SEC Football: Cross-Division Matchups for Next 12 (!) Years Announced

The SEC announced 12 years worth of intra-conference football matchups on Monday. Now Commodore fans stuck in Tuscaloosa, College Station, and Baton Rouge know when they can expect their team to come back to town for key SEC matchups.

Vanderbilt learned who they'll face from the SEC West with their one unsettled conference game per season today. After traveling to Starksville for a game with Mississippi State in 2014, they'll pair up with Texas A&M for the second time in three years when the Aggies come to Nashville in 2015. The years that follow will bring powerhouse programs like LSU, Auburn, and Alabama to Dudley Field over the next dozen years as well.

Vanderbilt has seven permanent SEC opponents that they play each year. Six are their SEC East division-mates - Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and Missouri. The seventh is their paired SEC West rival Ole Miss - a team that has battled with the Commodores in some instant classic matchups over the past five years. Now, new head coach Derek Mason and his staff know exactly who their eighth conference game will come against for the foreseeable future.

The SEC was careful to balance Vandy's home schedule with powerhouse programs and less exciting matchups. The Commodores have a pattern in which they host marquee games against Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Ole Miss in even-numbered years. They'll face the SEC West's most prestigious programs - teams like Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, and LSU - at home in odd-numbered years, adding balance to a home schedule that will include Georgia, Kentucky, and Missouri. That fourth home game will stand to bolster a home slate that promises several stellar matchups on an annual basis.