by ask_thedoctor

You may not have heard, but Texas and Oklahoma are joining the SEC in 2024. Once the news broke, outlets and other sports media drafted various divisions and pods to split the behemoth 16-team super-conference into, such as this one from the SEC Network. That's decent, but as a Vanderbilt fan I think it leaves a lot to be desired for a few reasons:

1) As much as possible, pods should be as geographically compact as possible while preserving as many historical rivalries as possible

2) These pods should be usable in all sports—specifically football, baseball (and softball for the other 15 schools), and both men's & women's basketball. The number of rotating opponents would change to reflect the total number of series/games those sports support.

3) Lastly, and quite frankly, I (Vanderbilt) don't want to play Alabama every year again. We already tried that.

Here are my pods:

They're not perfect, but each pod is 1) compact, 2) keeps traditionally-paired up schools together, and 3) features a relatively level balance of play across sports. Now it's not perfect. You might say "Wait, that Central pod is full of cupcakes!" and "Hey, you split up Mississippi State and Ole Miss! Non-starter!" Hold your horses. This is where things get interesting: each team has a permanent opponent from every other pod. See below:

This allows for very balanced strengths of schedule, and almost every traditional Southwest/Big 12 AND Southeastern Conference rivalry to remain intact. In this set-up, every school plays the same schools every single year, in every sport (like the divisions currently allow). This helps to alleviate the concerns about not seeing opponents from the other division for a decade at a time while allowing fans to build lasting, annual relationships with opposing fanbases. For football, this allows flexibility for both eight and nine conference games, while in baseball and basketball it still allows for teams to play every other team in the conference at least once every four years. The eagle-eyed readers among you will notice that this is already quite similar to how basketball already arranges its schedule, with no divisions and every school given five permanent home-and-home opponents annually.

Alabama

• Annual permanent opponents: Kentucky (Central), Tennessee (East), Texas (West), Auburn, Mississippi State, and LSU
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: four of six.
• In-state matchup kept? Yes.
• Concerns? They have an easier Strength of Schedule, but they keep traditional rivalries (Tennessee, LSU, and Auburn). They get Kentucky out of the north because both are original SEC schools (as Vanderbilt is paired up with Auburn out of the Southern Pod, the other traditional-10 North–South matchup). Alabama benefits by having stronger rotational opponents to play every year.

Arkansas

• Annual permanent opponents: Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, South Carolina, Mississippi State.
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: three of six.
• In-state matchup kept? N/A
• Major concerns: Tied for keeping the fewest SEC schools, but paired up with old Big 12/Southwest/state of Texas rivals. The SOS is pretty balanced here. The pairing with South Carolina isn’t ideal, but given that the two schools entered the league at the same time, this lines up nicely. It also ensures Arkansas can rekindle old Southwest/Big 12 rivalries.

Auburn

• Annual permanent opponents: Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: four of six
• In-state matchup kept? Yes
• Major concerns: This is a tougher draw for Auburn in getting Oklahoma, Alabama, and Georgia, but having Vanderbilt and Mississippi State helps them out. It’s frankly not much worse than the SEC West already. While they lose Ole Miss every year, almost all of their opponents are close for good fan travel.

Florida

• Annual permanent opponents: Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU, Texas
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: five of six
• In-state matchup kept? N/A
• Major concerns: Florida keeps most of its traditional games and comes out pretty well in terms of keeping regular games with the teams it really cares about. They also lose their longest permanent road trips (Missouri and Vanderbilt).

Georgia

• Annual permanent opponents: Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: three of six
• In-state matchup kept? N/A
• Major concerns: Keeps most traditional rivals out of the East, but adds tough Oklahoma matchup annually. Loses its "easiest" three games in Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Missouri annually, increasing overall SOS, but generally means that they will have weaker opponents for rotating games. This is partially offset by gaining Ole Miss.

Kentucky

• Annual permanent opponents: Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Missouri, Vanderbilt
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: three of six
• In-state matchup kept? N/A
• Major concerns: Due to its geography, Kentucky loses a high number of its traditional matchups, and is hurt the most by a bigger league that expands south and west. Arguably the hardest out-of-pod matchups. It’s bad for football, good for basketball. Loses the most of traditional East schools/SEC originals because they’re all in the East pod. They also have the highest amount of travel, partly due to northern location (but this isn’t much of a change from things currently). Loses Mississippi State (paired with Ole Miss) out of the old SEC West and Tennessee (paired with Vanderbilt) out of the East, which is a tough blow for fanbases. Compensation is that it gets the "easiest" pod of nearby rivals and keeps Florida. This also means most of its rotating opponents will be traditional SEC schools.

LSU

• Annual permanent opponents: Missouri, Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn, and Mississippi State
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: five of six.
• In-state matchup kept? N/A
• Major concerns: This deal turns out fairly neutral for LSU. Its permanent opponents are all fairly close and they keep most of their annual matchups and most-cared-about rivalries. Only loses Ole Miss to protect Ole Miss-MSST while gaining nearby-ish Missouri.

Missouri

• Annual permanent opponents: Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Arkansas, South Carolina, and LSU
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: five of six.
• In-state matchup kept? N/A
• Major concerns: Drops Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, its longest and hardest trips every year while keeping similar schools nearby and in its time zone (except for Kentucky). This is a much better deal for Missouri’s fans.

Ole Miss

• Annual permanent opponents: Georgia, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: three of six
• In-state matchup kept? Yes (through permanent cross-pod pairing)
• Major concerns: Like Kentucky, Ole Miss loses a significant number of traditional rivalries in Alabama, Auburn, and LSU every year—close, heated rivals. Instead, it adds Georgia, Missouri, and Kentucky as permanent opponents. Road trips to Kentucky and Missouri are further than Ole Miss fans are used to driving, but the compensation is low SOS of its opponents. It gets harder cross-pod matchups in Georgia and A&M to account for easier pod. Keeps Ole Miss–Vandy and Egg Bowl annually, which is beneficial to all three fanbases.

Mississippi State

• Annual permanent opponents: Ole Miss, South Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn, LSU
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: five of six
• In-state matchup kept? Yes (through permanent cross-pod pairing)
• Major concerns: Keeps almost all traditional rivals. Loses UK but gains South Carolina instead. All other opponents are close by for travel purposes. Toughest in-pod matches, but easier out-of-pod match-ups (South Carolina and Arkansas).

Oklahoma

• Annual permanent opponents: Florida, Kentucky,
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: one of one
• In-state matchup kept? N/A
• Major concerns: Welcome to the SEC. You get Georgia, Auburn, and Kentucky annually in additional to your western foes of Arkansas, Texas, and Texas A&M. Relatively balanced in SOS, with old-school traditional rivalries coming back annually.

South Carolina

• Annual permanent opponents: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi State, and Tennessee
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: four of six.
• In-state matchup kept? N/A
• Major concerns: Keeps most SEC East rivalries, also gains Mississippi State and Arkansas at the expense of Kentucky and Vanderbilt, which makes long travel a wash. Strength of schedule is essentially unchanged.

Tennessee

• Annual permanent opponents: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: five of six
• In-state matchup kept? Yes (through permanent cross-pod pairing)
• Major concerns: Keeps most of its SEC East rivalries as well as the Third Saturday in October. Picks up A&M out of the West, but loses heated Kentucky matchup in order to keep the Vanderbilt in-state match-up. Overall a good deal for the Tennessee fanbase.

Texas

• Annual permanent opponents: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: one of one
• In-state matchup kept? Yes
• Major concerns: Welcome to the SEC. Have fun playing Alabama every year since that’s what you wanted. You also get your Western pod of traditional foes as well as getting Vanderbilt out of the Central and Florida out of the East.

Texas A&M

• Annual permanent opponents: Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: four of six
• In-state matchup kept? Yes
• Major concerns: Keeps the LSU matchup out of the South Pod while gaining its old Big 12 foes. The annual matchup with Tennessee is new, but bodes well with A&M’s traditional hate of orange-based schools called "UT". Overall strength of schedule is pretty balanced compared to the SEC West gauntlet.

Vanderbilt

• Annual permanent opponents: Auburn, Kentucky, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas
• Annual opponents kept from 2012-2023 football conference schedule: three of six.
• In-state matchup kept? Yes (through permanent cross-pod pairing)
• Major concerns: Keeps traditional rivalries with Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Kentucky. Missouri is nearby which is convenient for both fanbases, given that both are in central time and have played every year since Missouri joined the league. Gains Texas as a trade off of losing traditional rivalries with Georgia and Florida, but at least Vanderbilt is used to playing UT every year. Auburn was a mid-20th century matchup that was lost in the expansion to twelve schools, so this matchup out of the South seems appropriate and protects other rivalries. Vanderbilt fans won’t miss the annual cursed South Carolina matchup.

Overall summary:

The above plan is a reasonable compromise between four goals: 1) keeping traditional rivalries; 2) maintaining a semblance of balanced strength of schedule; 3) values compactness and cultural similarities; 4) Doesn’t put some schools at an obvious disadvantage (like having Missouri play in the "East" as the northernmost school). and remains as compact as possible. This format is also compatible with an eight or nine-game football conference schedule. The only major missing annual rivalries are significantly lopsided ones like Florida–Vanderbilt, Georgia–Vanderbilt, Kentucky–Tennessee, Ole Miss–Alabama. The only balanced rivalry no longer on the table is Kentucky–Mississippi State. While schools in the Central pod are traditionally weaker, the weaker pod is offset by having strong permanent cross-pod rivalries.

Why is this better than "one big division", you might ask?

• Less travel is better for fanbases and student athletes (see: USC & UCLA in the Big Ten);
• Having pods also benefits the smaller schools in that they can have some seeding advantages by winning their pods—an approach that is mirrored at many other levels of play across many sports (e.g. the winner of a weak NFL or NBA division still gets a chance to go to the playoffs). This keeps their fanbases engaged and benefits their local ticket offices.
• Applicability to other sports. For example: baseball plays ten series a year. Each school would play its six opponents and rotate between four other schools. In four years, every school plays everyone at least once.
• Most importantly: it gives fanbases an opportunity to build a rivalry and the associated sports hate. A sixteen-school conference means that there are a lot of matchups that fans haven’t cared about, have no need to care about, and won’t happen often (no one is hyped about Oklahoma—Mississippi State match-ups). More permanent opponents and predictable home-and-homes gives fans an opportunity to build relationships (and rivalries) with fanbases.

So, what do y’all think?