The Winners and Losers of the 2012 SEC Schedule
Plenty of Ole Miss fans are complaining about how they got the shaft on the 2012 schedule. Did they? Well, sure it will be difficult, but how does it compare to the schedule they would’ve received if Texas A&M and Missouri had not joined the SEC? (the truth is, when you aren’t any good, every game seems near impossible).
Below you’ll find the winners and losers (in order) from the 2012 schedule that was released by the SEC last week. This isn’t the difficulty in each team’s SEC schedule, we’re just talking about how the 2012 schedule will be vs. how it was supposed to be prior to Texas A&M and Missouri joining the conference.
Winners
1. Vanderbilt – They travel to Missouri in lieu of hosting Alabama, and they get to host Auburn instead of playing on the Plains.
2. Georgia – They trade a game at Alabama for one at Missouri. Not even only having 3 SEC home games could mess with that good fortune.
3. Kentucky – Instead of playing a home game with LSU they travel to Missouri. And they get to play MSU at home again.
4. Tennessee – The Vols swap Arkansas at home for Missouri at home.
5. Mississippi State – MSU drops a road trip to Columbia to pick up a home game with Texas A&M. The trade off is going back to Kentucky.
6. Auburn – They were planned to play Vanderbilt at home, but they will play that game in Nashville. The good news for them is they drop a road game to Gainesville and pick up A&M at home.
7. Arkansas – The Hogs trade a game at Tennessee for a neutral site game against Texas A&M. This gives them 4 SEC home games + the game in Dallas.
8. Alabama – Trading a game at Vandy for one at Missouri isn’t a good deal, but losing UGA at home in favor of A&M is. They get to play four home games vs. the West (everyone else plays 3).
Neutral
Ole Miss – The Bears trade a home game with Florida for a home game with A&M.
South Carolina – The Gamecocks trade a home game with Mississippi State for one with Missouri.
Losers
1. LSU – They trade a game at Kentucky for one at Texas A&M.
2. Texas A&M – They only get to play three SEC home games (vs. ARK in Dallas). Although, they were planning to play one more road game than home game in the Big 12 next year. Their toughest road test was going to be Oklahoma State, now it will be Alabama. They also have to travel to Auburn and Starkville instead of Baylor, Texas, and Kansas. They are trading home games with Oklahoma and Kansas State for LSU and Florida.
3. Florida – Instead of going on the road to Ole Miss, they go to Texas A&M. Instead of hosting Auburn, they host Missouri. They do get 4 SEC home games + the world’s largest cocktail party. (They’ll be done with SEC play on November 3rd).
4. Missouri – The Tigers were going to play five Big 12 games at home in 2012, they get four in the SEC. They trade home games with Oklahoma and Kansas State for Alabama and Georgia. Instead of hosting A&M, they go back to College Station again. The road schedule is a wash swapping Iowa State, Okie State, Texas, and Texas Tech for A&M, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee.