Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
The first College Football Playoff has ended, to generally positive reviews from the public.
That doesn't mean everyone, especially in Alabama, enjoyed seeing Ohio State win the title. But University of Alabama director of athletics Bill Battle has had a chance to look at the overall process and evaluate what UA needs to do in the future to give itself the best chance to make the four-team field.
His initial reaction is the logical one: if something isn't broke, why fix it?
Lane Kiffin is coming back, there will be no Nike Winged Camo helmets and the Crimson Tide will keep on playing at neutral sites.
On that last point, here is the reason.
In 2014, Alabama ended up as the No. 1 seed, as chosen by the playoff committee, based on its success against a schedule that consisted of a neutral-site game against a Power Five conference opponent followed by a rigorous SEC schedule and three nonconference home games. That formula isn't about to change, Battle said in an interview earlier this week.
"The way I look at it, the neutral-site games have been a real boon to Alabama," Battle said. "First, they have been good because Nick (Saban) isn't afraid to play somebody really good, really early."
While it's impossible to predict, even a year in advance, exactly how strong an opponent will be, Alabama definitely appears to be testing itself in its openers (both at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas) for the next two seasons. The 2015 opener against Wisconsin will carry extra resonance in the light of the renewed SEC-Big 10 storyline that was ignited during the just-concluded bowl season. The 2016 opener is Alabama-USC, a guaranteed marquee game in any season and could easily be a top 10 matchup that year.
The 2017 opener hasn't been signed yet, although Battle confirmed that UA is in "serious discussions" with the Chik-Fil-A Classic to open that season in the new stadium under construction in Atlanta.
"It's not completely done, but they want us there," Battle said.
Beyond 2017, nothing is set but Battle noted there might be venues of interest to Alabama outside of Atlanta and north Texas.
"There are other cities that are getting more and more interesting," Battle said. "Charlotte is one we have heard from and it has a good location and stadium and is the home of the SEC Network. Orlando is showing more and more interest. Of course, in any situation, the money has to be right."
Economics are another factor that make neutral-site games an alternative that is here to stay for UA.
"If we play a home-and-home series, we'll make $4 million or so on our home game," Battle said. "Then we will play for the road game for the same payout that we have the other school as a visitor, so basically it is zero. So that is $4 million over two years.
If you play two neutral-site games in two years, that is $8 to $10 million with the way the money is now. So that is a significant difference. So as long as we are playing really good (teams), I don't see the advantage of a home-and-home, especially given the difficulty of playing four road games in the SEC. Maybe it's something we look at in the future, but right now, I think we are scheduling the right way."
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1729014
TideSports.com Columnist
The first College Football Playoff has ended, to generally positive reviews from the public.
That doesn't mean everyone, especially in Alabama, enjoyed seeing Ohio State win the title. But University of Alabama director of athletics Bill Battle has had a chance to look at the overall process and evaluate what UA needs to do in the future to give itself the best chance to make the four-team field.
His initial reaction is the logical one: if something isn't broke, why fix it?
Lane Kiffin is coming back, there will be no Nike Winged Camo helmets and the Crimson Tide will keep on playing at neutral sites.
On that last point, here is the reason.
In 2014, Alabama ended up as the No. 1 seed, as chosen by the playoff committee, based on its success against a schedule that consisted of a neutral-site game against a Power Five conference opponent followed by a rigorous SEC schedule and three nonconference home games. That formula isn't about to change, Battle said in an interview earlier this week.
"The way I look at it, the neutral-site games have been a real boon to Alabama," Battle said. "First, they have been good because Nick (Saban) isn't afraid to play somebody really good, really early."
While it's impossible to predict, even a year in advance, exactly how strong an opponent will be, Alabama definitely appears to be testing itself in its openers (both at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas) for the next two seasons. The 2015 opener against Wisconsin will carry extra resonance in the light of the renewed SEC-Big 10 storyline that was ignited during the just-concluded bowl season. The 2016 opener is Alabama-USC, a guaranteed marquee game in any season and could easily be a top 10 matchup that year.
The 2017 opener hasn't been signed yet, although Battle confirmed that UA is in "serious discussions" with the Chik-Fil-A Classic to open that season in the new stadium under construction in Atlanta.
"It's not completely done, but they want us there," Battle said.
Beyond 2017, nothing is set but Battle noted there might be venues of interest to Alabama outside of Atlanta and north Texas.
"There are other cities that are getting more and more interesting," Battle said. "Charlotte is one we have heard from and it has a good location and stadium and is the home of the SEC Network. Orlando is showing more and more interest. Of course, in any situation, the money has to be right."
Economics are another factor that make neutral-site games an alternative that is here to stay for UA.
"If we play a home-and-home series, we'll make $4 million or so on our home game," Battle said. "Then we will play for the road game for the same payout that we have the other school as a visitor, so basically it is zero. So that is $4 million over two years.
If you play two neutral-site games in two years, that is $8 to $10 million with the way the money is now. So that is a significant difference. So as long as we are playing really good (teams), I don't see the advantage of a home-and-home, especially given the difficulty of playing four road games in the SEC. Maybe it's something we look at in the future, but right now, I think we are scheduling the right way."
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1729014
