For those who don't get what Earle, CA, and I (and Gray and others) are basically saying..........look at it like this.
The ACC and SEC play eight conference games, the other P5 teams play nine. So right there you have an EXTRA GAME that the ACC and SEC teams (presumably) "have" to fill with someone....and if they don't, there's the fear that come decision time they might run into "but team X played fewer games." Better to play a cupcake and fork over some money for education (in hopes of getting the big pot of gold) than run the risk of losing out because you played less.
But that's not even the beginning of the problem. You also have in-state rivalry games between OOCs that reduce the number of games you can schedule. Clemson and South Carolina have played every single year for more than a century going back to LONG before the ACC came into existence (1953) or SC joined the SEC (1992).
You have games like:
Georgia-Ga Tech
Michigan-Notre Dame
USC-Notre Dame
Florida-Florida St
Those rivalries are huge and local money makers so those games aren't going anywhere.
Purdue and Notre Dame used to play every single year. What happened? The Big Ten expanded to a nine-game schedule starting in 2016, so Purdue last met the Irish in 2014. LSU used to play Tulane every year long after the Green Wave left the SEC.
So.....you already have one fewer game for three of the P5 conferences and some have already filled that slot with a huge rival. That means you now have even fewer chances for the ACC or SEC and then you run right smack into something called economics. Alabama would LOSE MONEY if we went and played home/home games with Oregon St, UCF, or Wazzu.
Let's say - for the sake of argument - Alabama and USC decide they want to play a home/home. That's reasonable, right? Both schools have big home stadiums, national brand, etc. So look at USC's overall schedule:
9 conference games (out of 12)
Notre Dame
USC has to pick 2 other opponents
Also.....these games have to be played when OTHER teams have an open date, which pretty much guarantees they MUST be September games. So....home and home in September......won't really affect USC too awful much or some other schools (Texas), but who wants to add that burden to a schedule?
What about Texas?
9 Big 12 games
3 slots to fill - one is usually a national power (Ohio St, USC)
If you're Texas, do you want to ADD Alabama to that slate? Of course, they have with a H/H in coming years.
Alabama otoh has to fill FOUR games. And we've done a really good job of challenging right from the opener - Va Tech twice, FSU, WVA, USC, Clemson in 2008, and we had a H/H with Penn State in September, too.
The Tim Brandos of the world can complain about our schedule all they wish, but the fact remains no team of the last decade has played more big games than Alabama has - and nobody has won more, either. That alone refutes the whole "Alabama doesn't play anybody" cliche.
