2012 SEC Spring Meetings notes – Day one

By Adam Silverstein
May 30, 2012

The Southeastern Conference is currently holding the 2012 SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, FL with head coaches, athletic directors and presidents representing each school in attendance to discuss a number of league and national issues over the course of the week from Tuesday-Friday. Below are some notes and quotes from day one:

» Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp said redshirt sophomore linebacker Neiron Ball, who himself said months ago that he was cleared to return to the team, has one more hurdle to overcome before being allowed to return to the field. “He’s got one more appointment with the doctor. I think he should be fine. He is in Gainesville,” Muschamp said, according to The Gainesville Sun. “You never know, something might pop up at the end. But he’s going back for one more deal to make sure he’s really cleared. Our medical people would not clear him if they thought there was an issue of any sort. I totally trust their opinion. Nor would he want to play if there was any chance for anything happening.” Ball, when mentioning that he was cleared previously, was likely talking about being able to join his team in the gym and do similar activities.

» As he noted at numerous Gator Gatherings in May, Muschamp again explained that sophomore tight end A.C. Leonard is doing everything asked of him since his arrest and is doing what it takes to make his way back onto the team. “He’s got some things he continues to do. He’s done everything I’ve asked him to do up to this point,” Muschamp said. “He’s got to continue to make good choices and decisions with regard to our football team. If he continues to do that, we’ll handle it.” Muschamp added that Leonard was technically never suspended from the team itself but rather from “team activities” such as practice and the spring game. Leonard is almost certainly facing suspension in the fall with the number of games determined by how well he does at continuing to be a positive member of the team going forward.

[EXPAND Click to expand and read the remainder of this post.]» South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier and LSU head coach Les Miles were both adamant Tuesday that SEC games played outside their division should not count toward a berth in the SEC Championship. The basis for their argument is that some teams have more difficult permanent rivalry games (think Florida-LSU) while other teams have it easier and that one game could be the difference between winning your division or not. Muschamp disagrees with both Spurrier and Miles, saying he believes every game should count equally.

» Despite stories from back in March stating that LSU was trying to get out of its annual game against UF, CBSSports.com reported Tuesday that the SEC plans to announce a 12-year conference schedule on Friday based on a previously reported 6-1-1 format (six divisional opponents, one permanent cross-division rival, one game on rotation). Rather than that rotational game being a home-and-home lasting two years (it would take 11 years to play every team at least once), it will change every year so the league is on a six-year rotation. The report also notes that LSU and Florida, as expected, will remain permanent cross-division rivals. The rest of the permanent cross-division games will be: Alabama-Tennessee, Arkansas-Missouri, Auburn-Georgia, Mississippi-Vanderbilt, Mississippi State-Kentucky, Texas A&M-South Carolina.

» Basketball will play an 18-game conference schedule in 2012-13. With divisions eliminated prior to last season, the SEC has decided to rely on the latest football designations to help sort out the schedule. The Gators will have Kentucky as their permanent rival that they play twice each season. Florida will then play the other 12 teams once for a total of 14 games. The remaining four games will come from a three-year rotation among the 12 teams (likely two from each “division”).[/EXPAND]

4 Comments

  1. Ken (CA) says:

    I’m confused on the basketball scheduling. If UF playes UK 2x and every other team 1x (12) that is 14, not 16. Yet you say theya re going to play an 18 game schedule. 3 different numbers, one schedule?

    And interesting how we got lucky enough to be UK’s permanent oponent. I am sure every other team is breathing a sigh of relief!

    • Oops sorry. I just fixed it.

      • Ken (CA) says:

        oh that makes a lot more sense now. At least that isn’t as bad as the Big East schedule and everyone is played at least once.

        While I love playing tougher competition, things like UK 2x per year or LSU every year are brutal for post-season/national titles..not as bad in bball, but we give ourselves tougher path to titles than most schools.

  2. uf_84 says:

    While having LSU in football and Kentucky in basketball as our permanant opponents makes things tougher, they are almost always going to be nationaly televised games bringing more exposure and excitement. Good players come to schools to play in big games so it should help recruiting.
    With the conferance comissioners finally talking about a football playoff, hopefully it’s just a matter of time before we have one. When that happens a perfect record wont matter as much. I personally wish they would play 9 conference games with a 6-1-2 format. That would mean only two game at the swamp every year against the likes of Western Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Furman, etc.

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