“We’re not done yet.”

In the Blogger Roundtable podcast Weiszer and Page hosted this week, I was asked if I was making preparations to go to Los Angeles for the UCLA game scheduled a decade from now.  It was a tongue-in-cheek question, and I treated it as such, but what I would have liked to get into then was a discussion about scheduling priorities.  There wasn’t time, so I’ll do it here.

I can’t deny there’s a certain novelty to the experience of traveling to the Rose Bowl, or to see Touchdown Jesus, that has an appeal to me.  In the long run, though, as a fan of a program in the Southeastern Conference, I’d rather have the satisfaction that comes with a nine-game conference schedule.

If it’s a venue I want to see, I don’t need for the Dawgs to be there for me to enjoy that.  If I want to see Georgia play in Tuscaloosa, though, I’ve got to wait twelve years under the present format; with a ninth SEC game on the books, that gap shortens noticeably. Either way, it’s one less slot for a cupcake game on the schedule, so there’s no skin of McGarity’s back whichever way it goes.

But that’s not what these high profile games are about.

“We wanted to be able to compete in some non SEC games that really from a national perspective were very attractive,” McGarity said.

Attractive to whom, Greg?

“We do want to be picky,” McGarity said. “We are targeting certain teams and venues that bring excitement not only for our fans and students, but college football fans in general.”

Translation:  we want a football schedule that our broadcast partners find pleasing.

Just shut up and hand over your credit card.