The news that the SEC will officially hold onto its "permanent cross-division" opponents is good news for traditionalists inside the conference, but murky for the newcomer Texas A&M Aggies. Games like Alabama vs. Tennessee and Auburn vs. Georgia will stay annual affairs, but the westernmost squad of the SEC West is now stuck with the odd-fit South Carolina Gamecocks for an annual "rivalry."
The logic behind permanent cross-division opponents is a web of conflicting loyalties inside the SEC offices - namely the fans (and powerful boosters) of the two games listed above refused to let go of their rivalries and refused to shuffle division membership, while the league doesn't want to lose the cash cow that LSU vs. Florida has become. It's also an excuse to justify dropping Missouri in the SEC East - they'll get Arkansas as their permanent cross-division opponent from the "east" in a border war every season.
That leaves the Ags in the misfit pile, along with the rest of the conference. A&M and the Gamecocks can now enjoy the pointless annual meetings that Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and Mississippi State and Kentucky have entertained since 1992.
And about that other "1" in the "6-1-1?" That means you should enjoy hosting Florida in the one-off 2012 schedule, because six teams will rotate in and out as A&M's second Eastern Division opponent each year. Mathematically, that Florida game in College Station might not happen again for 12 years.
For more on the wonderful, odd world of the SEC, check out Team Speed Kills and SB Nation's college football page.
