Another reason for the rest of the country to hate the SEC

It was UAB and Saban was all about over coming adversity. By taking his starter out of the game against UAB he thought it would only be hurting Booty. Coaches have't to live by their decisions. Never have I once seen Nick Saban have clock management problems or call a time out after a change in possessions. I'm not saying I don't like Les Miles but he has had his share of bone head play calling.

 

No, the credit goes to Auburn for getting rid of Paul Rhoads.

 

With CBS reporting that the SEC has adopted the 6-1-1 format this morning, can finally relax on the injustice of losing the Tennessee Game. Now, if we can get everyone to man up on the 4 best teams.

 

How about an 8 team playoff?

The top 6 seeds are the 6 BCS conference champs (seeded according to BCS rankings) and the two at large are the two highest ranked BCS teams not to win a conference championship (who are automatically seeded 7 and 8, according to position).

Seeds 1 and 2 each host a first round playoff game (their reward for being the two highest seeds) with the other two first round playoff games rotating between the four BCS bowls. The second round (semi-final) games are held at the other two BCS bowl sites with the National Championship rotating between the four BCS bowl sites.

This rewards (perhaps significantly if they host a playoff game) conference champions while also allowing two strong non-champions entry into the process.

If my memory is right that would have meant the following first round games last year:

LSU -- Stanford (Baton Rouge)
Ok. St. -- Bama (Stillwater)
Oregon -- W. Va. (BCS site)
Wisconsin -- Clemson (BCS site)

Not that it would hold true every year, but there are three really good games, at least on paper, there. Luck v. The Mad Hatter on the Bayou. "I'm a Man" Gundy v. Little Nicky in T. Boone's house. The Ducks and the Mountaineers might have broken the scoreboard. The only clunker looks like the Badgers v. the fake Tigers.

 

It's a nice format. The problem is 8 teams and 3 rounds increases the total number of games played by 2. You'd likely have to cut out 1-2 regular season games as a result, and that doesn't leave a lot of maneuvering room for each conference.

 

Exactly.

It's easy as fans to say, "it's just one more game."

There's a reason that the NFL sits players when they reach the playoff; wear and tear on bodies. And, in the case of college ball, we have to remember a lot of the kids we see playing on Saturday are still growing.

Schlabach made a comment the other day on CFL about Michigan and how their head coach stated after their bowl game they wouldn't have been able to play another game due to the amount of injuries his team had suffered. I'm sure they could have fielded a team.
But ask yourself this. How much of a watered down product do you want to see in a playoff?

 

I would HATE to see our annual game with UT disappear. But, I'm getting to the point where I'm seeing it as better for the SEC in the future to lose those permanent opponents.

Fact is, if teams like Bama and Auburn want to keep those games annually, schedule them as OOC games that don't count against the SEC or divisional standings.

It isn't unprecedented.