As a follow-up to my post about LSU’s continued whining about cross-division scheduling, it’s worth pointing out this is what’s got Joe Alleva’s knickers in a wad.
Playing Florida is considered by some LSU fans as a real handicap for the Tigers, an insult, a challenge that’s just too tough. But in 2011 the Gators went 6-6 in the regular season. In fact, UF has lost four or more games in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2011. Will Muschamp led the Gators to an 11-1 record this past season, but Florida has still had six mediocre years in its last 12. So that’s the great cross the Bayou Bengals must bear?
Jesus, dude. Grow a pair.
Get The Picture 
We have to play Florida every year, too. Maybe we should try to get into the Big East.
Jesus, why did the unbalanced schedule become such a big freaking deal the last two years. Gamecock bitching and moaning… this LSU whining… look, LSU, you’re basically guaranteeing a karmic bitch slap of ALWAYS ending up playing the toughest Eastern Division team if you do away with permanent opponents. LSU ran the table in 2011 against the toughest schedule I’ve ever seen. When you’ve got a good enough football team, it doesn’t matter what schedule you’re playing. Or maybe it does? If Florida wasn’t a permanent fixture on the schedule, maybe that 2011 LSU team would have ended up playing South Carolina instead. That would have been a tougher game… 2011 Florida was weak! Just man the fuck up already and play. Of all teams, I would think that LSU wouldn’t mind the challenge of playing the occasional challenging game considering the way they’ve put together the out of conference schedule recently. I guess they don’t have the chest for it.
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!
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Conversely, Florida, with its institutional, recruiting base, and population advantages, is expected to be a top program, and when it has had coaches who know how to get results (even if they’re jackasses), Florida is tough.
I think Alleva has about a third of a point. After all Kentucky and Vandy are what they are, and LSU-Fla is only a moderately historical pre-divisional rivalry. Perhaps Jeremy Foley deserves one cheer for acting a little more mature on the subject.
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Meanwhile, LSU is the only football power in a state that produces quite a bit of football talent and is right next door to another one with a huge population… Poor bastards… how DO they manage?
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They don’t have the tradition with Florida and have no nostalgia or feelings of the rivalry being important. I see their point and if we were locked in with LSU while the other Eastern teams we compete with had Ole Miss and Miss State, etc we would bitch too. We care about the Auburn game and likewise with Tennessee and Alabama. I see your point about “growing a pair” and playing the toughest schedule possible but I don’t agree. You balance the tough schedule with what can also be a managable path to championships.
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The problem I have with that line of logic is the teams that play ole miss, Mississippi state, and Arkansas are the traditional bottom dwellers of the east. The toughest teams play the toughest cross divisional permanent opponents. And like its mentioned above LSU ran the table in 2011 against a ridiculous schedule so I just find it hard to believe in their bitching. They wouldn’t be saying anything had they beaten Alabama this year and made it to the dome by winning their division.
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I know, right? Playing Ole Miss every year is such a burden. Can we do it too (again)?
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The OBC’s manipulation of sportscasters into using the “weak schedule” meme whenever talking about our Dawgs was pretty savvy. Mr. Holtz’s including the schedule to explain Coach Richt’s back to back victory over the gators postgame was just about enough for me to give him the asshat of the year award….well until Chuckie decided to play armchair quarterback.
Funny how no one really talks about Alabama’s SOS.
Sooooo…..
“If you tell a lie that’s big enough, and you tell it often enough, people will believe you are telling the truth, even when what you are saying is total crap.”
For those of you that can remember Zappa.
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Zappa loosely quoting Goebbels. Nice.
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Fooled me. I thought it was Fox Snooze.
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I hate to say it, but schedules balance out after awhile. Bitching about it just makes you look like a… well, bitch.
The next thing you know, it’ll be that they have to travel to ATL to play in the championship game. (Actually, they do bitch about this, too. But of course, we wouldn’t want them to not play in the Sugar Bowl ever).
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Oh, I think there is some validity to their point about Alabama’s recent scheduling. In 11 they played mediocre Florida and bad Tennessee. In 12 they played bad Tennessee and bad Mizzou. In 12 they play worse yet Kentucky and Tennessee. Meanwhile, LSU will have played very good South Carolina and Florida this year and likely very good Georgia and Florida next year. Not anyone’s fault, but their route to Atlanta is clearly more difficult, at least in the immediate present.
Throw in Alabama’s penchant for not really playing much of an out of conference schedule and I can see why the Tigers gripe about an imbalance. Bama has played some good teams at neutral sites, but have played only 5 OOC BCS level opponents in true road games since 1992 which ought to be embarrassing. Georgia by comparison has played 15 such games.
But LSU’s obsession with having to play Florida this century is a bit overdone. Auburn has had it tougher as since 2001 Georgia has been by far the more consistently good team, winning the east 5 times to the Gators 3. Auburn has much more of a complaint than LSU yet they are not whining about ending the cross division rivalry game.
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A couple points.
Bama recently had a schedule where every SEC opponent was coming off a bye week.
Teams used to rotate their cross divisional opponents, but with the new additions it is fubar. Hard to blame Bama (or UGA) for the mess.
Bama has played UofM, Penn State, Clemson, and FSU the last few years.
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Clemson and FSU…. a half a dozen years ago.
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The OP said that Bama had a penchant for not scheduling tough OOC games. I consider the following games to be decent OOC games: UofM (2012), Penn State (2011), Penn State (2010), V Tech (2009), Clemson (2008), FSU (2007). Not bad if you ask me.
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and Oklahoma 2001-02.
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Alabama only played Oklahoma(#5) in 2002 only. Oklahoma kinda self destructed against the Aggies and OK State. Alabama’s cross conference game was with the 2002 Bulldogs(#3). Great game.
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Playing one neutral site game is a far cry from home and home series.
Since 92 when the conference expanded to 12 teams and broke into divisions Bama has played 5 at home: NC State, Oklahoma, UCLA, Duke and Penn State. And they have played 5 away… NC State, Oklahoma, UCLA, Penn State and Duke. They have played 4 neutral site games against FSU, Clemson, Va Tech and Michigan. That is 14 games in 20 years…pathetic is pretty mild.
In the same time frame Georgia has played 33 and that does not include two games against Boise State, which is technically not a major but most likely would be better than anyone on that Bama schedule. Georgia has played 18 at home…or 4 more than Bama has played all together. They have played another 15 on the road and throw in Boise and you have a total of 35. At home the Dawgs have played Oklahoma State, Colorado, Arizona State, Boise State, Clemson (2), Texas Tech (2) and Georgia Tech (11). On the road we have played Tech 10 times, Clemson twice, Colorado, Arizona State and Oklahoma State with Boise at a neutral (sort of) site. Next year Georgia again plays 2 OOC BCS teams while the Tide plays one. There is no comparison in out of conference scheduling…none whatsoever.
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Adding Tech into that mix seems a bit unfair, as Alabama’s traditional rival happens to be in their division while Georgia’s is OOC.
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I was wrong it was 2002-03. In 02 Okie was ranked #2 and in 03 they were #1.
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Two years out of 21. Whoopee. Their out of conference scheduling is really whimpy to put it mildly. The Sooners were damn good and wound up 3d and 5th. But two years out of 21 means didly squat. Those same two years Georgia played Clemson and Tech twice. Neither was as good as OU, but that was two majors vice 1.
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I gotcha. I still don’t see that as a ready for prime time schedule regardless of their name brand recognition. Hindsight is not fair I grant you that but, three of those higher regarded teams went 7-6 and none won their conference and None finished in top ten. After the bowl games Michigan will drop out of the top 20 which means that only one of those higher regarded ocs teams finished in the top 20. Alabama’s schedule this year is really no different than our Dawgs schedule strength wise. Yet no sports pundit misses an opportunity to espouse their college football IQ by pointing out that somehow the Dawgs didn’t have to work as hard to get to the SEC championship game.
just sayin’
Alabama OCS
FSU 7-6 NR(2007) they lost to Kentucky in Music City Bowl- Western Carolina, Houston, Louisiana-Monroe,Colorado.
Clemson 7-6 NR(2008) – Tulane, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State.
Virginia Tech 10-3- #11 didn’t win their conference. (2009)-Florida International, North Texas, Chatanooga
Penn State 7-6 NR (2010)- San Jose State, Duke, Georgia State
Penn State 9-4 RV (2011)- Kent State, North Texas, Georgia Southern
Michigan 8-4 – #18 didn’t win their conference-Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic,Western Carolina. Michigan will get waxed by uSC.
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I see no validity to their point about SEC scheduling, there is simply an ebb and flow that is impossible to predict, and the rotational schedules were set in stone from 1992-2011. The first “tinkering” was done in 2012 as the adjustments were made for TAMU and Mizzou. So what in the hell are they bitching about? It sounds as whiney as SOS, who first brought up this insane idea, and was fed by a media who did little/no research. Are their years you get a better “draw” than others? Of course, but it happens to every contender periodically so there is no basis for their conspiracy complaint at all.
LSU, like Bama, seems to think they have always been King of the Hill, and thus entitled. Truth is, they have both been subject to the same downturns as others at times in their history. In looking at their records against some common opponents, UGA has a better record against Alabama, Florida, TN, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Miss St., and Georgia Tech than does LSU. They in turn have a better win percentage than we do against SC and Auburn. We aren’t whining, and we have certainly had our time in the box where we got LSU, Bama, and Auburn in the same year. Those aren’t preferable, but they happen and we all move on.
I thought the writer did a great job debunking this whole argument and LSU fans should be ashamed for ever getting drawn into the discussion. You are better than that…or at least you were.
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+1
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As an LSU fan, I agree that the whining about playing Florida every year is embarrasing and personally I prefer to have a tough schedule as it makes the year much more exciting. However, what bothers most LSU fans is the 2012 and 2013 temporary schedules that the SEC has put together. While prior to ’12 it would have been difficult to forecast how much better UF and SC (LSU’s East opponents) would be compared to UT and Mizzou (Bama’s opponents), the ’13 temp schedule that just came out has Bama playing UK and LSU playing at UGA. So in the 2 year temp schedule, LSU is certainly getting the short straw on the path to Atlanta. This short term scheduling issue combined with LSU being put in the Peach bowl after some back room politicking by Slive has certainly gotten some dander up amongst Tiger fans.
Unfortunately the new 14 team SEC is going to have a lot of years of unbalanced schedules that will continue to create this kind of whining.
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If you beat Florida you go to a BCS bowl. Given the bowl tie in where else do you think you might go other than the Peach? Capital ONE? If the OBC beats Florida he goes to the SECC game. Georgia beat Florida and went to the Championship game. Yet when the bowl dinner invites were handed out Georgia gets hotdogs and Florida gets steak. Yeah, no sympathy here for you sir. Shame your punter went pro. That kid has a leg. See ya between The Hedges. Hope we don’t get the same refs we had last time we played here. It’s always something…. right? 😉
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I realize this is a Georgia blog, but to imply that Georgia got a raw deal regarding the Sugar Bowl picking Florida, (1) the BCS by laws required Florida to be picked, and (2) Florida’s resume was far superior to any other SEC team. They went 3-1 against the conference power teams and crushed FSU in Tallahassee. I get that UGA won the head to head but you all went 1-2 against the power teams. LSU fans are mad about the bowl because we went 2-2 against said teams and went to a “lesser” bowl than noob A&M who went 1-2 with one of those losses being at home to LSU. Personally, I like the matchup with Clemson, but would have preferred JerryWorld against OU.
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Yes indeed this is a Georgia Blog. A very good one. We like to welcome all guests here. Sugar gets Florida …. Peach gets LSU. If you think your bowl destination sucks more than ours . .. the SEC EAST DIVISION CHAMPS so be it. You didn’t win your division… we did. We also beat Florida… you didn’t. We good. You are what? 5-0 in the Peach? Go win another and make the SEC proud. Good luck.
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Tiger You may have a gripe, us UGA fans may have a gripe too. The system has flaws (which IMO is why CFB is so interesting).
A&M are the noobs with a lot of support at the moment. The Cotton is a very marketable (yes in the end it is about $$) match up. I know I want to see A&M beat a BigXII team, I was actually hoping the Cotton would be Texas vs A&M just to piss off the Texas donors that called for their annual game to end. It was strange rooting for Texas to win. At the same time it pisses me off that UGA gets shut out of a BCS bowl for a team UGA beat but that is the way it goes.
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Hell! Am I too late and the fussin’s all over?
Hey Tiger01- Fu pounded the Talla(poosa, dega, hassee, whacher) pussies from the ACC while we pounded their redundant brothers from Atlanta like a red-headed stepchile. But then again, Jimbo was one of urine , wasn’t he? Is that what makes them tough in your mind? You might not have to wait for FU to pound that ass again before my disgruntled FSU friends send him packing. At last check they were not happy losing so many coaches who were recruiting big next year. What the hell, it’s just better recruiting in Valdosta and the rest of So Ga for the Dawgs. Sometimes you just lick your chops and watch the world go by.
Sometimes us richer just get richer AND tougher.
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Most LSU fans I know are good people and once you get past their good natured ribbing even majority of the ones that yell Tiger Bait! Tiger Bait are reasonable fans. This seems to be pushed by some in the media looking to stir crap and a few in the athletic department.
LSU has elected to play some of the tougher OOC schedules for an SEC team but, then they gripe about UF o.O and then we see stats like the UF records posted above?
I will also add that LSU is nobody’s biggest rival. The possible exception are the Crocs where they play UGA, UT, and LSU, and that is only because over the past decade or so UGA and UT haven’t had a great record against UF. It was a relatively big story for LSU when A&M joined that LSU had someone to hate all of their own. Now, it looks like they’re pissy that Bama may have stepped in there too.
I will add one final point LSU, gets to play a schedule where they don’t have an instate rival, much less one that takes up an OOC date. If UF is so tough, play another cupcake.
To the LSU media and athletic department quit’yer bitchin. You have it pretty good in the most profitable, strongest conference in the land.
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