I meant to share this hypothetical schedule two weeks ago and forgot: More permanent opponents...

So if I'm reading that right, we basically switch divisions every year, correct?

 

So fill in what I'm missing.

What similarities are there between SEC football today and SEC football a half of a century ago?

 

There are none. That is why absolutely nobody cares about your lame rivalry with Tennessee.

 

Since you've decided to step into our conversation, I'll leave you with the same question I've posed before.

If no one cares, explain the TV ratings. They go to prove people do care about the game.

You may not and that's not an issue that's going to be brought up when this decision is made, or shall we say brought up again, in a couple of years.

 

Actually it doesnt and you know it. A game against a quality SEC-E opponent draws better. Youve said so yourself. Go sit on a bench.

 

What will draw better... Bama vs Tenn or Bama vs any top 10 SEC East school? Nobody outside of Bama and Tenn cares about the game. It's a game much more like the Old Oaken Bucket or the Egg Bowl than it is Ohio State/Michigan or the Iron Bowl.

It certainly isn't worth holding the rest of the conference hostage over, but the inflated sense of worth that poors out of Tuscaloosa blinds the Gump nation, and the SEC office to that.

 

Causality is as foreign a concept to Bama fans as genetic diversity.

 

There's no doubt a Bama vs Georgia or Florida would draw more viewers.

However, the numbers accurately dispute the assertion that no one out side of Bama or TN cares about the game.

The notion that two teams, or one game, is holding the conference hostage is simply incorrect. Not having enough votes to change means there's not enough support to change. You're trying to assert this is all due to two schools, one game, when in reality it's more than half who are in favor of keeping the status quo.

Again, I don't disagree with a game against UGA or UF would have a better draw.

The issue is no one wants to see the game except the two fan bases.

We're not talking just football here. It garnered a higher ranking than any other cable TV channel that evening. When you combine the four main broadcast channels, that combined number was equal. As referenced in another thread, it outdrew a game between two teams ranked 11th and 12th in UofSC and Clemson.

The night of the UA vs UT game it was opposite WVU (#14) vs KSU (#4) and outdrew that contest. The two weren't close. Florida State played Miami in the same time slot. That game barely registered. Texas is squeaking by Baylor at the same time. Again, not even close. Then we add in the countless other options on television that evening and it's out-drawing everyone?

At the risk of being redundant: LSU fans may not care about the game. A statement saying "no one cares?" Factually incorrect.