Posted on 07/29/2019 4:27:05 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
The Crimson Tide play Duke (at a neutral site) and host New Mexico State, Southern Mississippi and Western Carolina for their four non-conference games this season. That has led to criticism that they are playing too soft a schedule.
During an appearance Friday on “Golic and Wingo,” Saban shared his side. The Crimson Tide coach says he has long advocated for Power 5 teams to only play each other. He also says the reason Alabama struggles to schedule strong non-conference opponents is because teams don’t want to play the Crimson Tide. Furthermore, he says Alabama ends up playing neutral site games because that’s the only way some teams will agree to face the Crimson Tide.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Those three teams ALWAYS play each other during the season for the "Florida Cup". Same way that the Service Academies (Army, Navy and Air Force) play each other every season for the "Commander in Chief's Trophy".
>> You mean like last year when Florida opened the season against Michigan? <<
You mean 2017? Because last year Florida opened against Charleston Southern, Colorado State and Idaho. That’s just nauseating. Of course, in 2017, the faced Northern (?!!!) Colorado and UAB, in addition to Michigan. So basically, they played one real team in 3 years in their extra-conference schedule.
>> So, what’s your team and how many elite programs do y’all play this year? <<
Not enough, and yes, that’s why it irritates me to see all these Power-5 conference teams ducking any risk of losing a non-conference game.
My idea (of course it will never happen) if to bring soccer-style Promotion/Relegation to college Football.
Imagine taking the 10 best teams and making them all play each other. With the bottom three teams being relegated, and the three best teams from the “Second Division” being promoted for next season.
B—tch, b-tch, b-tch, b-tch!
That’s all these threads EVER are.
There should be a rule for posting to these types of threads:
First, declare your team.
(ME: Alabama, followed by Auburn. I live in Alabama and worked for 20 years at AU.)
Then make your comment.
I reject all the talk about stupid conspiracies and other nonsense.
Any given Saturday can be a win or loss for any team.
I always have hope my teams do well, and haven’t been disappointed for many years now. However, sooner or later, all good things to an end. I’ll still support the Tide and War Eagles (only the Tide in the Iron Bowl) but I don’t need to put down other schools or their programs to pump up mine.
That’s just little kid talk.
I think they have beaten other big name teams too tho I can’t remember right off hand.
Pretty good considering they have the lowest budget in the Sun Belt.
YES! I’ve even wondered if the NCAA would allow conferences like the American to do that, so they could assure the top teams to have tough schedules.
I remember that. Got waxed in that dome on astroturf.
This guy obviously has too much time on his hands, but still somewhat interesting.
Yep, Syracuse ran back the opening kickoff for a TD, it was a long day, I remember watching it at the bar with the local Gator Club.
Now I do have a more workable solution.
Each team draws two opponents from their tier.
So for example teams that finish in the Top 32, would draw two other non-conference top 32 opponents the next season. One game at home, the other on the road. I would also have one of the games at the start of the season and the other towards the end of the season.
That would go a long way to clarifying which teams are truly the best when it comes to the end of the season.
One of the services rated Alabama’s schedule 20th toughest in the nation. I think that’s about right.
And that is before the SEC championship game. And before playoffs. Assuming Alabama wins the National Championship game they would have ended the season playing, most probably, 3 top 10 teams in their last 3 games to win it. Hardly an “easy” path.
Why does Alabama not schedule more “top” teams? Because you would lose a home game every other year. Because those teams are gonna insist on a home and home.
For those small schools playing the big schools, like Bama, those games for all intents and purposes finance their Athletic Departments.
If you’re going to complain about an OOC schedule featuring two strong programs....if your complaint is that a team doesn’t devote every out of conference game to playing a powerhouse opponent then nobody is ever going to satisfy you with their schedules.
UF and miami stopped playing each other every year after 1987 when the SEC added another game to the conference schedule.
Conference schedules are going to influence non conference scheduling. Programs in weak conferences need more tough OOC opponents to bolster their strength of schedule. Programs in stronger conferences don’t need to play as many tough OOC opponents since they’re already getting that in-conference.
The system does not reward Power 5 teams to lose to Alabama, but these creampuffs get rewarded quite nicely to go to Tuscaloosa and lose 40-something to 7. They know they are going to lose, but Coach Saban won’t run up the score on them because the second half is just a scrimmage for the third stringers. In return, they pick up a few million dollars that their athletic department could use in a variety of ways. Sometimes, they use the money, exposure, and experience to turn their teams into contenders in their conference. Just look at the third best team in Alabama. Troy used to be the creampuff, but then they started playing some of those Power 5 teams a bit too close for comfort, and finally they started taking the money and running home with a win. Neither Bama or Auburn will take a chance on losing to them and making Troy the third big dog in the state.
Roll Tide, and Down Irish
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