Georgia-Auburn game is safe, SEC goes with 6-1-1 schedule format
DESTIN, Fla. — The SEC completed its annual spring meetings Friday with votes aimed at preserving rivalries in regular-season football and maintaining the conference’s clout in the postseason.
The league, soon to consist of 14 schools, overwhelmingly approved a football scheduling format that will keep the 120-year-old Georgia-Auburn game intact annually.
But after siding with history on that vote, the presidents of the SEC schools bucked tradition by unanimously endorsing a national four-team football playoff.
The SEC’s support of the proposed playoff came with a caveat that will be contentious in negotiations with other conferences. The SEC wants the nation’s top four teams in the playoff field, a position at odds with other leagues — the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and Big East — that want to give preferential treatment to conference champions.
After producing the past six national champs and placing two teams in last season’s BCS title game, the SEC is adamant that as many of its teams as possible should be able to qualify for the playoff.
On the matter of regular-season football scheduling for 2013 and beyond, the SEC put aside the objections of several schools and adopted a 6-1-1 format: six games against division opponents, one game against a permanent cross-division opponent (Auburn in Georgia’s case) and one game against a rotating cross-division opponent.
“That was our priority all along, to maintain that series with Auburn,” UGA athletic director Greg McGarity said. “… Every school has their own agenda, but at the end of the day, it’s what was best for the SEC.”
The other annual cross-division games will be Alabama-Tennessee, Florida-LSU, Arkansas-Missouri, South Carolina-Texas A&M, Kentucky-Mississippi State and Ole Miss-Vanderbilt.
In an acknowledgement of the fluid landscape of college athletics, the 6-1-1 proposal passed without a stipulation regarding how long it would be in force. SEC commissioner Mike Slive said he didn’t think the issue would be revisited for at least three or four years.
The strongest objection to the format came from LSU, which said permanent cross-division opponents should be scrapped in the interest of more equitable scheduling.
“That was my argument, and obviously it didn’t stick,” LSU chancellor Michael Martin said. “But, hey, you lose some and you win some.”
While the SEC was able to settle the issue of its football schedule, the league’s position on the national playoff merely established its stance for negotiations with other leagues. The playoff, if enacted, would begin with the 2014 season.
Meetings of the BCS commissioners are scheduled for June 13 and June 20, and a meeting of the BCS presidential oversight committee is set for June 26. By then, the goal is to have a consensus among conferences on a deal.
The SEC position calls for the semifinal games to be incorporated into the bowl system and for the championship game to be bid out to cities, like the Super Bowl.
The thorniest issue in negotiations figures to be the SEC’s view that the four best teams should reach the playoffs, regardless of whether those teams are conference championships. Other leagues have suggested various ways of favoring conference champions. The Big Ten’s position, for example, is that if four conference champions are ranked among the nation’s top six teams, those four champs should comprise the playoff field.
“If we’re going to go to a four-team playoff, which I anticipate we are, I think it needs to be — and I think the fans would expect us to provide — the four best teams in the country: one, two, three, four,” Slive said.
Slive added that he is open to different ways for determining the top four teams, “whether it’s a committee or data points,” but is opposed to “gerrymandering who is playing for the national championship” by making conference championships a criteria.
“I think people will come around some in some of the other conferences,” UGA president Michael Adams said.
But it’s not clear what will happen to the proposed playoff if they don’t.
Adams said the SEC discussed several “fallback” positions, but he wouldn’t say what they are.
“I think you have to be careful now about not painting yourself in a corner,” Adams said. “This is a new world, and I think you have to rearrange your mental furniture a little bit and say, ‘Are we really prepared for this next iteration?’
“Everybody every now and then has to give a little to make something work. You’ve got to quit thinking now about the way the world has been. You have to start thinking about the fact this is a new day with a new set of rules.”
– Tim Tucker, AJC
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148 comments Add your comment
Mr. Dawg
June 1st, 2012
2:52 pm
I’d prefer to put Auburn in a round robin rotation with the rest of the West. As far as I’m concerned adding Missouri and Texas A&M has already diluted the tradition of a true Southeastern Conference. It makes more sense as a “conference” for teams in opposite divisions to play each other as often as possible. The thought of Alabama only coming to Athens or the Bulldogs traveling to Baton Rouge once every twelve years is hard for me to swallow. .
terry
June 1st, 2012
2:53 pm
There should be no permanent cross division opponents. That is the only way to be fair to all the schools. It’s a shame that players aren’t even given a chance to visit all of the SEC cities & stadiums during their career.
Hollywould
June 1st, 2012
2:53 pm
Gary, You can get on your knees and kiss the ring. War Eagle!!
Gay Dawg
June 1st, 2012
2:59 pm
Awesome…..those Auburn guys are cute!
Gay Dawg
June 1st, 2012
3:00 pm
I’lll give your something to swallow Mr. Dawg….heyoooooo!!!
Haters Gonna Hate
June 1st, 2012
3:02 pm
Will UGA be able to take advantage of a second straight year of playing nobdy? This year will be the weakest schedule since 1980 so there is a chance. 32 years without an undefeated season….what is that like to go that long without running the table. Florida has gone longer but they at least have 3 rings in that time and countless SEC titles.
Haters Gonna Hate
June 1st, 2012
3:03 pm
Yeah terry…iits a shame that these kids miss the opportunity to go to Starkville and or Missouri.
Big Wally
June 1st, 2012
3:08 pm
rw, your right, I forgot all about that. UCLA 6-6 played for conf. championship – ended up being 6-8, but still played in a Bowl. If they didn’t have Divisions, would have had Oregon vs Stanford in a rematch I believe for the PAC-12 title.
Dev Hays
June 1st, 2012
3:28 pm
SEC should expand to 15 Schools & 3 Divisions, add Conference semi-finals between 3 Division winners & top wild card, play 4 division opponents, 1 permanent opponent from each other division, and 1 rotating opponent from each other divisions. East – SoCar, UGA, UF, UT, & UK/#15. Central – Aub, Ala, MissSt, Miss, & Vandy/UK/#15. West – LSU, TA&M, Ark, Mizzou, & Vandy/#15. Could tweak divisions depending on #15 school locale, perceived division strength equalization, etc.
mcdavidastro
June 1st, 2012
3:33 pm
Needed to go to 9 SEC games and get rid of one of the high school games. The fans are not going to continue to pay for these practice games. If Magarity won’t fix it, Georgia needs a new athletic director. They can’t get rid of the Buffalo and Fl Atlantic games for this year. Half the home schedule is worth the trip to Athens.
GT Man
June 1st, 2012
3:45 pm
Wish GT would drop Georgia, we cant beat em except once every 10 years. PJ wont ever beat them again, not with his 1920’s offense.
7576DAWG
June 1st, 2012
3:50 pm
I know a lot of alumni feel deeply about playing Auburn every year but I will admit that it is one rivalry that I could do without. I don’t mind playing Auburn as far as fulfilling an SEC requirement but to give them the privileged of playing us every year is too much to ask any football team that demands from themselves , class, integrity, morals and ethics as we do at Georgia and is sorely lacking at Auburn. I usually don’t hold a grudge but Auburn has stayed in the gray area since Shug Jordan and then Pat Dye all the way through the Cam Newton circus. The NCAA changed a lot of loopholes and gray areas that allowed Auburn to keep 2010 intake and their National Championship but the NCAA had to hold their nose when they had to admit they couldn’t touch Auburn legally because of their own deficient wording of the rules. Auburn’s number one Law of “WINNING AT ALL COST” makes me want to be on the football field and thus their presence as little as possible, as I would treat any individual, with such little Values.
GTBob
June 1st, 2012
3:51 pm
If they didn’t have Divisions, would have had Oregon vs Stanford in a rematch I believe for the PAC-12 title.
The only reason UCLA made the title game was because USC wasn’t eligible to participate. USC beat them by 50 points the week before.
GTBob
June 1st, 2012
3:56 pm
Wish GT would drop Georgia, we cant beat em except once every 10 years. PJ wont ever beat them again, not with his 1920’s offense.
That’s true. I remember when we had a pro style offense. We were beating UGA all the time.
evil empire
June 1st, 2012
3:56 pm
who outside of athens and auburn cares about the au/uga game??? it has no national impact…the schools are mirror images of each other…both suck…
Phil
June 1st, 2012
4:02 pm
Evidently Gary forgets who still leads the series…war eagle ! Talk about traditions…the UGA summer rap sheets are always fun to follow !!
Granthams The Man
June 1st, 2012
4:28 pm
I can hear Cry Baby Spurrier now. Ga get’s to play Auburn and we have to play Arkansas.
It’s not fair!!! Why! Why! Why!
Cdpridg
June 1st, 2012
4:35 pm
Gt bob….going to give you some credit on hating the ACC……i think you have miscalculated vb if you most SEC fans hate the ACC…..i dont hate…..just think it is a weak conference.
Roll Tide
June 1st, 2012
4:46 pm
Can you say “15″
MaybeNot
June 1st, 2012
4:53 pm
Great thing about expanding conferences…everybody can argue about who the best team is every year because so many teams are off your schedule…some for 4 years or more.
Lakedawg
June 1st, 2012
5:15 pm
Great news for the Dawgs kepping thr 6-1-1.
Nine game schedule would mean 4 home one year, 5 home following year , except for the fact that we olay at Florida every year. So how fair would 3 home SEC games be and 6 on the road????
GTBob
June 1st, 2012
5:22 pm
Gt bob….going to give you some credit on hating the ACC
The ACC is annoying, but only for football. At least half of the teams in the conference couldn’t care less if they even have a football team. The conference makes up for it in other sports though so it isnt too bad. If they were to leave the ACC for some nation wide mega-conference then I would probably be done with college sports.
Big Wally
June 1st, 2012
5:33 pm
Probation is a part of it. Without Divisions, UCLA would have never been near that game.
Big Wally
June 1st, 2012
5:36 pm
ACC will get it going again, even if it is only FSU. I think Jimbo will get them back into the hunt for the National Champ. They have had good recruiting classes.
Delbert D.
June 1st, 2012
6:19 pm
One trip to College Station every 12 years for the East teams, and one to Mizzou for the West teams.
Red Stick
June 1st, 2012
6:21 pm
I don’t have any issue with playing Florida every season. What I don’t like is waiting 10 years to play the other crossover schools.
I just don’t see the SEC going to 9 conference games. If that did happen you wouldn’t see the big out of conference games that the schools are scheduling.
Geaux Tigers
Go SEC
bigdon
June 1st, 2012
6:24 pm
Glad to know they didn’t mess with that game. GA/AU is one as a season ticket holder I look forward to every year as the last second tix of the clock. Just good plane — get the joke — football and alwasy screws one or the other. Next theing you know they will try to mes with GA/FL. It is truly
a shame that the f’ed up Oak/Neb and several other rivalries. God, dang, leave us alone. You’re worse than Obama.
Delbert D.
June 1st, 2012
6:24 pm
Richt may finish his career without going to College Station.
BiggDawgK
June 1st, 2012
7:11 pm
gt bob admits he hates the acc and he hates Georgia. He is here all day every day whineing and making hate filled comments most of which are lies. The interweb is full of sad pathetic little nothings but gt bob has managed to set himself near the top as one of the most miserable depressed sacks of despair of all time.
I know that his hate is the only thing that makes gt bob drag himself out of his mom’s basement each day. I know I should pity him because he is truly pathetic but he is such an obnoxious little troll I am glad he will never be anything more than an idiot to be laughed at and mocked.
GTBob
June 1st, 2012
7:39 pm
I know I should pity him because he is truly pathetic but he is such an obnoxious little troll I am glad he will never be anything more than an idiot to be laughed at and mocked.
This one is nice. I can really feel the hate.
strickdawg
June 1st, 2012
7:42 pm
How many felonies have been committed by UGA players recently? Not a smart asa question,I’d really like to know…
Dawg89
June 1st, 2012
8:18 pm
I can’t wait to hear the idiotic arguments from the other conferences as to why the top 4 teams shouldn’t be in the playoff.
kingdaddy
June 1st, 2012
8:24 pm
What is a war damn Eagle? In the State Of Georgia, cussing or hurting an Eagle’s feelings is a felony! Our Eagles are PEACEFUL!!!(unless they’re hungry and starving an eagle in Georgia, is also a felony) lol…
kingdaddy
June 1st, 2012
8:50 pm
I will be back tonight. Please leave me a message, I’ll get back to you…
jonkdawg
June 1st, 2012
9:23 pm
Now I know that James Franklin of the Vandy has really bad foul mouth, i always thought that Todd Grantham started first with Franklin.
Paul in NH
June 1st, 2012
10:18 pm
Although I think the SEC should have gone to a 6-1-2 schedule, I am glad to see them keep some traditional rivalries. UT-ALA and UGA-AU should be played every year.
McGarity should be happy about one other result of this schedule – UGA will never play Alabama and LSU again in the same year in the regular season.
snoop dawgy dawg
June 1st, 2012
11:53 pm
@Patrick Romano WAR DAMN EAGLE
Go back to your auburn blog you stupid imbred
kingdaddy
June 2nd, 2012
1:02 am
Eagles are an endangered species dummy…
Saldiven
June 2nd, 2012
8:17 am
The SEC will support the plan that allows the top four programs to go to the playoff only as long as the SEC produces at least one of those top four programs. When times turn (as they always do) and another one or two of the conferences eclipse the SEC, then the SEC will change their mind and want conference champions to be present in the playoff. Each of the four conferences in the story hold completely self serving positions that are focused on the short term.
Saldiven
June 2nd, 2012
8:22 am
@Phil: Auburn’s summer rap sheet has been more fun to watch than Georgia’s this year, or haven’t you been paying attention. Also, your alums have been pretty funny, too. Did you read the article where Cam Newton stated that he admitted to being whiny and immature as a rookie at Carolina last year? Or how about Fairley getting arrested for DUI twice in a 30 day period?
THE Dixie Redcoat Band
June 2nd, 2012
9:11 am
None of this really matters until UGA can win a bowl game, so calm down people.
BBFan
June 2nd, 2012
9:44 am
The sec stayed with the same scheduling as always right? Won’t play each other but want all 4 of the spots in the NCSec game? Why does anyone else even play?
flo-ri-duh
June 2nd, 2012
9:59 am
Spuddier should have to play LSU every year as their rival game since Less Miles has Spuddier’s number and whips him like a red headed step child with dyed hair. The UGA / Aubarn rivalry continues with UGA kicking Aubarn’s rear for one more year and extend their recent record to SIX for UGA and ONE for Cam Newton. The beat down of Aubarn last year was pure domination but don’t get used to it. Aubarn had a great recruiting year last year – especially for the OL. This year they are building the DL behind a FORMER UGA defensive coordinator Van Gorder. I would say Aubarn is about 3 years and one QB away from a return to the top 10.
DawgNole
June 2nd, 2012
10:11 am
Donald
June 1st, 2012
2:35 pm
If Georgia is paired with Auburn, Tennessee with Alabama, then what are the rest of the more permanent cross division matchups? Florida/LSU? Which SEC west team gets the “gift” of being paired with Kentucky?
________________________
Did you bother to read the column before commenting? Here’s what it said:
“The other annual cross-division games will be Alabama-Tennessee, Florida-LSU, Arkansas-Missouri, South Carolina-Texas A&M, Kentucky-Mississippi State and Ole Miss-Vanderbilt.”
Fat Freddie
June 2nd, 2012
10:22 am
UGA just doesn’t want to play the tough West schools. If you don’t have to play LSU and Bama every year, your record will look better. Just take this year, they dodged out of the Bama game for Missouri. Really?
DawgNole
June 2nd, 2012
10:31 am
Red Stick
June 1st, 2012
6:21 pm
I don’t have any issue with playing Florida every season. What I don’t like is waiting 10 years to play the other crossover schools.
I just don’t see the SEC going to 9 conference games. If that did happen you wouldn’t see the big out of conference games that the schools are scheduling.
Geaux Tigers
Go SEC
____________________
“Big out of conference games”???
Pretty rare to see those anymore–aside from the rivalry games. With few exceptions, the SEC is notoriously weak in terms of scheduling OOC powerhouses.
DawgNole
June 2nd, 2012
10:35 am
ozzfest
June 1st, 2012
2:39 pm
Great, now McGarrity (King Wimp) can get busy scheduling Akron or Bowling Green.
The dude is going to run out of options….we have BUFFALO, FLORIDA ATLANTIC, GA SOUTHERN, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN, SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY on our future schedules….I mean how low can the guy go???
UGA has now scheduled “AND CANCELLED” games Oregon State, Cinncinatti, Ohio State, Louisville, and Oregon in the last 48 months.
EXTREMELY WEAK. LET’S PLAY SOMEBODY ALREADY!!!
Ugh.
___________________
Excellent post, ozzfest. Our home schedules are littered with garbage teams, and then they wonder why there are empty seats. A disgrace that D-1 teams are literally allowed to buy victories by paying these weak sisters to come in and bend over.
MadDog
June 2nd, 2012
11:29 am
$3,000 for 4 season tickets to watch this schedule…What A Joke!! And now I get to see Ala, Lsu, & Ark once every 12 years in Athens!! Hope they don’t plan on expanding the stadium any time soon.
Jborodawg
June 2nd, 2012
11:37 am
Great to see they’re keeping the traditional rivalries. Playing Awbun and Flawduh every year is practically required. Whatever they do, just maintain at least those two…and the Vowels too.
What’s Miles and LSU’s problem with playing Flawduh? I don’t understand their belly-achin’.
Jborodawg
June 2nd, 2012
11:48 am
@ozzfest and @dawgnole…almost every D1 school in the country plays cupcakes. For instance, this year Bama plays W.Kentucky, Fla Atlantic, and W.Carolina. LSU plays N.Texas, Washington, Idaho, and Towson (Towson?!).