Arkansas just feels right. It’s rednecky, with dubious academics and good athletics.

…three teams in the East have never even sniffed the title game, while only one hasn’t made it in the west. We’d do better to move one of the softies over the West if Tech or Clemson or FSU joined.

You were honest enough to admit your ignorance about Georgia’s rivalries, so I will be honest enough to admit my ignorance about Tennessee’s. I had assumed Vanderbilt would be the bigger deal since the Commodores are in-state and have beaten the Volunteers more recently than the Wildcats. My mistake.

Moving Georgia would be a bad idea, both for the competitive imbalance RJohn rightly notes and for the breakup of several longstanding series. Prior to the advent of the seven-game SEC schedule in the late 1980s, the Bulldogs annually played Clemson, Georgia Tech, and South Carolina out-of-conference. If the Country Gentlemen were added to the league, the Red and Black would want to play both Palmetto State schools, in addition to the Gators.

Stuck in the Plains makes a good point, as well, though, so why don’t we try reshuffling the divisions this way:

SEC East:
Clemson
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
South Carolina
Tennessee

SEC West:
Alabama
Auburn
LSU
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Vanderbilt

Permanent interdivisional rivalries:
Georgia-Auburn
Alabama-Tennessee
Kentucky-Vanderbilt
Mississippi State-South Carolina
Florida-Ole Miss
Clemson-LSU

That divisional split makes a good deal of geographic sense, neither division is noticeably more topheavy than the other, and (while all of the permanent interdivisional rivalries except Georgia-Auburn and Alabama-Tennessee are negotiable) there’s something to be said for that largely level set of annual games across the divide.

Granted, it looks like a mismatch between the Gators and the Rebels, but the Saurians have struggled in the Magnolia State for the last 20 years and Florida-Louisiana State looked like at least as large a mismatch for much of the 1990s. Trips to the Sunshine State every other autumn could boost Mississippi’s recruiting pretty quickly.

You can’t tell me it wouldn’t be fun for Clemson to play LSU every year. Those are two rabid fan bases, and I’d be able to make the same joke in “Don’t Bet On It!” every year: “I’m picking the Tigers . . . you know, the ones from Death Valley . . . you know, the ones who wear purple . . .”

. . . and you’re right; it’s all idle speculation in the de facto offseason. Notre Dame has already made it clear that the Fighting Irish aren’t interested in joining a conference, the Big Ten will take a year to look this over before deciding to wait a little longer for the Golden Domers to get off of their high horse, and, in the end, no one is going anywhere.

You make a good point about the geography and I certainly think the Razorbacks bring something to the table. I just grew up thinking of Arkansas as a team we play in bowl games periodically and Clemson as a team we play every year. That notion remains ingrained in me, so I’m always looking for ways to get the Tigers back on the Bulldogs’ schedule where they belong.

Thanks, as always, for bringing a reasonable rival fan’s perspective to the table. I hope you and your family have a merry Christmas.

. . . in which he said the same thing. He pointed out that we don’t differentiate between football teams by saying those who play in domes take part in “indoor football.”

It’s my understanding that Arkansas does this for Directors’ Cup purposes, as it allows them to count more sports at which they excel.

… but I suspect that the reason the dual home field arrangement began in the first place was for the same reason it did everywhere else in the south… accessibility. Back in the early and mid-twentieth century, it was frequently very difficult to get large crowds into the small towns that housed state universities. In addition, larger sports facilities were usually available in bigger cities. As a result, many teams moved their “big” home games to venues with better accessibility for fans and greater seating capacity.

 Arkansas is the only team that still plays their home games in two different cities annually. Both Alabama and Auburn, however, played multiple home games in Legion Field in Birmingham for decades. Auburn left first, with Alabama keeping the arrangement until the capacity of Bryant-Denny Stadium surpassed that of Legion Field in 1999. (Though the Tide kept playing 1 game a year there until 2003.)

Georgia played “home” games in Piedmont Park in Atlanta many times during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, especially when a big-name opponent would come to town, like Virginia in 1897, Vanderbilt in 1898, North Carolina several times in the first 20 years of Georgia football, and Auburn. (In fact, 16 of the first 24 meetings in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry were played in Atlanta before the game was “permanently” moved to Columbus in 1920. In Georgia’s case, Athens became the permanent home for virtually every home game in 1929 with the advent of Sanford Stadium, and the rail link to Atlanta in that early part of the century ensured that large crowds could get to Athens for big games.

Other schools didn’t have the same accessibility or facilities with large seating capacities, so relocating for home games was quite common for a long time.

And nothing against Little Rock or War Memorial Stadium, but with the new additions from a few years ago, Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium is now one of the most impressive facilities in the SEC. It also seats about 23,000 more than WMS, which means more crowd noise for the Hogs and more money for the University. Not to mention the fact that WMS, from my observation, is a lot like the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas (and, for that matter, Legion Field in Birmingham)… lots of history and great memories, but its best years are long past.

Were I an Arkansas fan, I would lobby for every game to be played in Fayetteville, simply because the stadium there is a far better setting to experience an Arkansas football game. From what you’re saying, the games stay in Little Rock because of politics, and I can appreciate the fact that I don’t fully understand the politics of the Arkansas fan base and why they prefer having games in an older, inferior stadium because it’s closer to their house. (Wow, that came across as far more derisive than I intended it to sound.)

To support my case for Arkansas belonging in the Big 12, though, I would like to posit the following question to the Razorback Nation: Which team would you rather beat in a season?
- Texas or Alabama?
- Texas A&M or Auburn?

I know Ole Miss and LSU are big rivals for you, but that doesn’t mean that Arkansas belongs in the SEC. Georgia has longstanding, storied rivalries with Clemson and Georgia Tech, but that doesn’t mean Georgia belongs in the ACC.