SEC and its daunting Week 12 schedule
It is an SEC Week 12 bye right before rivalry and championship weekends. While most of the rest of the FBS teams are grinding this weekend with tough conference opponents, here is what the SEC has going:
Rice @ LSU -42
Umass @ Georgia -44
Citadel @ Bama - 51
Idaho @ Fla - 39 1/2
Tenn Chatt @ S. Carolina - 30 1/2
Liberty @ Auburn -28 1/2
November 14th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
Michael Spath was just talking about this on the radio and he said Alabama started this trend several years ago. I did some research and found out that Florida actually started this trend in 2006 when Urban Meyer was there. They played Western Carolina the week before their game with the Noles and have played the likes of Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Furman, App State, Jacksonville State, Georgia Southern and Eastern Kentucky ever since.
In 2009, Alabama started doing this in Nick Saban's second year. They've played Tennessee Chattanooga 3 times, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Western Carolina, Charleston Southern and Mercer.
Eventually Auburn, Georgia and LSU followed this trend.
They've basically created bye weeks for themselves the week before their biggest game. I wish we had that luxury. But I think Big Ten schedules are set for the next several years.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:51 PM ^
And just because I am a Gator hater, they did lose that game to GA Southern and I don't think GA Southern even attempted one pass.
November 14th, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^
I was in such misery over where we were going with Brady Hoke that I never even noticed this score until looooong after it was played.
November 14th, 2018 at 11:39 PM ^
The SEC does not have their cupcake weekend to help get into the playoffs because that practice predates the playoffs. At one time, Alabama and Auburn had open dates the week before they played each other. Under Les Miles, LSU became a bigger threat to Bama so in 2009, Bama moved its open date before LSU (who had an open date before Bama) and moved a cupcake game before Auburn (who also had an open date before Bama). In 2010, 7 different teams had their open date the week before they played Bama. Bama lost 3 games that year. I am not 100% sure about this but I THINK the SEC office handles SEC schedules or at least somehow limits the number of teams that are allowed to have their open dates before a single team. At least someone said something like that on ESPN today when they were discussing the pitiful SEC schedule this coming weekend. I don't see how their schedule affects the college playoffs though. Beating a terrible team does not enhance a team's resume. There are lots of P5 teams that a good team can beat without breaking a sweat. The SEC easy weekend is all about spending extra time to prepare for each team's in-state arch rival.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:40 PM ^
The issue for me is the CFP's lack of balls when it comes to scheduling FCS teams. The committee will fellate Alabama and the rest of the SEC after this weekend, but UCF will probably drop after another FBS win.
Also, the B1G should immediately drop the 9th conference game until the NCAA mandates it for all conferences and makes ND join a conference.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:57 PM ^
It's gonna be pretty convenient for ND in two weeks when the other teams vying for a spot in the CFP get to put it on the line against tough conference opponents one more time, while they get to sit at home and watch (and benefit) from the carnage.
Make them join a conference or make them play 13 games.
November 14th, 2018 at 2:15 PM ^
Yes, this is true. When it comes to the SEC and ACC all wins are equitable. Scratch that, a blow out win over UMass or Citadel will carry more weight than a two score win over Indiana, Wisconsin, MSU, or Iowa.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:44 PM ^
The NCAA needs to step in and regulate all these conferences to an equal playing slate. 9 conference games for every conference. Take away the decision by the conferences. I would love for the NCAA to disband all divisions within conferences also, get rid of the unbalanced playing field. Have the top 2 team play in the Conference Championship, which is the purpose of a Championship game.
November 14th, 2018 at 2:20 PM ^
This is college football, not the NFL. I definitely do not not want your diktat regulations in the NCAA. The differences between the conferences are part of what makes it better sport than the NFL.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:48 PM ^
I don't understand the complaint here.
Michigan is -28 vs. Indiana and -was 37 at Rutger.
daunting
November 14th, 2018 at 1:53 PM ^
That's because you are not smart enough to understand the complaint. Which multi-time banned user are you by the way? I forgot.
November 14th, 2018 at 6:22 PM ^
Because when two B1G teams play each other that means one B1G team has to have a loss. When the SEC only plays 8 conference opponents and every other conference plays 9 that means everyone other conference has an extra week where half of their teams HAVE to lose.
For example, you have 4 teams in 2 separate conferences, we'll call them conference A and B.
Conference A plays each other
Conference B plays non con.
Conference A WILL go 2-2
Conference B Can go 4-0.
If you look at transitive wins/losses, which the AP/Coaches/CFP all OBVIOUSLY do, that means that even the winners in conference A are taking a net negative compared to B because some of the teams that conference A had beaten previously are now "worse".
November 15th, 2018 at 12:00 AM ^
I don't think the SEC's cupcake weekend helps them with the playoffs. Their 8 vs. 9 conference game schedule might though. But then the ACC too needs to be added to the discussion. As does UCF's conference.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:48 PM ^
What should happen if all higher rated Top 25 teams win:
1. Alabama v Citadel Drop to 3 with win
2. Clemson v Duke Jump Alabama with win
3. Notre Dame v 12.Syracuse Jump Alabama with win
4. Michigan v Indiana No unnatural movement with win
5. Georgia v UMass Drop to 8th with win
6. Oklahoma v Kansas Jump Georgia with win
7. LSU v Rice Drop to 10th with win
8. Washington St. v Arizona Jump LSU & Georgia with win
9. West Virginia v Oklahoma St Jump LSU & Georgia with win
10. Ohio State v Maryland Jump LSU with win
11. UCF v 24. Cincinatti Jump LSU with win
13. Florida v Idaho Drop to 15th with win
14. PSU v Rutger No unnatural movement with win
15. Texas v 16. Iowa St. Jump PSU and Florida with win
17. Kentucky v Middle Tennessee No unnatural movement with win
18. Washington v. Oregon St No unnatural movement with win
19. Utah v. Colorado No unnatural movement with win
20. Boston College v Florida St No unnatural movement with win
21. Mississippi St v Arkansas No unnatural movement with win
22. Northwestern v Minnesota No unnatural movement with win
23. Utah St. v Colorado St No unnatural movement with win
25. Boise St. v New Mexico St. No unnatural movement with win
November 14th, 2018 at 2:28 PM ^
After reading this I'm having unnatural thoughts.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:51 PM ^
Indiana @ Michigan
November 14th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
Every conference already their Rutgers and Illinois, etc already built in to their normal schedules. Go back up and read bronxblue's response to the advantage the SEC has this week. He explains it very well.
And by the way, Indiana would be favored by two to three TD's or more over every one of those SEC opponents I listed in the OP.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:51 PM ^
And yet they want to stuff 2 teams in the CFP... I don't care how good Bama, LSU, and Georgia supposedly are they don't deserve TWO teams in the CFP in back to back years.
November 14th, 2018 at 1:56 PM ^
The committee should drop all the winners of these games 1-2 spots in the next ranking just to make a point that they diluted their resumes. Why does the SEC need a rest game in the next to last game of the season? That daunting 8 game schedule with Tennessee and Arkansas on it?
November 14th, 2018 at 1:58 PM ^
MY PROPOSAL:
1. All Power 5 Conferences go to 9 game conference schedules.
2. Do away with the meaningless Conference Championship games.
3. Go to an 8 team playoff with the first round being played during Conference Championship week
November 14th, 2018 at 2:38 PM ^
I've been a proponent for years of thus Boner Stabber:
No CCG's - 16 team playoff - much like BCS model for ranking/points for who is in top 16.
Instead of CCG weekend you have the top 16 teams play in a seeded way just like normal 1 vs 16, 7 vs 8, etc. with the higher seed getting the home game after the last game of the season. Then - the losers can all get picked for other bowls. The winners (8) all face off on the traditional big 4 NYD bowl games. Then you have two weeks to get the champ. It adds all of 1 week (1 more game) to the way it is currently but you add 12 more teams to the mix.
Unfortunately I don't see the CCG's going away.
November 15th, 2018 at 12:16 AM ^
The problem with your proposal is that conferences have their own rights and can expand their memberships if they wish. The playoff committee say they will use conference championships as a tie breaker but otherwise they are already independent of the playoffs - and must be so independents and G5 schools can get a shot. And yes, UCF can get into the playoffs IF they use their 4 game OOC schedule to beef up their schedule.
I think the 8 team playoff will happen in time and perhaps sooner than some think. 3 (or 4) of the P5 conferences voted down the playoffs but within a few years we had a 4 team playoff anyway.
November 14th, 2018 at 2:00 PM ^
8 game conference schedule is a joke. It just means more, my ass
November 14th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
The SEC is the best Conference though!!!!!
November 14th, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^
The Citadel...
/major eye roll
November 14th, 2018 at 2:14 PM ^
WTF IS THAT!?!? Someone show that to all the SEC slappies and Networks...
November 14th, 2018 at 2:24 PM ^
Gary Danielson will take you DOWN! Take you down to CHINA TOWN!
November 14th, 2018 at 2:20 PM ^
So for the first time in life I will be rooting for the Minutemen, Flamers, & Bulldogs. If there were only a team named the Sister-Cousins it would be the ultimate SEC country sex fantasy.
November 14th, 2018 at 2:45 PM ^
Just ridiculous
November 14th, 2018 at 3:19 PM ^
Haven't seen it mentioned but SEC also had a big weather advantage. Have those teams come north for all the November games and see what toll that takes on their teams. Its a huge advantage playing in relatively mild weather. The hits really start to sting. One of the color guys mentioned this this last week; he was a former college player.
November 14th, 2018 at 3:36 PM ^
Well, we had Rutgers so.....
November 14th, 2018 at 6:18 PM ^
And they have Arkansas/Vanderbilt.
November 14th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
All of these teams will probably move up in the CFP rankings after their BIG wins this weekend!
November 14th, 2018 at 4:57 PM ^
Its telling that UM’s spread vs almost bowl eligible Indiana is almost exactly the same as Auburn’s over first year FBS Liberty.
Also we complain a lot about the discrepency between divisions but think of poor Indiana. What would they look like the last five years in the Western Division? Between Wisconsin and Iowa I bet.
November 14th, 2018 at 5:58 PM ^
What happens when Bama loses the SEC championship, still gets in the playoffs, and wins the National Championship (against Georgia)? That taints the national championship AND the conference championships.
It taints nothing.
It's really no different than a *division* runner up getting in the CFP a la 'Bama and tOSU previously.
Most people on the board are seeing this with maize and blue colored glasses on rather than acknowledging:
The CFP committee is full of shit; they're going to select whomever they want, regardless of what their charter says, and label it as "the 4 best teams in the country (according to our SEC bias and esoteric ratings)."
... in turn, the fanboys in here lash out at anyone who dares to post that a 1 loss Bama could jump a Michigan B1G champ.
November 14th, 2018 at 6:04 PM ^
Committee should rank based on wins, not losses. Don't count FCS games. If Bama wins the conference just give them credit for 12 wins, not 13.
November 15th, 2018 at 12:40 AM ^
Don't count losses? So if Notre Dame loses its last two games and Georgia beats Bama, then Georgia and Bama and Notre Dame would be ranked ahead of Michigan because all three would have better wins - Notre Dame head to head, Bama vs. #7 LSU, Georgia vs #1 Bama while Michigan vs #10 Ohio State. You might want to re-think that idea.
November 14th, 2018 at 6:07 PM ^
Guess those games give CBS the matchups of the week. Must suck to be that network which uses one team to prop up all the rest, and then claims it's the greatest of all time, when it can't even present an interesting game week to week. Gary Danielson long ago lost his soul and now is left with presenting himself as a guy who makes the deck chair presentation some kind of gracious attempt at redecorating college football.
November 14th, 2018 at 6:20 PM ^
Tell me that playing the citadel the week before ohio state wouldn't be a good thing? Style points matter too. Nothing to see here, folks.
November 15th, 2018 at 12:50 AM ^
Style points to a mid FCS mean nothing. Beating a mid FCS means nothing. Games like that can't help anyone as far as the playoffs are concerned. Look bad while beating a weak team can hurt you. The only reason to schedule a team like that this late in the season is to let you look ahead to your rivalry games or to offset the advantage your rival got by scheduling a similar team the week before they play you.
November 14th, 2018 at 6:41 PM ^
Its really pathetic, the tradeoff of course is earlier conference games but still this is embarrassing and they get a free pass every year.
November 14th, 2018 at 7:16 PM ^
Real eye opening post. It's like an extra bye week for the entire conference yet they still have the advantage of posting a sure thing "W".
November 14th, 2018 at 8:30 PM ^
This is the silliest thing people complain about every year.
1) What does it matter when you play your FCS game? If anything, playing them later in the year is more difficult because it means you're playing tougher games early before you have your team figured out. You don't think Michigan wishes the Notre Dame game was last week instead of week 1? Because of the fact that so many ACC/SEC teams can't play a conference game the last week of the season, their entire conference schedule gets moved earlier in the year, which results in a ton of conference games being played in weeks 1 or 2, which I'd argue is a heck of a lot tougher than the Iowa plan of "play 2 pieces of shit then Iowa State and hope you figure out who your best players are by the time you play Wisconsin/Nebraska and an elite East team."
2) The ACC/SEC SoCon challenge week is caused by the fact that there's 4 yearly ACC/SEC in-state rivalry games every year to end the season, and both leagues work around that. Every attempt by the ACC and SEC by members who don't have a cross conference rival to raise the schedule to 9 games (Alabama has been fighting for a 9 game schedule for most of Saban's time there) gets shot down by the members who have yearly cross games who argue they'd be forced to play 10 p5 games every year. The only comparable conference situation is the Pac 12, because there you've got Utah/BYU and Stanford/USC v. Notre Dame, and they have a unique situation where they need to play 9 games even if its a competitive disadvantage due their location so far away from possible OOC scheduling partners.
November 15th, 2018 at 3:07 PM ^
Cupcakes as far as the eye can see.
November 17th, 2018 at 12:33 AM ^
I'm so conflicted about this, on the one hand I really hate that they give themselves essentially a bye week before rivalry week. But, then on the other hand, I really wish we were playing BGSU or similar before THE GAME as well.