We assigned three rivals for each SEC football team. Here are our glaring omissions
When Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC in 2024, a few rivalries will be restored, but a handful of others will reduce to being played once every two years.
The SEC has not approved a schedule model for its 16-team future, but it may finally embrace a nine-game conference schedule. One popular model being considered is a 3-6 schedule model, in which team would be assigned three rivals to play annually.
On this episode of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network hosts Blake Toppmeyer and Christina Long play matchmaker and assign three rivals for each team.
Some choices are obvious: The Iron Bowl, Egg Bowl, Red River aren’t going anywhere.
But making the puzzle pieces fit gets tricky and leads to sacrificing some second- or third-tier rivalries. For instance, will Florida-Tennessee and Arkansas-LSU shift to being played once every two years? Also, a few odd pairings emerge. How does a Florida-Oklahoma rivalry sound? Nothing like 1,200 miles of separation to foment a rivalry.
Here's the rivalry lineup Toppmeyer proposes.
His aim is to preserve the best rivalries while keeping competitive balance in mind.
Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee, LSU
Arkansas: Missouri, Texas, Ole Miss
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt
LSU: Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Alabama
Ole Miss: Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas
Mississippi State: Ole Miss, Kentucky, Texas A&M
Texas A&M: Texas, LSU, Mississippi State
Oklahoma: Texas, Missouri, Florida
Texas: Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas
Florida: Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma
Georgia: Florida, Auburn, South Carolina
Kentucky: Vanderbilt, Florida, Mississippi State
Missouri: Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina
South Carolina: Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee
Tennessee: Vanderbilt, Alabama, South Carolina
Vanderbilt: Tennessee, Kentucky, Auburn
Long takes exception to a few of Toppmeyer’s alignments and points out some omissions.
In particular, why is Toppmeyer angling to chop Kentucky-Tennessee? Shouldn't the Vols play the Wildcats, whom they've faced 118 times, instead of South Carolina?
She'd also like to preserve Arkansas-LSU in place of Arkansas-Missouri. The trouble is, six or more teams have a case for claiming LSU as a "rival." The Tigers' dance card fills quickly.
Other matchups that didn't survive Toppmeyer's chopping block, at least for annual preservation:
Florida-Tennessee; Florida-LSU; Auburn-Florida; Auburn-LSU; Ole Miss-Vanderbilt; and Alabama-Mississippi State.
Still, the beauty of this 3-6 schedule model is each team would still play its "non-rivals" once every two years, creating more cohesion within the conference, thanks to divisions likely sunsetting after the 2023 season.
Where to listen to SEC Football Unfiltered
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Christina Long is the Arkansas beat writer for the Southwest Times Record. You can subscribe to their podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.