Trent Richardson (3) runs through the line during of an NCAA college football game against the Alabama Crimson TideSaturday, Oct, 22 2011 in Tuscaloosa Ala. (AP Photo/John Bazmore)A NEW WRINKLEIf the SEC’s cross-divisional rivalries are preserved on future football schedules, here is how they could look:Alabama-TennesseeArkansas-MissouriAuburn-GeorgiaLSU-FloridaOle Miss-VanderbiltMiss. State-KentuckyTexas A&M-So. Carolina
The Southeastern Conference may have a home for traditionalists after all.
SEC athletic directors lobbying to maintain permanent cross-divisional football matchups such as Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia feel better about their cause compared to a week ago. League ADs met last Wednesday in Nashville, the site of the SEC women’s basketball tournament, to begin discussing football schedules for the 2013 season and beyond, and they will resume talks Wednesday in New Orleans, the site of the men’s tournament.
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity entered last week’s meeting fearing the 14 ADs might vote 10-4 against preserving permanent cross-divisional rivalries due to matchups such as Arkansas-South Carolina and Kentucky-Mississippi State not having the historical punch of Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia.
“I do feel better,” McGarity said Sunday. “The tone of the conversations that everyone had sort of gave the impression that everyone had a sense, at least the majority had a sense, of liking the rivalry game with an opponent from the opposite division. The tone led us to believe that this has a good opportunity of moving forward.”