Come on, man!

[SWC75]

November in college football is a bout big games: rivalry games, deciding conference championships, who plays for the national championship, bowl spots, etc. So why were these games played yesterday?

#1 Alabama 49 Chattanooga 0
#2 Florida State 80 Idaho 14
#7 Clemson 52 The Citadel 6
#11 South Carolina 70 Coastal Carolina 10

Also:
North Carolina 80 Old Dominion 20
Georgia Tech 66 Alabama A&M 7

The average halftime score of these games was 43-5.

Full disclosure:
Georgia Southern 26 Florida 20
But this was supposed be one of the above games. It's Florida's fault that it wasn't.

I don't mind one of these games early in the season.
But Alabama had already played Georgia State.
Florida State had already played Nevada and Bethune-Cookman.
Clemson had already played South Carolina State.
South Carolina actually had avoided this type of game until now. But why not play it in September?
North Carolina had already played Middle Tennessee State.
Georgia Tech had already played Elon.
Florida had already played Toledo.

Also, if you are going to play a team like this, play a team for your state or maybe an adjacent state. Why should Florida State play Nevada or Idaho? Why should Florida play Toledo?

And even the "be unkind to your neighbors" games should be gotten out of the way early in the season. They don't belong in November. It's like the NFL playing exhibition games in December.

 

[RMH44]

November in college football is a bout big games: rivalry games, deciding conference championships, who plays for the national championship, bowl spots, etc. So why were these games played yesterday?

#1 Alabama 49 Chattanooga 0
#2 Florida State 80 Idaho 14
#7 Clemson 52 The Citadel 6
#11 South Carolina 70 Coastal Carolina 10

Also:
North Carolina 80 Old Dominion 20
Georgia Tech 66 Alabama A&M 7

The average halftime score of these games was 43-5.

Full disclosure:
Georgia Southern 26 Florida 20
But this was supposed be one of the above games. It's Florida's fault that it wasn't.

I don't mind one of these games early in the season.
But Alabama had already played Georgia State.
Florida State had already played Nevada and Bethune-Cookman.
Clemson had already played South Carolina State.
South Carolina actually had avoided this type of game until now. But why not play it in September?
North Carolina had already played Middle Tennessee State.
Georgia Tech had already played Elon.
Florida had already played Toledo.

Also, if you are going to play a team like this, play a team for your state or maybe an adjacent state. Why should Florida State play Nevada or Idaho? Why should Florida play Toledo?

And even the "be unkind to your neighbors" games should be gotten out of the way early in the season. They don't belong in November. It's like the NFL playing exhibition games in December.

Great points...I was wondering about many of the same things related to scheduling.

 

[riskylogic]

The fact that the ACC suddenly switched from nine to eight conference games may be responsible for some of this. Also, the big intrastate rivalry games are next week, so teams are scheduling cupcakes to get ready for the big one.

 

[SmilinBob]

Because it sets you up to rest for your rival while getting an easy win. Let's also not forget some of these teams were playing conference games right out of the shoot early while many were playing Lemoyne.

I'd also like to add that this is the free pass and go collect your $200 while other teams lose. In other words...early loss in the season is ok and if teams like Baylor are playing the harder ones you now jump ahead of them because we all know the voters are a what have you done lately type and not a whole year evaluation type of voter. It's the clever way of scheduling imo.

 

[Oakland]

November in college football is a bout big games: rivalry games, deciding conference championships, who plays for the national championship, bowl spots, etc. So why were these games played yesterday?

The SEC was even worse last season. Kind of interesting to put PedSt's 'its dangerous to our players' argument against their scholarship cap into the context of these games. No one seems concerned with the safety of the Chattanooga players.

 

[Alsacs]

The reason for these games are because the SEC teams like to have a glorified bye weekend before their important season ending rivalry games. Before this season the ACC used to schedule all conference games the week before the ACC-SEC rivalry games, but Florida State and Clemson when they cashed in their political capital last year in getting Louisville over UConn asked the ACC to schedule them cupcakes before Florida and South Carolina so their kids would be as fresh a week before the big rivalry games. That is why Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State all played cupcakes and because the ACC didn't want to give North Carolina a bye week they scheduled a 4th game for this week so everybody could play yesterday. Alabama has no excuse for always playing cupcakes but they probably want the same advantage for their Auburn game each year, but what I just said is why the SEC tends to play these cream puffs at the end and the ACC is following suit this year just to help Ga. Tech, FSU, and Clemson have a better chance against its rivals.

 

[SWC75]

The reason for these games are because the SEC teams like to have a glorified bye weekend before their important season ending rivalry games. Before this season the ACC used to schedule all conference games the week before the ACC-SEC rivalry games, but Florida State and Clemson when they cashed in their political capital last year in getting Louisville over UConn asked the ACC to schedule them cupcakes before Florida and South Carolina so their kids would be as fresh a week before the big rivalry games. That is why Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State all played cupcakes and because the ACC didn't want to give North Carolina a bye week they scheduled a 4th game for this week so everybody could play yesterday. Alabama has no excuse for always playing cupcakes but they probably want the same advantage for their Auburn game each year, but what I just said is why the SEC tends to play these cream puffs at the end and the ACC is following suit this year just to help Ga. Tech, FSU, and Clemson have a better chance against its rivals.

The flip side of that is that Florida State is trying to hold off Ohio State for the second BCS title game spot by playing Idaho while the Buckeyes take on Big Ten teams.

 

[SmilinBob]

The flip side of that is that Florida State is trying to hold off Ohio State for the second BCS title game spot by playing Idaho while the Buckeyes take on Big Ten teams.

In theory SOS should take a hit but the voters won't drop a team that wins by 50+ points in the polls. The polls are the rankings bread and butter and the base of all.

 

[Scooch]

I think FSU had an OOC opponent bail on a contract and that's why they played Idaho (was it WVU?).

As for the rest, it's to prep for their big season-ending rival. It's a money-grab and decidedly fan unfriendly. Or in other words, it is the essence of college football.

 

[Alsacs]

The flip side of that is that Florida State is trying to hold off Ohio State for the second BCS title game spot by playing Idaho while the Buckeyes take on Big Ten teams.

This is a good point because Ohio State closed the gap between FSU from .89 to .5 in 1 week. Obviously, though as long as FSU wins its last 2 it will hold Ohio State off because Clemson is above Wisconsin and the computers have FSU 1st and Ohio State 3rd, and the voters which make up 2/3s of the BCS like FSU more than Ohio State.

 

[SmilinBob]

I think FSU had an OOC opponent bail on a contract and that's why they played Idaho (was it WVU?).

As for the rest, it's to prep for their big season-ending rival. It's a money-grab and decidedly fan unfriendly. Or in other words, it is the essence of college football.

WV maybe...I know they (WV) chickened out last year. For some reason I thought it was a better team but you're probably right.

 

[SmilinBob]

This is a good point because Ohio State closed the gap between FSU from .89 to .5 in 1 week. Obviously, though as long as FSU wins its last 2 it will hold Ohio State off because Clemson is above Wisconsin and the computers have FSU 1st and Ohio State 3rd, and the voters which make up 2/3s of the BCS like FSU more than Ohio State.

Who would have thought that playing Florida may hurt FSU?

 

[Alsacs]

FSU had WVU bailout on them last year and they would have played them this year, but their OOC is Florida, Idaho, I-AA, and Nevada. I think Nevada replaced West Virginia, but FSU asked the ACC to schedule them a cream puff before Florida because that is what all the SEC teams do before their season ending rivalry games so their players get glorified scrimmages and are fresher for important rivalry games.

 

[wfschrec]

The reason for these games are because the SEC teams like to have a glorified bye weekend before their important season ending rivalry games. Before this season the ACC used to schedule all conference games the week before the ACC-SEC rivalry games, but Florida State and Clemson when they cashed in their political capital last year in getting Louisville over UConn asked the ACC to schedule them cupcakes before Florida and South Carolina so their kids would be as fresh a week before the big rivalry games. That is why Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State all played cupcakes and because the ACC didn't want to give North Carolina a bye week they scheduled a 4th game for this week so everybody could play yesterday. Alabama has no excuse for always playing cupcakes but they probably want the same advantage for their Auburn game each year, but what I just said is why the SEC tends to play these cream puffs at the end and the ACC is following suit this year just to help Ga. Tech, FSU, and Clemson have a better chance against its rivals.

You do realize Bama plays teams like Michigan, VT or PSU annually right? Yeah they played Chattanooga ... we played Wagner ... so what? Everyone has cupcakes on their schedule we play them week 3 or 4 .. they played them week 12 ... not sure what the big deal is?

 

[Alsacs]

Who would have thought that playing Florida may hurt FSU?

Yeah, but because of Florida's name it won't hurt FSU that much IMO. The perception of the SEC is so strong that beating any SEC team is given respect even if they suck as Florida does. Plus, I bet Ohio State would rather play Michigan this week than Florida just because of how badly Ohio State does against SEC teams, and Michigan is better than Florida. FSU needs Duke to beat North Carolina so FSU gets a ranked team in the ACC Championship game and it neutralizes any potential credit Ohio State would get for beating a good 1 loss Michigan State team.

 

[Alsacs]

You do realize Bama plays teams like Michigan, VT or PSU annually right? Yeah they played Chattanooga ... we played Wagner ... so what? Everyone has cupcakes on their schedule we play them week 3 or 4 .. they played them week 12 ... not sure what the big deal is?

Alabama shouldn't need the cream puff the week before the rivalry game, but they do it. I said they like to play a cream puff so they are fresher for an important rivalry game. I applaud Alabama for playing a name opponent week 1 because week 1 tends to have crap games, and Alabama smartly uses the week 1 game against a good opponent as summer motivation for their team. Alabama is playing West Virginia week 1 next year in Atlanta again.

 

[SmilinBob]

You do realize Bama plays teams like Michigan, VT or PSU annually right? Yeah they played Chattanooga ... we played Wagner ... so what? Everyone has cupcakes on their schedule we play them week 3 or 4 .. they played them week 12 ... not sure what the big deal is?

Bama plays one good OOC game a year and it is usually at home or at a neutral site.

 

[wfschrec]

Bama plays one good OOC game a year and it is usually at home or at a neutral site.

Yeah and look how many ranked teams they play during the regular season ... last year their SOS was 14 ours was 48 ... honestly you can't even compare it.

 

[SmilinBob]

Yeah and look how many ranked teams they play during the regular season ... last year their SOS was 14 ours was 48 ... honestly you can't even compare it.

From what I've seen the ACC has beat as many or more AQ's OOC than the SEC. Hell, Pitt beat a now ranked ND, if an SEC team did that we'd all know it over and over again.

 

[Alsacs]

Yeah and look how many ranked teams they play during the regular season ... last year their SOS was 14 ours was 48 ... honestly you can't even compare it.

Alabama's schedule is easy compared to other SEC schools. Georgia played Auburn and LSU as cross-over opponents.
The SEC East teams Alabama played are Tennessee and Kentucky.
LSU and @Texas A&M are good opponents. Ole Miss is decent, but nothing special.
@Auburn this week will be their most difficult opponent.
This whole myth that the SEC is a grind isn't true you have 2 or 3 tough games. The Pac-12 is better top to bottom than the SEC.

Alabama will have played 3 ranked teams in conference play LSU, Texas A&M, and Auburn, and if A&M loses to Missouri this week then it will be 2 ranked teams.

 

[Pyle]

Idaho and Toledo are both BCS programs and therefore count towards bowl eligibility regardless. We did the same thing with Wagner and Tulane, 1 is FCS, the other is low end BCS, but both games count towards bowl eligibility. I would also say that Toledo is historically a better opponent than Tulane as they've given us fits in the dome over the last decade. I get your point but we are following the same exact schedule recipe. As for playing these games in Nov, when you don't need to front load on cupcakes like we do, then you have the luxury of scheduling these games as a faux-bye week. Play your starters for a half and let everyone rest before the big game next week.

 

[wfschrec]

Alabama's schedule is easy compared to other SEC schools. Georgia played Auburn and LSU as cross-over opponents.
The SEC East teams Alabama played are Tennessee and Kentucky.
LSU and @Texas A&M are good opponents. Ole Miss is decent, but nothing special.
@Auburn this week will be their most difficult opponent.
This whole myth that the SEC is a grind isn't true you have 2 or 3 tough games. The Pac-12 is better top to bottom than the SEC.

Alabama will have played 3 ranked teams in conference play LSU, Texas A&M, and Auburn, and if A&M loses to Missouri this week then it will be 2 ranked teams.

Yep and Bama will have to beat a ranked Mizzou in the title game ... oh and by the way Ole Miss was ranked when Bama beat them and is in the also receiving votes category ... give me that awful schedule of marquee teams like Auburn, A&M, LSU, Ole Miss any day while throwing in VT a team that has an outside shot of playing for the ACC championship. Good grief you don't have to like the SEC or how they "schedule" but I think you guys let your distaste cloud your judgement at times.

 

[wfschrec]

From what I've seen the ACC has beat as many or more AQ's OOC than the SEC. Hell, Pitt beat a now ranked ND, if an SEC team did that we'd all know it over and over again.

Ok and that affect Bama's schedule how? Not at all the point I was making, your distaste for their scheduling practices clouds your judgement on some of this stuff ... and yeah we did hear about an SEC team dismantling ND .. .it was Bama for the title beating ND unlike anything a BE team could have done last season.

 

[SWC75]

My post was really about playing such games in November, especially since you already played that kind of team earlier in the eyar. Yes, we placed Wagner and Tulane, (who is going bowling, by the way) but we did it in September. That's when these kind of "tune up" games should be played.

 

[sufandu]

November in college football is a bout big games: rivalry games, deciding conference championships, who plays for the national championship, bowl spots, etc. So why were these games played yesterday?

#1 Alabama 49 Chattanooga 0
#2 Florida State 80 Idaho 14
#7 Clemson 52 The Citadel 6
#11 South Carolina 70 Coastal Carolina 10

Also:
North Carolina 80 Old Dominion 20
Georgia Tech 66 Alabama A&M 7

The average halftime score of these games was 43-5.

Full disclosure:
Georgia Southern 26 Florida 20
But this was supposed be one of the above games. It's Florida's fault that it wasn't.

I don't mind one of these games early in the season.
But Alabama had already played Georgia State.
Florida State had already played Nevada and Bethune-Cookman.
Clemson had already played South Carolina State.
South Carolina actually had avoided this type of game until now. But why not play it in September?
North Carolina had already played Middle Tennessee State.
Georgia Tech had already played Elon.
Florida had already played Toledo.

Also, if you are going to play a team like this, play a team for your state or maybe an adjacent state. Why should Florida State play Nevada or Idaho? Why should Florida play Toledo?

And even the "be unkind to your neighbors" games should be gotten out of the way early in the season. They don't belong in November. It's like the NFL playing exhibition games in December.

Said the same thing Saturday. The obvious answer is that these teams wanted another off week prior to their rivalry games.