A while back, a Tigerland reader wrote, after the SEC had added Texas A&M but before Missouri joined the pack, how would a 13-team league schedule work?

After some pondering and we were about to respond that we were stumped when the SEC added a 14th plate for dinner and rendered the previous question moot.

But a 14-team league still offers numerous challenges for creating a schedule that respects SEC tradtitions, maintains four conference home games for financial stability, promotes competion and fairness, and frankly, adds to the bottom line--a necessity in today's arms race.

The SEC needs to create a new concept in scheduling like they did with the championship game. With 14 teams it is time for a four-team championship tournament. It is easier than you think and would be a marketing bonanza for the cash-hungry conference.

The scheduling is fairly simple and would require minimal disruptions to current practices.

The three-week long SEC football grand finale could begin with the most exciting regular season finish in history with seven season-ending match-ups (Auburn-Alabama, Mississippi State-Ole Miss, Arkansas-LSU, Georgia-South Carolina, Florida-Tennessee, Kentucky-Vandy, and Missouri-Texas A&M) all the same day, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, add two first ever semi-final games, and end with the SEC Football Championship Finals.

The schedule would showcase the six designated inter-divisional SEC Tradition games on different Saturdays: Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia, LSU-Florida, Arkansas-South Carolina, Ole Miss-Vandy, Mississippi State-Kentucky, and the new SEC tradition Missouri-Texas A&M. Each team would play the remaining divisional opponents as scheduled, dropping only the rotating divisional opponent.

The new format would begin Thanksgiving weekend with Turkey Day matchups of the number five and six finishers in the East against their respective counterparts in the West. Friday would pit three versus three and four versus four. Saturday would dawn with the ignominious 7 vs. 7 contest before the main event in the afternoon and prime-time, the first round tournament games of number one in the East versus number two in the West and vice versa. The winners of these two games would meet in the SEC Championship.

These changes would create an exciting three-week surge of SEC interest, promote tradition, create new marketing opportunities and make the best conference stronger moving forward. What do you think?

Editors note: This was original published May 26, 2012 but with the renewed discussion of SEC schedules it seemed appropriate.