If we go by that, using your earlier logic, Mizzou should have faced Auburn and Arkansas from the West and had Florida and UofSC at home. Unless I'm not reading your comment on A&M correctly, the SEC office thought they were going to be bad so they game them a soft schedule. Wouldn't a doomed team get even more of a break since it was known versus thought?
They thought A&M would be bad, but not bottom of the barrel. Give them a slightly easier path and they'll look decent and a good addition for the SEC. They didn't expect Johnny Football to make them good enough to challenge to win the SEC. Since we lost last year I wish they would have won just so it would have shut some people up. Everyone knew Missouri was garbage no matter who they played.
Hey Tusk, do you think it is fair that LSU played USCe last year and gets UGA this year, especially considering the schedule makers absolutely knew UT is in such poor shape while UF is improving? Can you see how Tiger fans question the schedules?
I'm the guy that thought all those bye weeks were ridiculous. Our AD had to literally petition the league for some relief. You can fight for whatever you deem is important. As bad as you don't want to play Florida, we WANT to keep playing Tennessee. It's not about next year, or the year after and it's not about SOS. We love this rivalry and you are missing it. So Alabama and LSU discussing cross division rivals, we are never having the same conversation.
There are some of you, and I'm including you in this, that do want to keep it solely due to the rivalry. There are some of your fans, and people in the SEC office that want to keep it due to it helping Bama. And it's not that we don't want to play Florida. It's that if we get stuck with a permanent rival (specifically one we don't even have a rivalry outside of the manufactured Tebow years) we think they should be on par with everyone elses rival. Florida and LSU are both elite programs that tend to stay elite. Also, you realize that Tenn and Bama could easily schedule their "rivalry" game as a non conference game on years that the rotation did not already include them playing each other.
Rabalais "gets it", Saban "gets it" and the first Coach that gets left out of the playoff because of strength of schedule will suddenly "get it". Look for Alabama's schedule to tighten up, and look for LSU to suddenly get to play Missouri, Vandy, Kentucky etc. I want to keep Florida as the permanent cross divisional rival, and so do Miles and Alleva. They just don't know it yet. Note - I may have lost some people here. the quality of SEC scheduling is going to have to improve in the new playoff system. the best way to do that immediately is go to a 9 game schedule. http://theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/6119666-123/rabalais-nine-game-sec-schedule-is
And...... and.............. TUSK gets it. Nice article and in truth this is simply the logic that will determine the future. Everyone, including the SEC, is going to have to toughen up the SOS, one way or the other in this present rotation. Look for the premier SEC teams to drop a cupcake game soon, even at the current 8 game schedule. At least playing two decent OOC teams is an upgrade to college football and most certainly appreciated by the fans. 9 game schedule is the future and if ESPN can hurry the process, good for them and us. For the coaches to wimp out and vote for 8 games, taking the road to least resistance so they can get to their perfunctory bowl game, they shouldn't get the double whammy and decide who they play among the minimal 8. Especially when TAMU and USC don't have the history and track record to speak up on the subject of traditional rivalries to begin with. Les is trying to get past Bama and can't say I blame him on the competitive side. Do what you have to do to get there.
The coaches vote means absolutely nothing other than letting you know where they stand. Slive wants nine or perhaps better put doesn't want four meaningless games on the schedule. ESPN, in my eyes, won't be the driving force here. It'll be Slive telling the Presidents what he wants and why. And, they'll cast their votes—the ones that actually count—how he wants. I see this likely working itself out just like the proposal to drop from 28 to 25 signees. The coaches and AD's were against it, Slive met with the Presidents... You know the rest of the story.
Brother, if Slive has to stand on his head and threaten every college president's first born to get this done, I'm fine with that. So many counterproductive things have been incorporated into college football's DNA, through the decades, with just such back room shenanigans. That just means the tradition continues. I have no confidence that any of us will get the most practical solution to a fair playoff system, just something close enough that more teams get an actual chance to prove it on the field. What I take from the coaches perspective is that coach Saban wants the tougher road. I love that. The harder the road, the more teams like Bama, LSU, Florida, with talent and depth will have their way.
