NCAA football, 2013-14

[Valmy]

Well when was the last time an Arizona fan murdered their friend for being insufficiently unhappy about a loss to Arizona State?

[alfred russel]

Berkut, that is rather silly.

The SEC gets 2 BCS teams because they often have two teams that are good and have fan bases that will travel / turn on the television. In fact, they often have more than two, but the other conferences have pushed the arrangement that they are limited to two.

Sharing money among all teams isn't unique in the SEC, and depending how you do the accounting they aren't the top conference in payouts anyway.

Also, every team creates schedules to their own benefit. What does make the SEC somewhat unique is that its teams can create out of conference schedules without major concerns about ticket revenue (compared to some schools in the ACC or Pac 12 that will play to half empty stadiums if they schedule a weak school--hell some SEC teams have seen attendance over 80k for spring games).

What makes the SEC really good is fairly obvious. Look at the recruiting rankings the past few years. They dominate. And the reason they dominate recruiting is also fairly obvious: they are located where the top players are, they routinely have the top attendance in the country, they have some of the best facilities, and because of the TV and attendance revenue have the money to bring in the top coaches.

[Berkut]

Of course. The SEC is better just because they are better and have better fans. Uh huh.

I am sure nearly every SEC fan believes that, and just about nobody else.

If your claim was true, then NCAA football would not be the national draw that it is - it would just be a regional sport. And if that were true, the SEC would have dominated college football for the last 100 years instead of just the last 20 or so.


And yeah, I am also sure that non-SEC schools would love to play the absolute patsy bullshit OOC schedules that the SEC does, but again, they just don't have the fan dedication to allow that to happen.

[Valmy]

Hey MBM I hate to be the bearer of horrible tidings but your favorite coach at UT, Jeff "Mad Dog" Madden, has been let go.  I assume you will need a few hours of mourning before you can reply to this post.

[alfred russel]

Of course. The SEC is better just because they are better and have better fans. Uh huh.

I am sure nearly every SEC fan believes that, and just about nobody else.

If your claim was true, then NCAA football would not be the national draw that it is - it would just be a regional sport. And if that were true, the SEC would have dominated college football for the last 100 years instead of just the last 20 or so.


And yeah, I am also sure that non-SEC schools would love to play the absolute patsy bullshit OOC schedules that the SEC does, but again, they just don't have the fan dedication to allow that to happen.

Who has said the SEC has dominated because it has the best fans?

The #1 factor is that they are in the region with the best football players. Miami has won 5 titles--I think more than anyone since 1980--with 4 coaches and in 3 decades--and even in the best times has seen attendance under 30k in a 70k+ stadiums.

And yeah, I am also sure that non-SEC schools would love to play the absolute patsy bullshit OOC schedules that the SEC does, but again, they just don't have the fan dedication to allow that to happen.

Then why do you think they don't? I know exactly what drives Miami's entire OOC schedule: ticket sales. Hence they try to play Florida A&M (they bring a big crowd to see the band), other Florida schools like USF and UCF that bring their own fans, and competitive teams. If Miami didn't have to worry about ticket sales, scheduling could be based on competitive factors.

[Eddie Teach]

The SEC is better because it has more black people to choose from. Sure Pac 12 teams will have black corners,  but they won't be as fast.

The idea that other conferences respect NCAA rules strikes me as naive.

[Valmy]

Texas does their OOC like this:

One pansy
One middling team
One Power Conference team

This season it was:
New Mexico State (Pansy)
BYU (Middling)
Mississippi (Power Conference)

Next season:
North Texas (Pansy)
BYU (Middling)
UCLA (Power Conference)

This has been the pattern for years.

Though in 2015 it gets weird since they have Cal and Notre Dame.  Cal sucks but still a Pac-12 team for the 'middling' team is pretty rough.

[Valmy]

The SEC is better because it has more black people to choose from. Sure Pac 12 teams will have black corners,  but they won't be as fast.

The idea that other conferences respect NCAA rules strikes me as naive.

Well more black people who play football.  Black people in the north tend to play Basketball.

[alfred russel]

A lot of states outside the south don't have spring high school football. If you don't commit your athletes to the sport year round, you should be suprised that your athletes lose to the places where they do.

[Admiral Yi]

The house negroes moved north and the field negroes stayed put.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Hey MBM I hate to be the bearer of horrible tidings but your favorite coach at UT, Jeff "Mad Dog" Madden, has been let go.  I assume you will need a few hours of mourning before you can reply to this post.

Wait.  So you're saying there won't be some morbidly obese dude huffing and puffing his way out onto the field ahead of the players anymore?  But......it's a tradition 

E:  I take it Wiley is gone too?  From what I understand Strong was bringing his S/C coach with him.

E2:  The main staff page has been cleaned out:  http://texassports.com/sports/2013/7/17/FB_0717132218.aspx

[Berkut]

Texas does their OOC like this:

One pansy
One middling team
One Power Conference team

This season it was:
New Mexico State (Pansy)
BYU (Middling)
Mississippi (Power Conference)

Next season:
North Texas (Pansy)
BYU (Middling)
UCLA (Power Conference)

This has been the pattern for years.

Though in 2015 it gets weird since they have Cal and Notre Dame.  Cal sucks but still a Pac-12 team for the 'middling' team is pretty rough.

That is a pretty common theme, which most schools that want to actually strike a reasonable balance will tend to go for (although of course what constitutes a weak/middling/strong opponent will change).

Of course, if all that matters is making sure you get enough wins to either

A) Get into a bowl game, any bowl game, and
B) Make sure you don't risk a loss to an actually competitive team in OOC

then you will end up with OOC schedules much like what you see in the SEC. They play an extra OOC game, and that game is just about always someone who has zero chance of beating them.

Basically, the SEC starts each season with 1 extra win per team.

Like I've said, you have to admire the conference because they really are the masters of playing the game that is NCAA football at the meta level. They are better at it than everyone else.

However, as a non-SEC college football fan, I hate it because it is classic prisoners dilemna. If everyone does the same, it will (and has, for that matter) made college football a much less enjoyable sport for everyone involved outside the SEC.

My only hope is that strength of non-conference schedule become an important part of deciding who gets to a bowl game, just like it is the case in basketball. That will encourage a better mix of OOC football for everyone, even if it is only one part of the reason why the SEC is so dominant.

However, simply because that would weaken the SECs stranglehold, I doubt it will happen.

[The Minsky Moment]

I thought the SEC was so successful because of their high academic standards and commitment to educating student-athletes. 

[Valmy]

E:  I take it Wiley is gone too?  From what I understand Strong was bringing his S/C coach with him.

Well I have no insider information but it sounds like everybody but the interns and low level staff were let go in the S/C program.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Valmy, you see the fake Charlie Strong twitter account that went up almost immediately?

@BDavisAAS: Didn't take long for a fake Charlie Strong twitter account.
@ChuckFnStrong: Come tell that to my quads, paper boy.



@ChuckFnStrong
@BarkingCarnival Where do I get my parking pass do I talk to this Plonsky person for that?

@ChuckFnStrong
@shaggybevo Are you the official Texas Football site?

@ChuckFnStrong
I thought the workout equipment here was new. It's not. Just never been used. Guess I'll give it a go. See y'all in three hours.