Well folks, we get our first glimpse of the 14 team SEC's future with this morning's release of the 2012 conference schedule:
The 2012 schedule is not based on any other previous or future scheduling formats. The SEC Athletics Directors will convene in Spring 2012 to begin formulating scheduling principles for the 2013 season and beyond.
"The SEC transition team and our athletic directors did a great job with significant logistical challenges in a short time frame in developing the 2012 football conference schedule," said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. "The ability to come together for the conference is what makes the SEC so strong and that was evident yet again in this process."
As was previously expected our own beloved Tide will not be adding Georgia to it's division rotation, and will also be losing the return game against Vanderbilt in favor of adding Missouri and Texas A&M making Alabama's new 2012 conference schedule look like this:
Sept. 15: at Arkansas
Sept. 29: OLE MISS
Oct. 13: at Missouri
Oct. 20: at Tennessee
Oct. 27: MISSISSIPPI STATE
Nov. 3: at LSU
Nov. 10: TEXAS A&M
Nov. 24: AUBURN
Only Alabama and Florida will play both newcomers in 2012, and it appears both will become each other's permanent division rival. The entire slate of 2012 conference games will be televised by one of the SEC’s television partners - CBS Sports, any of the ESPN platforms (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ESPN3.com), CSS or FS South, making the real winners here the good folks at the SEC office who realized the SEC brand was being way undervalued by their current TV deal considering ESPN's complete and total willingness to throw dynamite at just about every conference and reshape the landscape of college football so Texas can have their own network.