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    Divisions are done and dusted. After 2023, the days of Atlanta hosting one representative from the West and one from the East are over. With the introduction of Texas and Oklahoma on the horizon, the SEC is reimagining how it models its schedule.

    The league has stayed firm on its eight-game format as other conferences have accepted nine. Even with 16 teams in the SEC starting in 2024, the SEC is sticking at eight. It also published a one-off schedule for 2024, promising something more substantial for the future at a later date.

    I’ve taken it upon myself to do the league office’s dirty work. I have devised a full-fledged model that the SEC can use for 2025 and beyond – until it poaches its next prey, anyway – that does its best to value vital rivalries while balancing schedules and keeping everyone engaged.

    It’s also publishing schedules on a one-off basis, announcing the 2024 slate this past summer with the slates for 2025 and beyond a current unknown. The SEC is sticking to eight games for at least one more year, but how big can the league get before it evolves?

    The SEC Should Play a Nine-Game Schedule

    Now is the time. With 16 teams and a messy web of rivalries that should be a priority to feature, plus bountiful brands that the league office will want to see share fields, the SEC should drop the buy games the weekend before Thanksgiving and replace them with an in-conference contest.

    With nine games and 16 teams, the SEC is set up to operate a Flex Protect Plus model with each team receiving three opponents that it will play annually for four-straight seasons, the most important matchups possessing permanent protection. That leaves six games unassigned, the perfect amount to evenly rotate the rest of the 12 teams to promise everyone a home-and-home series with each other conference member every four years.

    That brings us to the most difficult aspect of the SEC’s scheduling dilemma: which rivalries do you protect? For example, Alabama-LSU is viewed as a marquee matchup that we know the league would like to prioritize, but the Crimson Tide have complained it would unfairly load their slate. By using a Flex Protect Plus system, Alabama could hold its third protected spot open while still meeting the Tigers often enough to keep the heat.

    With that in mind, these are the series I’ve selected for annual renewals:

    GeorgiaFlorida
    GeorgiaAuburn
    AlabamaAuburn
    AlabamaTennessee
    VanderbiltTennessee
    VanderbiltKentucky
    Ole MissMississippi State
    Ole MissLSU
    Texas A&MLSU
    Texas A&MTexas
    OklahomaTexas

    I’ll admit, I went scarce. There are plenty of rivalries that I did not choose to protect permanently that you could argue for. But my goal was to give each team at least one open slot and maintain a competitive balance. I want a healthy rotation. Secondary rivalries will get plenty of play with between four and six matchups per decade.

    Here is an example of how the SEC’s protected pairings for 2025 through 2028 could look, with permanent opponents italicized:

    Florida: Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky

    Georgia: Florida, Auburn, South Carolina

    South Carolina: Florida, Georgia, Missouri

    Tennessee: Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky

    Vanderbilt: Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss

    Kentucky: Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Florida

    Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee, LSU

    Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi State

    Ole Miss: Mississippi State, LSU, Vanderbilt

    Mississippi State: Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas

    Missouri: Arkansas, South Carolina, Oklahoma

    Arkansas: Missouri, Texas, Mississippi State

    LSU: Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama

    Texas: Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Arkansas

    Texas A&M: Texas, LSU, Oklahoma

    Oklahoma: Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M

    With those relationships in mind, here are what the conference clashes and their locations could be from 2025 through 2032 for a few SEC participants:

    Florida

    2025202620272028
    Tennesseeat TennesseeMissouriat Missouri
    at AlabamaAlabamaat Mississippi StateMississippi State
    Ole Missat Ole MissAuburnat Auburn
    at TexasTexasat VanderbiltVanderbilt
    Oklahomaat OklahomaArkansasat Arkansas
    at Texas A&MTexas A&Mat LSULSU
    Kentuckyat KentuckyKentuckyat Kentucky
    at South CarolinaSouth Carolinaat South CarolinaSouth Carolina
    vs Georgiavs Georgiavs Georgiavs Georgia
    2029203020312032
    Mississippi Stateat Mississippi StateTexasat Texas
    at VanderbiltVanderbiltat South CarolinaSouth Carolina
    Tennesseeat TennesseeOklahomaat Oklahoma
    at Texas A&MTexas A&Mat AlabamaAlabama
    Auburnat AuburnKentuckyat Kentucky
    at ArkansasArkansasat Ole MissOle Miss
    Missouriat MissouriMissouriat Missouri
    at LSULSUat LSULSU
    vs Georgiavs Georgiavs Georgiavs Georgia

    Alabama

    2025202620272028
    Ole Missat Ole MissKentuckyat Kentucky
    at TexasTexasat South CarolinaSouth Carolina
    Georgiaat GeorgiaTexas A&Mat Texas A&M
    at FloridaFloridaat VanderbiltVanderbilt
    Mississippi Stateat Mississippi StateMissouriat Missouri
    at ArkansasArkansasat OklahomaOklahoma
    at LSULSUat LSULSU
    Tennesseeat TennesseeTennesseeat Tennessee
    at AuburnAuburnat AuburnAuburn
    2029203020312032
    Arkansasat ArkansasMissouriat Missouri
    at Ole MissOle Missat LSULSU
    Kentuckyat KentuckyOklahomaat Oklahoma
    at TexasTexasat FloridaFlorida
    South Carolinaat South CarolinaGeorgiaat Georgia
    at VanderbiltVanderbiltat Texas A&MTexas A&M
    at Mississippi StateMississippi Stateat Mississippi StateMississippi State
    Tennesseeat TennesseeTennesseeat Tennessee
    at AuburnAuburnat AuburnAuburn

    Texas

    2025202620272028
    Vanderbiltat VanderbiltFloridaat Florida
    at Ole MissOle Missat AlabamaAlabama
    Missouriat MissouriTennesseeat Tennessee
    at South CarolinaSouth Carolinaat LSULSU
    Georgiaat GeorgiaKentuckyat Kentucky
    at AuburnAuburnat Mississippi StateMississippi State
    Arkansasat ArkansasArkansasat Arkansas
    vs Oklahomavs Oklahomavs Oklahomavs Oklahoma
    at Texas A&MTexas A&Mat Texas A&MTexas A&M
    2029203020312032
    Tennesseeat TennesseeAuburnat Auburn
    at GeorgiaGeorgiaat ArkansasArkansas
    Vanderbiltat VanderbiltFloridaat Florida
    at Ole MissOle Missat AlabamaAlabama
    South Carolinaat South CarolinaKentuckyat Kentucky
    at LSULSUat Mississippi StateMississippi State
    Missouriat MissouriMissouriat Missouri
    vs Oklahomavs Oklahomavs Oklahomavs Oklahoma
    Texas A&Mat Texas A&MTexas A&Mat Texas A&M

    Under my plan, the SEC could broadcast matchups like Texas at Alabama, Tennessee at LSU, and Florida at Oklahoma with annual regularity while protecting its most important rivalries, secondary rivalries, and longstanding series that might not be the most heated but still mean something.

    It would mean expanding the conference schedule, which in turn means constricting the non-conference segment. The SEC has four out-of-conference, in-state rivalries that are played on the final week of the regular season and matter deeply to each of the programs involved. The Gamecocks, Bulldogs, Gators, and Wildcats will all want to save those.

    And they easily can, even with a nine-game schedule. Iowa and Iowa State have made it work for years while both playing nine contests in their respective conferences; USC has found the space for Notre Dame. All the league and its teams have to do is be willing to leave behind their habitually-scheduled buy games for the second-to-last week of the regular season. That doesn’t mean you can never have those sorts of matchups – there are still three open slots for every school not named South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, or Kentucky, and two for every school that is.

    The playoff is expanding, and that means more wiggle room for entry. The SEC, like all the leagues, angles to get in as many teams as possible. It means more money, more prestige, and of course, more money. With invitations becoming less exclusive, the SEC shouldn’t feel as compelled to limit how packed its teams’ schedules can be. Teams with two losses will routinely make a 12-team playoff. Even three won’t be an automatic disqualifier.

    In the coming landscape, the league would be better served transforming the time spent on the extra buy games into opportunities for marquee in-conference matchups that fans want to attend, viewers want to watch, networks want to broadcast, and advertisers want a piece of. ESPN isn’t paying the SEC $3 billion to try to sell Abilene Christian at Texas A&M in late November. For that money, the Mouse wants Oklahoma at Texas A&M, and so would almost everyone else.

    For the SEC to put out the best product it can while maintaining competitive balance and historically heavy series, a leap to nine games and a Flex Protect Plus model is the solution.

    CFB FAQs

    How are college football bowl games determined?

    Only bowl-eligible teams are selected for College Football Bowls. At the NCAA Division I FBS level, the standard by which teams become available for selection in bowl games varies. For example, in 2018-19 season, the team had to have at least as many wins as overall losses. Wins against non-Division I teams do not count toward the number of wins.

    How do you play college football pick'em pools?

    Simply pick winners from the games each week selected by the Pool Commissioner, either straight up or against the spread. Whichever member has the most points at the end of the season wins

    What is a football pool?

    "Football Pool" is a broad term for a group of people competitively guessing the outcome of one or more football games. There are many types of formats, each assigning winners differently. They can be played informally between friends or through a more formalized system. They are often considered a great alternative to fantasy football given the ease of playing, although there are fantasy football pools as well.

    How to run a football pool?

    How you decide to run a football pool varies greatly depending on the game type. In each case, however, you'll want to determine the rules and settings before you begin inviting members to join you. You'll want to clearly establish how score will be kept, how tiebreakers work, and how winners are decided before anything else.

    How to play squares football pools?

    Football squares are played by creating a grid, in which Team 1 takes the column and Team 2 the rows. In some cases, participants may claim as many squares as they like. In others, commissioners limit them to one. At the quarter times and end of the game, the winner is decided at the point the scores final digit intersect.

    How do you setup a college football bowl pool?

    To set up a college football bowl pool, you'll need to first choose if you will include all the games or specific ones. Then, you'll need to set the ground rules. As commissioner, you'll implement rules to ensure everything runs smoothly during the bowl games. Many use pool sites like RunYourPool to make the process easier.

    What is a college football squares pool?

    In a college football squares pool, a commissioner starts with a 10x10 grid of 100 squares (though commissioners decide to use smaller 5x5 pools). Members pick one or more squares in that grid. Winners are determined based on the score of each team after each quarter and at the end of the game.

    How many squares in a football pool?

    In a traditional football squares pool, a grid is sectioned off into 100 squares with 10 columns and 10 rows. This accounts for a direct relationship between each possible digit from 0 to 9 on both the X and Y axis. For smaller square grids like 5x5, multiple numbers can be assigned to each column and row.

    How to read a football squares pool sheet?

    In Squares formats, football pool sheets include a grid, where one team is the column and one is the row. Winners are determined at the end of each quarter when the last number in the team’s score (on each side) is matched to the numbers on the grid, and the intersecting square wins.

    How do you setup a college football bowl pool?

    To set up a college football bowl pool, you'll need to first choose if you will include all the games or specific ones. Then, you'll need to set the ground rules. As commissioner, you'll implement rules to ensure everything runs smoothly during the bowl games. Many use pool sites like RunYourPool to make the process easier.

    How do you win college football confidence bowl pool?

    The winner of a college bowl confidence pool is the member with the most points after all games have ended. Members rank each game based on how confident they are in their pick (44 points = most confident, 1 point = least confident). For each game picked correctly, members receive the number of points they assigned.

    What is a college football bowl confidence pool?

    Players try to pick the winner of every bowl game, assigning a point value to each game. Picks are made "straight up," not using a point spread system. Members rank each game based on how confident they are (44 points = most confident, 1 point = least confident). A winner is determined by totalling the point values assigned to correctly picked games.

    How do you setup a college football bowl pool?

    To set up a college football bowl pool, you'll need to first choose if you will include all the games or specific ones. Then, you'll need to set the ground rules. As commissioner, you'll implement rules to ensure everything runs smoothly during the bowl games. Many use pool sites like RunYourPool to make the process easier.

    How do you win college football bowl pick'em pool?

    As you might expect, the player who selects the most bowl winners will win their pick'em pool. You can win your college football bowl pick'em pool by choosing winners wisely, based on past performance, player starting status and other "intangibles."

    What is a college football bowl pick'em pool?

    In a College Bowl Pick'em pool members attempt to pick the winner of every College Bowl game (or a subset of games determined by the Pool Commissioner). Picks are made using the point spread system or "straight up", as assigned by the Pool Commissioner.

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