Getting Tired Of Hearing The Knocks On Our "Weak" Schedule

RedWave

All-SEC
Sep 26, 2000
1,579
3
0
Arlington, Tx
I stay on sports radio stations pretty much any time I am in my car, and mostly on ESPNU. And the really common theme I hear so much these days is about how weak Alabama's schedule is and how we should be ashamed. I get it. Our one bigger OOC game this year is Louisville. But saying this is the "Nick Saban Way" is a way out of line to me. So I got to thinking about it, and hear is what I know. In almost every year since Saban has taken over, we have played at least one OOC game with a team that has, during that period, been a media darling. There are very few contenders since 2007 who have not yet played a Saban-coached Alabama team (Oregon is the only one I can really think of).

2007: Florida State. Yeah, they got us in Saban's first year.
2008: Clemson. They were ranked 9. We were ranked 24. How did that all work out?
2009: Virginia Tech. They have been down the last few years, but they were very much contenders in this era. Both teams ranked in the top 10. Scoreboard doesn't reflect just how thoroughly Bama beat those guys.
2010: Penn State. Ok, so we got them when they were not at their best, but they were still ranked 18 for that game.
2011: Penn State again. This time they were ranked 23 to our 3.
2012: Michigan. They were ranked #8. We stole their lunch money and sent them home.
2012: Notre Dame. Did Manti ever find his girlfriend?
2013: Virginia Tech again. Past their best day, and this game showed it. But still..
2013: Oklahoma. I hate to even talk about this one. But they are one of the only two top tier teams that can legitimately claim they have the better of Coach Saban at Alabama.
2014: West Virginia. This game was not pretty. WV is not quite at the level of some of these teams, but they did have a few good years
2014: Ohio State. Ugh...See my note on Oklahoma. Hats off to both of those
2015: Wisconsin. Not even close
2015: Michigan State. Were we even playing the same sport?
2015: Clemson. One of the most exciting games I have ever watched, though some defense would have been nice
2016: USC. Pac-12. LOL
2016: Washington: See USC
2016: Clemson. This one hurt, but good job to them
2017: FSU. Pre-season, this game was all the talk. 1 vs 3. Could be a game we would see again in January. Then the whistle blew.
2017: Clemson. We are 3-1 against them with Saban

So yeah. We don't play anyone outside of our conference. If you went through all the conferences and started naming the top teams from each of them, there are not many we haven't played. We have Miami on the schedule coming in a few years. We might want to try to get Oregon and/or Stanford going. But who else do they want us to beat before they stop saying that. I would like us to schedule an opener with OSU or Oklahoma, though. In my eyes, they can still hold the banner against us until we beat them, so I would like to even those out soon.
 

BamaHoosier

All-American
Jan 17, 2011
3,614
620
132
Noblesville Indiana
We really can't count the playoff games as resume building non-conference opponents because we have no control over who we play in those games. Plus the folks who are complaining about our scheduling are usually the ones arguing their reasons on why we shouldn't be in the playoffs playing those teams anyways. (ie: Joel Klatt, Danny Kannell, etc.)

End of the day, the root of all their comments are pure jealousy. The pundits who are sick of us want us to lose so badly that they'd rather us play 12 top 25 teams every season. However, when we do play teams inside the top 25, we beat them so badly that it ruins their arguments. Their only recourse is to minimize our success by degrading our competition. I tend to tune these comments out because I recognize them for the garbage they are. When I do choose to be entertained by them, I almost feel gratified that we have such a large footprint over the college football landscape that national media can say nothing against us except logically flawed arguments. It's an exercise in futility on their end, and I'm pretty sure Saban feeds off of that negativity to keep the team hungry. Let them moan, because that's all they have. RTR

Edit: For the record though, I do agree with you on getting tired of the knock on our scheduling. Last year was the epitome of the double standard. FSU was one of the most hyped games in history. We can't control the wheels falling off for them. Plus we scheduled two other bowl teams in Fresno and CSU, yet those games were held against us like we had played UTEP and UL-Monroe. Any other team would have been praised extensively for their scheduling if they had played the same 3 teams. It's only going to get worse from here on out with Louisville and Duke upcoming.
 
Last edited:

RollTide_HTTR

Hall of Fame
Feb 22, 2017
8,766
6,532
187
I get tired of it too and don't think it has been justified very often previously. That said, our OOC schedule this year and next is pretty lame. We should blow out both Louisville and Duke.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,932
15,930
282
Boone, NC
Only way to fix it is to make P5 schools only play each other. But as long as there are 120+ teams available, those bottom 60 something schools have to make their money playing the Bama, NDs, Oh. States, Clemson etc. to make ends meet. Plus, why should we replace directional schools on our schedule just because we are on top right now when all the other schools won't?
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,499
46,842
187
Win them all and it will not matter. But this is the weakest that your schedule has been in a long, long time. Not your fault, but it is true.
 

RedWave

All-SEC
Sep 26, 2000
1,579
3
0
Arlington, Tx
Only way to fix it is to make P5 schools only play each other. But as long as there are 120+ teams available, those bottom 60 something schools have to make their money playing the Bama, NDs, Oh. States, Clemson etc. to make ends meet. Plus, why should we replace directional schools on our schedule just because we are on top right now when all the other schools won't?
OK. Sure. So, we cancel the Colorado State game to play, I don't know, Syracuse instead? Someone of that ilk is really no different that CSU or Fresno State, really. Tim Brando made a little bit of a snide remark about our OOC schedule recently, and all I could think of was Troy. At least we win those, buddy (Ok, Warhawks, we owe you one).
 

RedWave

All-SEC
Sep 26, 2000
1,579
3
0
Arlington, Tx
Win them all and it will not matter. But this is the weakest that your schedule has been in a long, long time. Not your fault, but it is true.
No doubt. But who would you have us play that we haven't? I am just saying they like to claim that it is so Saban-like to make the weakest schedule he can, and that simply is not true. I don't think we intended to draw Louisville or Duke these next two years. They are just who we were given in order to play in our neutral-site openers. May not be true on Louisville, but they were supposed to have Lamar Jackson, so the game could have been more interesting.
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,499
46,842
187
No doubt. But who would you have us play that we haven't? I am just saying they like to claim that it is so Saban-like to make the weakest schedule he can, and that simply is not true. I don't think we intended to draw Louisville or Duke these next two years. They are just who we were given in order to play in our neutral-site openers. May not be true on Louisville, but they were supposed to have Lamar Jackson, so the game could have been more interesting.
It is the off season. Someone proclaiming Alabama's dominance is not going to get many views. Someone claiming that Alabama is weak is going to attract ridicule. So this is what they have to criticize. I'm cool with that.

:cheers2:
 

RedWave

All-SEC
Sep 26, 2000
1,579
3
0
Arlington, Tx
Just perusing some other team's schedules, it looks like some have a bit of a tougher OOC lineup than ours, Ohio State being one where that is the case. I get it. We schedule our one tough OOC game and then sprinkle in some practice games. There was a time when the SEC West was a weekly land mine, so stepping through that plus one more was enough. I think the Big 10 is a lot like the SEC in that the top tier is pretty stout, but the lower tier is pretty low. I say we keep doing what we have been doing with the opener, then cherry pick someone from the Big 10 or 12 and put them in the place of our Colorado State type games. No difference, really, but the perception might change.

By the way, is Penn State even going to try to play an OOC game this year? Looks like they are all Big 10 plus a couple of high school teams. Michigan is play ND but nobody else, really. Clemson is actually making an effort with a couple of SEC teams, so props there. Notre Dame. I actually have to give them some respect for how they try to schedule.
 

TomFromBama

Suspended
May 14, 2003
1,142
0
0
Lower Alabama
You lost me at the first sentence.

I used to listen to "sports radio" all the time, and frankly, I just got sick of the "baloney" and half baked opinions of the radio personalities, not to mention the utter ridiculousness of most "callers".

Honestly, it's a WASTE of time ESPECIALLY if you listen to a national show, because they play to their audience, and most of their audience are BUTT HURT beyond all imagination about Alabama. IF you could magically take this foolish argument away from them, they'd just invent another meaningless argument to froth up their snowflake listeners.

In a playoff world, ALL that matters is making the playoff - it's like that in every sport that has a playoff, and now that includes CFB. Look at all the teams that have made the P_ayoffs since the deal started up in 2014. How many of those teams have had significantly "Tougher" schedules than Alabama? - I'd argue that NONE of them have, Especially not if you don't count their playoff games against US! :p

And SPARE me the "Horse Droppings" about "Out of Conference" games - NONE of those OOC "Warriors" plays in the SEC! And they can cry all they want about the SEC being "Top Heavy" - most other P-5 conferences aren't "heavy" ANYWHERE....

Heck - Go look at Ohio $tate's 2014 schedule, and take into account how Very WEAK the entire B1G conference was that year. Did it "invalidate" their Title?
Of course not!!

 

TiderJack

Hall of Fame
Jul 9, 2010
12,228
6,251
187
Inverness, AL
There are not a lot of P5 OOC opponents getting in line to play Bama. IIRC correctly I heard Saban say pretty much the same thing. With that said, I would like to get rid of the 11th game Big South conference opponents.

While I have not seen their OOC schedule, UGA is getting abused more than we are.
 
Last edited:

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,932
15,930
282
Boone, NC
OK. Sure. So, we cancel the Colorado State game to play, I don't know, Syracuse instead? Someone of that ilk is really no different that CSU or Fresno State, really. Tim Brando made a little bit of a snide remark about our OOC schedule recently, and all I could think of was Troy. At least we win those, buddy (Ok, Warhawks, we owe you one).
I'm not saying we should do that at all, but it's one thing that will help make scheduling a little less subject to scrutiny. But I wasn't really referring to a team like Col. St. as much as I was to us playing sisters of the poor.

I personally have no problem with the way it is now. But I know season ticket holders would like to see a stronger home schedule and would prefer we don't play a team that really can't give our second team a decent look.
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,306
31,375
187
South Alabama
What’s ironic is that about 70% of this board complains about fcs, non p5, and neutral site games but they are the first to complain about people complaining about our schedule
 

RedWave

All-SEC
Sep 26, 2000
1,579
3
0
Arlington, Tx
What’s ironic is that about 70% of this board complains about fcs, non p5, and neutral site games but they are the first to complain about people complaining about our schedule
I don't complain about those games. I think they are a valuable part of our schedule for getting some playing time for our younger guys, resting up for the brutal SEC path, etc.
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,306
31,375
187
South Alabama
I don't complain about those games. I think they are a valuable part of our schedule for getting some playing time for our younger guys, resting up for the brutal SEC path, etc.
I’m not singling out you or anyone in particular, but there is always multiple threads wanting us to drop fcs and non p5 games in order to replicate the 1978 schedule. It’s just not reasonable to expect a championship in those types of schedules in the modern day. I just kinda find it funny there are threads like this in which we call those other teams complaining about our schedule jealous and whiners but we in turn complain about our schedules as well.

Personally I love the 1 P5, 2 FBS, and 1 FCS setup we have now.
 

TiderMan

All-SEC
Feb 5, 2005
1,360
113
87
55
Moody, AL.
Well our OOC schedule is weak this year. Louisville is without Lamar Jackson and with the likes of Arkansas St, Lousiana-Laffayette, and The Citadel, it doesn't look very challenging. The Citadel game on Nov. 17th really looks bad when other Power 5 Conferences (Pac 12, Big 10, Big 12) are scheduling nothing but conference games in November. It is just not Alabama either.....Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, SC, Auburn, LSU, & A&M all play weak OOC schools that week.

The SEC can help this by either going to a 9 game conference schedule (which Saban wants) or just scheduling nothing but conference games in November. Make all SEC teams play their 4 OOC games and take their bye week in Sept. and Oct. and leave Nov. for nothing but conference games.
 

BamaInBham

All-American
Feb 14, 2007
4,465
2,110
187
Well our OOC schedule is weak this year. Louisville is without Lamar Jackson and with the likes of Arkansas St, Lousiana-Laffayette, and The Citadel, it doesn't look very challenging. The Citadel game on Nov. 17th really looks bad when other Power 5 Conferences (Pac 12, Big 10, Big 12) are scheduling nothing but conference games in November. It is just not Alabama either.....Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, SC, Auburn, LSU, & A&M all play weak OOC schools that week.

The SEC can help this by either going to a 9 game conference schedule (which Saban wants) or just scheduling nothing but conference games in November. Make all SEC teams play their 4 OOC games and take their bye week in Sept. and Oct. and leave Nov. for nothing but conference games.
Who cares what they say. Until the CFP Committee shows they care it doesn't matter. Besides the fans and some media would just look for something else. We have to remember that truth and logic have nothing to do with media and fans complaining - nothing. The CFPC, about whom many like to complain, are by far the most objective, and they understand that the SEC plays their tougher OOC games early, then play the softest at the end. This is because they are playing their primary rivals last.

No need to go to a 9 game conf schedule. In fact, at least one other conf is going back to 8. Other confs want the SEC to go to 9 for a three-fold benefit. One is that the SEC would further cannibalize itself, another is that it reduces the opportunities/demands that they may have to play an SEC program, it also reduces the amount of money entering the SEC coffers because of getting an extra half home game per year. Most other conferences can't do that. The PAC 12 has acknowledged that they have to schedule like they do so their stadiums won't be as empty. Outside of some bluebloods, the other conferences are the same as the PAC 12 to a lesser extent.

Back to the original point - other fans and media care nothing about truth and logic, otherwise they wouldn't be making their charges and would appreciate that the SEC conf schedule is far stronger than any other than the current Big 10 East. It's a waste of time to try and appease them.
 

GrayTide

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 2005
18,810
6,245
187
Greenbow, Alabama
Simple, don't listen to talk radio football sports shows or watch ESPN, Fox or the other crappy sports networks. This type thread reminds me of the white helmet thread that is bound to appear in the next 60 days, it never goes away.
 

Bazza

TideFans Legend
Oct 1, 2011
35,577
21,208
187
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
You guys are always going to be in the spotlight (and for some in their cross hairs).......comes with the territory of being #1.

Strength of schedule is only one factor in determining a program's success during a given season.

All of that stuff sorts itself out as we get close to post season.

Until then.....enjoy your success at the top!
 

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.