Since Oklahoma and Texas decided to enter the SEC, many analysts have speculated how the divisions will look. Some think the West and East divisions will still remain, although there will be some movement between them. It does make sense to keep the existing structure. However, it’s likely adding OU and Texas won’t fix the competition imbalance between the West and East divisions.
A way to fix this is a pod system, where four teams would form a pod. The teams in a given school’s pod will be their permanent conference opponents year after year. This way, the SEC doesn’t have to stick to arbitrary geographical boundaries in order to sub-divide the conference.
Many analysts have started drafting some of the potential pods that could happen. While there are many exciting pods out there, one potential pod sticks out above the rest.
The Best Potential SEC Pod
A pod containing Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M will provide the maximum experience for players and fans.
First, all of these teams are in relatively close geographical proximity. College football is at its best when regional rivalries are front and center. This is because fans of the teams are in close quarters and can begin to talk amongst each other and hype up the game. The chatter will lead to an organic build-up before the game, not top-down marketing from the media. This will make the game day experience much more enjoyable.
Second, all these teams have some history with each other. While many people are familiar with the Texas/OU rivalry, other rivalries are less well-known. For example, Arkansas and Texas used to be huge rivals, and played each other yearly during the Southwest Conference days. Same with Texas and Texas A&M. Oklahoma and Arkansas have the potential to become rivals as well. They’re border states, and plenty of transplant fans of both teams live in the others’ state.
This is a perfect opportunity for the SEC to renew rivalries and preserve what makes college football a popular sport. We’ll see if the league office tries to do it, or force artificial rivalries down the fans of the sport.
1 Comment
This article ignores two things:
1) SEC has already said they won’t be moving to pods. They’ll move to a 1-7 or 3-6 scheduling model.
2) This ‘pod’ is only ideal if you don’t want to play charter SEC teams annually. Arkansas has been in the SEC since ’92, A&M since 2012, OU and texas join in 2025. Why be in a pod with no original conference members? Back in the late ’80s/early ’90s, texas played A&M and Arkansas as part of the SWC and OU as a non-conference game. That arrangement was so successful Arkansas left for the SEC and A&M and texas left for the Big 12 in 1996. While there may be regional appeal for rivalries for local fans, they don’t attract national attention and television sets, which is where the money is these days. Your appeal for ‘regionalism’ is just a return to 1991.