Are we nearing the end of annual Vols-kentucky rivalry?
Two divisions could give way to four-team pods
The Tennessee-kentucky football rivalry is finally getting good, but perhaps just in time for the rivalry to have its annual matchups interrupted.
The SEC has not specified how the conference schedule format will change once it expands to 16 teams in 2025 with the addition of the Oklahoma and Texas. One possibility that has gained attention is replacing the two divisions with a four-team pod scheduling format.
If the SEC embraces pods, teams would play the other three teams in their pod annually and play two teams from each of the other three pods each season. Those opponents from other pods would rotate.
The Vols and Wildcats could be placed in the same pod, if the pod format takes hold, but I think the likelier pods involving those schools would be one featuring Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, with another including Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina.
Geographically, you could argue for a pod with Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, but such a pod seems unlikely because of competitive balance, and it would disrupt UT'S Third Saturday in October rivalry with Alabama.
Many Vols fans consider Alabama to be chief among Tennessee's several football rivals. Among SEC foes, the Vols profile as UK'S top rival.
Tennessee (4-4, 2-3 SEC) will play at No. 17 Kentucky (6-2, 4-2) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
“It's important to our fanbase. It's important to me,” UK coach Mark Stoops said of the rivalry, while adding that all division games are key.
The teams have met every year since neither team fielded a team in 1943 amid World War II.
The Vols lead the all-time series 8126-9 and won 26 straight against the Wildcats before UK'S 2011 victory. But Tennessee isn't the dominant program of the 1990s and early 2000s, and Kentucky is no longer wretched. The teams have split the past four meetings.
The preservation and restoration of rivalries is one reason why I would prefer the SEC embrace eight-team divisions within a 16-team conference.
Play a nine-game conference schedule with seven division games and two games against rotating interdivision opponents. No permanent interdivision rivalry games would be needed, because most rivalries would be preserved within realigned divisions.
East: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Vanderbilt
West: Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M
My suggested alignment would come at the expense of an annual Alabamalsu game, but mostly, you'd have two rivalry-laden divisions while still creating more interdivision variety than the current setup, which features a permanent crossover rival.
And you'd avoid messy tiebreaker scenarios for the SEC Championship that could ensue from a four-team pod format.
Boo-hoo, Dan Mullen
Struggling Florida coach Dan Mullen (4-7 in his last 11 games) hasn't helped his cause with a series of news conference gaffes.
The latest came Monday. When asked whether Florida's recruiting approach needs tweaked – the Gators are struggling in the 2022 recruiting rankings – Mullen got testy and snapped that “we'll do recruiting after the season.”
Sportswriters and fans barbecued Mullen for the comment – successful recruiting requires year-round attention – before he clarified Wednesday that his quote was taken out of context.
Mullen wants to delay discussing recruiting until after the season but
wasn't suggesting that his staff ignores recruiting during the season, he said.
“Our staff recruits nonstop,” Mullen said.
Fine, but Mullen could have prevented this. He interrupted a reporter's question with a testy and poorly worded answer. That's on him.
Give Ed Orgeron a break
Lame-duck LSU coach Ed Orgeron has been fairly criticized the past two years for his program's 9-9 record in the aftermath of LSU'S 2019 national championship.
And this week, with LSU (4-4, 2-3) set to play at No. 3 Alabama (7-1, 4-1) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), Orgeron is getting reminded of his locker-room revelry after LSU beat Alabama 46-41 in 2019.
Orgeron, during profanity-laced celebratory remarks to his team that night, suggested that LSU would assert longterm dominance over Alabama.
One of LSU'S players recorded and published Orgeron's comments on video, unbeknownst to Orgeron at the time.
“That was something that was made in the privacy of a locker room,” Orgeron said Wednesday, when reminded of that locker-room speech. “I wish it wouldn't have got out. I meant no disrespect to the University of Alabama.”
I'm quick to hold coaches accountable for their actions and comments (see Mullen, above), but I agree with Orgeron that locker-room speeches like his 2019 celebration are meant to rally the team in private. Nothing Orgeron said in that moment was out of bounds, even though his prophecy proved incorrect.
More SEC West drama
Saturday's three most compelling SEC West games don't involve the Alabama-lsu rivalry.
No. 14 Auburn at No. 12 Texas A&M (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): Think how important this game would be if the 12-team playoff proposed in the summer was in effect. As it stands, the game is critical for the SEC West race. The winner will be Alabama's primary possible impediment to a spot in Atlanta.
Mississippi State at Arkansas (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network): Preseason projections had these teams battling to avoid last place in the SEC West. They've exceeded expectations. Both should be ranked in the Top 25.
Liberty at No. 15 Mississippi (noon ET, SEC Network): Escort services, prepare the phone lines. Hugh Freeze is returning to Oxford.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at Btoppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.