First off change is coming and the U of A needs to look out for what is best for the U of A….
After thinking about this and reading Clays article this could be good for us to elevate our football program. Finally establish a recruiting base and develop some passionate football rivalries after what 30 years ?
Let’s look at who we should be grouped with , and this is from looking at it from the UAs best interest, OU, Texas, Mizzou… this gives us recruiting into Tulsa, OKC, and the state of Oklahoma. This gives us recruiting into Kansas City (why we don’t do more of it I’ll never know), St Louis (see Kansas City) and the state of Missouri, and Texas (we must get back to east Texas success). Now the question is can we beat these schools on the field, the answer is a resounding HECK YES! I have no doubt in my mind that once we get this out of the ditch, KJ Jefferson is the catalyst that’s gonna do that in my opinion, we can beat them on the field which will lead to better recruiting success and more passionate satisfying wins over teams closer to our campus, and closer to our alumni base! Dallas will be ground zero for a bunch of smack talk…
Now for the permanent opponents, I’m not sure with the pod System how that works, but I’m thinking we will have two…. Those two will be A&M and Ole Miss… which will further help our recruiting in Texas and Memphis, and can we please go and recruit a player from Mississippi esp the delta?
What will come to an end I fear is the annual LSU game…. This is where older more established SEC rivalries take hold over our game… LSU will play BAMA, Auburn, and Florida as permanent opponents before they play us…. But we still have to continue to recruit Louisiana.
But I want to hear yalls thoughts… what do you think about all this ?
The point of the pod system is to correct the problems with the current schedule (we haven’t played at Vandy since 2011 for instance). Pods plus permanent rivals make that worse, not better. Your permanent rivals ARE the teams in your pod. Everyone else rotates.
Most people think the pods will be largely geographical. So our pod could be Texass, Mobilehoma and Misery, or LSU, Ole Miss and Moo U, or some permutation involving the Aggies. If they put us in LSU’s pod, the Boot continues unabated. If not, we’ll still play LSU twice in a four or five year period instead of not going to Baton Rouge for 12 years like we’re doing with Vandy.
I’m not convinced the SEC will adopt pods. I wouldn’t be surprised to see divisions remain.
Three permanent opponents can be achieved without a pod system, assuming divisions are eliminated. SEC basketball has achieved this for the last several years.
If divisions were eliminated, my guess is Arkansas would get Texas as a permanent opponent, and two of three from the group of Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Missouri.
I could see one permanent rival outside the pod. That way a team within a pod could still maintain one permanent rival without affecting the other teams’ permanent one. For example, I could see us in a pod with Tex, OU, & MU but with OM as a permanent rival for us. Tex & A&M could also be permanent though in different pods. TN could be in a pod with UK, Van, & GA, but have AL as a permanent.
However, you’re right about the purpose of pods, so I’m not sure there’d be a permanent rival outside them, but I could see one. I’m sure there wouldn’t be two.
Assuming geography is the main driver, I see pods looking something like this:
OU, Tex, UA, MU
LSU, A&M, OM, MSU
TN, Vandy, UK, AL
AU, GA, SC, Fla
of those you could give LSU-OU; AR-OM; TN-UGA; AU-AL, TX-A&M. I don’t suppose everyone would need a permanent opponent outside their pod, but I suppose you could give OU-MSU, UK-FLA; Van-USC.
Of course, there are all sorts of problems with all this. Several traditional rivalries are going to go away–at least on an annual basis.
Basketball can play everyone (in the 14-team league, which just went away) in an 18 game schedule with three permanent rivals. We don’t go 12 years without playing Vandy in Memorial Gym. That’s the difference.
Dean Blevins in OKC is reporting that the pod will be Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.
Interesting. Aggies get persuaded by SEC to vote “yes” in exchange for getting in a non-TU pod. Or maybe it happened that way. I’m probably reading too much into it.
In the statement that A&M issued, and I’m paraphrasing, they said they received all of the information and in light of that information they felt they should proceed with a yes vote. My guess is that information is how much ESPN is prepared to pay the SEC once they get everyone in the fold. Remember, it’s always about the money!
And I don’t think the Aggies want to appear afraid of the Shorthorns.
Greg Sankey likes these votes to be unanimous and he made sure that happened. I’m sure a spreadsheet with how much money everyone will make was part of that process.
See…here’s the thing…IMO…if you give up playing Alabama and LSU EVERY season…it really doesn’t matter WHO you replace them with; you can’t help but be better off.
That is to say, while (all joking aside) - I DO respect the legacy of both Texas and especially OU (in football), I am no more afraid of them than a half-dozen SEC teams, year in and year out over the long run. So, we may not dominate those two, but neither should we cower from them. We’ve shown we can beat Texas with even just “kinda good” teams. THEY are the ones that have to show they can hang in the SEC…pressure is on them, not us.
I bet that is right. LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A+M and MSU would be in this “pod”. I don’t like the Pod. Let’s just keep the divisions by sliding Alabama and Auburn to the East. It is a good fit geographically and matchup wise.
Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A+M, Ole Miss, LSU, MSU and Missouri. Missouri fits like a square peg into a round hole.
The problem with 8-team divisions is you so rarely play teams in the other division. Even if we went to a 9 game schedule, you’d play only 2 teams a year from the other division. Pods are a better way to go.
Yeah I think they’re going to have to pay some attention to competitive balance in creating the pods. Wallets, Jawja, the Bagmen and the Scum would be a killer pod.
I’d rather keep two divisions and announce an 11-game SEC schedule. You play the other 7 on your side each year, then rotate thru the other 8 on a bi-annual basis (4 each year). Allow every team the opportunity to book whomever they want for the 12th game. Could be Clemson, Florida State, Oklahoma State, or Sisters of Mercy. Tell ESPN we want 20% more money because you’re getting more high-profile games.
It’s been 30 years now, and in that time we’ve developed a history with the SEC teams and geographical rivalries with Ole Miss, State and LSU. It took some time.
Arkansas has now been a member of the SEC for 3 decades. Our “traditional rivals” are no longer from the SWC and have never been from the Big 8. This true SEC pod would generate a lot more interest and be a better cultural fit. Arkansas has nothing in common with Texas, OU and Missouri and never will. Arkansas is more akin culturally to Mississippi and Louisiana.
The SWC-Big 8-Big 12 new members should be in their own pod – Texas, Lil Bro, OU and Mizzou. There’s a long history there
But A&M is throwing a huge tantrum, and I am sure they are insistent they don’t have to be in a pod with mean old Texas; in fact that’s probably the verbal concession they got to vote “yes” so it would be unanimous. They want to be in a pod with their new rival that they stole from us, LSU.
And so we get screwed, and a generation of younger hog fans who grew up on the SEC and have no memory of playing Texas must now adapt to playing teams like Oklahoma and Missouri that have no history with Arkansas and Texas that has not been a regular Arkansas rival for 30 years.