The additions of the University of Texas and Oklahoma are without a shadow of a doubt great additions for the SEC. From the overall academic impact, they bring to the conference as well as being two of the most storied programs in all of college sports. That being said, their addition to the conference has not been the easiest thing in the world.
The SEC has operated with the East and West divisions for over 30 years, but with the two former Big-12 powerhouses on the way, there is a lot of maneuvering to do. For football, the conference had floated the idea of four pods consisting of four teams or realigning the divisions but neither ever came to fruition.
Baseball is a bit different because with so many teams in the conference, it is impossible to expect Alabama to play at least three games a year against all 15 of the other SEC programs. So, the SEC has announced that starting in 2025 the conference will keep two permanent opponents as a way to keep the rivalries strong within baseball. Alabama’s two permanent opponents will be Auburn and Tennessee as they should be.
Really, really would’ve liked to see the schedule model be 5 permanents and rotate the remaining 5 & 5 for a nice even rotation, but 2 is a much better option than 1.
A few I would’ve liked to have seen kept, but this is largely pretty good. https://t.co/Di8VvBi5kM
— SEC Baseball (@SECbaseball) November 9, 2023
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