It was Dec. 27, 2011. People were still recovering from the carb-loading excesses of Christmas. Alabama and LSU were preparing for their decisive meeting in the BCS National Championship Game. And, without anyone realizing it, the Southeastern Conference office may have been determining the course of the entire 2012 college football season – its own league championship and maybe the BCS Championship as well – because that was the day that the league's schedule grid for the 2012 season came out.