The SEC is playing teams such as Clemson, Va Tech, TCU, Ok State and North Carolina. The best the Big Ten can come up with is Syracuse, Cal and UC Bearcats. And its big gun, OSU is playing Buffalo. Why Buffalo and not UC?
As a fan of football, do you want to watch Big Ten play MAC teams or would you rather watch:
AL-Va Tech
Ga-Clemson
MSU-Ok St
SC-NC
Ole Miss-Vandy
LSU-TCU
It hurts the conference as a whole. The country's not watching these Big Ten-MAC matchups. We don't care and that hurts the Big Ten in terms of rankings and perception later.
SEC Week 2. Take out a conference game and the Florida/Miami rivalary game and you have the same thing the Big 10 does in Week 1. I wish college football scheduling didn't work like this and it seems like with the playoff coming that more teams are adding higher quality opponents, but it always seems like there are a few marquee out of conference games and a bunch of crap in every league.
Miami (OH) @ Kentucky
#10 Florida @ Miami (FL)
12:21 PM Western Kentucky @ Tennessee
3:30 PM Toledo @ Missouri
3:30 PM Alcorn State @ Mississippi State
4:30 PM #6 South Carolina @ #5 Georgi
7:00 PM Samford @ Arkansas
7:00 PM Southeast Missouri State @ Ole Miss
7:00 PM UAB @ #12 LSU
7:00 PM Sam Houston State @ #7 Texas A&M
7:30 PM Arkansas State @ Auburn
7:30 PM Austin Peay @ Vanderbilt
*BaseClogger* (08-28-2013)
The Big 5 are going to realign the landscape of college football over the next coming months. I hope that scheduling is going to tighten. There is nothing more boring than watching an uncompetitive college football game that means little in the grande scheme of things.
Last edited by jojo; 08-28-2013 at 01:47 PM.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
Outside of Georgia vs. Clemson and maybe the LSU vs. TCU game, the UC Purdue game may be the most exciting. To be honest I don't want to see big time games the first games of the season. The teams are playing sloppy football to start the season off. I would much rather see them match up in game 3 or 4 of the season.
As for comparative schedules, Alabama has a whopping 2 ranked teams on its schedule and to be honest their big non conference slobber knocker of Virginia Tech may end up the season weaker than Cal. Compare that with traveling across the country I would say that OSU's test against Cal is more difficult than Bama playing Va Tech.
Keeping the revenue close to home and financially helping the "smaller" schools! Those two USC games a few years back took a year or two off of my lifespan.
Not to mention the BCS asks for this. Why risk one loss that may cost you a chance to play for it all in the end? Unless you are Alabama lol.
For those of us in Ohio and Indiana, sure but for a football "fan", a lot of those SEC matchups are more compelling. Personally, I'm most interested in Ga/Clemson and since I'm a UC fan, Pur-UC. But after that I'd much rather watch any of the other SEC games that I listed before watching a Big Ten-MAC matchup.
I was really comparing conference schedules here but if you want to look at individual ones, I agree, Alabama's is about as easy as it can get. I honestly don't know what kind of team Va Tech is expecting this year but I gotta believe coach Beamer will field a competitive one.
And that is really what it is all about. And it's being done all around the country.
I think we all would agree that we really don't care to watch these cupcake match-ups between the big schools and the smaller conferences; but a decision has been made -and I don't know if it's one that's left to the individual schools or conferences to make, or comes from the NCAA - but we're seeing more an more of these "local" match-ups, and it's being done for the reasons you mention above... keep the revenue closer to home and help these smaller conferences.
And I have to admit that conferences like MAC, for the most part, are definitely stronger, more competitive, to what it was years ago. I know they've put the scare into OSU, and a few other big schools, over the last several years. And it wasn't simply luck.
And look at what is going on with the Big East, which, for the most part, was primarily a basketball oriented conference for eons. They were never really taken seriously when it came to what football programs existed. But because there is so much money to be made they have been making serious efforts, investing in their football programs, getting other programs to join the conference, to raise the level and become competitive with their football programs.
So in the long run, while we may not like these cupcake games, is it having a positive effect in helping these programs become more competitive when before there wasn't that chance?
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
RedFanAlways1966 (08-29-2013)
If it was about keeping the money at home then why doesnt OSU play UC and why is there vetching from Big10 fans when an SEC team plays a Samford or Alabama State? Also why are the Big 5 about to do something that will in all likelihood shut the little guys out of the big money and might possibly end full scholarships for the little fish?
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
You can make an argument that no Ohio school needs more athletic revenue than does UC, so if that's OSU's primary objective, why won't they schedule the Bearcats?
First and foremost OSU wants to open against easy teams so they can have a so called pre-season. I admire schools who are willing to start the season running like Alabama and Mich did last year
Here's the thing too.... People can rag on Va Tech and argue that playing in Atlanta isn't truly a neutral site (and I hate Alabama and certainly would entertain the neutral site argument) but Beemer's teams are perennial top 20 teams. Before last season, the Hoakies were on a run of 8 straight 10+ win seasons.
This is a game the Tide could lose.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
Sea Ray (08-29-2013)
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