If the rumored move to the SEC comes to fruition for the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns, the SEC would form the first 16-team conference in the country and alter the landscape of college football as we know it.
But what could an SEC schedule look like for the Oklahoma Sooners in a 16 team conference?
There’s some talk about a “pod system” that would break the 16 teams into 4 four-team pods.
SEC Network, the league’s own TV channel, has some ideas. pic.twitter.com/MSnth9IYMM
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 22, 2021
In my opinion, this makes it way more complicated than it needs to be. Going with two divisions of eight teams makes a ton of sense and gives the SEC members 11 games against each other.
First, the SEC should keep it simple by moving Alabama and Auburn to the SEC East, allowing Oklahoma and Texas to play in the west.
That would put the Sooners in an eight-team division with:
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Louisiana State Tigers
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Missouri Tigers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Texas Longhorns
That gives them seven games in their division.
And the East would look like this:
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Auburn Tigers
- Florida Gators
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Kentucky Wildcats
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Vanderbilt Commodores
Again, keep it simple and have four games against the other divisions. That would give teams 11 games in the conference. Want them to have a non-conference game against, say, Oklahoma State, and that gets Oklahoma to 12 games in the regular season.
If that’s too many games, cut the non-conference game altogether and play a conference-only schedule.
So what would the schedule look like: