Berry Tramel
Tulsa World Sports Columnist
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Brent Venables doesn’t care who the Southeastern Conference makes his Sooners play. And that’s OK.
Lane Kiffin does care who the SEC makes his Rebels play. And you know what? That’s OK, too.
OU and Ole Miss have been paired as annual rivals in the SEC’s new nine-game format, at least for the next four seasons, and Mississippi’s Kiffin was less than thrilled.
“Oklahoma is really disappointing,” Kiffin said on the SEC teleconference last week. “We don’t have anything in common with them, or our fans. So that doesn’t make any sense at all.
“And so that’s unfortunate with so many great teams that we’ve played for a long time here, especially from our SEC West (division) years. So that’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”
Kiffin, of course, has fallen victim to tunnel vision. The SEC schedule is not an Ole Miss world. It’s a big jigsaw puzzle, and all kinds of pieces must fit together.
Venables is one of those coaches who doesn’t get caught up in politics — he’s too busy thinking of how to stop 3rd-and-3 — and can’t get caught up in who he’s asked to play.
So Venables was unmoved when the Sooners were given Texas (expected), Missouri (expected) and Ole Miss (unexpected) as OU’s annual foes.
“Yeah, it’s great,” Venables said. “Whatever schedule they give us, I’m happy. I say that respectfully. Honestly.”
A lot of Oklahomans were hoping for Arkansas; it’s only 235 miles from campus to campus, yet the Sooners and Razorbacks haven’t played in the regular season since the 1920s. SEC schedule-makers could legitimately ask if OU and Arkansas are natural rivals, why haven’t they done something about it in 100 years?
Others were hoping for Texas A&M instead of Missouri, since disrespecting Mizzou has become a hobby for some Sooner loyalists.
But the SEC must serve 16 masters in making a schedule. It can’t produce a schedule for, say, Georgia, then move on down the line. All the schedules must work in harmony.
Ole Miss, for example, got its two traditional rivals, Louisiana State and Mississippi State. And Kiffin apparently wanted Auburn or Arkansas or Alabama to round out the slate.
But Auburn’s trio was the easiest to decide — historic rivals Georgia and Alabama, plus Vanderbilt to ease the weight of having to play Georgia and Alabama.
Arkansas’ options were loaded, with old Southwest Conference rivals Texas and Texas A&M, plus new SEC rivals LSU and Missouri, who both have extended turns as the Thanksgiving weekend showdown game.
And Alabama’s rivals were somewhat set. Tennessee and Auburn are ancient foes, as is Mississippi State, 84 miles from Tuscaloosa. That’s almost three times closer than Norman to Fayetteville.
That left Ole Miss without a third partner. Hello, Oklahoma.
The SEC could have tried to keep the new west wing of the conference playing within its circle.
Texas got its three old-school rivals: OU, Texas A&M and Arkansas. It would have been a scheduling crime to do anything else.
And the SEC could have paired OU and A&M, subbing out Missouri or LSU for the Aggies, and Ole Miss for the Sooners. Could have paired Arkansas and A&M, dropping LSU from the Razorbacks and Missouri from the Aggies.
But that kind of doctoring leaves holes elsewhere.
In the end, the SEC did a fairly solid job of juggling geography, history and competitive balance.
The latter is not easy. How is the SEC supposed to know who’s going to be stout in 2029? We don’t know who’s going to be stout on Saturday.
OU didn’t get an easy draw. Texas is Texas. Missouri has been solid under Eli Drinkwitz. Ole Miss has been more than stout under Kiffin. But what if Florida fires Billy Napier and hires either Drinkwitz or Kiffin? Who knows if the Mizzou and Mississippi success continues?
The schedules of Alabama (Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi State) and Georgia (Auburn, Florida and South Carolina) look relatively light, but that’s in part because Alabama and Georgia aren’t each other’s annual foe.
Texas A&M’s three annual rivals look rough — Texas, LSU and Missouri. And the Aggies didn’t even want the expanded SEC in the first place.
Sports Illustrated ranked A&M and Arkansas (LSU, Texas and Missouri) tied for the toughest annual opponents, with OU third.
But who knows? In the end, Venables is right. Just make the schedule, then make sure your team shows up for kickoff.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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Berry Tramel
Tulsa World Sports Columnist
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