Nick Saban discusses future of SEC, hints at official scheduling model
Alabama head coach Nick Saban might be focusing on Texas A&M but comments he made Thursday night have the attention of the entire SEC.
Everyone is anxious to know how the conference’s future scheduling is going to look. We know how the 2024 season will play out, even if there are no dates attached to the matchups. As for 2025 and beyond? It’s wait-and-see mode.
Well, Saban may have hinted at the SEC choosing to go with the 7+1 model instead of 6+3. He was asked about Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC and expressed how he is in favor of players having the opportunity to play every team in the conference.
“The way we’re gonna do our seven-team rotation, one-team fixed,” Saban began. “I think you’re gonna play everybody every four years, so almost every guy at your school is going to play every team in the conference. Which I think is great as well.”
Saban is not the only coach in the state to potentially let the scheduling model slip. Auburn‘s Hugh Freeze said he will miss playing Georgia recently, fresh off the two playing each other. Freeze may have been the first to hint at the 7+1 and Saban is another data point.
“I’ll miss playing Georgia every year because I just got to experience it for my first time and I loved every minute of it other than the outcome,” Freeze said. “I love competing against those type teams. And so there are some changes coming.”
Two head coaches have now hinted at SEC moving to 7+1 scheduling model
If the 7+1 model is what Commissioner Greg Sankey does end up going with, most of the protected games are going to be obvious ones. The Iron Bowl and Egg Bowl are here to stay, while Georgia and Florida will continue to play each other.
Remaining at eight conference games would be an outlier in college football too. The other power conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12 — are all at nine games. Really, the race in college football is between the Big Ten and the SEC, and having a different amount of conference games will be a point of discussion.
There are going to be some unhappy fanbases about losing secondary rivalries. Alabama-Tennessee is considered one of the best rivalries in the SEC. As mentioned, Freeze is going to miss Auburn playing Georgia on a yearly basis. Florida and Tennessee would likely want to see each other on a yearly basis.
In-state rivals Texas and Texas A&M would not even get an annual game, with the Longhorns surely tied to Oklahoma.
Either way, those games will still occur. Just on an every-other-year basis — if Saban’s hinting becomes true.