Why Don’t the B1G and SEC play regular season games on campus?
Interesting Pat Forde story: https://www.si.com/college/2021/09/16/penn-state-auburn-sec-big-ten-football-schedules
it just seems to not happen, and Michigan has never done it (though they will in 2025, and potentially, probably in ‘24 against long term SEC members Oklahoma and Texas). And with Alliance scheduling coming, it seems unlikely to happen much. Only on campus SEC game I recall was Vandy in 06.
Only one series of note, which was Indiana-Kentucky, which, he points out, was at the time the southernmost B1G member vs the northern most SEC team.
September 17th, 2021 at 7:33 PM ^
Michigan did host Vandy in Ann Arbor once. And Penn State/Alabama played a home and home within the last decade. It's rare, but it happens.
September 17th, 2021 at 7:37 PM ^
Bama has home and homes with both Wisconsin and Ohio State lined up this decade, as they end their annual tradition of slaughtering some poor schlub each opening weekend at a neutral site.
September 17th, 2021 at 11:06 PM ^
Michigan trivia: Vanderbilt at Michigan in 1969 was Bo's first game as head coach.
September 18th, 2021 at 10:56 AM ^
Michigan has hosted Vanderbilt eight times, with the most recent being 2006.
To be fair, Vanderbilt was only a member of the SEC for two of these games.
September 17th, 2021 at 7:35 PM ^
No offense to the OP, but this is a cheap storyline for me. Seems to come up every other year and generates the same conversation every time.
Beyond geography and desire to travel, it’s just a high-risk, low-reward situation for both conferences.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:21 PM ^
Plus, it does actually happen. Just not that often.
September 17th, 2021 at 7:47 PM ^
Ah, the old clickbait "why don't they X" when, in fact, they do.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:44 PM ^
What are the two most recent examples?
September 18th, 2021 at 1:39 AM ^
Why don’t they make the movie Scream 2 when in fact they did. Why don’t they make John Wick 3 when in fact they did.
next question
September 18th, 2021 at 10:59 AM ^
Why don’t they test these vaccines before unleashing them on the public?
September 17th, 2021 at 7:51 PM ^
Yeah, there have been some noted instances in the last couple decades of this very thing happening, and there are some games between the Big Ten and SEC scheduled yet this decade, but I have to think there isn't really a compelling reason for either conference, especially now in the playoff era. "Because it would garner ratings and probably be a really cool atmosphere" just isn't enough really, not in the broader scheme.
September 17th, 2021 at 7:59 PM ^
I feel like you need to have something in the noncon as an ace though, especially if a league as a whole is down. Maybe that’s not much of an issue for these two conferences but still (looks at Michigan’s 2022-23 non conference slates) you’ve probably got to do something.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:03 PM ^
They absolutely should play home and home games with all opponents. This is college football. Games should be played on campuses. The students are the ones who get screwed out of seeing the best games.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:08 PM ^
The SEC won't travel.
Okay, that's a bit of a generalization. Some teams won't travel. About a decade ago Georgia played a non-conference game outside of the state of Georgia for the first time in about 50 years. They played a few more road games in the early 2010s, lost them, and haven't done it again since.
Bama won't travel. The best they'll do is play a one-off game at a neutral site that's in the SEC footprint: JerryWorld, Atlanta, or Orlando. They won't do a home-and-home because they won't play a true road game. The last time Bama played a true non-conference road game was 2010-2011 home & home w/ Penn St. (which was likely scheduled long before Saban arrived).
Several years ago, OSU (under Tressel) had home & homes scheduled with both Tennessee & Alabama (were to be played in the late 2010s), but both times the SEC school backed out of the deal.
It would hurt the SEC brand to play quality opponents on the road if it meant risking a loss, so they generally avoid it.
September 17th, 2021 at 10:22 PM ^
Georgia played at Notre Dame in 2017 or 2018.
September 18th, 2021 at 2:42 AM ^
Notre Dame is not a college athletic program, as they are not in a college athletics conference.
They are just a private school with some teams. Treat them that way. As much as I love kicking in those stupid gold helmets, they had their chance(s) and let them slip.
Force them to join a conference (not the B1G, they had their shot(s), or just be the random NBC sponsored Mac level game of the week.
Play them every ten years, but we don’t need them. They *literally* need us.
September 18th, 2021 at 8:36 AM ^
There is a lot of truth to that. I think Bama’s trip to Penn St was it’s first nonconf game north of the mason dixon line. Lsu’s trip to Wisconsin when they played at Lambeu was it’s first in fifty years. I believe Michigan played Georgia in a home and home in the 1950’s.
It’s just impossible to get them to agree to home and home series.
ND has had some success playing teams but even they haven’t had many series against the sec.. Pac12, Big Ten and Independents were always the non conf mixed in with some ACC/big East teams that would travel….
September 17th, 2021 at 8:10 PM ^
The big ten tried to do a BigTen / Sec challenge in football years ago but couldn’t get the sec to commit. There was a couple different versions tossed about full conference tilts and the top two teams from the previous year play the opening game the following year against each other at a neutral site.. Couldn’t come to an agreement.
The both conferences were really content to keep their bowl matchups during the bcs era. I know they would like to keep at least two bowls against one another.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:13 PM ^
Money money money money. MON-EY.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:30 PM ^
That money pays for 27 other varsity sports and (in non-COVID years) keeps the AD in the black instead of the red.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:13 PM ^
LSU and Wisconsin had a semi-home and home series a few years ago, but the game in Wisconsin was played at Lambeau.
September 17th, 2021 at 10:23 PM ^
And wasn’t the LSU “home” game in Houston?
September 17th, 2021 at 10:37 PM ^
Damn, I guess it was. I completely forgot about that.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:18 PM ^
Sec just won’t come play ball in the north.. not in the regular season or post season.. god forbid they schedule an actual big time bowl game or playoff series up in the Midwest.. plenty of indoor facilities so the blaming the cold is all bs
September 17th, 2021 at 11:41 PM ^
There needs to be 2 more bowl games placed in the playoff rotation. One on the East Coast (probably Charlotte) and one in the Midwest (probably Indy).
There are playoff bowls in all of the other Power 5 conferences’ territory. 4 of the bowls are in states where an SEC team resides.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:27 PM ^
We're just not organized enough to do it now, but in time--as the corruption and professional character of the offering becomes more apparent--I dream that people will get so turned off by what they see, that the rest of the country will, that they will stop watching. Refuse to watch. Our power to refuse to take part in the various emerging aspects of an oversaturated over-commercialized consumer economy is really we've got. Dunno about others, but for me that's become pretty easy. I'm an M grad and I watch Michigan football. Might peek in on another game here or there of a Saturday, but as time goes on I give less and less of a tinker's damn.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:40 PM ^
In my lifetime, since the 1960 season;
Michigan hosted Georgia, Vandy twice, and South Carolina (pre-SEC). Michigan has not in my lifetime ventured into the SEC during the regular season.
September 17th, 2021 at 8:52 PM ^
Michigan had a home and home ('18 & '19) with Arkansas but Michigan paid Arkansas $2 million not to play. Michigan played Notre Dame instead.
September 17th, 2021 at 10:29 PM ^
Edit: doh, posted in the wrong thread
September 17th, 2021 at 10:36 PM ^
The SEC does come north on occasion.
Alabama came to Penn State. They’re going to Wisconsin and OSU in the coming years.
LSU went to Wisconsin (Green Bay).
Auburn is going to PSU tomorrow.
Georgia went to South Bend. They’re going to OSU at the end of the decade.
September 17th, 2021 at 11:38 PM ^
Michigan has Texas (neutral site) in 24 and then a home and home with OU in 25 and 26. I wonder if these will now be canceled with the move to the SEC.
September 18th, 2021 at 2:27 AM ^
Michigan-Texas is a home and home. Ann Arbor in 2024, Austin in 2027
September 18th, 2021 at 12:15 AM ^
Because everyone's (the Sowth) a bunch of pussies. That's why. The almighty dollar and playoff system has created a heaping pile of entitlement and bullshit.
September 18th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
Historically (at least my recollection without looking it up) is that SEC teams will set up home and homes play in the south and then buyout the away game so they don’t have to travel northish.