Dan Mullen wants to do away with permanent cross-division opponents
The Florida Gators will host Alabama for the first time since 2011, and it's a premier game Dan Mullen would like to see more of.
When the SEC expanded to 14 teams in 2012, a new schedule was introduced. Each conference team plays the other six teams in its division, leaving two more games to play inside the conference. Each team has a permanent cross-divisional rival, meaning the other six teams in the division are on a rotating basis.
Essentially it creates a scenario where Florida will play FSU, a non-conference opponent significantly more than they will play other SEC teams. Heck, Florida has played Michigan more times (three) from 2016-18 than they played any of the SEC West schools other than LSU.
"I don't want to get the commissioner in trouble here, but I'd love to maybe do away with the permanent crossover team so you get these types of games more often," Mullen said of Florida's September 18th matchup against Alabama. "I think for the players, for the fan bases, I really think it's exciting to see some more maybe mixing up of the teams from the west and playing two different teams each year instead of a permanent crossover."
This isn't the first time Mullen has made this argument either. Back in 2019 when Florida was getting set to host Auburn, a school Florida used to play every season and had a rivalry with, Mullen made the plea to do away with cross-divisional opponents in order to get more games against the rest of the conference.
“I think it’s an injustice for the kids. We should mix those games up and you should play more teams from the West and get the opportunity to play more SEC games," Mullen said in 2019. "You come play in this league and play in those games, conference games are a lot of fun, playing other SEC teams. I think moving forward scheduling-wise, obviously conference, we don’t control that, but I think that’d be a heck of a deal and I know we’re working to play more Power 5 teams.”
As it stands, a senior at Florida will only have the opportunity to play five of the seven schools from the west during a four-year stretch and only visit three of those schools.
Nick Saban has long pushed a nine-game conference schedule, which would keep cross-divisional rivals intact while allowing two rotating teams from the other division. There hasn't been a resounding push from the other coaches to move from eight games to nine but with the potential expansion of the College Football Playoff on the horizon, perhaps the SEC would consider making a scheduling change in the future.