The 2012 SEC football schedule should be revealed any time now, as it was already rumored to be presented last week before Christmas and then again yesterday in the first media day after the holiday weekend. Now while we all wait wondering what Missouri’s schedule will look like, John Pennington put together his thoughts for every team with a meticulous projection worth looking at.
Given Pennington’s projection, Missouri’s conference schedule would look like this:
@ Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
@ South Carolina
@ Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Texas A&M
@ Alabama
Suddenly it’s easy to see why some believe the shift to the conference is a guarantee for mediocrity for the team. Games at South Carolina, Florida and Alabama are going to be difficult, as will home games against Georgia and Texas A&M. If the Tigers lose four games a year in conference, is it worth the move? Unless Mizzou can develop into an elite program, the days might be gone of consecutive 10-win seasons.
That said, the attention and audience that comes with such high profile games as a Missouri-Alabama match-up on a consistent basis is likely to bring things they could have never achieved before. It’s a chicken and egg situation that presents a real catch-22 for fans, and no one can know how it will play out until the Tigers are placed into the real world situation next year and the field yields an ultimate winner.