Greg McElroy uses Premier League example to propose SEC scheduling model
Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy used the English Premier League as an example for SEC scheduling.
That’s in the case of a nine-game conference schedule once Texas and Oklahoma are in. Going to nine games could complicate things, but McElroy offered a solution.
This type of rotation, modeled after a soccer league, could be worth discussing.
“So I can understand why there are some people that are uneasy about how inequitable it is across the board and that you shouldn’t be penalized for winning games,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “But what I would say to that, for those that are frustrated, let’s reassess this thing in four years. You do one full cycle. These are your three permanent teams for the next four years, and then we’ll reassess four years from now and maybe adjust accordingly.
“English Premier League, I don’t know if you guys follow that. I don’t particularly follow it. But Leicester City … they got relegated this past weekend. They won the league in 2016. So a team that won the English Premier League seven years ago is now out of the English Premier League because they lost and were terrible and got bumped out. They can adjust accordingly. A lot can change in seven years, or a lot can change in four as well.”
McElroy elaborated on the English Premier League model. Basically, you get permanent opponents for a four year cycle, let’s say, and you reassess after that period.
What are the parameters of an assessment? That’s unclear in McElroy’s example, but it’s a start.
“And I would admit, if I were in charge of this, I’d say hey, these are your permanents for now. We’ll reassess in four years,” McElroy said. “Here’s the one thing I would say about being positive, potentially, about the situation because we’ll try to find the silver lining. There is the possibility where there is a one year, eight game conference schedule that is implemented just to bridge the gap. Remember, Oklahoma and Texas were not supposed to join the league until 2025.
“When they moved things up a year and they decided to join in 2024, that accelerated the process and people aren’t yet quite comfortable with how exactly this process has been accelerated. So I can understand if they want to do a bridge year that’s fine, but hopefully at some point in the very near future, they start to reassess the importance of a nine game conference schedule.”
Going from eight to nine games within the SEC is the top priority though, regardless of English Premier League ideas.
“I think it has to happen,” McElroy said. “Not because of the quality of the TV inventory of the quality of the games, the quality of the matchups, but because of the quality of the rivalries. It for nothing else, preserves those. That should be the number one priority. And I don’t know if at this point, that is the number one priority for the decision makers that will be voting on this at the end of the week.”
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