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A Real Solution - might be a bit long so be warned
Posted on 8/18/21 at 4:16 pm
Posted on 8/18/21 at 4:16 pm
If you are easily distracted by squirrels or have not taken your daily dose of Ritalin or Adderall you might want to pass on this one.
It seems there is no shortage of proposals for the SEC to revise its schedule.
One, the Big 12 will dissolve in the imminent future. I give it six month or less before the wheels finally completely fall off.
Two, there will be a separate classification of college football teams consisting of 64 teams with likely four separate conferences.
Three, The Universities of Texas and Oklahoma will be competing in the SEC much sooner than later.
Four, there will be a continued significant realignment and affiliation of “big time” college football teams that will not be connected to the NCAA. The real driving force is the major networks and the behemoth contracts they will be giving to a very select group of conferences.
Five, “Independent” teams thinking they will remain in the elite category of college football, will eventually be boxed out of the ability to schedule enough quality games to justify their individual television rights packages, and they will either capitulate and join a conference or they will languish in obscurity. It is their choice but college football is no longer going to make many accommodations for them.
I know that goes somewhat against tradition which is an essential component of college football.
Six,”Major” Bowl games that are actually historic tourism and “Chamber of Commerce” events will be a thing of the past. There may be a “Granddaddy of Them All” but it will be scheduled to accommodate and fit a much larger college football playoff tournament scenario. There may still be “bowl” games that will allow teams that were not selected in the college football playoffs to perform. Those games may include other college teams that are not in the elite "Power" conferences. These games will never be the tail wagging the dog, rather they will return to what they originally were intended to be. Conference affiliation with bowls will gradually be a thing of the past. Gone will be ridiculous games between opponents with five an six losses each.
Here is my proposal for the adjustment to the SEC schedule for the foreseeable future. Currently SEC members play seven annual conference games against the same opponents and there are six other teams that are rotated in the schedule every five to six years. My proposal changes all of that. I am confident if anyone disagrees, they are simply looking out for their own backside or they are as delusional as a Baylor fan thinking somehow, they will ever be a member of a “Power Conference again.
1. Keep divisions with the dividing line being in effect, the state line between the States of Alabama and Mississippi. If a university is West of that line, they are in the West Division and if they are East, they are in the East Division. That is about as simple as you can get and even a Texas Aggie might comprehend it. The teams with the best record in each division will play in an annual Conference Championship game that will be rotated between Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville, Dallas, Jacksonville and Houston and played in stadiums NFL teams currently play. No more annual home cooking at the same field.
2. Each of the 16 teams in the conference will have three “annual” opponents on a home and home or neutral site basis, based on traditional rivalries (games) and proximity to each other. Traditional rivalry games shall be deemed as any series that has at least 85 previous contests. They will have six “biennial” opponents on home and home cycles. Over the course of only two years, each team in the league will have played every other team in the league at least once. Over any four-year cycle, every team will have visited every other team’s home stadium (except neutral site games) at least twice. Every single “traditional game” such as The Iron Bowl, Egg Bowl, Magnolia Bowl, Southwest Rivalry, Red River Rivalry; Lone Star Rivalry, Peace Pipe Rivalry, Worlds Largest Cocktail Rivalry, and The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry would be played every year. That is what fuels the fire of intense rivalries. If you take a look at the near decade membership of Texas A&M, you will see that they have only played the University of Georgia one time (2019) and Georgia is not scheduled to play at Kyle Field until 2024. My proposal is not perfect but having two eight member divisions where it follows the model currently used, all teams in one division will see the other division a lot less. Think about it, The SEC West has consistently been the stronger of the two division for this entire century The SEC West has won 17 out of 20 conference championships. My proposal is far more balanced. The only reason why LSU plays Florida every year or that Texas A&M plays South Carolina every year is so Alabama can play Tennessee and Auburn can play Georgia annually. It is made up and unbalanced.
3. This new alignment means there will now be nine conference games each year. There will remain three dates open for Out of Conference games. Each team in the conference must schedule at least one OOC game against a team from another Power Conference. Scheduling against an independent team would be allowable but will not satisfy this requirement. Conference teams may no longer schedule games against any team that is not classified as Division I. There is no exception to this rule. This would eliminate the cup cake games some of the SEC powerhouse teams seem to always schedule. Of the states represented by conference members only Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri do not have other Power Conference universities from other conferences. Sadly that is likely not to change. I would hope to see Louisville, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Oklahoma State continue to be scheduled annually. Those games are also rivalry games and that is a driving source of television revenue.
4. The Conference champion will automatically be invited to the College Football Playoffs. Other conference members may also be invited to the College Football Playoffs however none of them can ever be seeded higher than the conference champion in said playoffs. I would think each team has the goal of winning the National Championship however The Conference Crown should be every bit as important. That goal is another thing that makes college football what it is. In life we go to work an church and the local tavern and we are surrounded by others who are fiercely as loyal to their schools too. College football is where we can find a place brag or promise “Just wait till next year.”
Below is my proposal for each team’s annual foes. I suppose it could be tweaked but when you take a second look, it is actually pretty fair. You will note the top eight listed are probably the most difficult and you will also note that the top eight (as listed) are the top eight teams (based on overall record) in the conference based on the past thirty years:
Auburn ( Alabama, Georgia, Florida)
Texas A&M (LSU, Oklahoma, Texas)
LSU (Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas A&M)
Florida (Georgia, Auburn, Kentucky)
Georgia (Auburn, Florida, South Carolina)
Alabama (Auburn, LSU, Tennessee)
Texas (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M)
Oklahoma (Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M)
Tennessee (Alabama, Kentucky, Vanderbilt)
Missouri (Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma)
Arkansas (Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas)
Kentucky (Florida, Tennessee, Missouri)
Mississippi (Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State)
Mississippi State (Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vanderbilt)
South Carolina (Georgia, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt)
Vanderbilt (Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee)
Hopefully you might actuall feel my proposal is the only logical answer.
It seems there is no shortage of proposals for the SEC to revise its schedule.
One, the Big 12 will dissolve in the imminent future. I give it six month or less before the wheels finally completely fall off.
Two, there will be a separate classification of college football teams consisting of 64 teams with likely four separate conferences.
Three, The Universities of Texas and Oklahoma will be competing in the SEC much sooner than later.
Four, there will be a continued significant realignment and affiliation of “big time” college football teams that will not be connected to the NCAA. The real driving force is the major networks and the behemoth contracts they will be giving to a very select group of conferences.
Five, “Independent” teams thinking they will remain in the elite category of college football, will eventually be boxed out of the ability to schedule enough quality games to justify their individual television rights packages, and they will either capitulate and join a conference or they will languish in obscurity. It is their choice but college football is no longer going to make many accommodations for them.
I know that goes somewhat against tradition which is an essential component of college football.
Six,”Major” Bowl games that are actually historic tourism and “Chamber of Commerce” events will be a thing of the past. There may be a “Granddaddy of Them All” but it will be scheduled to accommodate and fit a much larger college football playoff tournament scenario. There may still be “bowl” games that will allow teams that were not selected in the college football playoffs to perform. Those games may include other college teams that are not in the elite "Power" conferences. These games will never be the tail wagging the dog, rather they will return to what they originally were intended to be. Conference affiliation with bowls will gradually be a thing of the past. Gone will be ridiculous games between opponents with five an six losses each.
Here is my proposal for the adjustment to the SEC schedule for the foreseeable future. Currently SEC members play seven annual conference games against the same opponents and there are six other teams that are rotated in the schedule every five to six years. My proposal changes all of that. I am confident if anyone disagrees, they are simply looking out for their own backside or they are as delusional as a Baylor fan thinking somehow, they will ever be a member of a “Power Conference again.
1. Keep divisions with the dividing line being in effect, the state line between the States of Alabama and Mississippi. If a university is West of that line, they are in the West Division and if they are East, they are in the East Division. That is about as simple as you can get and even a Texas Aggie might comprehend it. The teams with the best record in each division will play in an annual Conference Championship game that will be rotated between Atlanta, New Orleans, Nashville, Dallas, Jacksonville and Houston and played in stadiums NFL teams currently play. No more annual home cooking at the same field.
2. Each of the 16 teams in the conference will have three “annual” opponents on a home and home or neutral site basis, based on traditional rivalries (games) and proximity to each other. Traditional rivalry games shall be deemed as any series that has at least 85 previous contests. They will have six “biennial” opponents on home and home cycles. Over the course of only two years, each team in the league will have played every other team in the league at least once. Over any four-year cycle, every team will have visited every other team’s home stadium (except neutral site games) at least twice. Every single “traditional game” such as The Iron Bowl, Egg Bowl, Magnolia Bowl, Southwest Rivalry, Red River Rivalry; Lone Star Rivalry, Peace Pipe Rivalry, Worlds Largest Cocktail Rivalry, and The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry would be played every year. That is what fuels the fire of intense rivalries. If you take a look at the near decade membership of Texas A&M, you will see that they have only played the University of Georgia one time (2019) and Georgia is not scheduled to play at Kyle Field until 2024. My proposal is not perfect but having two eight member divisions where it follows the model currently used, all teams in one division will see the other division a lot less. Think about it, The SEC West has consistently been the stronger of the two division for this entire century The SEC West has won 17 out of 20 conference championships. My proposal is far more balanced. The only reason why LSU plays Florida every year or that Texas A&M plays South Carolina every year is so Alabama can play Tennessee and Auburn can play Georgia annually. It is made up and unbalanced.
3. This new alignment means there will now be nine conference games each year. There will remain three dates open for Out of Conference games. Each team in the conference must schedule at least one OOC game against a team from another Power Conference. Scheduling against an independent team would be allowable but will not satisfy this requirement. Conference teams may no longer schedule games against any team that is not classified as Division I. There is no exception to this rule. This would eliminate the cup cake games some of the SEC powerhouse teams seem to always schedule. Of the states represented by conference members only Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri do not have other Power Conference universities from other conferences. Sadly that is likely not to change. I would hope to see Louisville, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Oklahoma State continue to be scheduled annually. Those games are also rivalry games and that is a driving source of television revenue.
4. The Conference champion will automatically be invited to the College Football Playoffs. Other conference members may also be invited to the College Football Playoffs however none of them can ever be seeded higher than the conference champion in said playoffs. I would think each team has the goal of winning the National Championship however The Conference Crown should be every bit as important. That goal is another thing that makes college football what it is. In life we go to work an church and the local tavern and we are surrounded by others who are fiercely as loyal to their schools too. College football is where we can find a place brag or promise “Just wait till next year.”
Below is my proposal for each team’s annual foes. I suppose it could be tweaked but when you take a second look, it is actually pretty fair. You will note the top eight listed are probably the most difficult and you will also note that the top eight (as listed) are the top eight teams (based on overall record) in the conference based on the past thirty years:
Auburn ( Alabama, Georgia, Florida)
Texas A&M (LSU, Oklahoma, Texas)
LSU (Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas A&M)
Florida (Georgia, Auburn, Kentucky)
Georgia (Auburn, Florida, South Carolina)
Alabama (Auburn, LSU, Tennessee)
Texas (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M)
Oklahoma (Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M)
Tennessee (Alabama, Kentucky, Vanderbilt)
Missouri (Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma)
Arkansas (Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas)
Kentucky (Florida, Tennessee, Missouri)
Mississippi (Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State)
Mississippi State (Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vanderbilt)
South Carolina (Georgia, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt)
Vanderbilt (Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee)
Hopefully you might actuall feel my proposal is the only logical answer.
11
Posted on 8/18/21 at 4:20 pm to The Third
So, Alabama gets an easy schedule under your plan, as well?
Do you work for the SEC?
Is this a trial balloon?
Do you work for the SEC?
Is this a trial balloon?
Posted on 8/18/21 at 4:23 pm to nitwit
Posted on 8/18/21 at 4:24 pm to The Third
Posted on 8/18/21 at 4:29 pm to The Third
Wow.
At least you provided warning for the length.
At least you provided warning for the length.
Posted on 8/18/21 at 4:31 pm to CatholicLSUDude
Posted on 8/18/21 at 4:52 pm to The Third
I can appreciate the thought and time you put into this. (Yes, I can actually read more than a paragraph without dozing off.) I think your list of assumptions about what will happen to college football in general is generally accurate, although I don't know if the Big 12 will implode quite as soon as you predict.
As for your proposed schedule, basically you've devised a pod system in everything but name. I do think that something similar to this is what the league might eventually come up with. The only difference in your proposal and others I've seen is that you group the pods according to traditional rivalries instead of geographic proximity. But, as someone pointed out, this leads to a bit of a competitive imbalance. (That's probably impossible to eliminate completely in any system.)
Again, I think we'll end up with pods; the controversy will be over how the pods are put together.
As for your proposed schedule, basically you've devised a pod system in everything but name. I do think that something similar to this is what the league might eventually come up with. The only difference in your proposal and others I've seen is that you group the pods according to traditional rivalries instead of geographic proximity. But, as someone pointed out, this leads to a bit of a competitive imbalance. (That's probably impossible to eliminate completely in any system.)
Again, I think we'll end up with pods; the controversy will be over how the pods are put together.
Posted on 8/19/21 at 12:18 am to TigerCard
I have been a huge college football fan most of my life. I find the passion of the sport is derived from its tradition. I also realize traditional rivalry games make great TV and that is obviously the grease that is turning the wheels. Change that...the fuel driving the wheel. As a result I see a need to save or continue as many traditional game rivalries as possible, I also see proximity as key as well. I once lived and worked for a large pipeline company in Houston. We had a ton of engineers with degrees from LSU and Texas A&M. There was alway a "want" to brag or posture for next year. With sixteen teams sometimes proximity was not as easy as with others. I did not want Auburn to have the arduous annual schedule as it turned out. I am not an Aggie fan but having LSU, Texas and Oklahoma on thier annual plate might be bit over the top too. As far as Alabama is concerned, I would have loved to see thier pod a bit more competitive. The Tennessee Rivalry must be pretty big since the conference make several other senseless annual pairings to save it and the Iron Bowl is probably the most well known rivalry game in college football.
Posted on 8/19/21 at 12:50 am to The Third
quote:
So, Alabama gets an easy schedule under your plan, as well?
Looks like everyone (not named Auburn) gets off easy with that schedule.
Posted on 8/19/21 at 1:16 am to The Third
Why would you spend so much time on something like this?
Posted on 8/19/21 at 1:36 am to The First Cut
You're smart enough. Unlike some others.
Posted on 8/19/21 at 2:22 am to The Third
It always bothers me when people try to mask the fact that they’re piss-poor communicators who ramble and use way too many words to make their point by accusing their audience of needing ADD meds.
Posted on 8/19/21 at 5:21 am to CatholicLSUDude
This needed something more than just a warning. Maybe should have included a link to the Reader's Digest condensed version.
Posted on 8/19/21 at 5:37 am to The Third
YOu could have just posted that Vandy will get the easiest schedule.
Posted on 8/19/21 at 6:33 am to The Third
I'm not going to 100% disagree with you on your thinking, but you bring up something that a lot of folks have brought up, and I haven't heard a good answer to the additional question in poses.
Will these 64 teams break away from the NCAA, or will they continue to be a separate subdivision within the NCAA?
If they break away, will it only be for football, or for all sports?
If for all sports, then what happens to the post-season for those sports? Do we end up with two smaller March Madness tournaments, or two smaller College World Series tournaments? Does that dilute the experience of those post-seasons because the smaller/mid-major schools actually bring something to those games?
quote:
Two, there will be a separate classification of college football teams consisting of 64 teams with likely four separate conferences.
Four, there will be a continued significant realignment and affiliation of “big time” college football teams that will not be connected to the NCAA. The real driving force is the major networks and the behemoth contracts they will be giving to a very select group of conferences.
Will these 64 teams break away from the NCAA, or will they continue to be a separate subdivision within the NCAA?
If they break away, will it only be for football, or for all sports?
If for all sports, then what happens to the post-season for those sports? Do we end up with two smaller March Madness tournaments, or two smaller College World Series tournaments? Does that dilute the experience of those post-seasons because the smaller/mid-major schools actually bring something to those games?
Posted on 8/19/21 at 7:13 am to The Third
quote:
Texas A&M (LSU, Oklahoma, Texas)
Posted on 8/19/21 at 7:13 am to The Third
I agree with everything you said in your setup, but when you get to your schedule it seems unnecessarily contrived for a "Two Division" setup. Do exactly what you said, dividing two divisions at the Alabama/Mississippi state line. Each team plays its division 7. This keeps all long term traditional rivalries. Then you rotate 2 teams from the other division every year. This allows each time to play once every four, which is much better than it is now. Below would be an example with some intent towards balance.
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