I get you might be someone who thinks the SEC’s fixed cross-division rivalry game is outmoded and unfair. I get you might be someone who thinks Alabama gets a subtle boost here and there in official support.
Like I said, I get all that, Amy Daughters. What I don’t get is why you think this sentence means anything.
While it’s impossible to assert that scheduling is the sole reason why Alabama has ascended to the SEC title game six of the past ten seasons, it’s equally impossible to say that it hasn’t helped the Tide get there.
Well, I’m convinced.
Get The Picture 
That was some positively Barnhartian hedging in the quote you excerpted. I’d be against any scheduling revamp that would mean the death of annual rivalries such as UGA-Auburn or Tennessee-Bama, but I also don’t think we should necessarily bend over backward to preserve all the permanent cross-division pairings. Would anybody really be crushed if Arkansas-Kentucky or Sakerlina-A&M weren’t played every single year? Surely there’s a way to preserve the truly historic rivalries while creating some flexibility for the other teams . . . but that would require some imagination, which is in acutely short supply in the upper echelons of CFB leadership in general.
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Did you know that everyone who voted for Thomas Jefferson wound up dying? I’m just sayin.
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While it’s impossible to assert that their votes were solely responsible for their deaths, it’s equally impossible to say that they didn’t play some role.
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some would say there is a connection.
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That’s one of the worst columns I’ve read in months.
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What’s an Amy Daughters?
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Amy shouldn’t let her daughter be on the computer.
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“While most everyone will agree that Alabama playing Tennessee on an annual basis while LSU is paired with Florida is ridiculous…”
I think she lost me with that opening sentence.
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Well, there’s five minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
From Wikipedia:
“The Tigers were favored in 1960 in Baton Rouge. On the first play from scrimmage, Florida quarterback Larry Libertore ran for a 66-yard touchdown. Throughout the rest of the first half, Florida’s offense stalled and LSU quarterback Jimmy Field effectively moved the ball, using plays from his wristband. But in the second quarter, with LSU up 10–7, the Gators sent a nine-man blitz against Field. He never saw it coming, and a sea of Gators piled on top of him. When he came out of the mass of bodies, his play-calling wristband was gone.[8] The Gators then held Field to just 12 yards passing in the second half, with a lone first down. The Gators came back to win 13–10, Billy Cash kicking two field goals, and after the game a Gator coach gave the wristband to an official, saying one of his players had found it on the field.[9]
Granddaddy Cowdog was an LSU Alumnus and passionate Tiger fan.. He hated Florida almost as much as I do, and this is one of the reasons. I can’t count how many times I heard “Cheating Ass Gators” growing up.
#ftmf
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Agree, the “traditional/historical” powers in the SEC all share a tough rival from the other division. It varies in years as things certainly fluctuate with the ebb and flow but it has always been the best, and fairest, setup to me. Of course LSU and Florida is a good, solid rival. And TN never complained before Bama hired Saban and made some awful hires. I thought UGA/AU was one of the very best rivalries in the country until they showed themselves to be sleazy in 2011. I like beating them like a drum over the past dozen years or so, but would rather play LSU regularlyCFB is better because of passionate rivalries, and that means playing every year.
There is no fairer way when you cannot pick and choose one year in advance. I would prefer a 9th conference game, but not disrupting the current annual rivalry setup. Certainly not based on such light weight rationale as stated in this story, nor because some fans whine about getting their butts whipped.
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True MD, “unfair” stopped any further waste of these reading skills…
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Well that was nonsense.
She failed to point this out, but the one common denominator in all of the scenarios she highlighted where Bama (in her mind) won the West over LSU or Auburn because of easier cross-division games is that Bama won the head-to-head with Auburn and LSU in all of those years.
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