The SEC's New Scheduling Model With Texas and Oklahoma Would Be Insane

Somehow, in less than 24 hours, we've gone from nobody even discussing the idea of Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC to reports that the schools will inform the Big 12 as early as next week they intend to decline extending their media rights in 2025. It actually looks like there's a real chance the Red River Showdown will be an SEC game sooner than later.

Regardless of what you think about that, it would be the biggest conference realignment move in the history of college football. And it would make the SEC even more of a beast than it already is. So what would happen to the league's schedule?

Well, to oversimplify things, it would finally get fixed.

The SEC has used its antiquated divisions system for far too long now. I've discussed this topic on this very website before, but Tennessee plays Alabama every year while every other SEC East team plays the Tide once every seven years. Even aside from competitive balance, not playing half of your conference at home for 15 years at a time is ridiculous. We've needed a change for quite some time.

I discuss pod scheduling in the blog linked above, which is what the SEC Network broadcast took a look at this morning, obviously factoring in Texas and Oklahoma. In order to have the pods work the way they're intended to, the SEC would have to go from an eight-game schedule to nine — but after everyone played 10 conference games in 2020, I don't think too many schools would have an objection to those extra home SEC game ticket sales every other year.

I would make a couple changes to those proposed pods, though. Pods A and B would stay the same. As much as I'd love to see Tennessee-Florida remain an annual game, you obviously can't get rid of Auburn-Alabama and the SEC will never get rid of Alabama-Tennessee, so we have to put Vandy in there too, because playing UT is the only thing they have.

But we're not bringing Texas into the SEC to have it not play A&M every year. I'm not going to listen to those two bitch any more than they already have about who won't play who and all that nonsense — and A&M's opposition to Texas joining proves it's absolutely their fault, but whatever. So take LSU and Texas A&M and flip them with Arkansas and Missouri. Yeah, Pod C sucks, but literally nobody cares. Pod D is going to be a damn show every year.

And then we'd still get games like Texas-Georgia and Oklahoma-Alabama every other year. My team isn't competing for national championships anytime soon anyway, so I'm all in for anything that makes SEC and college football more fun.

This would take the best conference in college football and step it up to another level. And it sounds like it really might happen.