(10-11-2021 09:04 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(10-11-2021 09:01 AM)esayem Wrote:  

(10-11-2021 08:41 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(10-11-2021 08:36 AM)esayem Wrote:  

(10-11-2021 08:20 AM)ohio1317 Wrote:  This is going to feel like 2 conferences unless they do pods or no divisions (with NCAA rule change). I would hate that if I was LSU or the Mississippi teams. You have been a member of the SEC a long time and now have vast majority of schedule vs. teams who weren't there with you for most of it.

LSU and the Miss schools literally voted for this!

Yes, getting rid of divisions is and has been what is best because it gives the conference the most flexibility with the schedule.

Pods will confuse the **** out of casual fans.

The east/west divisions aren’t bad at all and are easy for fans to remember.

just do a 9 game schedule with 3 permanent rivals, playing everyone else every other year. basically a pod but with less formality and more flexibility.

I agree, and if any conference can get it passed it’s the SEC. The ACC and Pac should be for it as well. Let’s see what the other conferences think.

I don't know why anyone would be against divisionless. Its illogical to me.

If they are so worried about the ACC and Notre Dame, just pass a rule that states in order to be considered for a conference championship a school must play X number of conference games

Right. These guys are all lawyers yet they suddenly don't know how to setup rules with certain parameters set. Mind boggling.

(10-11-2021 08:06 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  This is going to be impossible for schedules to satisfy everyone in terms of keeping games even in strength of schedule, frequency of rival games played, etc. This is the bed the SEC made by expanding to 16. The following is the best I could come up with.

They're going to have to do pods. LSU, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State are not going to sign off on being permanently separated from their longtime conference mates to the east, the pre-1992 SEC teams.

Potential pods:

OU
Texas
A&M
Mizzou

LSU
Arkansas
Ole Miss
Mississippi State

Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
Kentucky

Auburn
Alabama
Tennessee
Vanderbilt

9 game conference schedule.

3 games in your pod plus four against the pod you're paired with for two years.

Eighth game vs. a permanent cross-pod rival.
Ninth game vs. A team in the fourth pod.

Cross-pod rivals:

A&M-LSU
Mizzou-Arkansas
Vandy-Ole Miss
Auburn-Georgia
Kentucky-Tennessee
Alabama-OU
Texas-Florida
Mississippi State-SC

When your cross-pod rival falls in the same division as yours for two years, you'll play a team from another pod who's also sharing a division with their cross-pod rival.

I hope that makes sense. It's going to be messy. Schools aren't going to be happy. No sympathy.

I don't think they will do pods. You have to decide on how many games you want to play (8?, 9?, 10?) and then you can protect a number of schools for each team and alternate the rest.

With an 8 game schedule, each school can protect one game and then the other 14 schools rotate home/away over a four year period.

With a 9 game schedule, each school can protect three games and then the other 12 schools rotate home/away over a four year period.

With a 10 game schedule, each school can protect five games and then the other 10 schools rotate home/away over a four year period.

The eight game schedule leaves out a lot of good annual rivalries. i.e. does Alabama want to keep Auburn or Tennessee each year?

The nine game schedule seems like it would be able to protect most of the important rivalries, but then brings up the problem of every-other-year having only four conference home games while some schools get five. Coaches will grumble.

The ten game schedule would be able to cover just about all of the important rivalries, and you can use some of those protected slots to potentially figure out scheduling imbalances. However, you are playing ten conference games at this point and that may not be ideal. This would probably maximize the SEC TV deal, though, and likely puts it well ahead of even the Big Ten's.

None of these are perfect, but they are better than pods at protecting the games the schools want most. Top two teams play in the title game every year.

(10-11-2021 10:29 AM)Eggszecutor Wrote:  

(10-11-2021 08:06 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  This is going to be impossible for schedules to satisfy everyone in terms of keeping games even in strength of schedule, frequency of rival games played, etc. This is the bed the SEC made by expanding to 16. The following is the best I could come up with.

They're going to have to do pods. LSU, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State are not going to sign off on being permanently separated from their longtime conference mates to the east, the pre-1992 SEC teams.

Potential pods:

OU
Texas
A&M
Mizzou

LSU
Arkansas
Ole Miss
Mississippi State

Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
Kentucky

Auburn
Alabama
Tennessee
Vanderbilt

9 game conference schedule.

3 games in your pod plus four against the pod you're paired with for two years.

Eighth game vs. a permanent cross-pod rival.
Ninth game vs. A team in the fourth pod.

Cross-pod rivals:

A&M-LSU
Mizzou-Arkansas
Vandy-Ole Miss
Auburn-Georgia
Kentucky-Tennessee
Alabama-OU
Texas-Florida
Mississippi State-SC

When your cross-pod rival falls in the same division as yours for two years, you'll play a team from another pod who's also sharing a division with their cross-pod rival.

I hope that makes sense. It's going to be messy. Schools aren't going to be happy. No sympathy.

I don't think they will do pods. You have to decide on how many games you want to play (8?, 9?, 10?) and then you can protect a number of schools for each team and alternate the rest.

With an 8 game schedule, each school can protect one game and then the other 14 schools rotate home/away over a four year period.

With a 9 game schedule, each school can protect three games and then the other 12 schools rotate home/away over a four year period.

With a 10 game schedule, each school can protect five games and then the other 10 schools rotate home/away over a four year period.

The eight game schedule leaves out a lot of good annual rivalries. i.e. doe Alabama want to keep Auburn or Tennessee each year?

The nine game schedule seems like it would be able to protect most of the important rivalries, but then brings up the problem of every-other-year having only four conference home games while some schools get five. Coaches will grumble.

The ten game schedule would be able to cover just about all of the important rivalries, and you can use some of those protected slots to potentially figure out scheduling imbalances. However, you are playing ten conference games at this point and that may not be ideal. This would probably maximize the SEC TV deal, though, and likely puts it well ahead of even the Big Ten's.

None of these are perfect, but they are better than pods at protecting the games the schools want most. Top two teams play in the title game every year.

I believe the 10 game schedule will be the future and that the SEC is going to be more than willing to sacrifice the ACC in state rivalry games

No divisions - 8 game conference schedule

Full rival = play each other every year
Half rival = play each other once every 2 years, or 50% of the time
Not listed = play each other once every 3 years, or 33% of the time.

Oklahoma
Full rival - Tex, Mizzou, Ark
Half rival - A&M, LSU, KY, FL, Ga, Bama

Texas
Full rival - OK, A&M, Ark
Half rival - Mizzou, LSU, Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Ga

Texas A&M
Full rival - Tex, LSU, MSU
Half Rival - OK, Ark, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Bama, SCar

Mizzou
Full rival - OK, Ark, KY
Half rival - Tex, A&M, Tenn, Vandy, MSU, SCar

Ark
Full rival - OK, Mizzou, Tex
Half rival - A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Ky

LSU
Full rival - A&M, Ole Miss, MSU
Half rival - Tex, Ok, Ark, Bama, FL, Aub

Ole Miss
Full rival - MSU, LSU, Bama
Half rival - Tex, A&M, Ark, Aub, FL, Ga

MSU
Full rival - Ole Miss, A&M, LSU
Half rival - Tex, Ark, Mizzou, Vandy, Tenn, Aub

Bama
Full rival - Aub, Tenn, Ole Miss
Half rival - LSU, Ky, FL, Ga, Scar, Ok

Aub
Full rival - Bama, Ga, SCAR
Half rival - LSU, Ole Miss, FL, MSU, Tenn

Ga
Full rival - FL, SCAR, Aub
Half rival - Bama, Tenn, Tex, Vandy, Ole Miss, Ok

FL
Full rival - Ga, SCAR, Vandy,
Hal rival - Tenn, Bama, Aub, LSU, Ok, Ole Miss


SCAR -
full rival - FL, Ga, Aub
Half rival- A&M, Tenn, Vandy, Bama, Mizzou

Tenn
Full rival - Vandy, KY, Bama
Half rival - Mizzou, MSU, Ga, FL, SCar, Aub

Vandy
Full rival - Tenn, KY, FL
Half rival - Mizzou, Tex, Ark, MSU, Scar, Ga

Ky
Full rival - Tenn, Vandy, Mizzou
Half rival - FL, Ga, Bama, Aub, Ok, Ark

(10-11-2021 07:47 AM)goofus Wrote:  1. Scrap the divisions and play 8 conference games

2. 3 teams you play every year

3. 6 teams you play once every 2 years, or 50% of the time

4. 6 teams you play once every 3 years, or 33% of the time.

If they stick with 8 conference games and go for a divisionless setup with 3 protected annual opponents, it'd be better to have 3 additional opponents that you play 2 years out of 3, with the remaining 9 opponents being played once every 3 years. That way the schedule cycle (i.e., minimum time needed to play all conference opponents with the same number of home games vs. each as away games) is complete in 6 years rather than 12.

(10-11-2021 11:23 AM)goofus Wrote:  No divisions - 8 game conference schedule

Full rival = play each other every year
Half rival = play each other once every 2 years, or 50% of the time
Not listed = play each other once every 3 years, or 33% of the time.

Oklahoma
Full rival - Tex, Mizzou, Ark
Half rival - A&M, LSU, KY, FL, Ga, Bama

Texas
Full rival - OK, A&M, Ark
Half rival - Mizzou, LSU, Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Ga

Texas A&M
Full rival - Tex, LSU, MSU
Half Rival - OK, Ark, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Bama, SCar

Mizzou
Full rival - OK, Ark, KY
Half rival - Tex, A&M, Tenn, Vandy, MSU, SCar

Ark
Full rival - OK, Mizzou, Tex
Half rival - A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Ky

LSU
Full rival - A&M, Ole Miss, MSU
Half rival - Tex, Ok, Ark, Bama, FL, Aub

Ole Miss
Full rival - MSU, LSU, Bama
Half rival - Tex, A&M, Ark, Aub, FL, Ga

MSU
Full rival - Ole Miss, A&M, LSU
Half rival - Tex, Ark, Mizzou, Vandy, Tenn, Aub

Bama
Full rival - Aub, Tenn, Ole Miss
Half rival - LSU, Ky, FL, Ga, Scar, Ok

Aub
Full rival - Bama, Ga, SCAR
Half rival - LSU, Ole Miss, FL, MSU, Tenn

Ga
Full rival - FL, SCAR, Aub
Half rival - Bama, Tenn, Tex, Vandy, Ole Miss, Ok

FL
Full rival - Ga, SCAR, Vandy,
Hal rival - Tenn, Bama, Aub, LSU, Ok, Ole Miss


SCAR -
full rival - FL, Ga, Aub
Half rival- A&M, Tenn, Vandy, Bama, Mizzou

Tenn
Full rival - Vandy, KY, Bama
Half rival - Mizzou, MSU, Ga, FL, SCar, Aub

Vandy
Full rival - Tenn, KY, FL
Half rival - Mizzou, Tex, Ark, MSU, Scar, Ga

Ky
Full rival - Tenn, Vandy, Mizzou
Half rival - FL, Ga, Bama, Aub, Ok, Ark

Very interesting setup but they’ll need a lengthy annually updated spreadsheet.

(10-11-2021 11:23 AM)goofus Wrote:  No divisions - 8 game conference schedule

Full rival = play each other every year
Half rival = play each other once every 2 years, or 50% of the time
Not listed = play each other once every 3 years, or 33% of the time.

Oklahoma
Full rival - Tex, Mizzou, Ark
Half rival - A&M, LSU, KY, FL, Ga, Bama

Texas
Full rival - OK, A&M, Ark
Half rival - Mizzou, LSU, Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Ga

Texas A&M
Full rival - Tex, LSU, MSU
Half Rival - OK, Ark, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Bama, SCar

Mizzou
Full rival - OK, Ark, KY
Half rival - Tex, A&M, Tenn, Vandy, MSU, SCar

Ark
Full rival - OK, Mizzou, Tex
Half rival - A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, MSU, Vandy, Ky

LSU
Full rival - A&M, Ole Miss, MSU
Half rival - Tex, Ok, Ark, Bama, FL, Aub

Ole Miss
Full rival - MSU, LSU, Bama
Half rival - Tex, A&M, Ark, Aub, FL, Ga

MSU
Full rival - Ole Miss, A&M, LSU
Half rival - Tex, Ark, Mizzou, Vandy, Tenn, Aub

Bama
Full rival - Aub, Tenn, Ole Miss
Half rival - LSU, Ky, FL, Ga, Scar, Ok

Aub
Full rival - Bama, Ga, SCAR
Half rival - LSU, Ole Miss, FL, MSU, Tenn

Ga
Full rival - FL, SCAR, Aub
Half rival - Bama, Tenn, Tex, Vandy, Ole Miss, Ok

FL
Full rival - Ga, SCAR, Vandy,
Hal rival - Tenn, Bama, Aub, LSU, Ok, Ole Miss


SCAR -
full rival - FL, Ga, Aub
Half rival- A&M, Tenn, Vandy, Bama, Mizzou

Tenn
Full rival - Vandy, KY, Bama
Half rival - Mizzou, MSU, Ga, FL, SCar, Aub

Vandy
Full rival - Tenn, KY, FL
Half rival - Mizzou, Tex, Ark, MSU, Scar, Ga

Ky
Full rival - Tenn, Vandy, Mizzou
Half rival - FL, Ga, Bama, Aub, Ok, Ark

Aside from what I mentioned above about the better way to do a divisionless 8-game schedule for the SEC-16, there are few errors in this setup. Auburn and South Carolina are both short 1 half-rival; Texas A&M has Alabama as a half-rival but not vice versa; and Kentucky has Auburn, Florida, and Georgia as half-rivals but not vice versa in any case.

The easiest solution would be to make Kentucky a half-rival of Auburn, South Carolina, and Texas A&M (instead of Alabama in A&M's case).

(10-11-2021 12:23 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(10-11-2021 07:47 AM)goofus Wrote:  1. Scrap the divisions and play 8 conference games

2. 3 teams you play every year

3. 6 teams you play once every 2 years, or 50% of the time

4. 6 teams you play once every 3 years, or 33% of the time.

If they stick with 8 conference games and go for a divisionless setup with 3 protected annual opponents, it'd be better to have 3 additional opponents that you play 2 years out of 3, with the remaining 9 opponents being played once every 3 years. That way the schedule cycle (i.e., minimum time needed to play all conference opponents with the same number of home games vs. each as away games) is complete in 6 years rather than 12.

Here's an example of how it could work with 3 protected and 3 semi-protected opponents: