If SEC realignment went the way 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello suggested it could, Auburn football fans would be an overly ecstatic bunch — because unlike in locked in annual matchups Alabama and Georgia, they Tigers would finally catch a break.
Marcello’s realignment would have three permanent rivals for each program to play yearly, and for the third Auburn football rivalry next to the Iron Bowl and the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, Vanderbilt would become a biannual fixture on the Plains.
Here was the full list of teams each SEC school would play:
My proposal for the #SEC's permanent games in a 9-game conference schedule.
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) February 10, 2023
Rivalries maintained, old rivalries return, "lower" half of conference helped in bowl race, etc.
Evaluate, adjust again after 8 seasons. pic.twitter.com/7CYkhGS5P9
Vanderbilt would be the perfect third Auburn football rivalry game
Given the gauntlet Auburn football faces year in and year out, a one-week getaway to Nashville every other year and a cupcake home matchup against the Commodores in between would be a fair way to balance things out in favor of the orange and blue.
Sharing the state with Alabama has been tough enough for the past decade and a half, but with Georgia now the titans of the sport, AU is between a rock and a hard place with their built-in scheduled games. A breather against Vanderbilt would be highly appreciated on multiple fronts.
While Auburn football has a long history with Mississippi State that would be forsaken in this setup, the Tigers have given up on a similarly storied matchup against Florida in the past. Change can be difficult, but as long as the sport’s seminal southern showdowns — Iron Bowl, Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, Third Saturday in October, and the like — are still in tact, integrity should remain intact.