The SEC avoided having a year in which it would be a 16-team super conference with a 4-team Playoff. Ultimately, that happened in the 11th hour. Of course, the snag was making the TV partners happy. Once we found out in December that the Playoff was in fact expanding to 12 teams in 2024, it made sense that the move to get Oklahoma and Texas to come a year early would soon follow. It was always going to be about the Playoff. The SEC gets to have this super conference perfectly aligned with Playoff expansion Life got harder for everyone in the SEC, though the East and the SEC’s new members will have the greater jump to make.Ĥ. All signs are that they will be and that the SEC will soon reward the 2 best conference records instead of an East winner and a West winner.Īt the same time, I don’t know that you could say “life gets easier for West teams.” The conference as a whole got harder by adding 2 traditional powers who rank around the top 10 nationally in roster talent (via 247sports talent composite) on an annual basis. That is, assuming that divisions are dead. One year of clear East supremacy doesn’t change the belief that life just got tougher for the East. Also, the East actually went 8-6 against the West this past year. And unlike the previous instance of an East team winning the SEC (2017), there wasn’t a West team who later avenged that loss in the College Football Playoff National Championship. The SEC East was finally better than the West in 2022, but … enjoy the last year of this, East.įor the second time in the post-Tim Tebow era, the East took home the SEC title. It could actually be the FCS and Group of 5 teams who get matchups canceled or delayed. Also remember that in the expanded Playoff era, we’re getting more Power 5 nonconference matchups because the margin for error is greater. If the SEC does indeed go with the 9-game conference schedule, a whole lot of phone calls are going to be coming. That’s 38 instances of a nonconference schedule with 4 matchups. That’s going to set up for some awkward situations for athletic directors, many of whom have already loaded up their future nonconference schedules with 4 such games.įrom 2024-2030, here are all the SEC nonconference schedules that already have at least 4 games: So if a 9-game conference schedule is coming, that means there’s only room for 3 nonconference games for SEC teams. If it’s a 9-game conference schedule, a TON of nonconference game contracts are getting thrown out or tweaked That’s a bummer, but it beats the alternative, if you ask me. Instead, they’ll play 2 out of every 4 years. Dellenger isn’t saying “Florida and Tennessee won’t face each other” but there will be a few games like that which might not be annual. It is our best guess.) /DFt02FJjTdĪgain, that’s just a projection. With ADs leaning toward a 9-gm format (3 permanent + 6 rotational), we took a jab at the 3 permanents for each team based on (1) rivalries (2) geography (3) equity. This projection, via Ross Dellenger, would make a lot of sense: I would assume that with Texas and Oklahoma on board, we’ll soon have an announcement as to what the new schedule format would be. There will be more balanced schedules than ever, and instead of going 6 years between matchups for non-rival crossovers, you’re getting matchups more frequently. And while there could be a few that fall through the cracks, the longest stretch of time without facing an SEC opponent is 2 years. That would satisfy the need to keep these SEC rivalries intact. My guess is that we’re going to see a 9-game conference schedule with 3 permanent matchups and 6 rotating home-and-homes. Soon, we should actually get a decision on new conference schedule formats OL: Earnest Greene ( Georgia), Kadyn Proctor (Alabama), Lance Heard ( LSU), Chase Bisontis (Texas A&M), Andrew Chamblee (Arkansas), Trovon Baugh (South Carolina)ĭL: T.J.That news, which we got on Thursday night, carries a significant impact across the landscape of the sport, especially as the new Playoff era is also set to begin in 2024. WR: Eugene Wilson III (Florida), London Humphreys (Vanderbilt) RB: Sedrick Alexander (Vanderbilt), Rueben Owens (Texas A&M) Here’s a full breakdown of which SEC freshmen were given the honors by their conference coaches. Florida had four nominations, the most of any team, while Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Auburn each had three. He was named the conference’s freshman of the year on Wednesday for his defensive efforts, and he was undoubtedly the most recognizable name on the freshman squad.Īll fourteen teams in the conference had at least one player on the All-Freshman squad. The SEC announced the conference’s All-Freshman football team for the 2023 season on Thursday.Īlabama defensive back Caleb Downs, who was also named to the First-Team All-SEC squad, finished fourth in the conference with 99 total tackles in his debut season.
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