DESTIN, Fla. - After three days of sometimes contentious debate, the Southeastern Conference has finally spoken on the two most important issues dominating the conversation - the league's stance on the four-team playoff starting in 2014 and the scheduling format for football.

Word from coaches, athletic directors and presidents over the past 24 hours was the SEC would support a playoff consisting of the top four teams in the country.

However, the process and criteria (BCS standings, selection committee, polls, combination, etc.) for identifying the four most deserving teams remain an open question.

For now, the SEC joins the Big 12 in calling for the four best teams to compete for the national championship in two years, pitting those conferences against the Big 10, Pac-12 and ACC.

Commissioner Mike Slive adamantly stated the conference presidents unanimously believe college football fans (and ultimately the TV networks) around the country want the top four teams in a playoff.

"We haven't deviated from our position. If we're going to a four-team playoff and I anticipate we are, it needs to be and the fans will expect we provide the four best teams in the country," Slive said. "If people aren't with the current system of how we rank them, then let's go back and look at the system that creates one through four. I'm very open to how we do that, whether it's a committee or a different set of data points. We shouldn't gerrymander who plays for the national championship.

"This league has left no doubt that it is unanimous in favor of a four-team playoff and one through four."

USC President Dr. Harris Pastides concurred.

"We think that's what the fans want," Pastides said. "We weren't really thinking so much what was good for the SEC. We think this is what the fans have been asking for a long time rather than the plus-one scenario where everybody plays a bowl game and then you see where everybody stands and play one more game. We didn't think that was the kind of post-season the fans really want."

Allied with the Big 12 (the two conferences have agreed to a 'Champions Bowl' starting in January of 2015), the SEC's position on the playoff question sets up a potential showdown with the Big 10, Pac-12 and ACC later this month when the 11 BCS conference commissioners meet again.

The latter three conferences contend multiple spots in the four-team playoff should be reserved for conference champions. In other words, those leagues want automatic bids into the playoff similar to the NCAA basketball tournament while the SEC and Big 12 want none.

"I'm hopeful we can all come to some sort of agreement that works for everybody," Slive said. "We will go into that discussion with not only what we believe is the best interests of the SEC but everybody."

The SEC wants the two semifinal games played within the current bowl structure with the national championship game established as a stand-alone game outside the bowl system.

The powerful BCS Oversight Committee is scheduled to meet in Washington, DC, on June 26. Slive said the timetable set by the BCS a year ago for establishing a playoff is still on schedule.

Football Schedule Format

After a spirited debate between coaches and administrators on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 12 school presidents formally voted to adopt the 6-1-1 format for football scheduling for the next few years, meaning each school will play six games against divisional rivals, one game against a permanent opponent and one game against a rotating opponent.

Slive said the formula had not been adopted "for any specific period of time." Conference bylaws allow the schools to review and examine the scheduling format at any time. Slive speculated the scheduling format could come under review again in three or four years.

"We needed to establish the format so we could begin to build schedules," Slive said. "Realistically, given the demands of competitive equity and our interests related to television, we're looking at a three- or four-year window. The idea that we were going to be able to schedule for 10 or 12 years wasn't going to work."

The other option strongly considered by the SEC was the 6-0-2 format calling for six division games and two crossover games against rotating opponents. Adopting that scheduling formula would have endangered the traditional Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia rivalry games.

In the end, the desire by the SEC presidents and athletic directors allowing those contests to continue on an annual basis won out.

"It was a healthy debate, but an overwhelming majority voted for the 6-1-1, even beyond a super-majority," Slive said.

LSU head coach Les Miles and other school officials were the most vocal critics of the 6-1-1 format.

Pastides told Gamecock Central he favored eliminating permanent opponents because it would allow more Western Division teams to come to Williams-Brice Stadium in a shorter time frame.

"There was spirited discussion about other points of view, including my own that it would be good for our fans to have a greater opportunity to see all the universities in the West," Pastides said. "There was some support for that, but ultimately because of the storied competition between historical rivals, we agreed this is the way we'll continue.

"I'm not unhappy with the outcome because Texas A&M is going to be a great competitor other than the distance involved to drive to games. But it's also good for players to get to visit other campuses and for fans to get to know more teams."

As expected, USC's permanent opponent starting in 2013 is new conference member Texas A&M. However, we don't know yet if the first game between the schools will be played in Columbia, S.C., or College Station, Texas.

"It will be phenomenal," Pastides said. "I did an academic review at Texas A&M earlier this year and I was incredibly awed by the traditions they have there. They're not all about sports, either. Some are about the military and the deceased alumni and the 12th Man Foundation. I think we're in for a real treat. I can't wait for the first time we go there. But I am sensitive to the travel distance as well."

Arkansas, USC's former permanent foe from the SEC West, has picked up border rival Missouri as its new permanent opponent. The permanent rivals for the rest of the conference are the same: Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia, Florida-LSU, Kentucky-Mississippi State and Ole Miss-Vanderbilt.

Pastides told Gamecock Central that adding a ninth conference game generated minimal support among the 14 schools, but acknowledged the issue could come up again in the future especially if the SEC's TV partners press the issue in order to achieve more attractive match-ups.

"There was not a lot of support for adding a ninth SEC game," Pastides said. "But I think in a few years we will revisit it. Right now, the feeling is we need to get a breather once in a while and eight games is the right number. There was nobody in favor of nine games. We don't want to kill ourselves and have extra losses. We're already playing the best competition."

Slive told reporters that in his opinion many SEC teams already play the equivalent of nine conference games with their out-of-league rivals (USC v. Clemson, Georgia v. Georgia Tech, Florida v. Florida State) or other match-ups with BCS Top 25 schools. This year, Alabama plays Michigan in Dallas in the 2012 season opener.

SEC Network

The SEC continues to look at establishing its own television network, but the process is cumbersome and will take a significant amount of time to set up. However, the dialogue has started between the SEC and its TV partners about creating a network.

Slive said an SEC Network "was one of the models we're analyzing very carefully as we move ahead to see what's the best course for us down the road."

"It's early, but that's in play," Pastides said. "There is definitely no deal or no specifics about finances were given. I think we will hear more about that later in the year."

Conference presidents agreed this week any SEC Network could be a blockbuster in terms of revenue and ratings. The SEC reportedly wants a network in place for 2014.

"I think we would have the best conference network in the country financially," Pastides said. "But I haven't seen the details. If someone said we could have a network, but we couldn't have any more money I would think about that carefully. But the combination of more exposure for our athletes and our fans, coupled with more revenue for the university, would be a win-win."

Basketball Schedule Format

The SEC has increased the number of conference men's basketball games to 18 starting in 2012-13, but will keep the number of women's SEC games stable at 16.

Unlike football, the scheduling format for men's basketball enjoyed unanimous support, Pastides told Gamecock Central. Each season, all 14 SEC schools will play one permanent rival on a home-and-home basis, four rotating opponents home-and-home and eight opponents one time apiece either home or away.

Each school will play nine conference home games and nine conference road games under the new schedule. Conference officials said the 2012-13 conference schedule should be ready to be unveiled by late July.

USC and Georgia will be permanent rivals, the SEC announced. The rest of the permanent opponents fell largely along geographic parameters with an eye on rivalries: Alabama-Auburn, Arkansas-Missouri, Florida-Kentucky (TV executive are pleased), LSU-Texas A&M, Ole Miss-Mississippi State and Tennessee-Vanderbilt.

According to the SEC, it will take three years for teams to play each of their 12 rotating opponents the same number of times. During that three-year period, each school will play their permanent rival six times (three home, three away) and every rotating opponent a total of four times.

NOTES:

* Pastides said the idea of possibly playing most or all non-conference games and cross-division opponents in the first half of the regular season and the six divisional games in the second half of the schedule "didn't come up."

* Pastides confirmed Steve Spurrier's proposal to reimburse football players for game-related expenses such as travel and food for their families wasn't discussed and hasn't been studied in depth. Pastides described the proposal as being "first time vetted" in Destin and hasn't yet traveled through the normal legislative process within the conference.

* The bracket for the 14-team SEC men's basketball tournament was unveiled on Friday. Because divisions were eliminated last season, the entire field will be seeded No. 1-14. The five-day tournament begins Wednesday night with the No. 12 and 13 seeds squaring off at 7:30 p.m. ET followed by the No. 11 and 14 seeds meeting at 10 p.m. ET. The four top seeds have byes through to the quarterfinal round on Friday. Thursday's match-ups are No. 8 v. 9, No. 5 v. winner of No. 12-13 game, No. 7 v. No. 10 and No. 6 v. winner of No. 11-14 game.

* Women's basketball will continue to play a 16-game conference schedule with one permanent opponent, two random opponents and a single round-robin of 13 games. USC's permanent opponent is Kentucky.

* The SEC announced Friday that USC will face St. John's on Nov. 29 in New York City as part of the SEC/Big East Challenge. The Gamecocks have faced St. John's on three previous occasions with the Red Storm holding a 3-0 advantage in the series. The 2012 match-up will mark the first between the two schools since the 1975-76 campaign. Here are the 2012 match-ups in the SEC/Big East Challenge:

Thur., Nov. 29

South Carolina at St. John's

Seton Hall at LSU

Kentucky at Notre Dame

Marquette at Florida

Fri., Nov. 30

Georgia at South Florida

DePaul at Auburn

Tennessee at Georgetown

Syracuse at Arkansas

Sat., Dec. 1

Mississippi State at Providence

Rutgers at Ole Miss

Alabama at Cincinnati

Villanova at Vanderbilt

* The SEC announced it will now sponsor a championship in equestrian beginning with the 2012-13 academic year. Four schools sponsor the sport - Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas A&M.

If you have any questions about this feature or wish to discuss it, please visit The Insiders ForumClick * Dr. Dan Jones, chancellor of Ole Miss, has been appointed as chair of an SEC working group to evaluate concussions in all sports.Here to view this Link., Gamecock Central's members-only message board for Gamecock fans.

D. McCallum