sec conference divisions with texas and oklahoma

#Sec conference divisions with texas and oklahoma tv

The downside? It’s really not ideal with the 8-game conference schedule. You can shift the balance of power to a more even place while not breaking up those permanent crossovers. By putting Oklahoma in the East, you’re instantly adding another contender to a division that needs just that. I already hinted at this, but I think doing this checks the most boxes. What’s my solution? Oklahoma in the East, Texas in the West That’s probably a good sign, even if it isn’t very practical. Then again, Georgia, Oklahoma and A&M are all recruiting at a top-6 level right now, and they have their long-term coaches locked in. Auburn might not have Texas-level upside in terms of sustaining that level. Which division would you rather be in? On one hand, the idea of Texas returning to power would make the West an absolute gauntlet. But just open your mind and entertain this possibility for trying to make sure neither division is too top-heavy. Florida being in the West with Oklahoma in the East makes about as much sense as West Virginia being in the Big 12. That’s why it’s completely random, though probably not kind to those travel bills. Yes, I realize this makes no geographical sense whatsoever. If we wanted to base this on the current strength of each program, here’s what my random formula spit out:

By day’s end, that became much more legitimate. Hey, before Wednesday, few things felt more random than the notion that Oklahoma and Texas were interested in joining the SEC. The SEC could justify these divisions by saying it simply wanted to side with geography so that it wouldn’t further sway the balance of power to the West. The East having Alabama, Florida and Georgia seems like it would have a case to be the best division in America, though that’s probably going to be the case for whatever division Alabama is in.

If we’re doing the geographical solution wherein we don’t have Oklahoma in the East (or Mizzou), this is what that would like:ĭare I say, that actually doesn’t look that imbalanced? It’s more balanced than the current structure of the league, which typically has about 4 contenders in the West and 2 in the East.

#Sec conference divisions with texas and oklahoma tv

Meanwhile, Texas would go to a division where it would have an even steeper climb to try and get “back.” But it would also stand to benefit off the SEC’s TV revenue stream, and if the thinking is that Playoff expansion is going to force teams to load up their nonconference schedules anyways, why not just build that in with conference play?Īnyways, back to realignment! The geographical solution Florida and Georgia would have someone that could break up the pseudo-division title game in Jacksonville. You could keep those cross-division rivals and not worry about the potential blowback you’d receive for taking an annual game like LSU-Florida or Alabama-Tennessee off the schedule.Īs far as the balance of power, it would probably give the East a bit more of a respectability, too. Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork on news that Texas and OU could be coming to the SEC: “We want to be the only SEC team from the state of Texas.” I just thought of the reaction of A&M fans if they found out that Texas was not only joining the SEC, but it was joining the division. While Dan Mullen isn’t crazy about the permanent crossover matchups, you could drop Texas in the West and Oklahoma in the East and give them the annual crossover matchup against each other. Would you dare split up Oklahoma and Texas? You could. And by “dig into that,” I suppose we can look beyond the idea of getting rid of divisions for a potential 16-team SEC because I can see that too many people would complain about conspiracy theories if the scheduling gods didn’t go their way. If that wild message board fantasy became a reality at some point, what would that even look like? Leaders at both schools declared they were willing to wait until that date, when the Big 12’s grant of media rights expires, to move on.Yeah, my brain already went there. The announced start date for their membership was July 1, 2025. The SEC set off a round of conference realignment when it invited Oklahoma and Texas to join its conference in July 2021. Oklahoma and Texas will also play one neutral site game against each other in 2024.Įvery current SEC member will have either or on their schedule.It will play at Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Arkansas. Texas will play Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State at home.It will play Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss and Mizzou on the road. Oklahoma will play Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina at home.Each SEC team will play either Texas or Oklahoma once in the upcoming 2024 season.Both schools reached an agreement in February to exit the Big 12 one year early and become members of the SEC in 2024.The conference released its football schedule on Wednesday for 2024, the year the Longhorns and Sooners join the SEC. Texas and Oklahoma’s schedules for their first season in the SEC are set.