Auburn to the SEC East? It’s a cushy move – for the moment
Howdy there, folks. Welcome back to the neighborhood. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Provided Kenneth Starr and Baylor don’t get litigious again, Missouri is expected to become the SEC’s 14th member at any moment. And with Missouri and Texas A&M arriving as Nos. 14 and 13, somebody from the current SEC West will have to move to the East for the sake of balance. Most folks expect the mover to be Auburn — although Alabama, being its selfish self, is making noises about preferring that its arch-enemy stay put — and how would Auburn feel about upping sticks?
Pretty darn good.
Auburn is based in the Central Time Zone by the grace of 25 miles. It’s almost as close to Atlanta’s southern suburbs as to the capital of Alabama. The Tigers’ greatest rival has always been the school in Tuscaloosa, duh, but for most of Auburn’s existence its next-biggest rivals were Georgia and Florida and Tennessee. (And don’t forget Georgia Tech, which is now out of reach in the ACC, which will require some realignment of its own. Auburn students would hold a Wreck Tech parade — I once covered it — before that annual game.)
Auburn-Georgia remains an annual fixture — it’s the Oldest Rivalry in the Deep South and, in my view, the best game of most every year — but Auburn-Tennessee and Auburn-Florida were lost to the realities of divisional scheduling. They’d return with Auburn’s move to the East, and the Tigers wouldn’t be displeased.
Back in September, both Auburn president Jay Gogue and AD Jay Jacobs said they’d have no problem with moving, and in saying “no problem” they sounded almost giddy. As Jacobs told Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News: “We have so many students come from Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, they come on campus and say, ‘Why aren’t we playing Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina?’ ”
What Gogue and Jacobs didn’t say was what seems rather blatant: As it stands, the SEC East would be easier to win than the West. (Arkansas, the third-best team in the six-team West, is ranked ninth in the BCS standings.) But here we need to say, “Whoa.”
When the SEC split into divisions, the East became Beverly Hills and remained so until Steve Spurrier left for the NFL and Tennessee began to wobble. Of the first 11 SEC championship games, the East won eight. Only after Nick Saban planted his flag at LSU did the West begin to rise, and only after Saban returned from his own NFL misfire to reconfigure Alabama did the West become the cutthroat division we see now.
Alabama and LSU are two of the three best teams in the country. Arkansas is nuzzling into the Top 10. Auburn won the 2010 BCS title. Mississippi State, which was either the fourth- or fifth-best team in the six-team division, was ranked No. 20 nationally in preseason. (That was before anybody realized the maroon Bulldogs couldn’t beat any of its Western brethren save Ole Miss.) The winner of the SEC West has won not just three of the past four SEC titles but three of the past four national championships. That said …
These things are, as things tend to be, cyclical. From 1994 through 2003, every SEC East winner — meaning Florida, Tennessee or Georgia — was ranked No. 6 or higher in the Associated Press poll entering the league championship game. Over that span, only two SEC West champs — Alabama in 1994 and LSU in 2003 — were ranked as high as No. 6.
But Florida is on its third coach since Spurrier and Tennessee on its second since Phillip Fulmer and South Carolina, which for a century stood as a case study in never-won-anything, took the SEC East last year with three conference losses. (And got beaten by 39 points by Auburn in the title game.) Georgia is scrambling to bleed out another division title to prove it’s still relevant. Add all that together, and … why wouldn’t the Tigers be thrilled at the prospects of relocation?
Just as Florida and Tennessee weren’t impervious to time and tide (pun intended), Alabama and LSU and Arkansas won’t be, either. What if Saban takes $10 million to go rescue Texas? What if Les Miles gets a similar offer from Ohio State? What if Derek Dooley loses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee looks to Bobby Petrino, ever-ready to relocate?
For all the homage we pay to college football’s traditions, the cold truth is that the sport’s greatest determinant is the head coach. Alabama won a national championship under Gene Stallings in the first season of SEC divisional play, but didn’t sniff another until Saban worked his dark magic. Florida ruled the SEC under Spurrier but became a punch line under Ron Zook; then it hired Urban Meyer, who won twice as many national titles as the Evil Genius.
So long as Saban and Miles and Petrino remain in the SEC West, any opponent would find the going softer anywhere else. But that’s the catch with coaches. Eventually they leave, and everything changes.
By Mark Bradley
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336 comments Add your comment
SEC Insider
October 19th, 2011
12:37 pm
Might have to put Kenneth Starr in a closet bound & gagged to guarantee that it will actually happen though.
ARdawg
October 19th, 2011
12:40 pm
SECinsider, Sure you can. There could at times even be a playoff for divison champ
GTBob, That certainly does complicate your chances eh? I was pretty sure you were speaking out of turn last week but, I didn’t quite believe reality would hit your guys so fast
Ted M
October 19th, 2011
12:42 pm
Thx Insider
Mark
October 19th, 2011
12:42 pm
You guys are crazy. Mizzo to the East is guaranteed. Why?
The West has already taken on A&M.
Think about it. If Mizzo goes to the West and Auburn to the East, the West has added TWO new teams with no rivals. Alabama would have to play A&M and Mizzo every year AND give up UT and move possibly move up the turkey day Iron Bowl. UGA, UF, USC have their instate rivalry games that Saturday, but they are all ACC schools. So no rematch in the SEC champ game conflicts. I don’t know what they do about the Iron Bowl, but it COULD be moved. That sucks.
Of course the East schools (other than UT) like this: they get to add a traditional SEC team the schedule every year. However…
The West (other than Auburn) has to take on TWO non SEC teams and give up Auburn.
UT losses Alabama every year.
Auburn keeps Alabama, gets Tenn, UF, USC instead of being stuck with the two new schools. Of course they love it.
So half the schools lose, half gain.
If Mizzo to the East, who loses anything? No one. A&M and Mizzo don’t have an rivals so they don’t mess anything up Mizzo could be rivals with UT and UK and cross game with Arky. USC gets to add A&M. Or something like that. USC and Arky were never rivals, they were just the new guys so they got stuck together.
ARdawg
October 19th, 2011
12:43 pm
SEC insider
For the conference to go to a 16 team Super conference AND retain other rivalries as well as a cupcake workout, the divison round robis will have to be the sacrifical lamb
DAWG with two bags over head
October 19th, 2011
12:43 pm
Mark,
It’s nice to see you’ve moved on from Vandygate. I guess you had to go back to earning your paycheck.
kellyburger
October 19th, 2011
12:44 pm
It doesn’t matter which division Auburn winds up in, if you’re going to be number one you have to beat them all anyway. So who cares?
SEC Insider
October 19th, 2011
12:44 pm
@ARdawg
Theoretically, you can do whatever you want. In reality, you have to play within the rules established by the NCAA.
SEC Insider
October 19th, 2011
12:46 pm
The 16 team superconference is a pipe-dream fantasy.
01HAWK
October 19th, 2011
12:46 pm
When I came here, I came here with the idea that I would be here for the rest of my career,” Saban said. “I had moved around a lot and made some mistakes moving around, probably, and I sort of learned from some of those things and sort of found out from some of those experiences who you are and what you’re really all about. So as long as I feel healthy and I’m excited about coaching and teaching and being around players, I would like to stay here for as long as I could.
Mike
October 19th, 2011
12:47 pm
I dont think it has a thing to do with the current state of the SEC East. Remember, they would still have to play Alabama yearly. Its not like they just leave the west behind. It just means that for now, they might sneak into the SECCG. Things change when you become division rivals too. UT, UF, UGA, and South Carolina are more concerned about each other than West teams for obvious reasons. Their focus will also be on Auburn which means those games will get tougher.
No I have an Auburn friend who is very excited about the move because of the rival situation you discussed. Its more natural for Auburn to be in the East than the West. The big question now is, who does UT and UGA play from the West? Missouri and A&M?
JB
October 19th, 2011
12:47 pm
Some thoughts today: One post mentioned earlier about Saban and Texas. Mack Brown has a hotter seat than Richt and with an all new staff, that team is just as bad. Don’t think for a moment he won’t be on Texas list…as he is with most Football schools. He has a great situation at Bama, and the SEC is the greatest game day experience and conference in the country and Saban is wealthy…..but, that ego is hard to keep in the closet, and 3 rings from 3 different schools would cement that legend status forever. Keep an eye on that. And don’t believe a word he say’s….ask the Dolphins. Auburn would love to get away from Bama and LSU and Arkansas…..They feel Florida would be there only road block to the dome every year if Richt stays…and the jury still out on Muschamp.
Sharpshooter
October 19th, 2011
12:48 pm
Mark A&M has two longtime rivals…..Ark ( from the old SWC) and LSU.
ARdawg
October 19th, 2011
12:51 pm
kellyburger———-> BINGO!
SEC insider, You apparently are not as much on the inside as you’d like for us to believe eh? Please show me where a division round robin is an NCAA requirement?
Mike
October 19th, 2011
12:51 pm
As for the East being weak, that’s cyclical as you said, Mark. UGA appears to be on the road back. Not sure about UT. They made a complete mess of things handling Fulmer the way they did. UF will need a year or two to get the right players in, if they can. Its been a long time since UF had the personnel to run a prostyle offense. The East is definitely in flux right now just like the West was for most of the last decade.
GTBob
October 19th, 2011
12:52 pm
Missouri will be in the West. It wouldn’t make sense to put them in the opposite conference of Texas A&M, Arkansas and the Mississippi sisters. It would cause more travel for everyone.
JB
October 19th, 2011
12:52 pm
01HAWK… look up naive in the dictionary. And, you may be right, but he has spent his entire career being “itchy”. Maybe his age has slowed him down….and all BS aside, it’s obvious he’s got it going on over there…………But don’t think forever with Saban………….you’ll get your heart broke.
gtfanfrom1951
October 19th, 2011
12:52 pm
Will Coach Fulmer get another job in SEC?
Saban
October 19th, 2011
12:55 pm
Who is naive JB? Someone who listens to the whinings of Dolphin beat reporter Dan LeBatard? Because Saban was completely up front with the Dolphin players and Huizenga…notice you don’t ever hear anything negative out of them. Just the hack reporters like Bradley and LeBatard who can’t stand that Saban hates the media.
Mark
October 19th, 2011
12:56 pm
Sharpshooter: Yea, but A&M is already in. This is about Mizzo.
USC wouldn’t care. They give up Arky and gain A&M. It’s not like Arky was a rival. They gain access to Texas markets. A&M doesn’t care. Do they have a rival in the East? Like you said, they have West teams they want to play. Having cross game with USC is the cost of admission.
So who is upset here? No one, that’s why it’s going to happen. Even if they have the votes for Mizzo in the West, they would still go with putting them in the East b/c IT MAKES MORE SENSE.
JB
October 19th, 2011
12:58 pm
Mark @12:51,,,,,,,,,,,,Georgia on the way back…….Go to the Macon paper today and read an article about the Georgia program written by a guy named Shank I believe. Mark, Georgia ain’t back. Replace those two Mississippi schools with say LSU and Arkansas and the Dawgs would be 3-4 and McGarity would openly be talking about a replacement. Those five wins are against teams who are 1-13 since the win streak started. Other than Coastal Carolina, the Dawgs have not looked good and those weak teams. I get bashed on here, but I can’t defend him anymore.
Aubin janitor
October 19th, 2011
12:59 pm
aubin wud have a bater chances to win sec if dey muv to d east cuz it b lotz mo easy dan d west.
aol.com
October 19th, 2011
1:01 pm
Looking more and more like Saban will be moving west to Texas as his wife don’t like the small town life.
JB
October 19th, 2011
1:01 pm
Saban….I heard him with my own ears at a presser 2 days before he flew to Bama deny it. Dream on all you want to.
Alphare
October 19th, 2011
1:02 pm
Kinda remember Auburn always gave FL a hard time even when FL was good. Then they stopped having annual meeting. But life goes on.
AL-TN rivalry doesn’t hold much water in the last 20years. It’s always a one-sided streak.
Brian M.
October 19th, 2011
1:02 pm
The case for adding Georgia Tech instead of Missouri:
http://the14thmember.blogspot.com
RTD
October 19th, 2011
1:03 pm
Damn! Bradley wrote a decent column.
Saban
October 19th, 2011
1:04 pm
Yes he did…to the Dolphin beat reporters who kept hounding him and hounding him. His position was its nobody’s business except him, his boss and his players. Not the media. Funny that you all take shots at these reporters yourselves but when they turn on a rival program you all lap it up like lemmings.
Antique Roadshow
October 19th, 2011
1:04 pm
Saban said he could give a s####t less.
JB
October 19th, 2011
1:05 pm
At least with Saban at Bama, they did away with guard at the “Bears” grave and quit hiding the shovels,
Saban
October 19th, 2011
1:06 pm
Original. Just like you are simpleton.
JB
October 19th, 2011
1:07 pm
Saban, relax and enjoy your ride. Just like between Stallings and Saban, you’ll back to fighting for wins like the rest of us soon.
Half Century Dawg
October 19th, 2011
1:08 pm
JB
October 19th, 2011
12:47 pm
JB, just for the record, MR has won the last 4 of 5 against AU and is 6-4 overall.
Saban
October 19th, 2011
1:09 pm
You can’t win em all every year. But yeah…let’s just forget the century of tradition Bama has produced. It all started with Stallings.
JB
October 19th, 2011
1:10 pm
True half Century….What’s his record against SEC teams in 09,10, and thus far this year?
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH
October 19th, 2011
1:11 pm
Auburn would instantly become the powerhouse in the East seeing as how UGA, UF etc suck.
01HAWK
October 19th, 2011
1:14 pm
BAMA will always be an attractive job due to the admin will pay the most for the best. HINT, HINT………………That is why SABAN is the highest paid coach in any sport in college.
SABAN makes 6 million and CMR makes 2.9 Million………………………….Looks like you got what you paid for………………………….LOL……………….WOW …………………….SABAN makes twice as much because he is doing twice or better of a job…………………….LOL
If Nick left after this year their would be a ton of coaches who are already at established programed that would leave their program in a heart beat.
BAMA is not worried. We are still the winnest program in the SEC and the 6th winnest program in all of college football……………………………………….I believe UGA is ranked 13th. You will never see the day that UGA catches up to BAMA………………………..READ IT AND WEEP ……………….THUGAS
If he leaves it will not be because of money. BAMA can match anyone in funds.
Lefty
October 19th, 2011
1:16 pm
Saban has only ever bailed on one program for another once. He left Michigan St. for a better gig at LSU. His move from LSU to the Dolphins was because he wanted to see if he could do it in the NFL. To his credit, he realized he was more effective at the college level. At least he didn’t pull a Petrino and leave the NFL in the middle of the season. Saban is 60 years old and will finish his career at Alabama. Book it!
01HAWK
October 19th, 2011
1:17 pm
BRADLEY…………………………although Alabama, being its selfish self
You got that right because we are ALABAMA
ROLL TIDE ROLL
JB
October 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
O1Hawk………….your pay numbers are wrong. go to ( coachhotseat.com) and when on the site, go to Coach’s salaries and contracts. put some accurate stuff on here rather than seeing what sticks
RollTide80
October 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
I know that everybody likes to hate on teams that win all the time. So I’m not going to be pissed that you all keep saying that Bama fans cry, etc. We don’t care who we play, put then on the field with us and we will whip their azz. But when all of you talk bad about Alabama and it’s fans, including the author of this article, Mark Bradley, you all come off as criers and haters. Bash us all you want, just make sure you don’t put your team on the field with us because you will be heaing the RAMMER JAMMER cheer after we beat your azz. Later haters!
dinkdunk
October 19th, 2011
1:24 pm
13 Bammer Nat Championships? Self-flaggelation at it’s finest.
What a joke.
Bama Fan
October 19th, 2011
1:24 pm
We appreciate everything that Coach Saban has accomplished at the Capstone, but we’ll still be Bama after Coach Saban gets ready to retire. Until that time comes, he is enjoying having the best job available in all of CFB.
Brian
October 19th, 2011
1:26 pm
Mark, I wish you had time to mark down every comment where someone says “mark it down”, or “book it” (another of my favorites, haha) and then write an article at the end of the year called “Mark marked it down” and then call out everyone by their handle and prediction to see who was right and who was wrong! It would be hilarious.
JB
October 19th, 2011
1:26 pm
01Hawk……I knew when Shula took it because of all the trouble Bama was in with with the NCAA due to cheating with probation and loss of scholarships and all, he thought it was a good job going from a lowly assit. with the Dolphins to Head Coach of one of the most revered Football schools in the country. We all remember that.
Bammer
October 19th, 2011
1:26 pm
13…8…whatever. Still more than 2.
John adne
October 19th, 2011
1:26 pm
We are used to them cheating in the West. Maye they can find another superman man and win the East.
smyrnabob
October 19th, 2011
1:28 pm
Exactly Mark, five years ago the East was dominate and the West was inept. Besides A&M and Missouri for Auburn sounds like you are watering down the West from the start.
Alphare
October 19th, 2011
1:30 pm
Winning percentage and win total are really exaggerated stats. They depends on conference teams’ strength.
BSU is the winning program in the past 5 years because their conference teams are too weak.
So are Texas and OKie. Usually no other teams can beat in their conference.
Bowl winning percentage may be a better stat in that regard.
01HAWK
October 19th, 2011
1:30 pm
TUSCALOOSA | Nick Saban is officially college football’s first — and only — $6 million man.
The University of Alabama’s head football coach will accrue compensation of $6,087,349 for 2010, making him not only the highest-paid coach in college football but one of the highest-paid coaches in the entire sport.
Mack Brown of Texas, who earned more than $5.1 million for the year, ranks second in income among college football coaches, according to data compiled by USA Today, but Saban’s big-money year puts him in a different stratosphere.
According to salaries published by Forbes magazine, Saban’s compensation ranks him behind only three National Football League coaches: Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots ($7.5 million), Mike Shanahan of the Washington Redskins ($7 million) and Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks ($7 million). In fact, only those three NFL coaches and National Basketball Association coaches Phil Jackson of the Los Angeles Lakers ($10.3 million) and Larry Brown of the Charlotte Bobcats ($7 million) have higher salaries than Saban’s 2010 income among U.S. coaches.