When Oklahoma and Texas announced they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, a number of scheduling options popped up for the new 16-team league.
The most debated formats were to continue their current eight-game conference schedule or a nine-game SEC schedule that would allow for three permanent opponents and a rotation of the other six.
According to Inside Texas of On3, a nine-game schedule might be coming down the pike.
In an annual town hall meeting about the state of Longhorns athletics, Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte mentioned the SEC is in talks to move to a nine-game conference schedule At what point they reach that agreement, he didn’t say. But it’s in the works.
“We have eight games scheduled right now,” Del Conte said. “We’re working on going to a nine-game schedule, but we have a ways to go with that. I would say this year, we have an eight-game schedule. The following year, we have another eight-game schedule. Then we’ll look at going into a nine-game conference schedule.”
Nine games has long been considered one of the better options. However, due to the strength of the conference, many in the league, including Nick Saban, preferred the current eight-game conference schedule.
With nine games, the SEC would likely go to a format that features three permanent opponents and a rotating schedule, allowing each SEC team to host every team in the conference at least once every four years.
Oklahoma would end up with Texas as one of their permanent opponents. However, the other two are still up for debate. It could include former Big 8 and Big 12 foe Missouri, former Big 12 South opponent Texas A&M, border rival Arkansas, or a team from out east that’s been floated like Florida.
There’s support from most fans for a nine-game conference schedule because it would provide more marquee matchups each week. The downside is the loss of a nonconference game that could provide member schools a valuable win to get to bowl eligibility.
To hear Del Conte discuss it, there’s still a way to go before finalizing a future schedule format.
More: What could Permanent opponents look like in 9-game SEC Schedule?
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