No, I'm trying to remember another time during the Saban era when he was OK with playing 2 power 5 OOC games in the same season. Can you think of another? Mal Moore did reschedule Penn State in 2005 because of the Tide weakened condition during probation. Saban has also been so bold as to cancel some OOC games with power 5 teams for his own reasons. He obviously didn't feel the need to do any of that with Duke. It's the only year Saban allowed 2 OOC power 5 teams on the schedule. Now Terry, who do you know that controls a schedule better than coach Saban?
It's been his "ideal schedule* to play one P5 along with the three smaller schools from day one
in this current format. Saying he was "okay with playing two OOC P5 games in 2011" isn't an accurate way to describe that season. Neither is saying "he allowed," Both games were prearranged for that season. There wasn't an "I'm okay with this." It was what it was.
The game with Penn State was postponed/rescheduled in 2003, not 2005.
UA did cancel the series with Michigan State. Saban specifically pointed to the loss of revenue playing that away game in a home and home directly comparing it to the payday's both teams would receive for a neutral site match up.
And, who has more control over the schedule than Saban? At that point in time, it was one Greg Sankey. I can't recall who it is that's in charge of setting SEC schedules now that he's in the commissioner chair.
Given that we scored 61 points on the dukies at their place, playing them didn't and shouldn't strike the same fear as our games with Michigan, USC, Clemson. They were ranked and had pedigrees, in short, they were historically not Duke. The idea that we beat down a lot of these teams is just a compliment to our football program at the time. The press and the fans were super excited to see Bama play a lot of these games in real time. A lot of the press felt like a lot of our openers had the same feel as covering a bowl game. They were right, we were the talk of college football on the opening weekend.
Fear? Really? Is that what you felt? Not I, sir. Not even close. Heck, starting with the opener in '08 with Clemson I said repeatedly, here, that it was a game that would go the Tide's way because their offensive line couldn't protect Cullen Harper, I went on to say they wouldn't be gaining rushing yards with their
lauded "thunder and lightening backfield." As I recall,
@UAgrad93 and I had some very lengthy discussion breaking down that game and all of them ended with "the Tide,
BIG." USC and Michigan weren't any different.
On that note the game with WVU was one of the better ones. I'm not saying that due to the final score, but how the WVU team would attack the Tide. They did a lot through the air and with a young secondary it was a great match up. On the same note, I'm not upset about Duke because I know they'll be facing a soundly coached football team. And that is more than you can say about USC or Michigan when Bama opened with those two.
Fans, and the press, have been excited about games due to the name of the program. It wasn't about what competition would be seen on the field of play. It certainly didn't come into play in 2011 with Michigan as one example. Their 2010 schedule and those 11 wins were in a season where 3/4th's of their opponents were 7-6 or worse. And that puts the competition level on par with Duke: the latter with better coaching in my view.
And frankly, neutral site games for Bama fans is getting old fast. So not having a sexy power 5 team to play is going to be a lot more challenging. Let's see what the value of a game ticket is going for this Labor Day weekend?
This is changing the subject, slightly, but what I see as the reason for scheduling home and home series isn't a result of fans being less enthralled with neutral site games. It has to do with the fund raising campaigns and new Tide Pride seating levels (not to mention the new tax laws.)
A side note: Have you considered what the Atlanta Sports Council was looking at when they scheduled Duke to play Bama? The agreement was SEC and ACC to face each other and Bama took the invitation. As far as the ACC is concerned, the choices were slim.
Boston College vs Va Tech in a conference game. Now they were down to 12 options.
Clemson vs Georgia Tech in a conference game. Now they were down to 10 options.
PItt vs UVA in a conference game. Now they're down to eight.
FSU, Louisville, Miami, and North Carolina are all playing marquee games that weekend. Now look where they were. The only teams left were Duke, NC State, Syracuse, and Wake Forest.
Syracuse is an an agreement with Liberty for 2019 and 2020. So, now they're at three.
NC State and E. Carolina have played each other 25 or more times. The story there is they were already involved in a series with WVU which was announced in 2014. NC State isn't going to schedule two P5 teams in the same season and risk bowl eligibility. Now the council is at two.
I don't know what the story is with Wake Forest and their game with Utah State other than they last faced each other two season ago. There may be an agreement already in place for 2019 for the two. Maybe not.
Bottom line, as Bama fans criticize UA for scheduling Duke...they're wrong. If you choose to criticize the ASC that's your call. But, they were left with two options.
So, I'll close this with a question. Would Wake be a name you'd rather see than Duke? I certainly would not. Duke has a better coaching staff.
...and here we are back at the same point I started with when the discussion of Duke came up...
www.forbes.com
