Wow! What a diatribe against the SEC by Gameday!

TrueCrimson7

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We've proven ourselves. ESPN has been hypocritical about various teams scheduling easier games. I think we're hearing this particularly this year because it's less transparent what the committee will do with strength of schedule (or lack thereof) than the BCS which had it in its algorithm.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Years ago the weekend before the Iron Bowl was an off weekend for both teams, probably for other big rivals as well (e.g. UF/FSU). What what the media folks say if we went back to having an off week?
Same thing - that we should be playing a Power 5 team to help their ratings...
 

bamachile

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I'm fine with not playing Div. I-AA teams late in the season. Never liked it anyway. I do think that the rest of the conferences and their self appointed mouthpieces can shut their grapefruit-sized pieholes, though, unless they want to sit down and agree to a binding pact on who can play who, and when. As much as I hate seeing Bama play the Southwestern State A&M Fighting Caterpillars this week, there are plenty of cheats being used by several conferences. It all gets discussed at once, or everybody takes a Midol and shuts up. I'm fine either way.
 

NationalTitles18

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Same thing - that we should be playing a Power 5 team to help their ratings...
Exactly. No one cries when MEechagain schedules Appy St. in September - until they lose the game. But that's OK because it's September...That makes perfect sense. Besides, how can the SEC schedule non-SEC Power 5 games this weekend when most other conferences only schedule conference games this time of year or schedule cupcakes themselves in prep for their big rival games?
 

lincoln_osiris

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They made everyone move their rivalry game to the week of thanksgiving. Kind of messes with the schedule. We used to play auburn before thanksgiving and had off weeks before the SEC championship.
 

teamplayer

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I think these types of games are necessary, personally. These kids can't be expected to play top 10 or top 20 matchups every dang week with no breaks. I would much rather we spread out the two or three games like this than to play them all at the beginning of the season. I also like how it allows a little break before rivalry week. It's one thing to play only league games in the big 10, but I think any media member should easily admit the difference in SEC and big 10 league schedules. That is what is so aggravating. They focus on out of conference schedules, but that completely ignores the strength of conference schedules.
 

CrimsonTheory

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I know I am late on this BUT, given the conference and the division within the conference Alabama plays in, I have no problem scheduling a cupcake this late in the year. If this was a weak conference like ACC, I can see the argument but jeebus, Bama has to play AU, Ole Miss, MSU, an improving Arkansas and Tennessee, TAM, plus a big name OOC games like Michigan, VT, soon to be Wisconsin next year, so yeah, I'm ok with playing a cupcake this late in the season. Screw ESPN Gameday ninnies.
 
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TIDE-HSV

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Exactly. No one cries when MEechagain schedules Appy St. in September - until they lose the game. But that's OK because it's September...That makes perfect sense. Besides, how can the SEC schedule non-SEC Power 5 games this weekend when most other conferences only schedule conference games this time of year or schedule cupcakes themselves in prep for their big rival games?
Exactly. It's OK for the B1G and others to schedule 4 cupcakes in a row in the beginning, but it's somehow not OK for us to have one (like our rival did) before our rival game. It seems two-faced to me...
 

RTR91

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The SEC Needs a Breather

This weekend, the Southeastern Conference, and much of college football, essentially, is taking the day off.

Sure, there are a couple interesting intra-conference games; Missouri-Tennessee is key to deciding the SEC East, and Mississippi's trip to Arkansas is the virtual definition of a trap game. But in the midst of the College Football Playoff mania, the conference is having itself a collective breather, on the whole. Here are some of the matchups on Saturday:

Western Carolina at Alabama
Charleston Southern at Georgia
Samford at Auburn
South Alabama at South Carolina
Eastern Kentucky at Florida

This has led to considerable derision among many in the college football community that this week is providing the average fan decidedly less couch entertainment than usual. (It certainly has made it difficult for my colleague Matt Brown to find enough games to fill his excellent weekly Pick 'Em column.) After all, there are precious few weeks left in the college football season. The conference championship games are only two weeks away. We're wasting time with these nonsense games in the home stretch. But sometimes the best time to take a break is near the end. Sometimes you need a second to take it all in.
 

Tidewater

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Sagarin has Bama at the #2 toughest schedule, with a 7-1 record against top 30 teams.
If Bama had played the 55th toughest schedule the cupcake argument might hold some water.
 
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crimsonaudio

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No one is suggesting Bama needs to schedule Oregon as an OOC 'filler' before the barn, but any of the perennial bottom 10 FBS teams would be far more respectable than an FCS school.

Yes, Bama (and all SEC teams) play a tough schedule annually, but that doesn't mean they should be playing glorified FCS schools. Especially if those schools think the only way they have a chance is by playing in a manner that potentially injures your team.
 

runtheoption22

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We are beat up enough as it is after playing LSU and MSU in back to back weeks. I do not mind a cupcake this week.

Plus, teams do not want to schedule us....remember we were having trouble finding game #12 for next season.
 

Go Bama

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No one is suggesting Bama needs to schedule Oregon as an OOC 'filler' before the barn, but any of the perennial bottom 10 FBS teams would be far more respectable than an FCS school.

Yes, Bama (and all SEC teams) play a tough schedule annually, but that doesn't mean they should be playing glorified FCS schools. Especially if those schools think the only way they have a chance is by playing in a manner that potentially injures your team.
I agree with what you're saying, but until today I'd never really seen a team with no chance resort to dirty play.
 

B1GTide

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Scheduling an SEC East team instead of these kind of teams might solve the problem.
Alabama will be playing its 9th bowl eligible team in Auburn next week (assuming TN beats either Mizzou or Vandy, which is a safe assumption). How much more should a team have to do?
 

p'colabamaman

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TIDE-HSV

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Scheduling an SEC East team instead of these kind of teams might solve the problem.
Saban advocates a nine game conference schedule. Bama's SOS ranks 2nd, behind only Auburn (theirs is above ours only because they have play us). Your SOS is down at a lowly 19th. I think you better bow out because you haven't a leg to stand on...
 

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