🏈 I'm tired of the SEC scheduling FCS opponents...especially in November

[planomateo]

But starting next year, Bama will play Texas A&M before the Auburn game. So all these people can talk about some else.

Still play an FCS team in 2020, the UT Martin Skyhawks.

Let me be clear, I don't believe an FBS team should be playing an FCS team ever. It's irrelevant that Alabama is playing them before Auburn to me.

 

[rick4bama]

Still play an FCS team in 2020, the UT Martin Skyhawks.

Let me be clear, I don't believe an FBS team should be playing an FCS team ever.

I just look at Bama schedule till 2022. Bama will play UT Martin in '20, Mercer in '21, Austin Peay in '22. After that I didn't really see any FCS.

 

[252BAMA]

tl:dr warning

Up until this morning I haven't gone as far as @252BAMA in looking at FBS schedules. I've only looked at P5 teams for the weekend before Auburn and the last time I did it was last season. At that time, the only team with an off date was UNC among the P5 schools. Again, that was 2018 with one P5 team.

2019, this season is a little different BUT only goes to show how only a part of the story is being told about the SEC schedule and November. Within the last week or so I posted a tweet from Mark Packer (ACCN) where he was interviewing the committee chair and made a comment along the lines of "can't say why Bama is scheduling WCU this week." It rang hollow considering Clemson had the week off and Packer is a big Clemson guy. Off week vs WCU. One criticized, the other ... have you even heard about?

This season ... with regard to the past week and P5 schools. There were four P5 teams available for Bama this past weekend.

Four ACC schools didn't have a conference game scheduled: Clemson and FSU had off weeks, Miami picked up FIU (we saw how that went) and UNC had Mercer. (Notice, UNC with Mercer and no attention and Bama with Mercer in 2017 which was widely criticized. No big deal here other than it's another example of Bama being held to a different standard; a standard no one else is held to, right?)

Every team from the B1G, Big 12, and Pac 12 had conference games.

The AAC all had conference games.
CUSA all had conference games.
The Sun Belt teams all had conference games.
The Mountain West had two teams with off weeks: Air Force and New Mexico.
The MAC had two teams with off weeks: Central Michigan and Western Michigan.
There was one Independent with a weekend off: Army (the one Goodman called a month or so ago when Saban mentioned scheduling in the presser.)

Now, I'm glancing through helmet schedules here and this is what I've found for this season. I may have missed one or two.

1- Independent
2- MAC teams
2- Mountain West teams.
4- ACC teams.

By my math, there were nine options available for this past weekend all of whom had off weeks. Four of these nine, those from the ACC, wouldn't have brought the criticism we've heard about scheduling. Coincidentally, those four were teams available when the SEC/ACC matchup was set for Bama to open this season. The Tide ended up with Duke because Clemson, FSU, UNC, and Miami didn't want a part of the opener (Miami was the last target before Duke ended up filling the role.)

I think the 12 number @252BAMA mentioned covers 2018 (unless I've missed three teams which is a strong possibility) and I've found nine this morning for 2019.

The SEC can't do anything about other conference schedules. We'll all agree on that point. The possibility of scheduling a team like Western Michigan existed (if they were willing to change another game on their schedule.) It's limited "pickings," so to speak.

Fans are left with this hypothetical choice. Do you want all the OOC games in September and finish the season with a minimum on eight conference games in a row or leave it be? If a team like Clemson is going to get an off week—and let's not forget the SEC used to have off weeks in November which was also complained about—and at the same time all these people are crying for schedule equality I don't see an issue with playing an FCS team before Auburn.

My comment was based on past years. I researched it for several years and they all came out about the same. As George Wallace said, "Not a dime's worth of difference".

 

[252BAMA]

Still play an FCS team in 2020, the UT Martin Skyhawks.

Let me be clear, I don't believe an FBS team should be playing an FCS team ever. It's irrelevant that Alabama is playing them before Auburn to me.

It is plenty relevant if there are but a handful of FBS teams available on that weekend and none of them are willing to come to your place without a return game. It takes TWO to schedule a game. If I'm an AD at a FBS school and I have a Bowl participation bonus clause in my contract, the last place on Earth I'm going to have my team on the next to last weekend of the year needing two wins to become Bowl eligible Is Tuscaloosa, Alabama playing the University of Alabama.

 

[252BAMA]

Easy for the fans to complain that their favorite teams isn't playing a top 20 team every week but we're not the people that have to prepare and be at your very best mentally or physically ever week to win.

Just get those FCS off the schedule if at all possible. Hell Coach Bryant had Bama playing Furman and Tampa back in the 60's.

Coach Bryant's 1950 UK team that beat Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl played FOUR non-1A teams. Lost to the only team that they played that had a winning record. Have no idea why he thought he could beat Oklahoma. Promised the Sugar Bowl folks he would. And then did it!!!

1950-Kentucky (SEC)​
9/16​	vs.	North Texas (non-IA)	W	25​	0​
9/23​	vs.	*Louisiana State (4-5-2)	W	14​	0​
9/30​	vs.	*Mississippi (5-5)	W	27​	0​
10/7​	vs.	Dayton (non-IA)	W	40​	0​
10/14​	vs.	Cincinnati (non-IA)	W	41​	7​
10/21​	vs.	Villanova (4-5)	W	34​	7​	@ Philadelphia, PA
10/28​	@	*Georgia Tech (5-6)	W	28​	14​
11/4​	vs.	*Florida (5-5)	W	40​	6​
11/11​	@	*Mississippi State (4-5)	W	48​	21​
11/18​	vs.	North Dakota (non-IA)	W	83​	0​
11/25​	@	*Tennessee (11-1)	L	0​	7​
1/1​	vs.	Oklahoma (10-1)	W	13​	7​	@ New Orleans, LA	Sugar Bowl
	11-1-0​

 

[50+yeartidefan]

It all bullshit... @TerryP and @252BAMA
You all know it....its the school fleecing its own fans...that makes it doubly bullshit..
"O we cant get games"....and someone from press goes to UAB and UAB says..."hellyeah we willplay them..give us a date"
Sure "in the future " we read and then...game bought out and rescheduled with division XX school."....every body gets a raise...and laugh their ass off at the 25K fans thatshow up...if the weather is good......"but everybody gets to play"...
Great Aday is free...and everybody gets to play....
Its like lawyers and accountants are running the show

 

[252BAMA]

The NCAA is comprised of all schools not just the Power 5. The NCAA is made up of representative from FCS schools also.

Therefore why would they decide to do something that was not in the best interest of those schools also.

As it stands the Power five and the TV revenues that are generates also help fund the FCS schools and are a breading ground for coaches.

If those schools don't have teams, it is detrimental in the end to college football as a whole. I am not in favor of power 5 v power 5 only.

I like some of these games.

I like seeing freshmen play and sometimes look more forward to that than the weekly drubbing we place on most teams. I don't want four of them each year., Personally I still wish our bye week was before the iron bowl to promote as much hatred and smack talk as possible in the lead up.

But ESPN needs inventory so we get to play WCU.

Eliminate the last sentence and you are spot on. The reason there is a 12 game regular season schedule is because of the non-1A schools. The old rule that prohibited 1A from playing them more than once every four years was eliminated on the EXACT same day the 12th game was added. Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out for what the 12th game was intended.

 

[TerryP]

It all bullshit... @TerryP and @252BAMA
You all know it....its the school fleecing its own fans...that makes it doubly bullshit..
"O we cant get games"....and someone from press goes to UAB and UAB says..."hellyeah we willplay them..give us a date"
Sure "in the future " we read and then...game bought out and rescheduled with division XX school."....every body gets a raise...and laugh their ass off at the 25K fans thatshow up...if the weather is good......"but everybody gets to play"...
Great Aday is free...and everybody gets to play....
Its like lawyers and accountants are running the show

The facts have literally been lain out for you. And you're calling facts, bullshit?

Tell me, how is it UAB is going to get out of a conference game? I'll hang up and listen.

 

[TerryP]

If I may remind ... the title of the thread here about not playing FCS teams ends with an important point: in November. No one is objecting about not scheduling FCS teams for the early season games. The opportunity to schedule G5 teams is a lot more likely in September.

But that's not what this thread is concerning.

 

[JoshB]

FCS...

What did this cost Vandy?

Attendance was announced as 19,863. Not a chance in the world that half of that was there.

 

[JoshB]

No one is objecting about not scheduling FCS teams for the early season games. T

Fake news.

Still play an FCS team in 2020, the UT Martin Skyhawks.

Let me be clear, I don't believe an FBS team should be playing an FCS team ever. It's irrelevant that Alabama is playing them before Auburn to me.

 

[TerryP]

@BamaBoyJosh, point taken there...missed that comment.

I think we have to take @planomateo and his comment here in context. Remember, after visiting Colorado he decided he was going to move his family to northern Canada. Sumpin' gone wrong with that head of his ...

 

[252BAMA]

The facts have literally been lain out for you. And you're calling facts, bullshit?

Tell me, how is it UAB is going to get out of a conference game? I'll hang up and listen.

Exactly! No one was against Bama playing 1AA more than 252BAMA. Until he looked at it and found there were so few available to schedule that weekend and realistically there was no way in hell any of them were coming to Tuscaloosa. Actually, if all of them were available, I don't see any of them coming. Not on THAT weekend.

 

[planomateo]

It is plenty relevant if there are but a handful of FBS teams available on that weekend and none of them are willing to come to your place without a return game. It takes TWO to schedule a game. If I'm an AD at a FBS school and I have a Bowl participation bonus clause in my contract, the last place on Earth I'm going to have my team on the next to last weekend of the year needing two wins to become Bowl eligible Is Tuscaloosa, Alabama playing the University of Alabama.

Again, schedule all SEC games late in the season. Move Arkansas to November

There are always solutions, just gotta look at it differently

 

[50+yeartidefan]

The facts have literally been lain out for you. And you're calling facts, bullshit?

Tell me, how is it UAB is going to get out of a conference game? I'll hang up and listen.

I don’t know...i wasnt there....how do the others get out of a conference game? I guess same way UAB would....or reshuffle a game or two...
And all that is ....i dont really give a rats ass if we play uab...i have NO connection there.. just adding what was reported...
its these fcs that is BS... that 80K tickets at 35$ ( or whatever)...2.8 mill...and payout is 500,000 is the bottom line...
My point is..not about uab, attendance, etc...it’s about not getting quality opponents..
Now nwxt year its not on that weekend...but ...still...BS opponent somewhere inthe 12 games...

 

[252BAMA]

Again, schedule all SEC games late in the season. Move Arkansas to November

There are always solutions, just gotta look at it differently

Then you are barking up the wrong tree. Bama does not schedule their SEC games.

 

[planomateo]

Then you are barking up the wrong tree. Bama does not schedule their SEC games.

Which is why the SEC needs to address this.

Crazy thing is they'll go to this pod schedule system before they go to a 9 game conference schedule or say no to FCS.

 

[252BAMA]

I don’t know...i wasnt there....how do the others get out of a conference game? I guess same way UAB would....or reshuffle a game or two...
And all that is ....i dont really give a rats ass if we play uab...i have NO connection there.. just adding what was reported...
its these fcs that is BS... that 80K tickets at 35$ ( or whatever)...2.8 mill...and payout is 500,000 is the bottom line...
My point is..not about uab, attendance, etc...it’s about not getting quality opponents..
Now nwxt year its not on that weekend...but ...still...BS opponent somewhere inthe 12 games...

Because Bama was given an open date, BY THE SEC, on that weekend, IN NOVEMBER, and the few FBS teams that are available then will not come to Tuscaloosa.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Again, schedule all SEC games late in the season. Move Arkansas to November

There are always solutions, just gotta look at it differently

Point on @planomateo ....there are always solutions....paying an AD mill plus...
Hc 10mill plus... between 2 solution can be enacted if desired....
If not just say so...." .we are scheduling such and such for money" ...
Transparency....i can accept such

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Because Bama was given an open date, BY THE SEC, on that weekend, IN NOVEMBER, and the few FBS teams that are available then will not come to Tuscaloosa.

Got ya.... we have no input to sec schedules....just take what we get...
Not you daddys Bama... AD must be asleep at the wheel