A thought for the bye weeks

[GoBamaJags]

Here's your fix for the bye week...

.............week 5.....................week 6..................week 7
* ......Alabama....................Auburn......................LSU
* ......Miss. St....................Ole Miss...................Arkansas
*.......Tennessee.................Georgia....................Florida
*.......USCe.........................Kentucky.................Vandy

Consider this season 1. The next season, week 5 goes to 6, 6 to 7 and 7 to 5. The protected cross division game teams are always in the same week, so Tennessee doesn't have a week off prior to us, LSU doesn't have one off prior to FL, etc... Not sure I got all the cross division foes correct, but you get the point.

Eight teams are left each week to cover the TV requirements either with conference or OOC games.

The best part, no team will ever play more than 1!!!!!!!! conference game against a team with a bye week before playing them.

 

[bamamoss2]

Quick send it to the SEC offices; they apparently do not have a clue.

 

[thunderz7]

But one of our bitter enemies roy kramer set it up like it is'
and this $live person has refused to do anythilng about fixing it.
Your idea is far better than theirs,
I nominate you for Commish of the SEC.

 

[capnfrog]

But one of our bitter enemies roy kramer set it up like it is'
and this $live person has refused to do anythilng about fixing it.
Your idea is far better than theirs,
I nominate you for Commish of the SEC.

I second the nomination. GoBamaJags for commissioner of the SEC. Mike Slive best straighten up because this thing might grow fast.

 

[Rueben]

 

[BamaGalfromN.AL]

Arkansas plays USCe and Miss State plays Vandy, but I understand your point. Not only should the SEC office set the league game schedule, but set the off week as a fixed part of the schedule first, then let the teams schedule their OOC games around that. Right now the SEC sets their games with multiple holes in between league games, allowing the schools to fill in OOC and set their own open weekend. Only problem with the rotating off week each year is the 'set weekends' between rivalries, such as when UT-UA plays in Oct, UGA-AU plays in Nov...those who play in the middle of the season like us would have to allow that weekend date to change. We don't play 3rd weekend in Oct any more consistently with UT, so it may not matter...but it will ruffle the feathers of a few who will insist they "always" play a particular game on a particular weekend. Weak argument granted, but be prepared to hear them scream that! Otherwise, good thinking about assigning an off weekend and forcing the schools to schedule OOCs around those and the league games.

 

[BamaFossil]

I'm for it, if it could be pulled off. However, I don't see the schools giving the SEC office the authority to set bye weeks. Furthermore, schools would still complain. i.e. "Why is our bye week before we play Vandy while Florida gets their bye week before they play us??" And finally, I suspect schools would figure out a way to play a game in late August, thereby allowing them to sandwich in a second bye week if they really wanted to. Then back to square one.

Here's the approach I think could gain traction....

It starts with "reciprocating" bye weeks. Bama's bye is before LSU; LSU's bye is before Bama. And so forth. Pick out a rivalry series and each team shares a bye week prior to playing their rival. Trouble is, this still requires schools to grant the league office the authority to schedule bye weeks. In fact, the only way to ensure that teams can't gang up on Bama (or any other team), is to schedule each school's conference games such that there is no opportunity for a bye; they're booked solid with conference games every week.

So the next step would be to schedule the SEC conference games in sequential weeks with no bye weeks, except for the targeted bye week before playing the assigned rival. In this situation, Bama would play three or four non-conference games, then maybe three conference games, have a bye week, then play LSU. LSU's schedule would be the same. And similarly for every conference school. (All reciprocating bye weeks could fall in weeks 6, 7, or 8.) The point is that if every school's conference calender is booked solid every week during conference play, they have no opportunity to shuffle a cupcake team to another slot and open up a slot before playing Bama (or whatever is the team they want a bye prior to playing).

Unless and until the SEC office does this, IMO there will always exist the danger of a school getting ganged up on via the bye week process.

 

[BamaNation]

This is too brilliant to ever be adopted. Kudos for solving a problem that the millionaires inside the SEC office have screwed up for the last 25 years.