I saw this posted over in my place this morning from SDS. (Not a big fan of their work, so let's start with that caveat.) I don't really question this one. LSU Open date: Oct. 28, between vs. Ole Miss and at Alabama Skinny: No fan or coach would ever argue against a bye week preceding a game at Alabama. But LSU also has to recover from three consecutive games against Florida, Auburn and Ole Miss. A glance at the Tigers’ schedule shows the bye in Week 9 could almost come at any time given the final three games are Arkansas, at Tennessee and Texas A&M. But with five wins in the past seven meetings against Ole Miss, the Tigers could build some momentum and confidence entering the off week and then Alabama. This is another case of comparing how Ed Orgeron will manage the bye week and build up for Alabama against his predecessor, Les Miles. Verdict: Winner The reasoning here leaves me shaking my head just a bit. ALABAMA Open date: Oct. 28, between vs. Tennessee and vs. LSU Skinny: It’s no coincidence that Alabama in recent years has scheduled its bye week before the LSU game. And that extra week to prepare is often cited as a reason LSU has a six-game losing streak against Alabama, which led to the firing of Les Miles. Earliest bye week: Week 3 -- Arkansas. Latest bye week: Week 9 -- Alabama, LSU, Auburn. It certainly helped last year when Alabama won 10-0 in Baton Rouge, and in similar fashion in 2015 when the Crimson Tide beat the Tigers en route to a fourth national title under Nick Saban. Saban is 9-4 with the Tide coming off bye weeks. Barring a loss in the opener against Florida State, Alabama could be 8-0 entering its bye in Week 9. Verdict: Winner Has anyone heard that cited as a reason? Semi-bye weeks for LSU opponents: (I'm not sure where to put Ole Miss this season. On the same level as Vandy, perhaps? Florida gets Vandy before LSU UArk gets Coastal Carolina MSU gets La Tech Ole Miss gets Vandy It's not a lot of difference with Bama's opponents getting an easier opponent. One odd thing I did notice about Bama's schedule this season. UofSC plays Arkansas, A&M, and Tennessee in consecutive weeks. Bama does as well immediately after those teams play the Gamecocks. I suspect this will favor the Tide due to the UofSC defense under Muschamp. Based on what I'm hearing coming out of Cola, those boys are going to hurt some people this year--literally. For a quick reference, here's the helmet schedule.
Well, EXCUUUSE ME but I just went back over the 5 previous posts in this thread and I don't see anything about Michigan
This is flipping the subject of the thread ... I got caught up looking at that as well. I jumped over to ESPN's Week 1 schedule for the 2nd, and noticed more than a handful of games like that. Those venues make the CBS afternoon game the worst one of the weekend (if ESPN/ABC play their cards the way I think they will.)
Say what you will but LSU/Bama is always the closet game of the year talent wise. It makes since to have a bye for extra practice. Our talent is the toughest each team plays all year, the difference is the coaching. I think Nick could swap teams each year and win. It's a shame Les squandered the only talent that can match Bama hat on hat. It would have been nice to alternate championships with them, proving that the best overall talented rosters in the country are on these teams!
