Shot:
Chaser:
Nine conference games plus a triad of cupcakes. Fun stuff.
As a reminder, Georgia won National Championships playing 10 P4 opponents in both years, opening against #3 Clemson in 2021 and #11 Oregon in 2022. It can be done.
Or, it could be done. Now, if you’re having to play upwards of three more games at season’s end, I guess you want to have a few games to rest your players to make sure they can compete for a Natty.
When you’re in the B1G, you can rest them during most of your conference games, too.
Ari Wasserman is a douche.
At this point, I’m so sick of the Big 10 and their hypocrisy about cheating and scheduling that I’m ready for the SEC to tell the rest of college sports to go pound sand. If that means the end of Clean, Old Fashioned Hate, I’m ok with that.
Okay, so each SEC team would play 12 other SEC teams every year. The 2020 Covid season was a conference only schedule and that was the part of the 2020 season I enjoyed.
Since we would not be in the NCAA the sandpounders would not be eligible to play us in the bowls or cfp.
Since a 12 SEC only schedule would leave us with 3 SEC teams we hadn’t played the SEC could create its own post season.
Ticket prices and donation minimums would skyrocket to make up for the reduction in media income and from the forfeit of the March Madness profit distribution.
You don’t have to schedule any of the Power 4 in the regular season if you don’t want to. The Big 10 seems to be fine not requiring their schools to schedule a Power 4 opponent every season. My point is to drop out of the CFP and go it alone for football.
Sankey got suckered by the Big 10.
By the way, no one has threatened to kick Notre Dame out of the NCAA for refusing to play in a conference tied to the CFP for football.
I don’t think Sankey got suckered. He saw dollar signs in his eyes – dollars for him, first and foremost. He’s done his smash and grab. That’s obviously all he cares about.
By the way, the SEC collected $70m from the tournament last year. $5m per team. For 50,000 season ticket holders, that’s $100 per year to replace that (and that distribution was a record).
SEC breaks away, adds Clemson and FSU and goes it alone. B1X does the same. Both go to 20 teams, 2 10 team divisions with 4 team playoff each. We have the old NFL v AFL and merger follows. Then all the idiots who bleated about having playoffs will bemoan the lack of inter conference rivalries and exclusion of teams. Just a perpetual shit show all to appease soccer moms and gamblers into watching more.
In the meantime I look forward to AI replacing the CFP committee for team rankings.
Ari is certainly a douche but I can’t agree with dropping Tech. The beatings will continue until they ask to quit. And then we will say no.
TUCK FECH!
If you are a B1G bluebook, you will only have to really work up a sweat on about three Saturdays every fall. That’s almost as good as being in the ACC
*bluebood, damn spellcheck.
Lets be honest – another SEC game (9) is NOT really that big of a deal (looking at you MissSt, KY, Ark, Aub, USCe and in most cases Vandy). Good group of six teams usually fair well v the gutter of our conference. The mid tier of the conf is ho-hum. Hell, we STUNK in bowl games the past 2-3 years. 40% of the conference is typically putrid @ best. If your a UGA/Bama, what is there to fear in playing an additional conf game???
Reminder that we lost Bowers against…Vandy.
Eliminate all G5 and FCS games. Problem solved.
I realize it is officially talking season, but this take is about as lazy as the one about the SEC dominance ending because now “everyone” can pay players from Lincoln Riley.
The funny thing about Ari, who was one of the few national cfb writers to predict UGA would win the NC in 2021, is that he readily admits that he knows virtually nothing about the history of college football. I think it might be part of his schtick as a reporter because he treats everything as an epic historical change.
Here are the last 10 NC and their non-conference regular season opponents:
2016 Alabama: #20 USC (neutral), Western Kentucky (Home), Kent State (H), Chattanooga (H)
2017 Clemson: Kent State (H) , #13 Auburn (H), The Citadel (H) , #24 South Carolina (Away)
2018 Alabama: Louisville (neutral), Arkansas State (H), Louisiana (H), The Citadel (H)
2019 LSU: Georgia Southern (H), #9 Texas (A), Northwestern St (H), Utah St (H)
2020 Alabama: all non-conference games cancelled
2021 Georgia: #3 Clemson (neutral), UAB (H), Charleston Southern (H), Georgia Tech (A)
2022 Georgia: #11 Oregon (neutral), Samford (H), Kent State (H), Georgia Tech
2023 Michigan: East Carolina (H), UNLV (H), Bowling Green (H)
2024 Ohio State: Akron (H), W Mich (H), Marshall (H)
2025 Indiana: Old Dominion (H), Kennesaw State (H), Indiana St (H)
In the last 10 years, the national champion has gone on the road to play a ranked non-conference opponent … twice. One was an annual rivalry (Clemson/SC) and one was LSU vs TX.
I get his point – there should be non-conference matchups for the good of the sport but recent history tells us that you really don’t need to do it. The sport is still making ALOT of money. Fan interest is high. Weak non-conference schedules are not hurting the eventual champion so teams will mimic that type of schedule making since it looks like that formula works.
As for Ari or Staples or anyone else commenting as a CFB pundit, it doesn’t pay do the research or write intelligently about it. It pays to make quick take 10-sec social media bites because they are paid for engagement not reporting. They are paid to make 20 to 30 to 60 minute “analysis” videos that can me monetized both in video and hard ads rather than do a bit of research and reporting.
Also for “fun” I looked at the previous ten national champions …
2016 Clemson: Auburn (Away), Troy (Home), South Carolina St (H), South Carolina (H)
2015 Alabama: #20 Wisconsin (Neutral), MTSU (H), Louisiana-Monroe (H), Charleston Southern (H)
2014 Ohio State: Navy (H), Va Tech (H), Kent St (H), Cincinnati (H)
2013 Florida St: Nevada (H), Bethune-Cookman (H), Idaho (H), Florida (A)
2012 Alabama: #8 Michigan (Neutral), Western KY (H), Florida Atlantic (H), Western Carolina (H)
2011 Alabama: Kent St (H), #23 Penn St (A), North Texas (H), Georgia Southern (H)
2010 Auburn: Arkansas St (H), Clemson (H), Louisiana-Monroe (H), Chattanooga (H)
2009 Alabama: #7 Virginia Tech (Neutral), Fla International (H), North Texas (H), Chattanooga (H)
2008 Florida: Hawaii (H), Miami, Fl (H), The Citadel (H), #23 FSU (A)
2007 LSU: #9 Va Tech (H), MTSU (H), Tulane (A), La Tech (H)
FWIW here are the numbers for the last 20 National Champions:
Total # of ranked non-conference opponents played on the road: 4
Total # of ranked non-conference opponents played home or netural site: 8
Total # of non-conference opponents from a Power Conference played anywhere (including ranked opponents): 21
Also, one NC in the last 20 years has LOST a game to a non-conference Power conference opponent away, home or neutral – Ohio State in 2014 when they lost to Va Tech.
All of the posturing about scheduling competitive non-conference games against Power 5 conferences is just talk. Most of the teams playing non-conference games against like power conference opponents are SEC/ACC teams like UGA, Ga Tech, Clemson, SC, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida, or FSU save for Urban Meyer era Ohio State.
Nice rider added here to the post. It gives good context to whether the feather ruffling is warranted or not.
CFB has almost always been a beauty contest….
College Football already lost, we’re just too stubborn to let it go. Don’t worry judges and TV will makes pull the cord
Urban Mayer and SOS made sure Florida was fed cupcakes when out of conference play happened. Refusing to play a more difficult than monitory schedule has long been rewarded by the established voters. All that really matters to poll voters is don’t lose. The risk reward has always been tilted that way.
I hate teams being rewarded for playing easy schedules. I want Georgia to play a Clemson or tOSU and keep tech. I love going to new difficult venues.
Now that sure makes it way more difficult to stay healthy and make the playoffs. Which I also want to attend and win. That’s a Kirby problem I’m just a ticket buying fan no body cares WTF I want.
The playoffs clearly reward cupcake scheduling. Look at next years Notre Dame schedule it’s embarrassingly easy as planned.