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Former SEC Football legend talks SEC divisions

By Matt Green

Dec 30, 2015; Birmingham, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers cheerleaders fly their flags high after scoring in the 2015 Birmingham Bowl against the Memphis Tigers at Legion Field. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2015; Birmingham, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers cheerleaders fly their flags high after scoring in the 2015 Birmingham Bowl against the Memphis Tigers at Legion Field. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports /
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In a recent interview with the Paul Finebaum Show, legendary Auburn football coach Pat Dye had some comments about the SEC football divisions.

Dye, who played at Georgia and coached at Auburn said that he thought Auburn and Missouri should change divisions, putting Auburn in the East and Missouri in the West.

Geographically, the move would make perfect sense, considering only College Station, Tex., and Fayetteville, Ark. are the only cities in the SEC that are further west than Columbia, Mo.

"“We touch Florida, Georgia and Tennessee,” Dye said. “We need to be in the East, and Missouri needs to be in the West. If we played nine [conference] games, we could do that, because we could still play Alabama every year, and then we’d have our meeting with Tennessee and Florida and Georgia.”"

I’m all for the SEC transitioning to a nine-game conference schedule, but that would not actually need to be done in order for Dye’s idea to happen, but it would certainly shake some things up. And one long-time SEC rivalry would be a casualty.

More from Southbound and Down

Missouri

Missouri’s locked rival from the SEC West is currently Arkansas, if they moved to the West, they would have to find a locked rival from the East.

New Cross-Division Rival: Georgia

Auburn

Auburn’s locked rival from the East is Georgia. If they moved to the East, they would face the Bulldogs every year, and Alabama would be the logical cross-division rival for the Tigers.

New Cross-Division Rival: Alabama

Tennessee 

The one traditional SEC rival that would end under this scenario would be The Third Saturday in October between Alabama and Tennessee. But I’m sure the Volunteers and their fans wouldn’t mind not seeing the Crimson Tide on their schedule every year.

New Cross-Division Rival: Arkansas

So the three new cross-division rivalries would be Auburn/Alabama, Missouri/Georgia, and Tennessee/Arkansas.

Whether it is changing the division alignment, switching to a nine-game conference schedule, or just eliminating divisions altogether, the SEC could definitely use a change.

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