. The problem will be that you have to sacrifice rivalries no matter how you align them.
If we go to 18 and a conference semi-final then I think we should go division-less. Here's a model with the addition of the Texahoma 4:
Alabama's rivals: Auburn, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State
Arkansas's rivals: LSU, Missouri, Texas A&M, Ole Miss
Auburn's rivals: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi State
Florida's rivals: Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, South Carolina
Georgia's rivals: Florida, Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina
Kentucky's rivals: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Georgia, South Carolina
LSU's rivals: Texas A&M, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Alabama
Ole Miss' rivals: Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt
Mississippi State's rivals: Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M
Missouri's rivals: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
Oklahoma's rivals: Oklahoma State, Texas, Missouri, Texas Tech
Oklahoma State's rivals: Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Missouri
South Carolina's rivals: Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt
Tennessee's rivals: Alabama, Florida, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Texas' rivals: Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech
Texas A&M's rivals: Texas, LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi State
Texas Tech's rivals: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Missouri
Vanderbilt's rivals: Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina
4 permanent rivals
That leaves 13 teams remaining to play. If you rotate the other 5 games then you can play everyone at least once during a 3 year period and 2 of those teams you'll play twice. Not bad for keeping everything fresh and yet maintaining the frequency of opponents.
As an aside, you could have Texas Tech and Missouri play in Dallas every year. It would be great for recruiting and would lock down that market for the SEC with 3 annual neutral site games there...UT and OU, A&M and Arkansas, TT and Mizzou
The top 4 teams will qualify for a conference playoff.