When the SEC announced that Texas A&M had been accepted as the 13th member of the SEC, fans everywhere wondered how schedules would be fairly constructed. All of that seemed to go away with the addition of Missouri as the 14th team, but many problems still remained.
Many problems revolve around scheduling. Alabama (of course) and Auburn (little brother) both have two games they want to keep on their schedule every year that we are now stuck with a system where most out of division foes will visit your school once every twelve years. In my opinion that's disgraceful.
Additionally, geography leaves quite a bit to be desired. It seems shameful that Missouri has been placed in the SEC East. That means their closest division road game will be at Vanderbilt. That will place the Tigers at a major disadvantage.
We know that Auburn and Alabama will not jump ship to the SEC East, but one team should offer to trade with Missouri. That team is Mississippi State.
A move to the East would do wonders for the football program. Immediately, LSU, Arkansas, and Alabama become once every six-year opponents. Right now, the Bulldogs have to go through a murderer's row to even hope to get to an SEC title game. I know that in football, things are cyclical, but I'm not sure when those three teams are sinking, and I'm not sure the East will ever put up three teams quite as dominate at the same time.
Because of this, I think the Bulldogs would have a great chance of getting to Atlanta and major bowl games faster. Knowing how MSU schedules their out of conference games (a whole different discussion for another day), the Bulldogs would rarely finish with fewer than eight wins.
If one figures that Ole Miss would be State's permanent rival, they would play either Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, or Arkansas in their other game. Let's say the Bulldogs draw Texas A&M. That leaves their SEC schedule that year as Florida (beatable), Tennessee (a win), Kentucky (a win), Vandy (a win), South Carolina (beatable), Georgia(tough), Ole Miss (a laugher). With that schedule, the Bulldogs are looking at a legitimate 11-1 season, with a 7-1 record in the SEC. That's not happening anytime soon in the West. In fact, even during the LSU/Alabama/Auburn years, the Bulldogs would probably be looking 9-3 at the worst as a team in the East.
What are the negatives? Well, the Bulldogs would not play some of their traditional games each year. What a fan has to ask is this: How concerned are you about Texas A&M, Auburn, and even LSU? I know some State fans cling to the Arkansas and Alabama games.
This could potentially make baseball a little tougher, and it would make basketball tougher. However, I feel if Mississippi State had been in the SEC East, they would have made more NCAA tournaments in the past seven years.
Does this help the scheduling issues? Not really. Does it help geography issues? A bit. Does it help Mississippi State? You bet!
What say you Bulldog fans?