Or for the coaches screaming the loudest against going to a nine-game conference schedule. There’s a lot of pathetic going around this season. Take, for example, what macho man James Franklin has to stare down:
14. Vanderbilt Commodores
- 09/07 – Austin Peay
- 09/21 – at UMass
- 09/28 – UAB
- 11/30 – Wake Forest
Stereotypically, there are a lot of question marks behind the SEC and their non-conference schedules. While some of these schedules aren’t deserving of those question marks, this one is. Easily the best team on Vandy’s slate is the five-win Demon Deacons from last year. That same team lost 55-21 to the Commodores in 2012 as well. Winners of two games in Conference USA last year, UAB looks to be of no challenge either. Traveling to Gillette Stadium to play the Minutemen of UMass should also present no challenge as Tom Brady won’t be on the field this go round.
Auburn’s is just as embarrassing.
Three schools manage to host all four of their non-conference games. Two more have three at home and one at a neutral site. And only three face two BCS-conference opponents. Fortunately for Georgia, the other two are Florida and South Carolina. (In fact, were I doing these rankings, I’d probably list the Gamecocks’ OOC schedule the toughest of the bunch.)
Overall, not exactly profiles in courage. And it’s funny how Les Miles has nothing to say about how unfair it is for some of the schools to have tough in state rivalries.
Get The Picture 
Poor Vandy….It is always a pleasure to play them. Greek Tragedy that their CF Program is. Hope Auburn loses all their games.
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I’m still trying to figure out why we’re going on the road to play UCF. In any event, though, I generally think Carolina, like UGA, makes an effort to play a decent OOC schedule. We play Clemson each year, and we usually play at least one more decent, BCS-level program, usually from the ACC.
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Best locker roomz and hollow points in central Florida?
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/playboy-playmate-in-ucf-locker-room-controversy-ar/nLwsw/
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Ultimately, there needs to be a “pact” both between conferences and their members that they ALL have the same view of scheduling. Their teams should play no games against FCS teams, and they should limit games against pseudo-FCS teams like FAU/FIU/UAB to a MAXIMUM of two games. More broadly, the resolution of having an out of conference rival like USC-Clemson, UGA-Tech, and UF-FSU is that teams that don’t have said rivals (like say Bama, LSU, and UT) MUST schedule teams of their ilk (like say Va Tech, TCU, OR Oregon). Ultimately, it is NOT the cocktail party alone which has limited our ability to “home and home” with interesting opponents as much as it is our obligation to play Tech. That said, as Auburn and Vandy prove, the schools can not be allowed to self police. Put in some restriction that has some teeth that says, “a team MUST play 10 games against teams that have averaged above XX in a 5 year average to qualify for a the post season. all in conference games will be EXEMPT from that requirement.” You want to give a team enough flexibility that if say they do a southern miss and go from 11-1 to 0-11 that the team that scheduled them is NOT penalized. On the other hand if a program has had three straight 3-9 seasons and ranks at the bottom of FBS, teams need to go about replacing those teams.
By the way, I am not totally against the notion that auburn and UGA could in fact agree to play every year in a “non-conference” game if the league is insistent on staying at 8 conference games but going to 2 cross divisional rotation games. Certainly, that would change the significance of the game, as Auburn has been our last conference game and thereby very significant in almost every year save a few). That said, if one thinks back to the 70s and 80s when the SEC schedule was 6 games, we played Clemson and Carolina EVERY year and those games were bitter rivalry games (particularly Clemson).
Ultimately, I think he goal should be to create some “parity of scheduling” and I don’t think any coach should shy away from that. Certainly, we can debate what that means and how parity for Bama means something different than parity for say Vandy, but in broad principle, I think this is NOT a solution that should done regionally or locally. It should be thought through better than it has been, and it should not be a few coaches spouting the crap that serves their OWN interests
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Good post. You are correct. Those nebulous little pot stickers of conflict ought to be flushed out into the open, roundly debated and the conscensus opinion (with new ideas) promoted for the good of competitive CFB.
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If you go by the 5 year average win proposal, we might have to drop Tech at some point!
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Austin Peay’s coach’s wife must be a hottie, or they don’t make it on the schedule.
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Vandy is scheduling to make a bowl. I have no problem with that.
No, we don’t need someone to fix the schedules so they are all fair. Good grief.
Let the market dictate. If people don’t want to see their team play UAB they will vote with their feet.
Have a good day,
BD
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“All I want is a fair advantage.” Gotcha. 😉
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Abso-friggin’-lutely right! When the Hell did we get into this “But they get 4 cupcakes, Mommy, so I want 4 cupcakes too WAAAAAAHHHH” BS, anyway? If Vandy wants to load down their schedule with putrid games no one will come watch, good for them. Since I don’t go to their non-Georgia games, I could not possibly care less. But I want my Dawgs to play opponents worthy of their mettle. Just don’t get why that’s such a tough concept for so many!
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“But I want my Dawgs to play opponents worthy of their mettle. Just don’t get why that’s such a tough concept for so many!”
“How can you be so obtuse? ”
Back in the day … when boxing was boxing. Good boxer managers found a way to get their fighters into a title match without getting their brains beat up in route.
You see what I did there tough guy.
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Yeah, but with a few exceptions (Ali-Frazier II), boxing was and is mostly about getting the Belt. As much as I’d love for Georgia to be in and win a Nat’l Title every year, assuming that’s not gonna happen, I at least want to enjoy as many games as possible every year. There’s a place for folks who want a different experience–it’s called the NFL.
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