Why are most of the SEC teams playing FCS opponents this week?

[SoonerLaw09]

Just curious. Seems kinda weird this late in the year. It's not all of them, but a lot of them.

[agoo758]

They do this every year, and it pisses me off. NCAA needs to ban matchups like these.

[Hot Rod]

I notice this every year. No wonder they have such high ranking teams. Their strength of schedule is basically only based off of their conference.

[bluedogok]

Most play some conference games early in the season instead of closing out the year against the conference. CBS wants some decent games earlier in the season.

[ouflak]

Conference realignment has screwed up a lot of schedules and produced weird results. It's why we ourselves had two off-weeks so close to each other and early on in the season. Assuming no more re-alignment shifts, things will for the most part get back to 'normal' over the coming years..

[arcman46]

Conference realignment has screwed up a lot of schedules and produced weird results. It's why we ourselves had two off-weeks so close to each other and early on in the season. Assuming no more re-alignment shifts, things will for the most part get back to 'normal' over the coming years..

This has been going on for years. It has nothing to do with conference realignment. With the amount of cupcakes that the SEC plays OOC, and almost always at home, and the 8 game schedule, most SEC teams on the top tier are playing 6-7 gimmes a year.

[Mississippi Sooner]

This is when the SEC folks trot out the classic "we have to schedule these games because our conference is so tough." Of course, the rest of us know that, taken as a whole, the SEC isn't really any deeper than most of the other conferences in any given year. What do Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Auburn have in common? None have a winning record.

[badger]

Because they are the toughest football conference in the country! Derrrrrrp

[Mac94]

Because the SEC does alot of conference games in September. Both A&M and Mizzou had their first SEC games on 9/8 ... The Florida Tennessee game is usually in September. So that puts an OOC game later in the year and very very few FBS teams are going to have an open date in November. Plus, it does give the schools a bit of a break late in the year.

[jkjsooner]

I notice this every year. No wonder they have such high ranking teams. Their strength of schedule is basically only based off of their conference.

That is a point that get lost entirely. With three OOC games, plenty of major conference teams play schedules with an SOS that exceeds many SEC teams.

[badger]

Plus, it does give the schools a bit of a break late in the year.

I would just love to see the almighty SEC have a few teams take "a bit of a break" and get upset at home to FCS teams :P

[PalmBeachSooner]

Most play some conference games early in the season instead of closing out the year against the conference. CBS wants some decent games earlier in the season.

This is true. Two of Florida's first three games were conference games. They have no choice but to schedule some scrubs on the backend of the schedule. It also allows them to schedule FSU at the end of the season. If anything it's a disadvantage. So why y'all bitchin?

Aug. 30
South Carolina at Vanderbilt

Sept. 8
Auburn at Mississippi State
Florida at Texas A&M
Georgia at Missouri

Sept. 15
Alabama at Arkansas
Florida at Tennessee

[badger]

If anything it's a disadvantage. So why y'all bitchin?
Because if it really is a disadvantage you'd think they wouldn't have taken the past 6 national titles :mad:

[Salt City Sooner]

It irks me to say it, but when it's come to playing good teams in the OOC this year, SEC > B12, & it isn't all that close. I'm not saying that the SEC has played a murderer's row or anything like that, rather the fact that the B12 OOC's have been subpar to say the least.

[badger]

The Bottom 10 on ESPN tributed this fact, but there are THREE (count em THREE) SEC! SEC! teams that have ZERO wins in the SEC this season. THREE!

- Aubourbon
- Kenfukky
- Rocky Toppy

And there's more that have LOSING records overall!

S-E-C! S-E-C! :P

[OkieThunderLion]

The Bottom 10 on ESPN tributed this fact, but there are THREE (count em THREE) SEC! SEC! teams that have ZERO wins in the SEC this season. THREE!

- Aubourbon
- Kenfukky
- Rocky Toppy

And there's more that have LOSING records overall!

S-E-C! S-E-C! :P
Could Kansas beat any of those 3?

[Johnny Utah]

The SEC has been doing this for awhile (based on my cursory research). Its teams will typically schedule some tougher OOC games earlier in the season, and will then "take a break" with FCS-type opponents over the 1st, 2nd or 3rd Saturday in November. I guess this helps to avoid a late season loss that might knock the conference leaders out of BCS Bowl contention. The historical data on the SEC website was too cumbersome to copy, so hopefully the link will work (go the the "Results" window for season-by-season schedules).

http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/SECSPORTS/SPORTS/FOOTBALL.aspx

[SoonerNomad]

This is just the way they have set up the schedule for many many years, including playing numerous conference games in the second and third week of the season. My personal opinion is that they should add a ninth conference game, especially with a 14 team conference. However, whatever they are doing is working so why change.

Georgia (my favorite SEC team) has benefitted from the 8 game conference schedule the last two years and by not having to play LSU or Alabama in either year.

[8timechamps]

They got a pass for this for a lot of years because of the "we're the toughest conference, so we beat each other up" myth. Now that it's pretty clear that it's an average conference with one or two really good teams, everyone is seeing through the smokescreen. They do it because it's an easier path to stay in the top 10.

The best part is that once 2014 rolls around, and there are playoffs, schedules will take a much bigger roll. We're going to see a lot more quality OOC match-ups, because teams won't be able to pad their win column with cupcakes. Fortunately, Stoops was never in that group. Even when the TCU thing happened, and they became a conference team and forced us to play FAMU, we still had Notre Dame on the schedule. Stoops and Castiglione have always been good about playing anyone/anywhere.

[Sabanball]

They got a pass for this for a lot of years because of the "we're the toughest conference, so we beat each other up" myth. Now that it's pretty clear that it's an average conference with one or two really good teams, everyone is seeing through the smokescreen. They do it because it's an easier path to stay in the top 10.


That 'average' conference has 6 teams in the top 9 of the BCS this week.

[Collier11]

I think they need to put in some sort of rule where you can only play a FCS school once every 3 or 4 years, and if you sing a contract you cant back out. You soo far too many where a matchup is signed, the coach or AD changes and then a school backs out. Force teams to honor the contracts

[bluedogok]

It irks me to say it, but when it's come to playing good teams in the OOC this year, SEC > B12, & it isn't all that close. I'm not saying that the SEC has played a murderer's row or anything like that, rather the fact that the B12 OOC's have been subpar to say the least.
The Big 12 Mergers & Acquisitions in the past year changed some schedules around, remember that OU had TCU as an out of conference game this season. When TCU came into the conference it necessitated finding another out of conference opponent, which is why FAMU came to Norman.

[Salt City Sooner]

The Big 12 Mergers & Acquisitions in the past year changed some schedules around, remember that OU had TCU as an out of conference game this season. When TCU came into the conference it necessitated finding another out of conference opponent, which is why FAMU came to Norman.
I'm not talking about OU; the OOC's have always been solid under Joe. BTW, FAMU wasn't the replacement for TCU, UTEP was:

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-football-analyzing-the-sooners-2012-schedule/article/3703775#axzz2CS9U1bmv

When you look at the other teams' OOC's, their marquee games are still on there (sans WVU, who dropped the 'noles when they joined), & other than maybe Virginia or Iowa (bowl teams last year), none were expected to do much this year. Heck, there are 3 teams (BU, TTU, & KU) in the conference who don't have a single BCS team in their OOC's combined.

I'm not necessarily trying to cast any blame on those teams who did attempt to get a decent team on their schedule because those sets are normally made several years in advance, & things can happen (i.e. OU scheduling Rose Bowl champ Washington after the '00 season, only to have UW go winless when OU made the trip to Seattle in '08 ). I'm just saying that a big portion of those attempts didn't work out in getting good matchups for those schools who did in fact try to get one. Of the BCS teams that found their way onto B12 teams OOC's, only Notre Dame (OU) & Arizona (OSU) are above .500.

[bluedogok]

I'm just saying that sometimes these out of conference games get dropped and a team has to scramble to find an opponent. I think the OU-Indiana State game was one of those situations as well, can't remember who the team was that backed out. I think that happens much more than we hear about.

[8timechamps]

They got a pass for this for a lot of years because of the "we're the toughest conference, so we beat each other up" myth. Now that it's pretty clear that it's an average conference with one or two really good teams, everyone is seeing through the smokescreen. They do it because it's an easier path to stay in the top 10.


That 'average' conference has 6 teams in the top 9 of the BCS this week.

Please don't try to justify the SEC bias with national rankings. There is no way LSU or Florida should be ranked ahead of Oklahoma, and you know it. Top to bottom, the SEC is average.

[picasso]

Yeah but even the bottom teams in the SEC have unfathomable speed.

[Sooner98]

Compare the SEC's non-conference schedule vs. the Big 12's. The Big 12, other than OU playing Notre Dame, is an absolute joke. The SEC plays the best of the best.

Alabama played Michigan (currently ranked #21)
Florida plays Florida State (#10)
South Carolina plays Clemson (#11)
Georgia plays Georgia Tech
Tennessee played NC State
Vanderbilt played Northwestern
Kentucky played Louisville (#19)
Texas A&M played Louisiana Tech (#20)
LSU played Washington (#25)
Ole Miss played Texas (#15)
Arkansas played Rutgers (#22)
Auburn played Clemson (#11)

That's nine non-conference opponents that are currently ranked. How many ranked non-conference opponents will the Big 12 play against this year? ONE (Notre Dame).

Other notable games on the Big 12 conference's murderer's row of non-conference opponents include: Iowa, Maryland, Virginia, Arizona, Ole Miss, Arizona, and Miami FL (all unranked).

By the way, here is a list of the Big 12's FCS opponents this year: Missouri State, Florida A&M, Savannah State, Northwestern State, Grambling State, James Madison, Western Illinois, Sam Houston State, and South Dakota State.

[8timechamps]

Compare the SEC's non-conference schedule vs. the Big 12's. The Big 12, other than OU playing Notre Dame, is an absolute joke. The SEC plays the best of the best.

Alabama played Michigan (currently ranked #21)
Florida plays Florida State (#10)
South Carolina plays Clemson (#11)
Georgia plays Georgia Tech
Tennessee played NC State
Vanderbilt played Northwestern
Kentucky played Louisville (#19)
Texas A&M played Louisiana Tech (#20)
LSU played Washington (#25)
Ole Miss played Texas (#15)
Arkansas played Rutgers (#22)
Auburn played Clemson (#11)

That's nine non-conference opponents that are currently ranked. How many ranked non-conference opponents will the Big 12 play against this year? ONE (Notre Dame).

Other notable games on the Big 12 conference's murderer's row of non-conference opponents include: Iowa, Maryland, Virginia, Arizona, Ole Miss, Arizona, and Miami FL (all unranked).

By the way, here is a list of the Big 12's FCS opponents this year: Missouri State, Florida A&M, Savannah State, Northwestern State, Grambling State, James Madison, Western Illinois, Sam Houston State, and South Dakota State.

The best of the best?

I'll agree that the Big XII OOC schedule was absolutely horrid this year. But most years, it's not even comparable to the cupcakes the SEC plays.

Really, the best of the best?

[Sooner98]

The best of the best?

I'll agree that the Big XII OOC schedule was absolutely horrid this year. But most years, it's not even comparable to the cupcakes the SEC plays.

Really, the best of the best?

Yes. Michigan, Clemson, Florida State, etc. are among the best non-SEC teams this year. Is this even debatable?

[8timechamps]

Yes. Michigan, Clemson, Florida State, etc. are among the best non-SEC teams this year. Is this even debatable?

I really can't tell if you're being sarcastic. I think you are, but i'm not entirely sure.

FSU has a good team this year, but losing to NC State kind of tells us that they are not elite. Clemson is decent, but probably not elite. And Michigan, well, they are kind of a joke. That's the one that has me thinking you are being sarcastic.

Also, playing a good team doesn't mean anything, unless you beat that team.

[Johnny Utah]

Also, playing a good team doesn't mean anything, unless you beat that team.

^^^this^^^

[Sooner98]

I really can't tell if you're being sarcastic. I think you are, but i'm not entirely sure.

FSU has a good team this year, but losing to NC State kind of tells us that they are not elite. Clemson is decent, but probably not elite. And Michigan, well, they are kind of a joke. That's the one that has me thinking you are being sarcastic.

Also, playing a good team doesn't mean anything, unless you beat that team.

Not talking about winning and losing. The entire thread was based on the idea that the SEC plays a bunch of FCS schools and nobodies in the non-conference, but if you look at it, in reality they play the BEST non-conference schedule among the BCS conferences, and it's not even close.

I'm not a "fan" of the SEC, but I do respect their success on the field (especially against two of OU's best teams of the last 25 years) and their willingness to play quality opponents. This thread was just sounding like a lot of irrational, aggy-like jealousy of them.