Shane Beamer sees pros in multiple schedule ideas in expanded SEC
In a few days, South Carolina’s Shane Beamer and his Southeastern Conference counterparts will all convene at the beach for a pivotal few days in Florida.
Those days in Destin for the league’s annual meetings will serve as a discussion chamber amid an ever-changing college football world. One of the biggest talking points will also assuredly be scheduling.
Texas and Oklahoma will scoot into the SEC in the coming years. It throws into flux longstanding scheduling practices with changes likely coming down the pike.
“I think there’s merit to both of them and positives to both of them,” Shane Beamer said recently. “I’m eager to get down to our meetings in a couple of weeks and talk and figure out what’s best for the league and what’s best for us.”
The most prominent two models, according to Sports Illustrated, consist of an eight-game model where teams have one permanent opponent and seven rotating league opponents. The Gamecocks currently play all SEC East teams in a year plus Texas A&M and a rotating SEC West opponent.
The other is a nine-game conference schedule with three permanent opponents and also six rotating opponents.
There is a pod system similar to this where 16 teams would split into four pods. Each team would play its pod annually, one full pod in another year and another SEC game. If South Carolina goes to a pod system, what that would like like is still to be determined.
“I’ve talked to a couple of coaches in the SEC who’ve called me with their feelings on each of the models,” Beamer said.
“Frankly one guy might like one cause he knows who his permanent opponent is going to be and another may not because he knows who his permanent opponent is going to be or who the three are going to be. There’s a lot of thought that goes into that.”
It certainly sets up with coaches trying to angle and get the best draw for their particular teams. Beamer cautioned against that.
“Let’s do ultimately what’s best for the SEC,” South Carolina’s head coach said. “That’s what commissioner (Greg) Sankey and all of us will do going forward.”
Whatever the schedule looks like also doesn’t change how tough the SEC will continue to be for years to come.
“They’re trying to figure out how to do a championship game. And I’m trying to figure out how to get to the championship game. That’s my priority,” Beamer said.
“Control what you can control and certainly I can control that. I did see that and it’ll be interesting to see what conferences do moving forward.”
