SEC scheduling

[Flatlandcoug]

Watching the games this week, you've got to be impressed with the foresight and planning of the SEC. Most of their elite teams get the equivalent of a bye week right at the end of the season by virtue of scheduling FCS cupcakes the week before the finale. Combined with their 8 game conference schedule that normally adds another 7 wins to the overall conference portfolio, it's no wonder that they are considered "the best conference in college football". The Pac-12 could potentially have 11 bowl eligible teams with their scheduling.

 

[chipdouglas]

Watching the games this week, you've got to be impressed with the foresight and planning of the SEC. Most of their elite teams get the equivalent of a bye week right at the end of the season by virtue of scheduling FCS cupcakes the week before the finale. Combined with their 8 game conference schedule that normally adds another 7 wins to the overall conference portfolio, it's no wonder that they are considered "the best conference in college football". The Pac-12 could potentially have 11 bowl eligible teams with their scheduling.

Foresight, cowardice, cynicism, call it what you like.

In any event, in the playoff era, the rules need to be fair. Getting an extra OOC game and scheduling the softest opponents you can get away with needs to go away.

Everyone should have the same # of conference games, and ALL games on the schedule (perhaps save 1) should be randomly matched up against P5 opponents. It would then be the Russian roulette game of "who gets Alabama" rather than a race to throw Omaha State CC on the schedule.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Foresight, cowardice, cynicism, call it what you like.

In any event, in the playoff era, the rules need to be fair. Getting an extra OOC game and scheduling the softest opponents you can get away with needs to go away.

Everyone should have the same # of conference games, and ALL games on the schedule (perhaps save 1) should be randomly matched up against P5 opponents. It would then be the Russian roulette game of "who gets Alabama" rather than a race to throw Omaha State CC on the schedule.

I agree that the unbalanced playing field is tilted in their favor and if the NCAA had any integrity, they would do something about it. I think an 8 team playoff is coming sooner than later. If Auburn beats Alabama this week and then wins the SEC championship, imagine the angst and anger from the Big 10 when the playoff is Auburn, Miami/Clemson winner, Oklahoma and.......Alabama.

 

[95coug]

I agree that the unbalanced playing field is tilted in their favor and if the NCAA had any integrity, they would do something about it. I think an 8 team playoff is coming sooner than later. If Auburn beats Alabama this week and then wins the SEC championship, imagine the angst and anger from the Big 10 when the playoff is Auburn, Miami/Clemson winner, Oklahoma and.......Alabama.

I'll go you one better:
If Clemson beats Miami in a close game, don't be surprised if Miami only falls a spot, and still makes the playoff. Even more likely if Ohio State beats Wisconsin.

Really, I won't be surprised to see, if Auburn beats Alabama, Bama stays in the playoff...and maybe stays a spot ahead of AUburn. I don't think people are putting a 2-loss team in the playoff if they have a choice. Only way Auburn makes it is if they beat Bama and then beat Georgia again. In that scenario, Oklahoma gets screwed.

I've been looking at this the last couple days...and there are at least 4 losses coming among the teams ranked ahead before bowl selections are made. ALabama/Auburn, Clemson/Miami, Ohio State/Wisconsin. Then there will be Georgia v. the winner of Alabama/Auburn. My guess is that none of those games result in any movement by us. Only way we move is with upsets: Ohio State at Michigan, Notre Dame at Stanford, Clemson at South Carolina...and other matchups that are far less likely. BTW - if Love can play, Stanford beats Notre Dame

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I'll go you one better:
If Clemson beats Miami in a close game, don't be surprised if Miami only falls a spot, and still makes the playoff. Even more likely if Ohio State beats Wisconsin.

Really, I won't be surprised to see, if Auburn beats Alabama, Bama stays in the playoff...and maybe stays a spot ahead of AUburn. I don't think people are putting a 2-loss team in the playoff if they have a choice. Only way Auburn makes it is if they beat Bama and then beat Georgia again. In that scenario, Oklahoma gets screwed.

I've been looking at this the last couple days...and there are at least 4 losses coming among the teams ranked ahead before bowl selections are made. ALabama/Auburn, Clemson/Miami, Ohio State/Wisconsin. Then there will be Georgia v. the winner of Alabama/Auburn. My guess is that none of those games result in any movement by us. Only way we move is with upsets: Ohio State at Michigan, Notre Dame at Stanford, Clemson at South Carolina...and other matchups that are far less likely. BTW - if Love can play, Stanford beats Notre Dame

Agree all the way around. This season is the kind of season that will create more of a push for an 8 team playoff, which will be better for everyone in the long run (at least in my opinion). Although west coast fans aren't as devout as the rest of the country, a lack of Pac-12 involvement will cost the playoff millions of eyeballs. I may pay attention to the games to some degree, but I'm not planning any of my time around those games. I'm just as likely to be raking leaves as watching the games without a Pac-12 team involved.

 

[Loyal Coug]

Agree all the way around. This season is the kind of season that will create more of a push for an 8 team playoff, which will be better for everyone in the long run (at least in my opinion). Although west coast fans aren't as devout as the rest of the country, a lack of Pac-12 involvement will cost the playoff millions of eyeballs. I may pay attention to the games to some degree, but I'm not planning any of my time around those games. I'm just as likely to be raking leaves as watching the games without a Pac-12 team involved.

I hate the whole playoff thing, and wish we would go back to the old ways. Pac-12 and Big 12 in the Rose Bowl. Better yet, revert to the Pac-10 or Pac-8.

That said, the way to fix the playoff system is simple. There are 64 teams currently in the Power 5 conferences. For Football, dissolve the Big 12 and place their 10 teams in the other conferences. Each Conference now has 16 teams. The 4 conference champs play off for the title. Pretty simple. To further make it fair, base each division champ solely on their results against their 7 division opponents. So in effect you have an 8 team playoff, counting the conference title games. Or if you really wanted to get crazy, seed those 8 teams and start your tourney from there and not even have conference championships.

 

[Fab5Coug]

I agree that the unbalanced playing field is tilted in their favor and if the NCAA had any integrity, they would do something about it. I think an 8 team playoff is coming sooner than later. If Auburn beats Alabama this week and then wins the SEC championship, imagine the angst and anger from the Big 10 when the playoff is Auburn, Miami/Clemson winner, Oklahoma and.......Alabama.

At this point, I just assume there's nothing the NCAA can do about it. I posted in another thread, but I'd love to see the playoff committee do something about it. Really hammer those teams for scheduling those games.

You want to stop November OOC cupcakes, release a top 4 of Miami, Oklahoma, UGA & Wiscy. That'd make teams think twice about their chicken S scheduling.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

if the NCAA had any integrity

to keep it g rated - wish in one hand, spit in the other...

This, the same NCAA that recently let UNC write their own rules on whether a class that requires one appearance and written papers that rival a 5th grader's as a legitimate academic pursuit.

How I pray that you get your wish of an NCAA that had any integrity. I'm not sure exactly what it would take to blow up the current iteration, but I fear that it would take some sort of congressional or supreme court action for that to ever happen, and they have much better things to do than worry about "amateur" sports.

 

[Coug95man2]

to keep it g rated - wish in one hand, spit in the other...

This, the same NCAA that recently let UNC write their own rules on whether a class that requires one appearance and written papers that rival a 5th grader's as a legitimate academic pursuit.

How I pray that you get your wish of an NCAA that had any integrity. I'm not sure exactly what it would take to blow up the current iteration, but I fear that it would take some sort of congressional or supreme court action for that to ever happen, and they have much better things to do than worry about "amateur" sports.

Being "fair" isn't in the NCAA's mission statement, core values or their 16 principles. From the link below, you can check out what they perceive as their responsibilities.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/ncaa-core-values

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Being "fair" isn't in the NCAA's mission statement, core values or their 16 principles. From the link below, you can check out what they perceive as their responsibilities.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/ncaa-core-values

While I agree that being fair (when dealing with sports) isn't among their tenets, integrity is. This would include consistent and appropriate discipline for schools who violate the rules.

 

[Coug95man2]

While I agree that being fair (when dealing with sports) isn't among their tenets, integrity is. This would include consistent and appropriate discipline for schools who violate the rules.

True. I was commenting on the scheduling aspect, though. SEC can play 4 conference games if they wish and the rest patsies. PAC12 can play... 12 conference games. Up to each conference to display their differences, highlight the positives and make themselves the best conference out there. I don't want all the conferences to be the same, honestly. Let the SEC be the joke. They are in their own world and think they're awesome. Fine.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

True. I was commenting on the scheduling aspect, though. SEC can play 4 conference games if they wish and the rest patsies. PAC12 can play... 12 conference games. Up to each conference to display their differences, highlight the positives and make themselves the best conference out there. I don't want all the conferences to be the same, honestly. Let the SEC be the joke. They are in their own world and think they're awesome. Fine.

I understood what you meant.

The SEC being a joke doesn't affect their ability to get into elite bowl games and rake in tens of millions of dollars, though. Between getting a slew of teams ranked high at the beginning of the season, the patsy games, the selection committee being as crooked as a barrel of snakes, and the P12 doing everything in their power to keep themselves out of the national spotlight, I don't foresee a future of P12 teams returning to dominance any time soon.

 

[95coug]

Agree all the way around. This season is the kind of season that will create more of a push for an 8 team playoff, which will be better for everyone in the long run (at least in my opinion). Although west coast fans aren't as devout as the rest of the country, a lack of Pac-12 involvement will cost the playoff millions of eyeballs. I may pay attention to the games to some degree, but I'm not planning any of my time around those games. I'm just as likely to be raking leaves as watching the games without a Pac-12 team involved.

It's a bit of a stretch, but at the moment it appears that a playoff lineup of Alabama, Clemson, Auburn, and Miami is possible. While that would suck this season, I think it would hasten change. Having 3/4 of the country tuned out of the last 2 weeks, and at least 1/2 of them pissed about it, would have to open some eyes.