OT: 2012 SEC Football Schedule Released
Scroll down on the link to find team-by-team schedules. I post this mainly to point out how much A&M and Missouri are going to dillute the SEC brand. For example, Florida's schedule:
FLORIDA
Sept. 8: at Texas A&M
Sept. 15: at Tennessee
Sept. 22: KENTUCKY
Oct. 6: LSU
Oct. 13: at Vanderbilt
Oct. 20: SOUTH CAROLINA
Oct. 27: vs. Georgia (Jacksonville)
Nov. 3: MISSOURI
There are probably three teams on that schedule that will finish with eight wins and five doormat to meh level teams. I really hope the Big 10 doesn't make the same mistake and add a couple of teams that don't enhance its brand just for the sake of addition.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:39 AM ^
"Ole Miss is going to die. You already knew that because they are Ole Miss coming out of a Houston Nutt coma, but they're going to die twice, and possibly three or four times. The standard SEC West schedule is bad enough, but the road schedule is as follows: at Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, and Georgia. Ole Miss fans are the only ones today who can legitimately claim that the SEC hates them, because they clearly do."
EDIT: Also, this.
By the end of 2012, UGA will have played 22 consecutive regular season games without facing Arkansas, LSU, or Alabama.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^
That last part is why conferences larger than 12 teams are scary. Then again, 9-game conference schedules can alleviate some of that.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^
Isn't that why they have a conference championship game?
December 28th, 2011 at 12:35 PM ^
That schedule seems pretty damn bad but what I think would be even worse is playing those teams at home. I say this because your home games are now against the best teams (and Ole Miss already sucks and should lose those games anyway) while your easier games are on the road, meaning more losses still. At first glance, it looks horrible but it could actually be worse if you think about it.
December 28th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
Still seems like a pretty challenging conference schedule to me.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
December 28th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
I think Missouri is going to regret leaving for the SEC to win 2 conference games a year.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
Looking at their conf schedule I think they go 4-4. I'm assuming they play nobody OOC and will go 3-1 which would get them at 7-5. I think a lot of the middle pack of the SEC will have similar records. ~500 in SEC followed by 3-1 or 4-0 OOC(depending on the Cupcakes).
MISSOURI
Sept. 8: GEORGIA
Sept. 22: at South Carolina
Oct. 6: VANDERBILT
Oct. 13: ALABAMA
Oct. 27: KENTUCKY
Nov. 3: at Florida
Nov. 10: at Tennessee
Nov. 24: at Texas A&M
December 28th, 2011 at 12:13 PM ^
I don't see what the big deal is. They replace someone like an Ole Miss and Arkansas with Tex A&M and Missouri. It's a push to an improvement. Texas A&M has great atmosphere and plenty of potential if they get the right staff in place. The SEC has always been top heavy. This gives them some more depth in the middle.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
I like Alabamas schedule. /s Instead of playing tougher schools from the other half of the SEC like Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida they're going after Missouri, A&M, and Tennessee. Outside of LSU I'd say Alabamas best shot at losing next year falls to Michigan early with our swarming defense and senior offense, then maybe Arkansas with a senior offense, and not much defense.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:35 PM ^
Michigan fans are so horribly biased, if we had that schedule, people would be talking about how tough it is.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^
I'd be laughing because people would think we had a tough schedule yet I'd be laughing at how easy it really was.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:08 PM ^
It's not a bad schedule, but it isn't a brutal grinder that SEC schedules used to be. The additions gave the SEC two more okay teams, but that doesn't actually help the conference's reputation.
When the Big 10 first started talking about expansion, I thought they should jump on Missouri, Rutgers, or Syracuse for the TV sets. However, I think adding Nebraska was a much better choice. They've got a great program that has won consistently for many years and created a ton of interesting new matchups. Missouri and Texas A&M don't do that for the SEC. The only cool new matchup is the old SWC matchup between Arkansas and A&M, but it comes at the expense of more frequent games between national powers like Alabama and Florida.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^
East: Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pitt, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue
West: Northwestern, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri
You'll notice that in this arrangement no protected/permanent crossover games are needed. MSU is not present because in my perfect world they are a MAC team.
16 team B1G same as above just add MSU to east and Iowa St to west.
I am too in love with the custom conferences in ncaa 12.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
More than half of the conference is doormat teams. Miss. State, Vandy, and Florida were middling teams in the SEC this year and watch as they get pounded in their bowls. Adding two more doormat teams to the league just will continue to pad Alabama's and LSU's stats so they can claim a right to the national title yet again next year.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:07 PM ^
I've heard and used it both ways. So which is it, dormant or doormat?
December 28th, 2011 at 1:11 PM ^
By that logic three-quarters of the Big Ten is doormat teams. Mizzou and A&M are very solid additions to the SEC and if the Big Ten had added, everyone on this site would have been thrilled.
The SEC was far better than the Big10 this year and it will be again next year.
December 28th, 2011 at 3:14 PM ^
Once they get out from underneath UT's shadow they will become a football powerhouse.
December 28th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^
How long until 9 game conference slate for SEC?