SEC Nearing Completion of 13-Team 2012 Football Schedule

According to Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity, the SEC is in the process of finalizing its 2012 conference schedule with 13 teams.

McGarity provided few details, so we don't know what model it will take. Based on previous comments by Larry Templeton, the former Mississippi State AD leading the SEC's transition committee, a system where Texas A&M plays four teams from each division is the most likely configuration. A MAC-style 13-team schedule can also work and is the only viable alternative. Neither alternative is that palatable, but there really is no good way to make a 13-team football conference schedule.

The best news from McGarity is that he doesn't expect the designated cross-division rivalries to be disrupted. There is no guarantee, however, that the other previously scheduled series will continue as planned, but that's a cost of doing business when you add another team to the conference.

The final bit of news is that McGarity said the conference hasn't taken a look at potential 14-team schedules at all. That is interesting given the expectation that Missouri will leave the Big 12 and join the SEC soon. Though interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas has said Mizzou wouldn't be able to leave his conference in time to join the SEC for next season, MU chancellor Brady Deaton has contradicted that in saying his school could in fact make a change for the '12 season.

McGarity said that the new model would be revealed "sooner than later", but you have to think that Missouri news could delay or even cancel the public revelation of what they came up with.