Countdown to Final Decision on an Expanded SEC Football Schedule Continues

It is a 75-week countdown until the expanded sixteen-team Southeastern Conference will kick off the 2024 season. Although the expansion has already affected all college athletics, football has been the most impacted.

The Big Ten has responded to both the SEC's ten-season deal and the two-team expansion. The Big Ten has been coming back from the loss of their bell cows by getting good network deals and has expanded by four teams. Finally, the Big Ten makes a full dozen and now it is a waiting game to see if Pac 12 can get a media deal of their own. 

On the East Coast, ACC programs continue fighting the confining contracts that run for another dozen years.

Within the league some internal shaking up is coming up fast with a sort of self-imposed deadline to present football scheduling for 2024 and beyond. A plan will be shown to all sixteen athletic directors by late April or early May. Once a true plan is arranged SEC presidents will present the plan in May's annual spring meeting. 

As early as 2019 scheduling plans were already being built before the final expansion and network deal. 2024 is not far away and as it gets closer, fan bases from all over demand to know who they will and won't be playing. The expanded schedule of nine games to play comes with the expanded league coming in.

The expanded playoff encourages the SEC to avoid the sure nine extra losses overall of a longer schedule. Another loss will not know an SEC contender out of any playoff but it will impact seeding. 

As much as a nine-game merge is expected, it also means nine more SEC games in a season, which is nine more games for ESPN to pay. It will need to be re-negotiated so eight games delay the dealing. From media speculation, the nine-game model may be easier and more entertaining columnizing because it allows everyone to make their best guesses at the now three opponents. 

Also, the nine-game rotation raises the question of how many historic rivalries will be kept.

The Egg Bowl, the SEC's second most played series, is automatically kept due to history and present annual availability as the SEC's thanksgiving slot. If history was the main factor, Mississippi State's permanent trio would be Ole Miss (119 games), LSU (116 games), and Alabama (107 games), obviously, geography is responsible for this history. If the SEC were to use a 'pod' system, finding three would be easy.

The SEC has presented a list to pick preferred permanent opponents for all teams to choose from. Mississippi State has not openly shared its pick, so fans have shared their opinions. Mississippi State will keep its 1990 series against Kentucky, and the SEC will keep the two maroon and white teams together, Mississippi State and Texas A & M. It is instructive that writers find their projections from at least one East/West matchup even if the Division goes way after this fall for football. 

The SEC will have to shove geography aside to make a 3-6/6 work while keeping rivals angry and networks happy. By this measure, it makes more sense for Mississippi State to play Auburn over LSU. The 6/6 cycling means the Bulldogs will get to play the Tiger teams often, home and away. This also means Vanderbilt will still be the least-played series for State.

Whatever the SEC decides on the rotation, it is a win across the board.