🏈 Alabama completes 2017 non-conference football schedule

[Michael Casagrande |]

Alabama appears to have completed its 2017 non-conference football schedule while getting started on the future.

Mercer, an FCS school in the Southern Conference, announced Thursday it will be playing in Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2017 and 2021. An Alabama spokesman confirmed it would be playing the two games.

The Crimson Tide already has non-conference games with Florida State (Sept. 2 in Atlanta), Fresno State on Sept. 9 and Colorado State on Sept. 16 set for 2017.

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[TerryP]

The second game is scheduled for 2021 ... can't even begin to imagine what kind of changes we'll see between now and then.

 

[kbama15]

I love how Bama steps up and plays these Teams such as USC, and Florida state. shows they are not scared of no one. where our in state rival "Barn" claims they are a football factory and play teams like say Cal tech!!! RTR!!!

 

[planomateo]

I'd rather we not play FCS teams...

 

[riz]

The second game is scheduled for 2021 ... can't even begin to imagine what kind of changes we'll see between now and then.

I'm sure you're thrilled.

.

 

[252BAMA]

I'd rather we not play FCS teams...

Me too, and then I play "Imagine". Here's how to play:

There are 127 Division 1A schools. Imagine you are the AD at one of the non P5(64) and non IND(3) schools. 127-64-3=60 BTW so that puts you in a select group of 60. Imagine you are sitting in your office and the phone is ringing off the hook because all of the 67 P5 and IND schools are calling you to offer you big bucks to play a non return OOC game at their place. And all of them are offering essentially the same piece of coin. Is this a great country, or what? Imagine how great it is that you don't have to make one single call in order to schedule YOUR OOC games. Imagine how you have told your secretary how to handle those calls. The FIRST thing you tell her is when, not if, the call from Bama comes through, that you are not in. The LAST damn thing you want is to send your HC and team to Bama to get their a$$ kicked!

 

[TerryP]

I'm sure you're thrilled.

.

If the comments then are as funny as they were this season ... it's well worth it.

 

[Max]

cecil hurt article

And with an idea that should please some of the people some of the time.

Page 1

This isn't an argument, because if I started one on the topic of football scheduling, I couldn't win it.

Instead, as has happened before, I would be bludgeoned by the mighty twin hammers of economic reality and on-field success that have benefitted Alabama as it has gone exclusive to neutral-site games or high-guarantee one-shot home games in recent years.

Thursday's announcement that Alabama and Mercer would be playing a pair of games in Bryant-Denny Stadium (2017 and 2021) didn't thrill anyone, but it shouldn't outrage anyone, either. The Bears will certainly fit into the late November slot that many SEC teams use as a transition game between a tough run of conference games and a season-ending rivalry. It is now known as "Cupcake Saturday" and provokes annual outrage among other leagues who play their cupcakes in September and follow it up with consecutive weeks of conference play. In fact, the yearly complaints are so reliably amusing that they are one reason not to change anything.

On top of that, Alabama probably needed a Mercer on the schedule for 2017. The Crimson Tide schedule that season is, to use an oxymoron, sneakily daunting. In addition to a neutral site opener with Florida State in Atlanta (get your tickets now for that one), Alabama also hosts Fresno State and Colorado State, both teams with the potential to cause trouble if you overlook them.


page two CECIL HURT: How about bringing in some high-profile teams?

 

[riz]

If the comments then are as funny as they were this season ... it's well worth it.

All I know is I can't wait for those games. Already have my DVR set. Gonna be so entertaining.

 

[planomateo]

The second game is scheduled for 2021 ... can't even begin to imagine what kind of changes we'll see between now and then.

I'd bet all my sportsbook cash we'll have a new HC by then.

 

[Sid Youngleman]

The second game is scheduled for 2021 ... can't even begin to imagine what kind of changes we'll see between now and then.

I presume the thinking is that it will take them until 2021 to get over what happens in the 2017 game.

On a somewhat more serious note [Slipping into Devil's Advocate costume left over from Halloween before last], if not for games like these, how would ten-year-olds ever get to attend a Bama game at all?

 

[TerryP]

I'd bet all my sportsbook cash we'll have a new HC by then.

It'll be getting close.

Think about this for a second. Back after the '12 title we saw word coming out from various sources saying Saban was indicating he was in it for another eight or nine years. Now, through some of the same people I'm seeing and hearing six or seven years. Fits.

 

[TerryP]

I was thinking we'll likely be at a nine game conference schedule by then and how that changes the other three games is something left to be seen.

I presume the thinking is that it will take them until 2021 to get over what happens in the 2017 game.

On a somewhat more serious note [Slipping into Devil's Advocate costume left over from Halloween before last], if not for games like these, how would ten-year-olds ever get to attend a Bama game at all?

All I know is I can't wait for those games. Already have my DVR set. Gonna be so entertaining.

That's something I've never mentioned in our scheduling conversations; a few of these family friendly type outings are a good thing.

 

[RollTideRandy]

I hate to see my two alma maters square off. Wonder who I should root for? Guess I'll have to stop "Being the Bear" for one day.

 

[Che Boludo]

I'd rather we not play FCS teams...

This. There are plenty of FBS cupcakes inside and outside of power 5 schools that would take a one-and-done series with Bama for a big payday.

Any patsy in FBS is a better opponent than the best team in FCS in terms of perception and SOS. Not scheduling them, takes away that argument. It doesn't matter that some of the FCS schools Bama has played in recent years would beat half of the FBS schools... it's all perception.

 

[TerryP]

There are plenty of FBS cupcakes inside and outside of power 5 schools that would take a one-and-done series with Bama for a big payday.

. it's all perception.

That's just a perception, is it not? Over the last few years we've heard Battle, Saban, and Moore comment about the difficulty of finding Power 5 teams that will accept that offer.

Earlier in this thread I made the comment about how amusing it was reading/hearing comments about how Bama scheduled a "cupcake" before Auburn. Those comments were coming from other teams' fans who were scheduling the same type opponents in September but chose to back load their schedules with conference games.

Due to the way those other conferences schedule their inter-conference games it automatically becomes a stumbling block to other schools trying to schedule them for OOC games late in the season. That's not even bringing in the point a lot of teams are looking at the possibility to losing that one game, late in the season, and losing bowl eligibility.

You say there are plenty that would take the game. How intensely have to looked at other schedules to see how plausible that actually is for Athletic Directors?

Last year, in the Big12, Texas and Texas Tech had the CSU weekend off. Do you think either of those teams want an SEC game that late in the season? Against Bama, of all teams? No one else was available.

All fourteen teams in the B1G played conference games that weekend.

In the ACC, FSU had Chattanooga and BC had Notre Dame. Those were the only games that weekend that weren't ACC vs ACC. Which of those teams want to schedule an SEC team, or Bama, that late in the season.

In the PAC, all twelve teams played conference games.

There's your Power 5 from 2015.

Where are the teams people say would readily schedule a game with Bama? There are none.

Now, we go to the other conferences ... does it change much? I seriously doubt it. We're talking about 50 or so teams in the Power 5 that could, but none that would. We're left with those outside the Power 5. Who? C-USA had two teams playing SEC teams that weekend, the rest in conference games (perhaps one available.)

 

[Che Boludo]

That's just a perception, is it not? Over the last few years we've heard Battle, Saban, and Moore comment about the difficulty of finding Power 5 teams that will accept that offer.

Earlier in this thread I made the comment about how amusing it was reading/hearing comments about how Bama scheduled a "cupcake" before Auburn. Those comments were coming from other teams' fans who were scheduling the same type opponents in September but chose to back load their schedules with conference games.

Due to the way those other conferences schedule their inter-conference games it automatically becomes a stumbling block to other schools trying to schedule them for OOC games late in the season. That's not even bringing in the point a lot of teams are looking at the possibility to losing that one game, late in the season, and losing bowl eligibility.

You say there are plenty that would take the game. How intensely have to looked at other schedules to see how plausible that actually is for Athletic Directors?

Last year, in the Big12, Texas and Texas Tech had the CSU weekend off. Do you think either of those teams want an SEC game that late in the season? Against Bama, of all teams? No one else was available.

All fourteen teams in the B1G played conference games that weekend.

In the ACC, FSU had Chattanooga and BC had Notre Dame. Those were the only games that weekend that weren't ACC vs ACC. Which of those teams want to schedule an SEC team, or Bama, that late in the season.

In the PAC, all twelve teams played conference games.

There's your Power 5 from 2015.

Where are the teams people say would readily schedule a game with Bama? There are none.

Now, we go to the other conferences ... does it change much? I seriously doubt it. We're talking about 50 or so teams in the Power 5 that could, but none that would. We're left with those outside the Power 5. Who? C-USA had two teams playing SEC teams that weekend, the rest in conference games (perhaps one available.)

All fair points. But, I'd argue eliminating FCS opponents is doable. But it requires concessions.

The Big 10 has moved to eliminate FCS opponents and mandate at least 1 OOC per yr against a P5 school. Of course, it required a 9 game conference due to some of the issues you raised. Uf under Muschamp moved to do it, but I think that has fallen off since he left as Foley wasn't 100 percent on board.

Can the SEC do that, yes. Should they, debatable. Will they, likely not until CFB playoff committee burns an SEC team for SOS, which is unlikely in the current environment.

Bama has already cracked the code with P5 opponents with the neutral site game. I'd argue they could pull another, but it would require a home-and-home or a big payday to a lower tier team locked in years out, and more flexibility in when/where that game falls. Which as you indicated, is the crux.

It's hard to schedule FBS opponents late, which is where Bama wants one of their OOC games. Plus, some traditions and preferences provide other obstacles like IB last weekend, bye before LSU, and attempt to keep UT in the vic. Of the third saturday of October. Plus, as you mentioned, the choice/preference of placing an OOC game the week before Auburn. The more constraints placed on when and where games fall, the more difficult it will be.

I honestly see FCS games going away in the coming years. How that process shakes out is TBD, but I expect we'll here plenty more on 9 conf. games and other options over the next few seasons as the CFB playoffs evolve/mature.

 

[planomateo]

Mercer / Texas....what's the difference?

 

[TerryP]

@Che Boludo
I'm a bit torn on FCS teams. Part of me wants them off the schedule and see the SEC move to the B1G model—specifically a nine game conference schedule (adjusted for more cross-divisional games.) Then I see programs like Charleston Southern and witness what they do with the monies they receive from these games and ... you see where I'm stumped. (Those that complain about the grass at BDS would be angrily jealous of the turf CSU has now; courtesy of playing Georgia, 2014.)

I love the neutral site games. I do agree with the earlier column linked from Hurt about having one home and home every decade, maybe two, but on the other hand I weigh that against what it means to the community to have these games like Mercer.

I could argue with myself on this subject, but I look at this past season's schedule there's a few thoughts that come to mind:

I remember everyone complaining about the additions of CSU when it was announced. Looking back, how nice was it to have a rest with Auburn, Florida, Michigan State, and then Clemson as the next four?

Even with a CSU team on the schedule, where did the schedule end up ranked among the rest of the Power 5 teams in terms of difficulty?

In an argument that means nothing in the end, which is worse? A team that plays a string of cupcake games, achieves a ranking that's completely overblown because of those games, and ends up being mediocre at seasons end -OR- a team that makes its ranking and then plays a cupcake late "resting on its laurels?" I'm not sure there's a difference, but I'm more comfortable as a fan with the later.

How that process shakes out is TBD,

That's the very reason I wondered if the second game with Mercer will every happen.

 

[252BAMA]

@Che Boludo
I'm a bit torn on FCS teams. Part of me wants them off the schedule and see the SEC move to the B1G model—specifically a nine game conference schedule (adjusted for more cross-divisional games.) Then I see programs like Charleston Southern and witness what they do with the monies they receive from these games and ... you see where I'm stumped. (Those that complain about the grass at BDS would be angrily jealous of the turf CSU has now; courtesy of playing Georgia, 2014.)

I love the neutral site games. I do agree with the earlier column linked from Hurt about having one home and home every decade, maybe two, but on the other hand I weigh that against what it means to the community to have these games like Mercer.

I could argue with myself on this subject, but I look at this past season's schedule there's a few thoughts that come to mind:

I remember everyone complaining about the additions of CSU when it was announced. Looking back, how nice was it to have a rest with Auburn, Florida, Michigan State, and then Clemson as the next four?

Even with a CSU team on the schedule, where did the schedule end up ranked among the rest of the Power 5 teams in terms of difficulty?

In an argument that means nothing in the end, which is worse? A team that plays a string of cupcake games, achieves a ranking that's completely overblown because of those games, and ends up being mediocre at seasons end -OR- a team that makes its ranking and then plays a cupcake late "resting on its laurels?" I'm not sure there's a difference, but I'm more comfortable as a fan with the later.



That's the very reason I wondered if the second game with Mercer will every happen.

"Even with a CSU team on the schedule, where did the schedule end up ranked among the rest of the Power 5 teams in terms of difficulty?"

Alabama was the first school in NCAA history to defeat TWELVE schools with winning records! Probably was the first to ever play 13 of those. School record was 11 set in 2003.

Alabama's SOS by year:
2015: #1
2014: #2
2013: #39
2012: #19
2011: #15
2010: #14
2009: #2