Rumors floating that Big Ten could be returning to 8 conference games

KrAzY3 · May 23, 2018

GP for Bama said:
I would like to see all Power five teams agree to play at least 10 Power Five games each year regardless of the number of conference games played.
(11 would be even better)

The massive problem with this is that merely being in a Power 5 conference doesn't really mean much. I mean, as has been mentioned in this thread, the Big 10 added two cupcakes to their conference! What's better than OOC cupcakes? Conference cupcakes! That way you can brag about the number of conference games, while you in fact are playing cupcakes.

It never should have been about the number of conference games. It should be about the quality of the opponent!

rgw · May 23, 2018

The thing is that the SEC could add a 9th game and increase the overall SoS for its conference members but it hasn't worked out like that for the Big Ten because their conference has no depth and poor divisional balance. They'll probably also look to create more scheduling flexibility so teams stay fresh by improving open date options for scheduling by the schools. The truth is that the SEC's conference schedule being only 8 games and more spread out over the season helps keep our contenders fresh because they can optimize their schedules a bit.

colbysullivan · May 23, 2018

B1GTide said:
They are talking about going to the SEC model. You realize that, right?

Yes but now they won’t be able to play the “SEC plays too many cupcakes” card.

NationalTitles18 · May 23, 2018

colbysullivan said:
Yes but now they won’t be able to play the “SEC plays too many cupcakes” card.

The 9 game conference schedule means the B1G already plays too many cupcakes. Taking away a conference game will help their SOS.

ALA2262 · May 23, 2018

RedWave said:
I think I am with you on this. I don't care what conference they are in, just play more power 5 teams. How hard would it be for us to drop, for example, Mercer, and play Wake Forest, Iowa State, or Purdue instead? I can see the issue being that many teams would opt to go for the weakest OOC Power 5 team, though, which could cause a backlog for such teams.

Question-"How hard would it be for us to drop, for example, Mercer, and play Wake Forest, Iowa State, or Purdue instead?"
Answer- Impossible because the three you refer to were all playing mandated conference games on the weekend that Bama played Mercer. As were all but 16 non-SEC FBS teams on that date/weekend. And none of the 16 were willing to have their football team come to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on the next to last weekend to play Bama.

ALA2262 · May 24, 2018

Of the 16 FBS teams available to schedule on the next to last weekend of the 2017 season, only 6 of them were power 5 teams. And Bama had already played one of them. Florida State.

All Big 10 and Big 12 teams were playing conference games. In the ACC, BC was at UConn, Clemson played The Citadel, FSU played Delaware State, and UNC played WCU. Washington State and Colorado of the PAC 12 took that date off.

GP for Bama · May 24, 2018

ALA2262 said:
Question-"How hard would it be for us to drop, for example, Mercer, and play Wake Forest, Iowa State, or Purdue instead?"
Answer- Impossible because the three you refer to were all playing mandated conference games on the weekend that Bama played Mercer. As were all but 16 non-SEC FBS teams on that date/weekend. And none of the 16 were willing to have their football team come to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on the next to last weekend to play Bama.

We would probably keep the weak opponent before the Auburn game, but we could replace maybe Arkansas State with a team like North Carolina State, Virginia or even Illinois. Those would be improvements.

Redwood Forrest · May 26, 2018

GP for Bama said:
We would probably keep the weak opponent before the Auburn game, but we could replace maybe Arkansas State with a team like North Carolina State, Virginia or even Illinois. Those would be improvements.

I am all for this. One of the appeals of college football is the number of teams out there. I really like playing someone, like Louisville, whom we haven't played in a long time. The last time I remember was in a bowl game when Stallings was our coach. We already play different teams but I would like to play at least one more P5 team instead of the G5 guys. Louisville and Pitt (instead of Ark St) would be good. I know Ark St could probably beat Pitt but the reality is P5 teams have a higher status with voters than Ark St does.

ALA2262 · May 26, 2018

Redwood Forrest said:
I am all for this. One of the appeals of college football is the number of teams out there. I really like playing someone, like Louisville, whom we haven't played in a long time. The last time I remember was in a bowl game when Stallings was our coach. We already play different teams but I would like to play at least one more P5 team instead of the G5 guys. Louisville and Pitt (instead of Ark St) would be good. I know Ark St could probably beat Pitt but the reality is P5 teams have a higher status with voters than Ark St does.

P5 schools will not consider anything less than a H/H. Bama is not interested in that. They are going to play 7 home games each season.

RTR91 · May 26, 2018

ALA2262 said:
P5 schools will not consider anything less than a H/H. Bama is not interested in that. They are going to play 7 home games each season.

What about the Texas and ND series?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BamaInBham · May 26, 2018

RTR91 said:
What about the Texas and ND series?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The UTx/ND type H/H in lieu of the neutral site games actually gives Bama 7 and 8 home games per year, rather than the 7 limit they have when playing one neutral site game per year. I.e., they will add a road game but not lose a home game in one year, and add a home game in the other year.

If Bama was substituting a H/H for an Ark State/CSU 2 home game set, then of course they would lose a home game every other year.

ALA2262 · May 26, 2018

RTR91 said:
What about the Texas and ND series?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am not referring to the one OOC slot that Bama will use for H/H or Neutral Site games. I am referring to the three OOC slots that Bama will use only for home games in order to have 7 of those.

B1GMark · May 27, 2018

CrimsonProf said:
Exactly. That's why I think critiques of our schedule is always horse manure. Not to mention by those same criteria I gave, mid-tier SEC teams on par with upper-tier Big 10, with OSU the consistent exception.

Really? Who are your mid-tier SEC teams? I think you underestimate the Big 10. The league is well-coached and deeper than it has been for a while. They didn't have a team who belonged in the playoff but if you look at the top 25 you see that their is some depth in the league.

4Q Basket Case · May 27, 2018

I have no problem with the BIG scheduling however they want.

My problem comes with the hypocrisy. They strut around, noses in the air, crowing about their 9-game schedule, and how that's just one small part of why they're morally superior to everyone else.

Then, when faced with some consequences, it becomes a competitive issue, and morals aren't so important anymore.

I've posted this before, and still believe it:
The cupcake non-conference games serve legitimate purposes for both us and the opponent:
-- They provide respite from the SEC-W schedule. You just can't expect any team, not even Alabama, to be physically and emotionally prepared for 12 opponents, all of whom have a legitimate shot at, at the very least, giving us a game for 2 to 2.5 quarters.

-- If you do play 12 quality opponents, you're going to see injuries increase. Maybe not the incidence of broken bones or ligament tears, but strains, pulls, hyperextensions, deep bruises, etc., etc., will pile up. At the end of the year, every team will be even more of a crippled-up MASH unit than they already are.

-- The opponents need these games for the viability of not just their football programs, but their entire athletic departments. If they quit getting these lucrative paychecks in exchange for taking a beating, a lot of them will dry up and go away.

-- If these sorts of programs do evaporate, they take with them a lot of scholarships that serve as a springboard to college education for a whole bunch of kids, and shots at the NFL for a few.

-- Selfishly, they also provide a chance for families in our own fanbase to go to games with their kids and not spend several hundred dollars or more.

No, these games are not glamorous, and they don't have the cache of a marquee home-and-home with a traditional power, or even of a neutral-site season opener. They are, however, absolutely necessary for both our team and the opponent.

If they are legislated out of existence, there will be a lot of unintended consequences.

UntouchableCrew · May 27, 2018

The B1G's problem isn't 9 conference games, it's the divisional alignment. They should have stuck with that goofy Legends/Leaders setup they had -- the geographic East/West screws them up because it puts four of their best five programs in the same division.

Going from 9 to 8 doesn't help power teams in the East. Is Ohio State going to benefit from playing some Group of 5 team instead of Illinois? Does it matter if Penn State beats Minnesota or Akron by 21 points?

Meanwhile it hurts Wisconsin because through no fault of their own they have no SOS.

Imagine how dumb it would be if the SEC had Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida, and UGA in the same division while Texas A&M went "undefeated in the SEC" playing none of them.

B1GTide · May 27, 2018

4Q Basket Case said:
I have no problem with the BIG scheduling however they want.

My problem comes with the hypocrisy. They strut around, noses in the air, crowing about their 9-game schedule, and how that's just one small part of why they're morally superior to everyone else.

"They" don't - only our jerk of a commissioner does. I don't know of a single B1G fan who thinks that teams like Alabama in the SEC play weak schedules when compared to B1G teams. Remember, there are no B1G fans. We are not like the SEC. We do not root for one another. It is everyone for themselves in the B1G. Only the commissioner thinks or talks like the conference is superior, or even matters.

4Q Basket Case · May 27, 2018

B1GTide said:
"They" don't - only our jerk of a commissioner does. I don't know of a single B1G fan who thinks that teams like Alabama in the SEC play weak schedules when compared to B1G teams. Remember, there are no B1G fans. We are not like the SEC. We do not root for one another. It is everyone for themselves in the B1G. Only the commissioner thinks or talks like the conference is superior, or even matters.

Legitimate points.

But if the presidents didn’t like the way their schools are represented by their commissioner, it seems like they’d do something about it. They don’t seem to mind too much, sooooo.....

Edit: on further thought, you may be saying that there’s a major disconnect between Delany & the presidents vs. the various schools’ fanbases. If that’s the feeling, you’re right....it’s a whole different discussion.

B1GTide · May 27, 2018

4Q Basket Case said:
Edit: on further thought, you may be saying that there’s a major disconnect between Delany & the presidents vs. the various schools’ fanbases. If that’s the feeling, you’re right....it’s a whole different discussion.

Spot on - I am talking about the fans.

ALA2262 · May 27, 2018

4Q Basket Case said:
I have no problem with the BIG scheduling however they want.

My problem comes with the hypocrisy. They strut around, noses in the air, crowing about their 9-game schedule, and how that's just one small part of why they're morally superior to everyone else.

Then, when faced with some consequences, it becomes a competitive issue, and morals aren't so important anymore.

I've posted this before, and still believe it:
The cupcake non-conference games serve legitimate purposes for both us and the opponent:
-- They provide respite from the SEC-W schedule. You just can't expect any team, not even Alabama, to be physically and emotionally prepared for 12 opponents, all of whom have a legitimate shot at, at the very least, giving us a game for 2 to 2.5 quarters.

-- If you do play 12 quality opponents, you're going to see injuries increase. Maybe not the incidence of broken bones or ligament tears, but strains, pulls, hyperextensions, deep bruises, etc., etc., will pile up. At the end of the year, every team will be even more of a crippled-up MASH unit than they already are.

-- The opponents need these games for the viability of not just their football programs, but their entire athletic departments. If they quit getting these lucrative paychecks in exchange for taking a beating, a lot of them will dry up and go away.

-- If these sorts of programs do evaporate, they take with them a lot of scholarships that serve as a springboard to college education for a whole bunch of kids, and shots at the NFL for a few.

-- Selfishly, they also provide a chance for families in our own fanbase to go to games with their kids and not spend several hundred dollars or more.

No, these games are not glamorous, and they don't have the cache of a marquee home-and-home with a traditional power, or even of a neutral-site season opener. They are, however, absolutely necessary for both our team and the opponent.

If they are legislated out of existence, there will be a lot of unintended consequences.

They will not be legislated out of existence. They were legislated INTO existence. The rule prohibiting 1A schools from playing 1AA schools more than once every four years was eliminated on the EXACT same day the 12th game was added to the regular season.

B1GMark · May 28, 2018

B1GTide said:
"They" don't - only our jerk of a commissioner does. I don't know of a single B1G fan who thinks that teams like Alabama in the SEC play weak schedules when compared to B1G teams. Remember, there are no B1G fans. We are not like the SEC. We do not root for one another. It is everyone for themselves in the B1G. Only the commissioner thinks or talks like the conference is superior, or even matters.

I do root for most of other B1G teams in the bowl season. But I had no problem with South Carolina beating Michigan in the Outback. There are just some B1G schools that we recruit against that are just hard to cheer for.

Rumors floating that Big Ten could be returning to 8 conference games

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