*** Official 2015 College Football Thread *** (2 Viewers)

[roadkill1292]

A 40-year-old letter was reported in the Chattanoogan this week, written by Coach Bryant to an incoming freshman the summer before he comes to play for him:

http://www.chattanoo...Summertime.aspx

Dear Chris:You will be expected to report for football practice August 17. We will expect you to arrive in the afternoon and our first meal will be served that evening at the dorm.

On the 18th, you will take your physical, including the mile run, get your room and locker assignments and participate in Photographer's Day in the afternoon. Our first practice will be on the morning of the 19th.

I am expecting you to report in top physical condition, clean-cut, smiling, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and raring to go. Also, I am expecting you to be prepared to run, hit, pitch, kick, catch, sweat, smell and enjoy it. There are no easy ways but there are ways to enjoy the journey and we must find them.

I am also expecting you to work hard, eat well, sleep well, play well, display a winning attitude at all times, be a leader and help me sell the squad on what it takes to win and enjoy the journey.

I hope you will share your problems with me whether it be at home, at the dorm, in your school work, with teammates, with coaches, with training regulations, self-discipline or even flying a kite. If you do that, I will try to help you and, if I can't, I'll recommend you get a job, join the Army, or join the Foreign Legion, but, in any event, to reside in another state.

Nothing's too good for winners. I want to love you, pat you, pet you, brag on you and see you hoot, run and shout and laugh, pray, hug, kiss, and win with humility.

If we lose, I want all of us to be unhappy, no one to have any fun, and expect only what is reserved for losers but take it with dignity while planning to come back.

Please remember us to your family and make your personal plans on how you are going to reach your goal – the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

Sincerely,Paul Bryant

That's awful.

You have to look at it thru the eyes of an incoming 17-year-old, likely from a small southern town. And obviously the purpose is to motivate the kid to be enthusiastic and prepared for what was no doubt a tough introduction to fall practice...which it mostly would, unless you hated college football like yourself. In which case, you'd be in the Foreign Legion soon anyway.

Ok, it was probably appropriate for its time. Rah-rah and all that. Winning is the only thing, etc.I really like watching college football games. But that's not what you mean by "college football," is it?

 

[shader]

We know I won't go there? How about actually supplying some evidence.

There's really no point in going down this road with you. You have all the schedules for all the years. You've already stated that isn't good enough to you. The End. I, and many others will disagree with you. You have the data in front of you. We can't give you more than all the schedules.

In your "vast" research, what years was this prevalent, and how widespread was it in the SEC? Your original statement implied that this was sort of a conference decision. So did all teams take part, or just some teams? You gave yourself about a 20 year window. I'd like to narrow it down a bit, if possible. Your original statements:

"..for a long period of time, building the "allure" of strength, they pretty much kept it in house. It's what they were slammed for and some even keep slamming them because they don't realize things have changed a bit with their "top tier" teams." "It didn't start with the networks. It started with the conference and the networks bought into it. The conference did a perfect job of selling itself and when a team stumbled when it shouldn't have, they did a fantastic job of spinning it as "it's tough to go undefeated in our conference". Fans bought it, media bought it....from that point forward it was game on. They played few comparable teams during that build up though and that was key. Keep it in house so it's an easier story to sell. Once the media bought into it, it was like an avalanche started from a pea sized snowball. Once the ball got rolling, then the upper echelon teams finally started branching out. "

Again, this is just you "opining" with zero evidence to back it up.There is no period of time in which the SEC stopped playing tough OOC games and "kept in in house" to create the illusion of strength.There may be period where certain teams did that. Alabama certainly had a period of time where they stopped playing tough OOC games. But Alabama had horrible leadership for years and made a ton of poor decisions. They also started playing tough OOC games BEFORE they were really ready, when they re-entered the ring. They played a home and home with Oklahoma (lost both) and then FSU.

 

[gump]

A 40-year-old letter was reported in the Chattanoogan this week, written by Coach Bryant to an incoming freshman the summer before he comes to play for him:

http://www.chattanoo...Summertime.aspx

Dear Chris:You will be expected to report for football practice August 17. We will expect you to arrive in the afternoon and our first meal will be served that evening at the dorm.

On the 18th, you will take your physical, including the mile run, get your room and locker assignments and participate in Photographer's Day in the afternoon. Our first practice will be on the morning of the 19th.

I am expecting you to report in top physical condition, clean-cut, smiling, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and raring to go. Also, I am expecting you to be prepared to run, hit, pitch, kick, catch, sweat, smell and enjoy it. There are no easy ways but there are ways to enjoy the journey and we must find them.

I am also expecting you to work hard, eat well, sleep well, play well, display a winning attitude at all times, be a leader and help me sell the squad on what it takes to win and enjoy the journey.

I hope you will share your problems with me whether it be at home, at the dorm, in your school work, with teammates, with coaches, with training regulations, self-discipline or even flying a kite. If you do that, I will try to help you and, if I can't, I'll recommend you get a job, join the Army, or join the Foreign Legion, but, in any event, to reside in another state.

Nothing's too good for winners. I want to love you, pat you, pet you, brag on you and see you hoot, run and shout and laugh, pray, hug, kiss, and win with humility.

If we lose, I want all of us to be unhappy, no one to have any fun, and expect only what is reserved for losers but take it with dignity while planning to come back.

Please remember us to your family and make your personal plans on how you are going to reach your goal – the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

Sincerely,Paul Bryant

That's awful.

You have to look at it thru the eyes of an incoming 17-year-old, likely from a small southern town. And obviously the purpose is to motivate the kid to be enthusiastic and prepared for what was no doubt a tough introduction to fall practice...which it mostly would, unless you hated college football like yourself. In which case, you'd be in the Foreign Legion soon anyway.

Ok, it was probably appropriate for its time. Rah-rah and all that. Winning is the only thing, etc.I really like watching college football games. But that's not what you mean by "college football," is it?

Yea...it was probably appropriate, considering who wrote it. I was kidding about 'college football'...the letter was published and posted just to be read and enjoyed.

 

[gump]

The kid's problem or his?

I can envision a letter from you as a coach to a kid...25 pages of Commish that sends me straight to the Army Recruiters office.

 

[The Commish]

The kid's problem or his?

I can envision a letter from you as a coach to a kid...25 pages of Commish that sends me straight to the Army Recruiters office.

I'm not a letter guy. I'm a face to face guy....don't have to worry about 25 pages from me.

 

[The Commish]

We know I won't go there? How about actually supplying some evidence.

There's really no point in going down this road with you. You have all the schedules for all the years. You've already stated that isn't good enough to you. The End. I, and many others will disagree with you. You have the data in front of you. We can't give you more than all the schedules.

In your "vast" research, what years was this prevalent, and how widespread was it in the SEC? Your original statement implied that this was sort of a conference decision. So did all teams take part, or just some teams? You gave yourself about a 20 year window. I'd like to narrow it down a bit, if possible. Your original statements:

"..for a long period of time, building the "allure" of strength, they pretty much kept it in house. It's what they were slammed for and some even keep slamming them because they don't realize things have changed a bit with their "top tier" teams." "It didn't start with the networks. It started with the conference and the networks bought into it. The conference did a perfect job of selling itself and when a team stumbled when it shouldn't have, they did a fantastic job of spinning it as "it's tough to go undefeated in our conference". Fans bought it, media bought it....from that point forward it was game on. They played few comparable teams during that build up though and that was key. Keep it in house so it's an easier story to sell. Once the media bought into it, it was like an avalanche started from a pea sized snowball. Once the ball got rolling, then the upper echelon teams finally started branching out. "

Again, this is just you "opining" with zero evidence to back it up.There is no period of time in which the SEC stopped playing tough OOC games and "kept in in house" to create the illusion of strength.There may be period where certain teams did that. Alabama certainly had a period of time where they stopped playing tough OOC games. But Alabama had horrible leadership for years and made a ton of poor decisions. They also started playing tough OOC games BEFORE they were really ready, when they re-entered the ring. They played a home and home with Oklahoma (lost both) and then FSU.

Like I said:

There's really no point in going down this road with you. You have all the schedules for all the years. You've already stated that isn't good enough to you. The End. I, and many others will disagree with you. You have the data in front of you. We can't give you more than all the schedules.

I can't change your mind and don't intend on trying.

 

[roadkill1292]

A 40-year-old letter was reported in the Chattanoogan this week, written by Coach Bryant to an incoming freshman the summer before he comes to play for him:

http://www.chattanoo...Summertime.aspx

Dear Chris:You will be expected to report for football practice August 17. We will expect you to arrive in the afternoon and our first meal will be served that evening at the dorm.

On the 18th, you will take your physical, including the mile run, get your room and locker assignments and participate in Photographer's Day in the afternoon. Our first practice will be on the morning of the 19th.

I am expecting you to report in top physical condition, clean-cut, smiling, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and raring to go. Also, I am expecting you to be prepared to run, hit, pitch, kick, catch, sweat, smell and enjoy it. There are no easy ways but there are ways to enjoy the journey and we must find them.

I am also expecting you to work hard, eat well, sleep well, play well, display a winning attitude at all times, be a leader and help me sell the squad on what it takes to win and enjoy the journey.

I hope you will share your problems with me whether it be at home, at the dorm, in your school work, with teammates, with coaches, with training regulations, self-discipline or even flying a kite. If you do that, I will try to help you and, if I can't, I'll recommend you get a job, join the Army, or join the Foreign Legion, but, in any event, to reside in another state.

Nothing's too good for winners. I want to love you, pat you, pet you, brag on you and see you hoot, run and shout and laugh, pray, hug, kiss, and win with humility.

If we lose, I want all of us to be unhappy, no one to have any fun, and expect only what is reserved for losers but take it with dignity while planning to come back.

Please remember us to your family and make your personal plans on how you are going to reach your goal – the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

Sincerely,Paul Bryant

That's awful.

You have to look at it thru the eyes of an incoming 17-year-old, likely from a small southern town. And obviously the purpose is to motivate the kid to be enthusiastic and prepared for what was no doubt a tough introduction to fall practice...which it mostly would, unless you hated college football like yourself. In which case, you'd be in the Foreign Legion soon anyway.

Ok, it was probably appropriate for its time. Rah-rah and all that. Winning is the only thing, etc.I really like watching college football games. But that's not what you mean by "college football," is it?

Yea...it was probably appropriate, considering who wrote it. I was kidding about 'college football'...the letter was published and posted just to be read and enjoyed.

Ok. People who like the totality of college football probably find me a little hard to take. I'm like the guy who loves God but hates religion.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Shader, Here is Florida's non-conference schedule for the last 20 years. One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

2011-Florida (SEC)

9/3 vs. Florida Atlantic (1-11) W 41 3

9/10 vs. Alabama-Birmingham (3-9) W 39 0

11/19 vs. Furman (non-IA) W 54 32

11/26 vs. Florida State (9-4) L 7 21

2010-Florida (SEC)

9/4 vs. Miami (Ohio) (10-4) W 34 12

9/11 vs. South Florida (8-5) W 38 14

11/20 vs. Appalachian State (non-IA) W 48 10

11/27 @ Florida State (10-4) L 7 31

2009-Florida (SEC)

9/5 vs. Charleston Southern (non-IA) W 62 3

9/12 vs. Troy (9-4) W 56 6

11/21 vs. Florida International (3-9) W 62 3

11/28 vs. Florida State (7-6) W 37 10

2008-Florida (SEC)

8/30 vs. Hawaii (7-7) W 56 10

9/6 vs. Miami (Florida) (7-6) W 26 3

11/22 vs. Citadel (non-IA) W 70 19

11/29 @ Florida State (9-4) W 45 15

2007-Florida (SEC)

9/1 vs. Western Kentucky (7-5) W 49 3

9/8 vs. Troy (8-4) W 59 31

11/17 vs. Florida Atlantic (8-5) W 59 20

11/24 vs. Florida State (7-6) W 45 12

2006-Florida (SEC)

9/2 vs. Southern Mississippi (9-5) W 34 7

9/9 vs. Central Florida (4-8) W 42 0

11/18 vs. Western Carolina (non-IA) W 62 0

11/25 @ Florida State (7-6) W 21 14

2005-Florida (SEC)

9/3 vs. Wyoming (4-7) W 32 14

9/10 vs. Louisiana Tech (7-4) W 41 3

11/26 vs. Florida State (8-5) W 34 7

2004-Florida (SEC)

9/11 vs. Eastern Michigan (4-7) W 49 10

10/16 vs. Middle Tennessee State (5-6) W 52 16

11/20 @ Florida State (9-3) W 20 13

2003-Florida (SEC)

8/30 vs. San Jose State (3-8) W 65 3

9/6 @ Miami (Florida) (11-2) L 33 38

9/13 vs. Florida A&M (non-IA) W 63 3

11/29 vs. Florida State (10-3) L 34 38

2002-Florida (SEC)

8/31 vs. Alabama-Birmingham (5-7) W 51 3

9/7 vs. Miami (Florida) (12-1) L 16 41

9/14 vs. Ohio (4-8) W 34 6

11/30 @ Florida State (9-5) L 14 31

2001-Florida (SEC)

9/1 vs. Marshall (11-2) W 49 14

9/8 vs. Louisiana-Monroe (2-9) W 55 6

11/17 vs. Florida State (8-4) W 37 13

2000-Florida (SEC)

9/2 vs. Ball State (5-6) W 40 19

9/9 vs. Middle Tennessee State (6-5) W 55 0

11/18 @ Florida State (11-2) L 7 30

1999-Florida (SEC)

9/4 vs. Western Michigan (7-5) W 55 26

9/11 vs. Central Florida (4-7) W 58 27

11/20 vs. Florida State (12-0) L 23 30

1998-Florida (SEC)

9/5 vs. Citadel (non-IA) W 49 10

9/12 vs. Louisiana-Monroe (5-6) W 42 10

11/21 @ Florida State (11-2) L 12 23

1997-Florida (SEC)

8/30 vs. Southern Mississippi (9-3) W 21 6

9/6 vs. Central Michigan (2-9) W 82 6

11/22 vs. Florida State (11-1) W 32 29

1996-Florida (SEC)

8/30 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (5-6) W 55 21

9/7 vs. Georgia Southern (non-IA) W 62 14

11/30 @ Florida State (11-1) L 21 24

1995-Florida (SEC)

9/2 vs. Houston (2-9) W 45 21

11/4 vs. Northern Illinois (3-8) W 58 20

11/25 vs. Florida State (10-2) W 35 24

1994-Florida (SEC)

9/3 vs. New Mexico State (3-8) W 70 21

11/5 vs. Southern Mississippi (6-5) W 55 17

11/26 @ Florida State (10-1-1) T 31 31

1993-Florida (SEC)

9/4 vs. Arkansas State (2-8-1) W 44 6

11/6 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (8-3) W 61 14

11/27 vs. Florida State (12-1) L 21 33

1992-Florida (SEC)

10/24 vs. Louisville (5-6) W 31 17

11/7 vs. Southern Mississippi (7-4) W 24 20

11/28 @ Florida State (11-1) L 24 45

 

[The Commish]

Shader, Here is Florida's non-conference schedule for the last 20 years. One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Yeah, but just because they are playing 3 OOC games isn't evidence that they are playing more in conference games

 

[Premier]

Noles dominate on defense and win it all this year.

 

[The Commish]

Noles dominate on defense and win it all this year.

That defense should be VERY good. And they got a good one in Leavenberry as well for 2013. A bit bummed about that one.

 

[shader]

Ramblin Wreck,

Does the fact that they played FSU for the past 25 years not mean anything? Why are we putting an artificial mandate that they MUST travel out of state. Where they travel has nothing to do with my original point, based on the Commish's post.

Florida hasn't really changed their MO in 25 years. They play a tough SEC schedule, a tough game against FSU, and a couple pansies. It's what they do.

I'm not defending or criticizing them.

My point was that Florida didn't "keep it in the conference" to dupe the media

 

[shader]

We know I won't go there? How about actually supplying some evidence.

There's really no point in going down this road with you. You have all the schedules for all the years. You've already stated that isn't good enough to you. The End. I, and many others will disagree with you. You have the data in front of you. We can't give you more than all the schedules.

In your "vast" research, what years was this prevalent, and how widespread was it in the SEC? Your original statement implied that this was sort of a conference decision. So did all teams take part, or just some teams? You gave yourself about a 20 year window. I'd like to narrow it down a bit, if possible. Your original statements:

"..for a long period of time, building the "allure" of strength, they pretty much kept it in house. It's what they were slammed for and some even keep slamming them because they don't realize things have changed a bit with their "top tier" teams." "It didn't start with the networks. It started with the conference and the networks bought into it. The conference did a perfect job of selling itself and when a team stumbled when it shouldn't have, they did a fantastic job of spinning it as "it's tough to go undefeated in our conference". Fans bought it, media bought it....from that point forward it was game on. They played few comparable teams during that build up though and that was key. Keep it in house so it's an easier story to sell. Once the media bought into it, it was like an avalanche started from a pea sized snowball. Once the ball got rolling, then the upper echelon teams finally started branching out. "

Again, this is just you "opining" with zero evidence to back it up.There is no period of time in which the SEC stopped playing tough OOC games and "kept in in house" to create the illusion of strength.There may be period where certain teams did that. Alabama certainly had a period of time where they stopped playing tough OOC games. But Alabama had horrible leadership for years and made a ton of poor decisions. They also started playing tough OOC games BEFORE they were really ready, when they re-entered the ring. They played a home and home with Oklahoma (lost both) and then FSU.

Like I said:

There's really no point in going down this road with you. You have all the schedules for all the years. You've already stated that isn't good enough to you. The End. I, and many others will disagree with you. You have the data in front of you. We can't give you more than all the schedules.

I can't change your mind and don't intend on trying.

Well you haven't even begun to try, so how do you know? If you show me where your proof is, I might believe you. Your scenario sounds interesting, and if it were true, I would agree that it would be smart of a conference to do that.Unfortunately I can't seem to find any evidence whatsoever to back it up, and you haven't given me a shred of data either. You just said that it happened, told me to research it, and told me that you disagree with it.For your assertion to be true, there would need to be a period of time where the SEC as a whole stopped playing tough OOC games, improved their "status" in the eyes of the media, and then began playing big games again. I can't find that.

 

[Premier]

Noles dominate on defense and win it all this year.

That defense should be VERY good. And they got a good one in Leavenberry as well for 2013. A bit bummed about that one.

Yea I am excited for the D. Not sure how much Dumbo's offense is going to hold them back though.

 

[shader]

Noles dominate on defense and win it all this year.

That defense should be VERY good. And they got a good one in Leavenberry as well for 2013. A bit bummed about that one.

Yea I am excited for the D. Not sure how much Dumbo's offense is going to hold them back though.

Probably enough for them to lose 2-3 games. I'm ready for FSU to be back at the top though. Love when they are a powerhouse.

 

[Premier]

Noles dominate on defense and win it all this year.

That defense should be VERY good. And they got a good one in Leavenberry as well for 2013. A bit bummed about that one.

Yea I am excited for the D. Not sure how much Dumbo's offense is going to hold them back though.

Probably enough for them to lose 2-3 games.

Yea. And that will be a damn shame.

 

[gump]

Noles dominate on defense and win it all this year.

That defense should be VERY good. And they got a good one in Leavenberry as well for 2013. A bit bummed about that one.

Yea I am excited for the D. Not sure how much Dumbo's offense is going to hold them back though.

I saw some Top 5 list by position from an NFL guy, and had Manuel in it.

 

[Premier]

Noles dominate on defense and win it all this year.

That defense should be VERY good. And they got a good one in Leavenberry as well for 2013. A bit bummed about that one.

Yea I am excited for the D. Not sure how much Dumbo's offense is going to hold them back though.

I saw some Top 5 list by position from an NFL guy, and had Manuel in it.

I saw one mock draft on sports line that had Manuel going #2 overall to the Bills. What have these guys been watching?

 

[azgroover]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

 

[wadegarrett]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Won't happen. A lot of the smaller schools get paid handsomely for traveling to the bigger schools and getting creamed. Their athletic department budgets depend on the income to pay for other sports.

 

[shader]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Yeah, this isn't going to happen. It's all about money.The big schools get an extra home game, and the small schools get a big payday and much needed money.

 

[gump]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Not everyone does it. I'm not sticking up for the entire SEC when I post Alabama's history of OOC....especially not UF's.

 

[azgroover]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Not everyone does it. I'm not sticking up for the entire SEC when I post Alabama's history of OOC....especially not UF's.

Yes, everyone does it. Please show me a team that splits it's OOC scheduling year by year.

 

[GoFishTN]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Not everyone does it. I'm not sticking up for the entire SEC when I post Alabama's history of OOC....especially not UF's.

Yes, everyone does it. Please show me a team that splits it's OOC scheduling year by year.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean, but Tennessee plays:2013: @ Oregon2014: @ Oklahoma2015: @ UConn

 

[gump]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Not everyone does it. I'm not sticking up for the entire SEC when I post Alabama's history of OOC....especially not UF's.

Yes, everyone does it. Please show me a team that splits it's OOC scheduling year by year.

I'm referring to the 'one game on the road other than Tallahassee'.As everyone else said...splitting OOC games is not realistic. Splitting BIG OOC is though...and not just your natural yearly OOC rival.

 

[shader]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Not everyone does it. I'm not sticking up for the entire SEC when I post Alabama's history of OOC....especially not UF's.

Yes, everyone does it. Please show me a team that splits it's OOC scheduling year by year.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean, but Tennessee plays:2013: @ Oregon2014: @ Oklahoma2015: @ UConn

Tennessee has always played tough OOC games:1990:ColoradoNotre Dame1991LouisvilleUCLANotre Dame1994UCLAWashington State (good team then)1995Ok STate1996Ucla1997texas techucla1998syracuse1999Notre Dame

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Not everyone does it. I'm not sticking up for the entire SEC when I post Alabama's history of OOC....especially not UF's.

Yes, everyone does it. Please show me a team that splits it's OOC scheduling year by year.

Here's GT over last 10 years. 2002 & 2003 were two OOC road/home each and against BCS conference opponents too. 2004 & 2005 were 2 home/1 away but playing UConn in addition to Georgia. 2006-2008 we did the 3 home/1 road OOC gig but did play a home and home with Notre Dame instead of UGA and 3 cupcakes. 2009 & 2010 were back to splitting the home/road OOC games with 5 of the 8 opponents being from SEC or Big 12. 2011 (and 2012) are back to the 3 and 1 but included a game with Kansas (who was good when the series was scheduled) and BYU this year.GT doesn't do it every year but has done it frequently over the last decade. And we schedule other BCS conference teams besides Georgia too.2011-Georgia Tech (ACC)9/1 vs. Western Carolina (non-IA) W 63 219/10 @ Middle Tennessee State (2-10) W 49 219/17 vs. Kansas (2-10) W 66 2411/26 vs. Georgia (10-4) L 17 312010-Georgia Tech (ACC)9/4 vs. South Carolina State (non-IA) W 41 109/11 @ Kansas (3-9) L 25 2810/16 vs. Middle Tennessee State (6-7) W 42 1411/27 @ Georgia (6-7) L 34 422009-Georgia Tech (ACC)9/5 vs. Jacksonville State (non-IA) W 37 1710/3 @ Mississippi State (5-7) W 42 3110/31 @ Vanderbilt (2-10) W 56 3111/28 vs. Georgia (8-5) L 24 302008-Georgia Tech (ACC)8/28 vs. Jacksonville State (non-IA) W 41 149/20 vs. Mississippi State (4-8) W 38 710/11 vs. Gardner-Webb (non-IA) W 10 711/29 @ Georgia (10-3) W 45 422007-Georgia Tech (ACC)9/1 @ Notre Dame (3-9) W 33 39/8 vs. Samford (non-IA) W 69 1410/20 vs. Army (3-9) W 34 1011/24 vs. Georgia (11-2) L 17 312006-Georgia Tech (ACC)9/2 vs. Notre Dame (10-3) L 10 149/9 vs. Samford (non-IA) W 38 69/16 vs. Troy (8-5) W 35 2011/25 @ Georgia (9-4) L 12 152005-Georgia Tech (ACC)9/3 @ Auburn (9-3) W 23 149/17 vs. Connecticut (5-6) W 28 1311/26 vs. Georgia (10-3) L 7 142004-Georgia Tech (ACC)9/4 vs. Samford (non-IA) W 28 711/13 vs. Connecticut (8-4) W 30 1011/27 @ Georgia (10-2) L 13 19 2003-Georgia Tech (ACC)8/28 @ Brigham Young (4-8) L 13 249/6 vs. Auburn (8-5) W 17 39/27 @ Vanderbilt (2-10) W 24 1711/29 vs. Georgia (11-3) L 17 342002-Georgia Tech (ACC)8/31 vs. Vanderbilt (2-10) W 45 39/7 @ Connecticut (6-6) W 31 149/21 vs. Brigham Young (5-7) W 28 1911/30 @ Georgia (13-1) L 7 51

 

[GDogg]

Some fans say that. But again, you are acting as if the SEC is dramatically different from other conferences in terms of their OOC schedule. Currently that isn't the case.

If you aren't going to read what I said, then please stop replying to it. I cut out the crap to this comment to prove what I'm talking about. This alone tells me you aren't reading and just arguing to argue. My comments were historical and show what the DID (not are doing) to get to where they are today.

Commish, your statement was totally false.I finally went back and did the historical research and I don't see any evidence for the absurd theory that the SEC got where they are because they scheduled pansies.

I checked Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn for the late 80's and early 90's and I see no evidence of this being the case.

You could potentially make the argument that Alabama (ironically) and Auburn were the grossest offenders in the early 90's, but it certainly wasn't a conference-wide issue. I also didn't find any evidence that the SEC was any different then or now.

So your opinion that there was some conference wide conspiracy to avoid playing the good teams and bolster perception is just absolutely ridiculous.

You'll need to actually provide the data, which you won't do, because it doesn't exist.

I guess we have different ideas of what a quality schedule should look like. Bringing up Florida is particularly hilarious, by the way.Look at their schedules the last few years. Florida has not played a non-conference game outside of the state of Florida since 1991. The blueprint of the SEC, including Alabama, Tennessee and Auburn, has been to play one opponent from a BCS-AQ conference and then schedule the rest of their non-conference with the dregs of the FBS and schedule at least one FCS game. That's brutal.

Florida playing Florida State has traditionally been a HUGE out of conference game. Yes, they tend to schedule pansies outside of that, and they have also added Miami a few times. Yes, I would love to see them branch out and go play teams in the North and West. It would be fun to see. Also, pretty much every bigtime college football team follows the same schedule. One good opponent and a bunch of crap. Again, I'm not defending it, just saying it isn't an SEC thing.

Except that it is. I've shown you repeatedly that big programs from other conferences do not play the number of cupcakes and, particularly, FCS schools that the SEC plays. Seriously, check the schedules of Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, etc.Last I checked, Florida St. University and the University of Miami are both located in the state of Florida. And, if they weren't, Florida wouldn't be playing them (at least on the road).

I'm feeling lazy, so I'll clip a few more statistics for you: Over the past five years, the 12 SEC teams have a played a total of 32 road games at schools from BCS conferences. And 11 of those were in their home state, like Georgia at Georgia Tech or Kentucky at Louisville. They’ve gone 14-18 in those road games. Again, that's not even taking into account that each SEC school plays at least one FCS school per year.

In the Pac-12, the 10 schools that have been in the league the five years prior to this past season have played 37 road games against big-time schools the past five years. And they went 16-21 in those games.

Auburn has played one road game against a BCS team in the past six years. Last season, Mississippi St. had Memphis, Louisiana Tech, Alabama-Birmingham, and Tennessee-Martin in non-conference. If they went 2-6 in league play, they’re in a bowl game.

The truth is that the SEC, under the current BCS format, is smart to be doing this. They aren't punished for the crappy schedules they play. But, please don't pretend like everyone schedules the way they do because they don't. Just google it. There are lots of articles detailing the fact that the SEC schools have pathetic non-conference schedules.

 

[GDogg]

I guess we have different ideas of what a quality schedule should look like. Bringing up Florida is particularly hilarious, by the way.

Look at their schedules the last few years. Florida has not played a non-conference game outside of the state of Florida since 1991. The blueprint of the SEC, including Alabama, Tennessee and Auburn, has been to play one opponent from a BCS-AQ conference and then schedule the rest of their non-conference with the dregs of the FBS and schedule at least one FCS game. That's brutal.

This is the crux of the whole thing and it's not going to change.

I'm the one using facts, you guys are the ones distorting them.Florida played FSU every year in the 80's, 90's and 2000's. In case you forgot, FSU was a pretty awesome team for most of that time period. But you guys will toss out that game against a yearly top 5 opponent because it gets played in Florida! I guess I shouldn't include you in there, because you haven't given that excuse yet.

But to say that Florida has a laughable schedule is a little silly.

ALSO, you have to include the fact that the SEC started the whole "conference championship" game thing, which did the conference no favors. Alabama's game against Miami in 92 was almost disrupted by Bama having to play a great Florida team. That's just another top game that SEC teams were forced to play.

Other conferences eventually fell in line and now things are pretty even in that area, but you guys are the ones using history to try and bring some vast SEC conspiracy into the fold.

This is a ridiculous point.I'd have to look up the other conferences, but the Pac-10 didn't need to have a conference championship. Unlike the SEC, the Pac-10 plays every team in the conference. Every team in the Pac-10 played 9 conference games. They all played each other. The two teams that meet up in the SEC championship game were the only two teams that played 9 conference games.

 

[GDogg]

One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

Pathetic. Not to single out Florida since everyone does it, but that needs to be another rule change: half your games at home, the other half on the road.

Not everyone does it. I'm not sticking up for the entire SEC when I post Alabama's history of OOC....especially not UF's.

Yes, everyone does it. Please show me a team that splits it's OOC scheduling year by year.

I'm referring to the 'one game on the road other than Tallahassee'.As everyone else said...splitting OOC games is not realistic. Splitting BIG OOC is though...and not just your natural yearly OOC rival.

Why isn't it realistic? UCLA plays home and home schedules with pretty much everyone they play (other than this upcoming Texas game at a "neutral" site...in Dallas).

 

[GDogg]

Shader, Here is Florida's non-conference schedule for the last 20 years. One game (at Miami) on the road other than Tallahassee.

2011-Florida (SEC)

9/3 vs. Florida Atlantic (1-11) W 41 3

9/10 vs. Alabama-Birmingham (3-9) W 39 0

11/19 vs. Furman (non-IA) W 54 32

11/26 vs. Florida State (9-4) L 7 21

2010-Florida (SEC)

9/4 vs. Miami (Ohio) (10-4) W 34 12

9/11 vs. South Florida (8-5) W 38 14

11/20 vs. Appalachian State (non-IA) W 48 10

11/27 @ Florida State (10-4) L 7 31

2009-Florida (SEC)

9/5 vs. Charleston Southern (non-IA) W 62 3

9/12 vs. Troy (9-4) W 56 6

11/21 vs. Florida International (3-9) W 62 3

11/28 vs. Florida State (7-6) W 37 10

2008-Florida (SEC)

8/30 vs. Hawaii (7-7) W 56 10

9/6 vs. Miami (Florida) (7-6) W 26 3

11/22 vs. Citadel (non-IA) W 70 19

11/29 @ Florida State (9-4) W 45 15

2007-Florida (SEC)

9/1 vs. Western Kentucky (7-5) W 49 3

9/8 vs. Troy (8-4) W 59 31

11/17 vs. Florida Atlantic (8-5) W 59 20

11/24 vs. Florida State (7-6) W 45 12

2006-Florida (SEC)

9/2 vs. Southern Mississippi (9-5) W 34 7

9/9 vs. Central Florida (4-8) W 42 0

11/18 vs. Western Carolina (non-IA) W 62 0

11/25 @ Florida State (7-6) W 21 14

2005-Florida (SEC)

9/3 vs. Wyoming (4-7) W 32 14

9/10 vs. Louisiana Tech (7-4) W 41 3

11/26 vs. Florida State (8-5) W 34 7

2004-Florida (SEC)

9/11 vs. Eastern Michigan (4-7) W 49 10

10/16 vs. Middle Tennessee State (5-6) W 52 16

11/20 @ Florida State (9-3) W 20 13

2003-Florida (SEC)

8/30 vs. San Jose State (3-8) W 65 3

9/6 @ Miami (Florida) (11-2) L 33 38

9/13 vs. Florida A&M (non-IA) W 63 3

11/29 vs. Florida State (10-3) L 34 38

2002-Florida (SEC)

8/31 vs. Alabama-Birmingham (5-7) W 51 3

9/7 vs. Miami (Florida) (12-1) L 16 41

9/14 vs. Ohio (4-8) W 34 6

11/30 @ Florida State (9-5) L 14 31

2001-Florida (SEC)

9/1 vs. Marshall (11-2) W 49 14

9/8 vs. Louisiana-Monroe (2-9) W 55 6

11/17 vs. Florida State (8-4) W 37 13

2000-Florida (SEC)

9/2 vs. Ball State (5-6) W 40 19

9/9 vs. Middle Tennessee State (6-5) W 55 0

11/18 @ Florida State (11-2) L 7 30

1999-Florida (SEC)

9/4 vs. Western Michigan (7-5) W 55 26

9/11 vs. Central Florida (4-7) W 58 27

11/20 vs. Florida State (12-0) L 23 30

1998-Florida (SEC)

9/5 vs. Citadel (non-IA) W 49 10

9/12 vs. Louisiana-Monroe (5-6) W 42 10

11/21 @ Florida State (11-2) L 12 23

1997-Florida (SEC)

8/30 vs. Southern Mississippi (9-3) W 21 6

9/6 vs. Central Michigan (2-9) W 82 6

11/22 vs. Florida State (11-1) W 32 29

1996-Florida (SEC)

8/30 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (5-6) W 55 21

9/7 vs. Georgia Southern (non-IA) W 62 14

11/30 @ Florida State (11-1) L 21 24

1995-Florida (SEC)

9/2 vs. Houston (2-9) W 45 21

11/4 vs. Northern Illinois (3-8) W 58 20

11/25 vs. Florida State (10-2) W 35 24

1994-Florida (SEC)

9/3 vs. New Mexico State (3-8) W 70 21

11/5 vs. Southern Mississippi (6-5) W 55 17

11/26 @ Florida State (10-1-1) T 31 31

1993-Florida (SEC)

9/4 vs. Arkansas State (2-8-1) W 44 6

11/6 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (8-3) W 61 14

11/27 vs. Florida State (12-1) L 21 33

1992-Florida (SEC)

10/24 vs. Louisville (5-6) W 31 17

11/7 vs. Southern Mississippi (7-4) W 24 20

11/28 @ Florida State (11-1) L 24 45

Yes, UCLA has sucked for 10+ years (other than an anomaly in 2005), but here's their non-conference schedule for comparison...As an aside, Tennessee and Texas have been big partners in scheduling. Tennessee travels.

In 2012, they play: 08/30 - at Rice, 09/08 - Nebraska, 09/15 - Houston. In 2013, they play Nevada, at Nebraska, and New Mexico St. In 2014, they at Virginia, Texas (Arlington, TX).

2011-UCLA (Pac 12)

9/3 @ Houston (13-1) L 34 38

9/10 vs. San Jose State (5-7) W 27 17

9/17 vs. Texas (8-5) L 20 49

2010-UCLA (Pac 12)

9/4 @ Kansas State (7-6) L 22 31

9/18 vs. Houston (5-7) W 31 13

9/25 @ Texas (5-7) W 34 12

2009-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/5 vs. San Diego State (4-8) W 33 14

9/12 @ Tennessee (7-6) W 19 15

9/19 vs. Kansas State (6-6) W 23 9

2008-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/1 vs. Tennessee (5-7) W 27 24

9/13 @ Brigham Young (10-3) L 0 59

9/27 vs. Fresno State (7-6) L 31 36

2007-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/8 vs. Brigham Young (11-2) W 27 17

9/15 @ Utah (9-4) L 6 44

10/6 vs. Notre Dame (3-9) L 6 20

2006-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/2 vs. Utah (8-5) W 31 10

9/9 vs. Rice (7-6) W 26 16

10/21 @ Notre Dame (10-3) L 17 20

2005-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/3 @ San Diego State (5-7) W 44 21

9/10 vs. Rice (1-10) W 63 21

9/17 vs. Oklahoma (8-4) W 41 24

2004-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/4 vs. Oklahoma State (7-5) L 20 31

9/11 @ Illinois (3-8) W 35 17

10/2 vs. San Diego State (4-7) W 33 10

2003-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/6 @ Colorado (5-7) L 14 16

9/13 vs. Illinois (1-11) W 6 3

9/20 @ Oklahoma (12-2) L 24 59

9/27 vs. San Diego State (6-6) W 20 10

2002-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/7 vs. Colorado State (10-4) W 30 19

9/14 @ Oklahoma State (8-5) W 38 24

9/21 vs. Colorado (9-5) L 17 31

9/28 @ San Diego State (4-9) W 43 7

2001-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/1 @ Alabama (7-5) W 20 17

9/8 @ Kansas (3-8) W 41 17

9/22 vs. Ohio State (7-5) W 13 6

2000-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/2 vs. Alabama (3-8) W 35 24

9/9 vs. Fresno State (7-5) W 24 21

9/16 vs. Michigan (9-3) W 23 20

1999-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/4 vs. Boise State (10-3) W 38 7

9/11 @ Ohio State (6-6) L 20 42

9/18 vs. Fresno State (8-5) W 35 21

1998-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/12 vs. Texas (9-3) W 49 31

9/19 @ Houston (3-8) W 42 24

12/5 @ Miami (Florida) (9-3) L 45 49

I almost didn't include this Miami game...

1997-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/6 vs. Tennessee (11-2) L 24 30

9/13 @ Texas (4-7) W 66 3

10/4 vs. Houston (3-8) W 66 10

1996-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/7 @ Tennessee (10-2) L 20 35

9/14 vs. Louisiana-Monroe (5-6) W 44 0

9/28 @ Michigan (8-4) L 9 38

1995-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/2 vs. Miami (Florida) (8-3) W 31 8

9/9 @ Brigham Young (7-4) W 23 9

9/30 vs. Fresno State (5-7) W 45 21

1994-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/3 vs. Tennessee (8-4) W 25 23

9/10 vs. Southern Methodist (1-9-1) W 17 10

9/17 @ Nebraska (13-0) L 21 49

1993-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/18 vs. Nebraska (11-1) L 13 14

9/30 @ San Diego State (6-6) W 52 13

10/9 vs. Brigham Young (6-6) W 68 14

1992-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/12 vs. Fullerton State (2-9) W 37 14

9/19 @ Brigham Young (8-5) W 17 10

9/26 vs. San Diego State (5-5-1) W 35 7

1991-UCLA (Pac 10)

9/7 vs. Brigham Young (8-3-2) W 27 23

9/14 @ Tennessee (9-3) L 16 30

9/26 @ San Diego State (8-4-1) W 37 12

 

[The Commish]

Here's a link to everyone the SEC has ever played.

 

[shader]

Some fans say that. But again, you are acting as if the SEC is dramatically different from other conferences in terms of their OOC schedule. Currently that isn't the case.

If you aren't going to read what I said, then please stop replying to it. I cut out the crap to this comment to prove what I'm talking about. This alone tells me you aren't reading and just arguing to argue. My comments were historical and show what the DID (not are doing) to get to where they are today.

Commish, your statement was totally false.I finally went back and did the historical research and I don't see any evidence for the absurd theory that the SEC got where they are because they scheduled pansies.

I checked Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn for the late 80's and early 90's and I see no evidence of this being the case.

You could potentially make the argument that Alabama (ironically) and Auburn were the grossest offenders in the early 90's, but it certainly wasn't a conference-wide issue. I also didn't find any evidence that the SEC was any different then or now.

So your opinion that there was some conference wide conspiracy to avoid playing the good teams and bolster perception is just absolutely ridiculous.

You'll need to actually provide the data, which you won't do, because it doesn't exist.

I guess we have different ideas of what a quality schedule should look like. Bringing up Florida is particularly hilarious, by the way.Look at their schedules the last few years. Florida has not played a non-conference game outside of the state of Florida since 1991. The blueprint of the SEC, including Alabama, Tennessee and Auburn, has been to play one opponent from a BCS-AQ conference and then schedule the rest of their non-conference with the dregs of the FBS and schedule at least one FCS game. That's brutal.

Florida playing Florida State has traditionally been a HUGE out of conference game. Yes, they tend to schedule pansies outside of that, and they have also added Miami a few times. Yes, I would love to see them branch out and go play teams in the North and West. It would be fun to see. Also, pretty much every bigtime college football team follows the same schedule. One good opponent and a bunch of crap. Again, I'm not defending it, just saying it isn't an SEC thing.

Except that it is. I've shown you repeatedly that big programs from other conferences do not play the number of cupcakes and, particularly, FCS schools that the SEC plays. Seriously, check the schedules of Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, etc.Last I checked, Florida St. University and the University of Miami are both located in the state of Florida. And, if they weren't, Florida wouldn't be playing them (at least on the road).

I'm feeling lazy, so I'll clip a few more statistics for you: Over the past five years, the 12 SEC teams have a played a total of 32 road games at schools from BCS conferences. And 11 of those were in their home state, like Georgia at Georgia Tech or Kentucky at Louisville. They’ve gone 14-18 in those road games. Again, that's not even taking into account that each SEC school plays at least one FCS school per year.

In the Pac-12, the 10 schools that have been in the league the five years prior to this past season have played 37 road games against big-time schools the past five years. And they went 16-21 in those games.

Auburn has played one road game against a BCS team in the past six years. Last season, Mississippi St. had Memphis, Louisiana Tech, Alabama-Birmingham, and Tennessee-Martin in non-conference. If they went 2-6 in league play, they’re in a bowl game.

The truth is that the SEC, under the current BCS format, is smart to be doing this. They aren't punished for the crappy schedules they play. But, please don't pretend like everyone schedules the way they do because they don't. Just google it. There are lots of articles detailing the fact that the SEC schools have pathetic non-conference schedules.

So the Pac Ten has played 5 additional games and this is a substantial difference? If you want me to concede that the Pac Ten plays slightly tougher schedules based on the above, I will concede it. But the SEC doesn't stand out. I'd love to see the numbers for the Big 12 or the Big Ten.Just for fun, I'll think of ten teams right now in my head. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, FSU, Miami, USC. This represents ten of the best Non-SEC schools right now. I'm going to go research their 2012 schedule and see if there is a substantial difference in those and in the SEC schedules.

Also, yes Auburn always plays powder puff schedules. You will get no argument from me on that one. Auburn keeps it "down home" more than any other SEC team.

 

[shader]

I guess we have different ideas of what a quality schedule should look like. Bringing up Florida is particularly hilarious, by the way.

Look at their schedules the last few years. Florida has not played a non-conference game outside of the state of Florida since 1991. The blueprint of the SEC, including Alabama, Tennessee and Auburn, has been to play one opponent from a BCS-AQ conference and then schedule the rest of their non-conference with the dregs of the FBS and schedule at least one FCS game. That's brutal.

This is the crux of the whole thing and it's not going to change.

I'm the one using facts, you guys are the ones distorting them.Florida played FSU every year in the 80's, 90's and 2000's. In case you forgot, FSU was a pretty awesome team for most of that time period. But you guys will toss out that game against a yearly top 5 opponent because it gets played in Florida! I guess I shouldn't include you in there, because you haven't given that excuse yet.

But to say that Florida has a laughable schedule is a little silly.

ALSO, you have to include the fact that the SEC started the whole "conference championship" game thing, which did the conference no favors. Alabama's game against Miami in 92 was almost disrupted by Bama having to play a great Florida team. That's just another top game that SEC teams were forced to play.

Other conferences eventually fell in line and now things are pretty even in that area, but you guys are the ones using history to try and bring some vast SEC conspiracy into the fold.

This is a ridiculous point.I'd have to look up the other conferences, but the Pac-10 didn't need to have a conference championship. Unlike the SEC, the Pac-10 plays every team in the conference. Every team in the Pac-10 played 9 conference games. They all played each other. The two teams that meet up in the SEC championship game were the only two teams that played 9 conference games.

My only point is that it served as a detriment to SEC teams getting into the BCS game. I remember many in the SEC thinking it was unfair and a dumb move.

 

[Slapdash]

Some fans say that. But again, you are acting as if the SEC is dramatically different from other conferences in terms of their OOC schedule. Currently that isn't the case.

If you aren't going to read what I said, then please stop replying to it. I cut out the crap to this comment to prove what I'm talking about. This alone tells me you aren't reading and just arguing to argue. My comments were historical and show what the DID (not are doing) to get to where they are today.

Commish, your statement was totally false.I finally went back and did the historical research and I don't see any evidence for the absurd theory that the SEC got where they are because they scheduled pansies.

I checked Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn for the late 80's and early 90's and I see no evidence of this being the case.

You could potentially make the argument that Alabama (ironically) and Auburn were the grossest offenders in the early 90's, but it certainly wasn't a conference-wide issue. I also didn't find any evidence that the SEC was any different then or now.

So your opinion that there was some conference wide conspiracy to avoid playing the good teams and bolster perception is just absolutely ridiculous.

You'll need to actually provide the data, which you won't do, because it doesn't exist.

I guess we have different ideas of what a quality schedule should look like. Bringing up Florida is particularly hilarious, by the way.Look at their schedules the last few years. Florida has not played a non-conference game outside of the state of Florida since 1991. The blueprint of the SEC, including Alabama, Tennessee and Auburn, has been to play one opponent from a BCS-AQ conference and then schedule the rest of their non-conference with the dregs of the FBS and schedule at least one FCS game. That's brutal.

Florida playing Florida State has traditionally been a HUGE out of conference game. Yes, they tend to schedule pansies outside of that, and they have also added Miami a few times. Yes, I would love to see them branch out and go play teams in the North and West. It would be fun to see. Also, pretty much every bigtime college football team follows the same schedule. One good opponent and a bunch of crap. Again, I'm not defending it, just saying it isn't an SEC thing.

Except that it is. I've shown you repeatedly that big programs from other conferences do not play the number of cupcakes and, particularly, FCS schools that the SEC plays. Seriously, check the schedules of Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, etc.Last I checked, Florida St. University and the University of Miami are both located in the state of Florida. And, if they weren't, Florida wouldn't be playing them (at least on the road).

I'm feeling lazy, so I'll clip a few more statistics for you: Over the past five years, the 12 SEC teams have a played a total of 32 road games at schools from BCS conferences. And 11 of those were in their home state, like Georgia at Georgia Tech or Kentucky at Louisville. They’ve gone 14-18 in those road games. Again, that's not even taking into account that each SEC school plays at least one FCS school per year.

In the Pac-12, the 10 schools that have been in the league the five years prior to this past season have played 37 road games against big-time schools the past five years. And they went 16-21 in those games.

Auburn has played one road game against a BCS team in the past six years. Last season, Mississippi St. had Memphis, Louisiana Tech, Alabama-Birmingham, and Tennessee-Martin in non-conference. If they went 2-6 in league play, they’re in a bowl game.

The truth is that the SEC, under the current BCS format, is smart to be doing this. They aren't punished for the crappy schedules they play. But, please don't pretend like everyone schedules the way they do because they don't. Just google it. There are lots of articles detailing the fact that the SEC schools have pathetic non-conference schedules.

So the Pac Ten has played 5 additional games and this is a substantial difference? If you want me to concede that the Pac Ten plays slightly tougher schedules based on the above, I will concede it. But the SEC doesn't stand out. I'd love to see the numbers for the Big 12 or the Big Ten.Just for fun, I'll think of ten teams right now in my head. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, FSU, Miami, USC. This represents ten of the best Non-SEC schools right now. I'm going to go research their 2012 schedule and see if there is a substantial difference in those and in the SEC schedules.

Also, yes Auburn always plays powder puff schedules. You will get no argument from me on that one. Auburn keeps it "down home" more than any other SEC team.

You have to consider more than the OOC schedule for this.

 

[shader]

Oklahoma State : Savannah State, Arizona, Louisiana (not LSU)

Oklahoma : UTEP, Florida A&M, Notre Dame

Texas : Wyoming, New Mexico, Mississippi,

Michigan : Alabama, Air Force, UMASS, Notre Dame

Ohio State : Miami (OH), Central Florida, UAB, California

Oregon : Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech

FSU : Murray State, Savannah State, South Florida, Florida

Miami : Kansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Notre Dame, South Florida

USC : Hawaii, Syracuse, Notre Dame

Now of all these teams, who really stands out? Miami and Michigan. Both stepped up and played 2 solid non-conference games. The other 8 teams follow a pretty basic path. One solid team and a bunch of pansies. Texas and Oklahoma State seem to have the biggest jokes of schedules, but I guess it's hard to know when the schedules are made how good the teams will be. Oregon also has a pretty easy schedule, but usually Oregon steps up so perhaps this is an aberration.

Sorry for the formatting. I know it's ugly.

 

[shader]

Some fans say that. But again, you are acting as if the SEC is dramatically different from other conferences in terms of their OOC schedule. Currently that isn't the case.

If you aren't going to read what I said, then please stop replying to it. I cut out the crap to this comment to prove what I'm talking about. This alone tells me you aren't reading and just arguing to argue. My comments were historical and show what the DID (not are doing) to get to where they are today.

Commish, your statement was totally false.I finally went back and did the historical research and I don't see any evidence for the absurd theory that the SEC got where they are because they scheduled pansies.

I checked Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn for the late 80's and early 90's and I see no evidence of this being the case.

You could potentially make the argument that Alabama (ironically) and Auburn were the grossest offenders in the early 90's, but it certainly wasn't a conference-wide issue. I also didn't find any evidence that the SEC was any different then or now.

So your opinion that there was some conference wide conspiracy to avoid playing the good teams and bolster perception is just absolutely ridiculous.

You'll need to actually provide the data, which you won't do, because it doesn't exist.

I guess we have different ideas of what a quality schedule should look like. Bringing up Florida is particularly hilarious, by the way.Look at their schedules the last few years. Florida has not played a non-conference game outside of the state of Florida since 1991. The blueprint of the SEC, including Alabama, Tennessee and Auburn, has been to play one opponent from a BCS-AQ conference and then schedule the rest of their non-conference with the dregs of the FBS and schedule at least one FCS game. That's brutal.

Florida playing Florida State has traditionally been a HUGE out of conference game. Yes, they tend to schedule pansies outside of that, and they have also added Miami a few times. Yes, I would love to see them branch out and go play teams in the North and West. It would be fun to see. Also, pretty much every bigtime college football team follows the same schedule. One good opponent and a bunch of crap. Again, I'm not defending it, just saying it isn't an SEC thing.

Except that it is. I've shown you repeatedly that big programs from other conferences do not play the number of cupcakes and, particularly, FCS schools that the SEC plays. Seriously, check the schedules of Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, etc.Last I checked, Florida St. University and the University of Miami are both located in the state of Florida. And, if they weren't, Florida wouldn't be playing them (at least on the road).

I'm feeling lazy, so I'll clip a few more statistics for you: Over the past five years, the 12 SEC teams have a played a total of 32 road games at schools from BCS conferences. And 11 of those were in their home state, like Georgia at Georgia Tech or Kentucky at Louisville. They’ve gone 14-18 in those road games. Again, that's not even taking into account that each SEC school plays at least one FCS school per year.

In the Pac-12, the 10 schools that have been in the league the five years prior to this past season have played 37 road games against big-time schools the past five years. And they went 16-21 in those games.

Auburn has played one road game against a BCS team in the past six years. Last season, Mississippi St. had Memphis, Louisiana Tech, Alabama-Birmingham, and Tennessee-Martin in non-conference. If they went 2-6 in league play, they’re in a bowl game.

The truth is that the SEC, under the current BCS format, is smart to be doing this. They aren't punished for the crappy schedules they play. But, please don't pretend like everyone schedules the way they do because they don't. Just google it. There are lots of articles detailing the fact that the SEC schools have pathetic non-conference schedules.

So the Pac Ten has played 5 additional games and this is a substantial difference? If you want me to concede that the Pac Ten plays slightly tougher schedules based on the above, I will concede it. But the SEC doesn't stand out. I'd love to see the numbers for the Big 12 or the Big Ten.Just for fun, I'll think of ten teams right now in my head. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, FSU, Miami, USC. This represents ten of the best Non-SEC schools right now. I'm going to go research their 2012 schedule and see if there is a substantial difference in those and in the SEC schedules.

Also, yes Auburn always plays powder puff schedules. You will get no argument from me on that one. Auburn keeps it "down home" more than any other SEC team.

You have to consider more than the OOC schedule for this.

??The OOC schedule is what we are talking about.

 

[GDogg]

Some fans say that. But again, you are acting as if the SEC is dramatically different from other conferences in terms of their OOC schedule. Currently that isn't the case.

If you aren't going to read what I said, then please stop replying to it. I cut out the crap to this comment to prove what I'm talking about. This alone tells me you aren't reading and just arguing to argue. My comments were historical and show what the DID (not are doing) to get to where they are today.

Commish, your statement was totally false.I finally went back and did the historical research and I don't see any evidence for the absurd theory that the SEC got where they are because they scheduled pansies.

I checked Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn for the late 80's and early 90's and I see no evidence of this being the case.

You could potentially make the argument that Alabama (ironically) and Auburn were the grossest offenders in the early 90's, but it certainly wasn't a conference-wide issue. I also didn't find any evidence that the SEC was any different then or now.

So your opinion that there was some conference wide conspiracy to avoid playing the good teams and bolster perception is just absolutely ridiculous.

You'll need to actually provide the data, which you won't do, because it doesn't exist.

I guess we have different ideas of what a quality schedule should look like. Bringing up Florida is particularly hilarious, by the way.Look at their schedules the last few years. Florida has not played a non-conference game outside of the state of Florida since 1991. The blueprint of the SEC, including Alabama, Tennessee and Auburn, has been to play one opponent from a BCS-AQ conference and then schedule the rest of their non-conference with the dregs of the FBS and schedule at least one FCS game. That's brutal.

Florida playing Florida State has traditionally been a HUGE out of conference game. Yes, they tend to schedule pansies outside of that, and they have also added Miami a few times. Yes, I would love to see them branch out and go play teams in the North and West. It would be fun to see. Also, pretty much every bigtime college football team follows the same schedule. One good opponent and a bunch of crap. Again, I'm not defending it, just saying it isn't an SEC thing.

Except that it is. I've shown you repeatedly that big programs from other conferences do not play the number of cupcakes and, particularly, FCS schools that the SEC plays. Seriously, check the schedules of Southern Cal, Stanford, UCLA, etc.Last I checked, Florida St. University and the University of Miami are both located in the state of Florida. And, if they weren't, Florida wouldn't be playing them (at least on the road).

I'm feeling lazy, so I'll clip a few more statistics for you: Over the past five years, the 12 SEC teams have a played a total of 32 road games at schools from BCS conferences. And 11 of those were in their home state, like Georgia at Georgia Tech or Kentucky at Louisville. They’ve gone 14-18 in those road games. Again, that's not even taking into account that each SEC school plays at least one FCS school per year.

In the Pac-12, the 10 schools that have been in the league the five years prior to this past season have played 37 road games against big-time schools the past five years. And they went 16-21 in those games.

Auburn has played one road game against a BCS team in the past six years. Last season, Mississippi St. had Memphis, Louisiana Tech, Alabama-Birmingham, and Tennessee-Martin in non-conference. If they went 2-6 in league play, they’re in a bowl game.

The truth is that the SEC, under the current BCS format, is smart to be doing this. They aren't punished for the crappy schedules they play. But, please don't pretend like everyone schedules the way they do because they don't. Just google it. There are lots of articles detailing the fact that the SEC schools have pathetic non-conference schedules.

So the Pac Ten has played 5 additional games and this is a substantial difference? If you want me to concede that the Pac Ten plays slightly tougher schedules based on the above, I will concede it. But the SEC doesn't stand out. I'd love to see the numbers for the Big 12 or the Big Ten.Just for fun, I'll think of ten teams right now in my head. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, FSU, Miami, USC. This represents ten of the best Non-SEC schools right now. I'm going to go research their 2012 schedule and see if there is a substantial difference in those and in the SEC schedules.

Also, yes Auburn always plays powder puff schedules. You will get no argument from me on that one. Auburn keeps it "down home" more than any other SEC team.

Yes, particularly when you consider that the Pac-10 had two fewer teams, too. Also, when looking at tougher schedules, I'm not only taking into account games against BCS conference programs (which is all you seem to focus on). I, and most others that mock the SEC schedules, also take into account the non-BCS opponents, particularly the FCS teams. By the way, just to make it clear, FCS schools are D-1AA schools of the past. They aren't "Division 1" programs.

 

[Moe.]

Oklahoma State : Savannah State, Arizona, Louisiana (not LSU)

Oklahoma : UTEP, Florida A&M, Notre Dame

Texas : Wyoming, New Mexico, Mississippi,

Michigan : Alabama, Air Force, UMASS, Notre Dame

Ohio State : Miami (OH), Central Florida, UAB, California

Oregon : Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech

FSU : Murray State, Savannah State, South Florida, Florida

Miami : Kansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Notre Dame, South Florida

USC : Hawaii, Syracuse, Notre Dame

Now of all these teams, who really stands out? Miami and Michigan. Both stepped up and played 2 solid non-conference games. The other 8 teams follow a pretty basic path. One solid team and a bunch of pansies. Texas and Oklahoma State seem to have the biggest jokes of schedules, but I guess it's hard to know when the schedules are made how good the teams will be. Oregon also has a pretty easy schedule, but usually Oregon steps up so perhaps this is an aberration.

Sorry for the formatting. I know it's ugly.

I know OU had to scramble to come up with non-conf opponents this year due to all of the uncertainty surrounding the whole re-alignment mess. We were supposed to open the season @TCU but that turned into a conference game and got moved to the end of the season. Probably not the best year to look at this as far as the Big 12 teams go. Florida A&M was a very recent add and I think their band was a big part of it but due to that hazing death I don't even think they're going to have a band this year. I've been hearing a lot of rumors lately about the Big 12 trying to add Clemson and Florida State. Seems like pie in the sky talk to me, but stranger things have happened I guess. The Big 12 is going to have to add some teams sooner or later, I don't think they could do any better than those two.

 

[shader]

Ok, I will concede one point:

The top 6 SEC teams all play one FCS team this year. Now I don't personally see any benefit to this. I have no idea why the SEC is currently doing this. If Alabama scheduled Iowa State instead of Georgia Southern, there would be no difference in their schedule.

I think it's a money thing and not a "competitive advantage" thing. But I could be wrong.

Overall, I still don't think the schedules of the other ten schools are all that different than the SEC schedules. SEC teams usually have a FCS team, but many other big schools do too. And what really is the difference between a Sun Belt team and an FCS team. Either team gets wiped out.

If anything, I'd say the SEC might be giving themselves a powder puff game due to the recent success they've had. I mean, the SEC has earned so much respect, that now it doesn't even matter if they get an FCS game.

I personally would like to see Div 1 teams barred from playing FCS games. It adds nothing and is merely a financial move.

But then, I know it's very helpful for those small teams to get a huge payday too, and I'm sure it's really fun for the programs like Savannah State, who is playing a couple of the big boys this year.

 

[shader]

Oklahoma State : Savannah State, Arizona, Louisiana (not LSU)

Oklahoma : UTEP, Florida A&M, Notre Dame

Texas : Wyoming, New Mexico, Mississippi,

Michigan : Alabama, Air Force, UMASS, Notre Dame

Ohio State : Miami (OH), Central Florida, UAB, California

Oregon : Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech

FSU : Murray State, Savannah State, South Florida, Florida

Miami : Kansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Notre Dame, South Florida

USC : Hawaii, Syracuse, Notre Dame

Now of all these teams, who really stands out? Miami and Michigan. Both stepped up and played 2 solid non-conference games. The other 8 teams follow a pretty basic path. One solid team and a bunch of pansies. Texas and Oklahoma State seem to have the biggest jokes of schedules, but I guess it's hard to know when the schedules are made how good the teams will be. Oregon also has a pretty easy schedule, but usually Oregon steps up so perhaps this is an aberration.

Sorry for the formatting. I know it's ugly.

I know OU had to scramble to come up with non-conf opponents this year due to all of the uncertainty surrounding the whole re-alignment mess. We were supposed to open the season @TCU but that turned into a conference game and got moved to the end of the season. Probably not the best year to look at this as far as the Big 12 teams go. Florida A&M was a very recent add and I think their band was a big part of it but due to that hazing death I don't even think they're going to have a band this year. I've been hearing a lot of rumors lately about the Big 12 trying to add Clemson and Florida State. Seems like pie in the sky talk to me, but stranger things have happened I guess. The Big 12 is going to have to add some teams sooner or later, I don't think they could do any better than those two.

Those would be GREAT adds for the Big 12. I personally am pumped to see TCU in the Big 12. Should be fascinating to see how well they do this year.

 

[GDogg]

Oklahoma State : Savannah State, Arizona, Louisiana (not LSU)

Oklahoma : UTEP, Florida A&M, Notre Dame

Texas : Wyoming, New Mexico, Mississippi,

Michigan : Alabama, Air Force, UMASS, Notre Dame

Ohio State : Miami (OH), Central Florida, UAB, California

Oregon : Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech

FSU : Murray State, Savannah State, South Florida, Florida

Miami : Kansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Notre Dame, South Florida

USC : Hawaii, Syracuse, Notre Dame

Now of all these teams, who really stands out? Miami and Michigan. Both stepped up and played 2 solid non-conference games. The other 8 teams follow a pretty basic path. One solid team and a bunch of pansies. Texas and Oklahoma State seem to have the biggest jokes of schedules, but I guess it's hard to know when the schedules are made how good the teams will be. Oregon also has a pretty easy schedule, but usually Oregon steps up so perhaps this is an aberration.

Sorry for the formatting. I know it's ugly.

Southern Cal stands out, as well. They are playing Notre Dame, which is essentially a BCS program and Syracuse, who is from a BCS conference. Then, throw in Hawaii who has been a pretty decent program the past decade (though they were down last year).I'm starting to see where we have a disconnect. Am I wrong in saying that you think the tough (good) teams to schedule are big name and/or BCS opponents and that everyone else is put in the "pansy" category?

 

[Moe.]

Is there really a huge difference between the worst Div 1 schools and the best FCS schools? I can't remember the name of the school but the FCS team that Bama played towards the end of the year last year looked like they could have beaten quite a few of the crappy Div 1 schools. For the big programs it's pretty much an automatic W either way.

 

[GDogg]

Is there really a huge difference between the worst Div 1 schools and the best FCS schools? I can't remember the name of the school but the FCS team that Bama played towards the end of the year last year looked like they could have beaten quite a few of the crappy Div 1 schools. For the big programs it's pretty much an automatic W either way.

Yes, there is a big difference (among several). FCS teams only get 63 scholarships. FBS teams get 85. For context, Southern Cal is being limited to 75 scholarships starting this season for the next three seasons (and a max of 15 per) and most experts think the effect of this will be to cripple them in terms of their depth such, that in order to compete, they'll need to avoid injuries and not have any busts. Now, take an additional 12 scholarships off of that and you have the roster (in addition to a diluted talent base) requirements of every single FCS school...

 

[shader]

Oklahoma State : Savannah State, Arizona, Louisiana (not LSU)

Oklahoma : UTEP, Florida A&M, Notre Dame

Texas : Wyoming, New Mexico, Mississippi,

Michigan : Alabama, Air Force, UMASS, Notre Dame

Ohio State : Miami (OH), Central Florida, UAB, California

Oregon : Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech

FSU : Murray State, Savannah State, South Florida, Florida

Miami : Kansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Notre Dame, South Florida

USC : Hawaii, Syracuse, Notre Dame

Now of all these teams, who really stands out? Miami and Michigan. Both stepped up and played 2 solid non-conference games. The other 8 teams follow a pretty basic path. One solid team and a bunch of pansies. Texas and Oklahoma State seem to have the biggest jokes of schedules, but I guess it's hard to know when the schedules are made how good the teams will be. Oregon also has a pretty easy schedule, but usually Oregon steps up so perhaps this is an aberration.

Sorry for the formatting. I know it's ugly.

Southern Cal stands out, as well. They are playing Notre Dame, which is essentially a BCS program and Syracuse, who is from a BCS conference. Then, throw in Hawaii who has been a pretty decent program the past decade (though they were down last year).I'm starting to see where we have a disconnect. Am I wrong in saying that you think the tough (good) teams to schedule are big name and/or BCS opponents and that everyone else is put in the "pansy" category?

The bottom line is that scheduling is a joke for most teams. A few stand out, and I applaud those that do.

I still wish and have always wished that the NCAA would take over scheduling and force great teams to play each other, but it will never happen.

I don't see a HUGE difference in the SEC and the rest of the league. In fact, I bet that the Big 12 is comparable, aside from the fact that the SEC has one extra OOC game and doesn't fill it with a good team (which is why the Big 12 SOS is better. That one game probably makes all the difference).

That being said, if "number of games vs FCS schools" is part of your criteria, perhaps the SEC is worst in that category.

 

[GDogg]

Oklahoma State : Savannah State, Arizona, Louisiana (not LSU)

Oklahoma : UTEP, Florida A&M, Notre Dame

Texas : Wyoming, New Mexico, Mississippi,

Michigan : Alabama, Air Force, UMASS, Notre Dame

Ohio State : Miami (OH), Central Florida, UAB, California

Oregon : Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech

FSU : Murray State, Savannah State, South Florida, Florida

Miami : Kansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Notre Dame, South Florida

USC : Hawaii, Syracuse, Notre Dame

Now of all these teams, who really stands out? Miami and Michigan. Both stepped up and played 2 solid non-conference games. The other 8 teams follow a pretty basic path. One solid team and a bunch of pansies. Texas and Oklahoma State seem to have the biggest jokes of schedules, but I guess it's hard to know when the schedules are made how good the teams will be. Oregon also has a pretty easy schedule, but usually Oregon steps up so perhaps this is an aberration.

Sorry for the formatting. I know it's ugly.

I know OU had to scramble to come up with non-conf opponents this year due to all of the uncertainty surrounding the whole re-alignment mess. We were supposed to open the season @TCU but that turned into a conference game and got moved to the end of the season. Probably not the best year to look at this as far as the Big 12 teams go. Florida A&M was a very recent add and I think their band was a big part of it but due to that hazing death I don't even think they're going to have a band this year. I've been hearing a lot of rumors lately about the Big 12 trying to add Clemson and Florida State. Seems like pie in the sky talk to me, but stranger things have happened I guess. The Big 12 is going to have to add some teams sooner or later, I don't think they could do any better than those two.

Bruce Feldman wrote on his blog that word out of FSU and Clemson (and the ACC) is that he doesn't see this happening for a couple of reasons. But, the biggest reason was money. The ACC apparently had the largest exit fee of all the BCS conferences and that was voted to be doubled, apparently. A source told him that it may escalate to $30M to make the move. And, on top of the $3 billion TV deal they just signed, he's skeptical.Feldman on FSU's AD:

On Friday, FSU athletics director Randy Spetman told the Orlando Sentinel that his programs were "committed to the ACC" and that any conversations about the school switching conferences is pure nonsense.

He was quoting the Orlando Sentinel.

 

[GDogg]

Ok, I will concede one point:

The top 6 SEC teams all play one FCS team this year. Now I don't personally see any benefit to this. I have no idea why the SEC is currently doing this. If Alabama scheduled Iowa State instead of Georgia Southern, there would be no difference in their schedule.

I think it's a money thing and not a "competitive advantage" thing. But I could be wrong.

Overall, I still don't think the schedules of the other ten schools are all that different than the SEC schedules. SEC teams usually have a FCS team, but many other big schools do too. And what really is the difference between a Sun Belt team and an FCS team. Either team gets wiped out.

If anything, I'd say the SEC might be giving themselves a powder puff game due to the recent success they've had. I mean, the SEC has earned so much respect, that now it doesn't even matter if they get an FCS game.

I personally would like to see Div 1 teams barred from playing FCS games. It adds nothing and is merely a financial move.

But then, I know it's very helpful for those small teams to get a huge payday too, and I'm sure it's really fun for the programs like Savannah State, who is playing a couple of the big boys this year.

I appreciate you conceding this point, but I have to laugh at the "big, filthy rich program with a golden heart" angle that I have heard from many SEC (and, a great friend of mine who is a big Nebraska fan). Really? Those programs are doing this to help out those poor little programs and to give them a taste of playing the big boys? I can't say for sure, but I am 99.9999999999999% sure that this plays no part in it.Also, just for the sake of accuracy, it's not just the top 6 SEC teams that play an FCS team. It's every single team in the SEC, including A&M and Missouri. I know it's not, but it almost feels like it's an SEC scheduling requirement.

For the record, my Nebraska buddy claims that the reason they schedule the crappy teams they do (and said he believes the same is true of the SEC teams) is because of their budget. He claims they need the gate revenue they get from the additional home games. And, he said they can only get the true dregs of FBS and the FCS schools to agree not to have a home and home. So, you end up scheduling FCS teams and the absolute worst FBS programs. I cannot speak to the veracity of this, but I think it's a weak argument, either way. These schools are in conferences with huge TV deals and huge shoe deals. I doubt the gate receipts from a couple more home games makes that big a difference, although I've never run the numbers and am probably talking out of my ###.

 

[Christo]

Oklahoma State : Savannah State, Arizona, Louisiana (not LSU)

Oklahoma : UTEP, Florida A&M, Notre Dame

Texas : Wyoming, New Mexico, Mississippi,

Michigan : Alabama, Air Force, UMASS, Notre Dame

Ohio State : Miami (OH), Central Florida, UAB, California

Oregon : Arkansas State, Fresno State, Tennessee Tech

FSU : Murray State, Savannah State, South Florida, Florida

Miami : Kansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Notre Dame, South Florida

USC : Hawaii, Syracuse, Notre Dame

Now of all these teams, who really stands out? Miami and Michigan. Both stepped up and played 2 solid non-conference games. The other 8 teams follow a pretty basic path. One solid team and a bunch of pansies. Texas and Oklahoma State seem to have the biggest jokes of schedules, but I guess it's hard to know when the schedules are made how good the teams will be. Oregon also has a pretty easy schedule, but usually Oregon steps up so perhaps this is an aberration.

Sorry for the formatting. I know it's ugly.

OU was in a bind this year. TCU was scheduled as an OOC game but it became a conference game. They had to scramble just to get UTEP & Florida A&M. For a while they were discussing FSU. Even with that, OU has one of the toughest schedules in the nation:UTEP

Florida A&M

Kansas St

@TTech

Texas

Kansas

Notre Dame

@Iowa St

Baylor

@W.Virginia

Oklahoma St

@TCU

Here's OU's OOC games the last 5 years:

2011

Tulsa

@FSU

Ball St.

2010

Utah St

FSU

Air Force

@Cincinnati

2009

BYU (Arlington)

Idaho St

Tulsa

@Miami

2008

Chattanooga

Cincinnati

@Washington

TCU

2007

North Texas

Utah St

Miami

Tulsa

 

[The Commish]

Gonna say this once because it will either be flat out ignored or twisted, but I think it has to be said. The fewer games teams of a conference play OOC, the harder it is for the computers to rank them. These equations are written in a manner such that if a select group of teams play each other more than not, over time the numbers get skewed. Everyone remember the complaints about the computer love for OSU this past year? They played 9 conference games and an FCS school leaving them 2 OOC teams. That limits the calculations of the computers. If the B1G decided to play an extra conference game in lieu of another OOC game, guess what would happen to the rankings of each of the teams in the B1G.

 

[shader]

Ok, I will concede one point:

The top 6 SEC teams all play one FCS team this year. Now I don't personally see any benefit to this. I have no idea why the SEC is currently doing this. If Alabama scheduled Iowa State instead of Georgia Southern, there would be no difference in their schedule.

I think it's a money thing and not a "competitive advantage" thing. But I could be wrong.

Overall, I still don't think the schedules of the other ten schools are all that different than the SEC schedules. SEC teams usually have a FCS team, but many other big schools do too. And what really is the difference between a Sun Belt team and an FCS team. Either team gets wiped out.

If anything, I'd say the SEC might be giving themselves a powder puff game due to the recent success they've had. I mean, the SEC has earned so much respect, that now it doesn't even matter if they get an FCS game.

I personally would like to see Div 1 teams barred from playing FCS games. It adds nothing and is merely a financial move.

But then, I know it's very helpful for those small teams to get a huge payday too, and I'm sure it's really fun for the programs like Savannah State, who is playing a couple of the big boys this year.

I appreciate you conceding this point, but I have to laugh at the "big, filthy rich program with a golden heart" angle that I have heard from many SEC (and, a great friend of mine who is a big Nebraska fan). Really? Those programs are doing this to help out those poor little programs and to give them a taste of playing the big boys? I can't say for sure, but I am 99.9999999999999% sure that this plays no part in it.Also, just for the sake of accuracy, it's not just the top 6 SEC teams that play an FCS team. It's every single team in the SEC, including A&M and Missouri. I know it's not, but it almost feels like it's an SEC scheduling requirement.

For the record, my Nebraska buddy claims that the reason they schedule the crappy teams they do (and said he believes the same is true of the SEC teams) is because of their budget. He claims they need the gate revenue they get from the additional home games. And, he said they can only get the true dregs of FBS and the FCS schools to agree not to have a home and home. So, you end up scheduling FCS teams and the absolute worst FBS programs. I cannot speak to the veracity of this, but I think it's a weak argument, either way. These schools are in conferences with huge TV deals and huge shoe deals. I doubt the gate receipts from a couple more home games makes that big a difference, although I've never run the numbers and am probably talking out of my ###.

I honestly have no idea. I don't think it gives the SEC a competitive advantage. If anything it hurts the SOS.

I do think it's about the money. I don't think a shoe deal equates to ticket sales. A home game means a BOATLOAD of revenue for the school AND the city. Sold out hotels, packed restaurants, vendor sales, etc. Four of the top five football money makers in 2010-2011 are SEC teams. Number 1 is Texas.

I think the fact that they have 8 home games is a pure money decision. I COULD be wrong, but I don't think so.