B1G/SEC Challenge proposal (FB)
So Bielema laid this idea out there, replacing the SEC's annual FCS weekend with a 14 on 14 challenge, same as the B1G/ACC or Big 12/SEC challenges in basketball. This is obviously pure theory and has no decision makers involved yet, but still curious to hear people's opinions. I for one would love to see this, especially if they make it alternate home games like in basketball. Helps every team, gives fans something interesting and new on the schedule, and ensures an extra quality game every year.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14163970/bret-bielema-ar…
November 18th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^
Love all the SEC coaches explaining how altruistic they are by scheduling FCS teams.
November 18th, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^
Let's complain about something WE are doing...
November 19th, 2015 at 1:01 AM ^
I have to defend Freeze's comment to some extent. Small schools do indeed rely on those blowout payouts in order to help balance the budget. By removing those games, those programs would face an even larger financial hole. It's not just the Furmans and the HBC's of the world, but also MAC, Sun Belt, CUSA schools as well.
But
That still doesn't explain why Alabama feels the need to schedule a Charleston Southern in the last two games of the season, nor any SEC team scheduling a cupcake right in the middle of the meat of the schedule. It's laughable that Freeze is trying to paint the SEC as the savior of small time college football when in reality Ole Miss is probably the dirtiest of all D1 programs.
November 19th, 2015 at 9:17 AM ^
It's laughable that you truly believe Hugh Freeze is scheduling these schools for anything other than a tomato can W on their resume.
November 18th, 2015 at 5:17 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:26 PM ^
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November 18th, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^
And the Winn-Dixie line.
November 18th, 2015 at 11:36 PM ^
the Mason Reese line?
Or Mason Reese crossing the line...
November 18th, 2015 at 5:19 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:19 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:19 PM ^
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November 18th, 2015 at 6:04 PM ^
CBS proclaims the SEC as the best conference. And this is based on recent domination. But when I look at the coaching that has been at the forefront of the most dominant schools, they all come from the Midwest with roots in the MAC and Big Ten. So how do you account for this phenomenon?
November 19th, 2015 at 8:15 AM ^
Coaching is one thing, talent is another. Texas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and to lesser degrees Mississippi and the Carolinas have a great deal more high school talent than their midwestern and northeastern counterparts. It's a matter of demographics and culture that most upper midwest schools just don't have.
November 19th, 2015 at 9:09 AM ^
that most SEC schools will enroll players that can barely spell their own names.
Listen to some post game player interviews at SEC schools. Then compare and contrast that to the postgame interviews given by Michigan players. Were it not for football, a lot of the kids playing in the SEC would not be in college. Any college.
November 19th, 2015 at 9:19 AM ^
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November 19th, 2015 at 6:28 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 7:55 PM ^
Actually, why this won't happen: $$$.
At football rich schools, they make more money by having 2 home games in 2 years against a tomato can than by having 1 game every 2 years against somebody good. Most of the teams in question have very strong schedules as it is and tend to sell out those OOC games. Plus, this would likely take the place the whatever is the hardest OOC game they already have, so all they would be doing is giving up a home game every other year.
Also, this easy game is likely necessary for 1-2 teams per conference to make a bowl. Like Auburn or Indiana this year. If Auburn played somebody good and lost this year in place of Idaho, they miss a bowl. And that costs the conference money. It's in the conference's best interest to get as many teams bowl eligible as possible, which is why these 14 team leagues like the Big Ten and SEC aren't in a hurry to go to 9 conference games like the Pac-12 did, even though it's the best thing to do.
November 18th, 2015 at 10:26 PM ^
next season? And isn't that the reason our challenge series with the PAC-12 fell through? Further, those lower tier bowl games are money losers for the schools. Schools may schedule with an eye towards being bowl eligible, but it's not for the $$$.
November 19th, 2015 at 6:51 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:21 PM ^
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November 18th, 2015 at 6:21 PM ^
be proving anything we don't already know about them by beating, lets say Missouri or Kentucky?
November 19th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^
With only 3 non conf games go forward it reduces flexibility too much. Would still like to have home and homes with the Texas, Oklahomas, UCLAs, etc.
Wouldnt mind it for 6 years or so however - really a shame we never play LSU GA Auburn in home and homes.
November 18th, 2015 at 5:36 PM ^
The SEC's in-conference scheduling is really crazy.
They have 7 team divisions and 8 conference games with one fixed cross-over game. It both means teams very rarely play teams in the other division and makes for longterm competitive imbalance. It's surprising that the teams locked into a really difficult cross division game (particularly Tennessee with Alabama, but also Florida with LSU and vice versa) aren't pushing to expand the conference schedule to 9 games and do away with the FCS games.
November 18th, 2015 at 6:41 PM ^
November 19th, 2015 at 6:57 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^
Michigan vs Florida at Jerry's World in 2017, then a home & home against Arkansas in 2018 & 2019. It would be fun to see but the SEC has to come up here as well. LSU is traveling to play Wisconsin next year in Green Bay.
November 18th, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^
they've played in State College and even Minneapolis reently.
Tennessee also has an upcoming home and home with OSU nad they did play at ND once late in October, I believe.
November 19th, 2015 at 7:02 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:32 PM ^
SEC schools have been demanding home field advantage since the Civil War.
November 18th, 2015 at 5:34 PM ^
November 19th, 2015 at 3:25 AM ^
Would give better clarity if we did it in mid-November.
Or the teams did it in December (1st or 2nd week), for all the teams that were not in their conference championship game, based on conference or division standings.
November 18th, 2015 at 5:39 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:40 PM ^
didn't we kind of do this with the Pac-12?
IIRC, most years as far back as I can remember, B10 teams played a Pac 8/10/12 team.
November 18th, 2015 at 5:43 PM ^
Going to death valley, the plains, Athens, the swamp, Neyland etc. would be cool.
November 18th, 2015 at 6:20 PM ^
would love to those southerners come play in some yankee November snow
November 18th, 2015 at 5:50 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 5:51 PM ^
This is good in theory, especially at the top of the conference. The problem would be at the bottom when you get matchups like Rutgers vs Kentucky and Illinois vs Vandy. This would make it harder for the crappy schools to get bowl eligible and/or make some money. They would be forced to give up more natural OOC rivalries that might draw some fan interest.
November 18th, 2015 at 6:00 PM ^
Vandy v. Northwestern is pretty natural.
Kentucky v. Indiana
Illinois v. Missouri (which is already a BB rivalry)
EDIT: Did not know that Illinois-Missouri FB had a Wikipedia rivalry page, lol...they haven't played all that often in FB niut they are kind of natural rivals.
November 18th, 2015 at 6:24 PM ^
is a basketball rivalry, they used to (and maybe still do) play each other in St. Louis and the United Center. Big deal to them.
November 18th, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^
one another in BB and yes, it does get intense.
November 18th, 2015 at 6:55 PM ^
the Illinois-Michigan rivalry.
November 18th, 2015 at 5:56 PM ^
The Maryland-Vanderbilt game that would surely ensue would go down in history as the only game that ended in mass blindness being the result. "Do not look directly into this inside run....", they said. The crowd did not listen. They were warned, for the fine print on the tickets listed the appropriate protective gear.
It is an interesting idea, in all seriousness. I would love to see an SEC team wonder why there was so much dandruff blowing around in a Big Ten stadium, only to hear, "No, no it isn't dandruff..."
November 18th, 2015 at 6:00 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 6:01 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 6:02 PM ^
November 18th, 2015 at 6:14 PM ^
becaue at the time they played 9 conference games and the B10 played 8 conference games.
Still, I always though that was kind of an informal thing; the only Pac8/10/12 team that I can recall hasn't played Michigan in the regular season is USC (that might include the 2 Arizonas as well...and they weren't always members of the conference).