Should the SEC eliminate divisions in 2024?
College football fans can all agree on one thing: The SEC is the most powerful conference in the sport and will continue to be for a very long time.
The SEC is at the forefront of conference realignment, having snatched the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners from the Big 12 to join the conference in 2024. The two schools’ additions, however, does create some problems as the conference expands to 16 teams and plans to remove divisions.
On Tuesday, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart made his thoughts clear on the SEC’s scheduling debate.
“The most overrated conversation in this world,” Smart said, via ESPN.
SEC teams currently play eight games during conference play, though the SEC might have to make a couple of changes in their scheduling once the Longhorns and Sooners enter. Although it may not please a college football fanatic, eliminating divisions is the right thing to do.
Look no further than the Pac-12, which is coming off its best season as a conference since 2016. Eliminating divisions creates more competition as teams are scheduled to face anyone in their respective conference rather than division opponents.
Currently, Georgia faces a couple of teams from the SEC West, but their biggest competition in the SEC East is Tennessee. Let’s be honest, is anyone really going to pick South Carolina or Kentucky to ever go toe-to-toe with the back-to-back national champions? As Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss says, “C’mon Man.” The SEC East is an absolute joke.
Another debate the SEC is currently facing is whether to stick with its eight-game conference slate or move to nine games. If the conference opts to continue playing eight games, the annual rivalries for each school will drop to one. If the SEC choose the nine-game route, teams will have three annual rivalries.
The benefit of the potential shift to nine games is that both college football and SEC fans alike will witness more rivalry matchups throughout the season instead of the main ones scheduled at the end of the season. Fans would love to see their team play all their bitter rivals year after year.
No matter how many teams are included in the conference, the SEC will forever be the best. Fans should agree with Smart that this conversation is overrated.
With more teams hitting the transfer portal aggressively and the ever-changing landscape brought on by conference realignment, will it be more difficult for powerhouses to stay as powerful as they once were? Only time will tell.
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