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League Announces Scheduling Format for Some Sports

Biggest question will be a little later, but some indications given in announcement

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Mar 15, 2023 8:03 AM EDT

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Who could be Arkansas' permanent opponents?

It's a question a lot of fans have with Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC next spring and that phrase has been thrown around a lot.

The instant thought process jumps to football, then basketball. The media release from the league didn't cover either one of those sports.

But the format announced Tuesday does provide a little insight that probably can be used for those two sports.

Baseball was the main sport of interest this time and exactly who the Hogs would draw as permanent opponents on the diamond because the format calls for two.

Is it Ole Miss? LSU? No idea ad don't say Tennessee because Tony Vitello probably not going to be in Knoxville that long.

For baseball each league team will play a three game series against two permanent opponents and eight rotating opponents for 30 conference games.

Hog fans can begin speculating on who those other two teams will be and their are probably arguments to be made all over the place and everybody will have their own opinion.

It does tend to lean towards football moving to a nine-game conference season every year, which is a good thing. Going to 10 wouldn't particularly bother me because it would make every game more interesting.

With three permanent opponents on a home-and-home basis that means you can rotate through every team in the league every other year, although how that gets determined could create good years and really tough seasons.

Remember, these things and the base of power cycles on a regular basis. It always has and adding the Longhorns and Sooners to the mix won't change that one bit.

It does give us more to talk about.

Here's the remaining information from the league media release:

Gymnastics

• Regular season: Each school sponsoring a gymnastics team will meet each other member institution at least once a year on an alternating home and away basis, consistent with the current process. An additional week will be required to accommodate nine teams.

• SEC Gymnastics Championships: The championship will move from a one-day event to a two-day format. The semifinals will consist of two sessions of four teams each. The top seed will receive a bye to the championship. The top seed plus the two session winners in the semifinals and the team with the next highest score in the semifinals will advance to a four-team championship.

Swimming & Diving (Men’s and Women’s)

_• Regular season: The Conference Office will schedule two dual meets per program and each institution is responsible for establishing the dates and times of the meets, consistent with the current process.

• SEC Swimming & Diving Championships: Same as current format with updated facility requirements.

Indoor Track & Field (Men’s and Women’s)

• Regular season: Each school sponsoring an indoor track and field team will schedule teams from other Conference institutions at its own discretion, consistent with the current process.

• SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships: The championship will move from a two-day event to a three-day format.

Volleyball

• Regular season: Format to be determined.

• SEC Volleyball Tournament: A Conference tournament will be conducted for the first time since 2005. All Conference teams will participate. Still to be determined is whether the SEC Volleyball Tournament will resume following the 2024 season or following the 2025 season.