quote:
The thing that everyone is missing is that the SEC does not make up any SEC school's entire scheduel. They only set the 8 SEC games in a 13 week season. It is up to the individual school to schedule their 4 OOC games in their 5 available weekends. LSU for example had the following weekends open to fill with their 4 OOC games:
Sept. 4 (Open before Vandy)
Sept. 25 (Open before Tennessee)
Oct. 16 (Open before Auburn)
Oct. 30 (Open before Alabama)
Nov. 13 (Open before Ole Miss)

We scheduled our OOC games on Sept. 4, Setp. 25, Oct. 16 and Nov. 13. That left us with our off weekend before Bama. Depending on how our AD completed our OOC schedule, our off week could have been any weekend before five different SEC teams. The SEC office has nothing to do with making a final schedule. Our open week has more to do with when teams AD can match up an open week with a OOC team than trying to have a specific week open before a specific SEC game.

LSU Schedule

9/4 (was open) North Carolina
9/11 at Vanderbilt - -
9/18 Miss. State - -
9/25 (was open) West Virginia
10/2 Tennessee - -
10/9 at Florida - -
10/16 (was open) McNeese St.
10/23 at Auburn - -
10/30 (was open)
11/6 Alabama - -
11/13 (was open) UL-Monroe
11/20 Ole Miss - -
11/27 at Arkansas - -

This, I'm glad someone else typed this up so I didn't have to... it would be unfair to play all of your best in conference opponents in say 4 consecutive weeks but otherwise leave the schedules alone

And besides the cupcake games are just as good or better than a bye week... you get practice and play in but don't get banged up before a big opponent... so i see zero difference between a cupcake and a bye week before a SEC opponent