Bye week situation corrected for 2011!

[BamaFossil]

I was under the impression that for the 2011 season we would still have to contend with Tennessee Roy's shafting of Alabama re bye week scheduling. I had little faith that the SEC office would take action to fix the problem. However, I'm pleased to see I was wrong! The SEC office and ADs corrected the problem for the upcoming 2011 season. I know Slive gets a lot of brickbats tossed his way mostly due to the Auburn situation (that situation hasn't played out yet...), but it seems to me he's owed a round of applause by Bama fans for pushing through some bye-week scheduling changes. I suspect he could have opted to take no action and we'd be stuck with a horrendous situation like last year. So I'll be a voice in the wilderness saying "Thanks!" to Slive and the ADs for fixing the problem.

While Bama has the most SEC teams with byes before their game with us (three: LSU, OM, & Vandy), that's lightyears better than the last few years. UGA is second with two teams with byes before playing them. Five teams have only one team with a bye prior to playing them. Two SEC teams take their bye prior to playing an OOC game.

The most interesting team re bye week scheduling this year is Tennessee. Their bye comes in week four, immediately after playing Florida and prior to playing... Buffalo!! Lordy... Gotta' watch that Buffalo team. More troubling for TN though, is that they close with nine games in a row without a break. They play KY at the end of the nine-game run, so maybe KY can beat TN (game's in Lexington) for the first time in about a quarter-century. I wouldn't bet on it though...

 

[Black Warrior]

I feel much releived that this has come to pass. LSU is probably our toughest game and we both have bye weeks prior to our game with them. I don't see Vandy or OM being a serious problem, although Nutt seems to come up with something for us yearly, I just don't think their talent will match up to ours. Hopefully our attitudes will be no match for them either.

 

[bamaman07]

Vandy could have ten bye weeks before playing Alabama and it wouldn't make any difference. I'm glad it's them and not Auburn and Tennessee this year.

 

[Bama323]

I was under the impression that for the 2011 season we would still have to contend with Tennessee Roy's shafting of Alabama re bye week scheduling. I had little faith that the SEC office would take action to fix the problem. However, I'm pleased to see I was wrong! The SEC office and ADs corrected the problem for the upcoming 2011 season. I know Slive gets a lot of brickbats tossed his way mostly due to the Auburn situation (that situation hasn't played out yet...), but it seems to me he's owed a round of applause by Bama fans for pushing through some bye-week scheduling changes. I suspect he could have opted to take no action and we'd be stuck with a horrendous situation like last year. So I'll be a voice in the wilderness saying "Thanks!" to Slive and the ADs for fixing the problem.

While Bama has the most SEC teams with byes before their game with us (three: LSU, OM, & Vandy), that's lightyears better than the last few years. UGA is second with two teams with byes before playing them. Five teams have only one team with a bye prior to playing them. Two SEC teams take their bye prior to playing an OOC game.

The most interesting team re bye week scheduling this year is Tennessee. Their bye comes in week four, immediately after playing Florida and prior to playing... Buffalo!! Lordy... Gotta' watch that Buffalo team. More troubling for TN though, is that they close with nine games in a row without a break. They play KY at the end of the nine-game run, so maybe KY can beat TN (game's in Lexington) for the first time in about a quarter-century. I wouldn't bet on it though...

I won't be satisfied until every team has the same number of bye-week opponents. There is no reason why one team should play three teams coming off a bye-week, while another team plays one or none coming off a bye. The only reason three doesn't sound like alot now is because we've been shafted for so long if feels good not to have more.

 

[CullmanTide]

I won't be satisfied until every team has the same number of bye-week opponents. There is no reason why one team should play three teams coming off a bye-week, while another team plays one or none coming off a bye. The only reason three doesn't sound like alot now is because we've been shafted for so long if feels good not to have more.

This. I will take it a step further though. We need a few years with no opponents coming off a bye week just to even the playing field. The SEC owes us big time. A monetary value needs to be placed on bye weeks [a half mil would do]. Should anyone be forced to play a schedule with more than one they get compensated by the league.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

The only way to have a fair bye week situation is to not have any at all. Otherwise you're at the mercy of everyone else. I don't mind facing more than others but that mess last year was beyond insane. Anybody think it an accident the only 3 games we lost were to teams with 2 weeks to prep?

Only the LSU loss was therefore legitimate with an even playing field. Without the extra week we beat Auburn & SC and repeat. That's how big it was.

 

[0LDSCH00L]

I was under the impression that for the 2011 season we would still have to contend with Tennessee Roy's shafting of Alabama re bye week scheduling. I had little faith that the SEC office would take action to fix the problem. However, I'm pleased to see I was wrong! The SEC office and ADs corrected the problem for the upcoming 2011 season. I know Slive gets a lot of brickbats tossed his way mostly due to the Auburn situation (that situation hasn't played out yet...), but it seems to me he's owed a round of applause by Bama fans for pushing through some bye-week scheduling changes. I suspect he could have opted to take no action and we'd be stuck with a horrendous situation like last year. So I'll be a voice in the wilderness saying "Thanks!" to Slive and the ADs for fixing the problem.

While Bama has the most SEC teams with byes before their game with us (three: LSU, OM, & Vandy), that's lightyears better than the last few years. UGA is second with two teams with byes before playing them. Five teams have only one team with a bye prior to playing them. Two SEC teams take their bye prior to playing an OOC game.

The most interesting team re bye week scheduling this year is Tennessee. Their bye comes in week four, immediately after playing Florida and prior to playing... Buffalo!! Lordy... Gotta' watch that Buffalo team. More troubling for TN though, is that they close with nine games in a row without a break. They play KY at the end of the nine-game run, so maybe KY can beat TN (game's in Lexington) for the first time in about a quarter-century. I wouldn't bet on it though...

I wrote an article on BR after I saw a comment on this subject here on Tidefans:

Why the SEC Schedule Makers Are Screwing Alabama and How They Are Doing It | Bleacher Report

The Tuscaloosa News wrote their article a full month after that claiming they broke the story when the scheduling disparity was discussed here on TF first...

This site has always been way ahead of the media as far as what is happening at Alabama, that is why I always pay close attention to what is posted here.

Roll Tide!

 

[BamaFossil]

...The only reason three doesn't sound like alot now is because we've been shafted for so long if feels good not to have more.

I'll give a resounding AMEN! to this! Still, it's much, much better than Tennessee Roy intended it to be for 2011, and IMO that's worthy of a tip-o-the-hat to Slive.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

The only way to have a fair bye week situation is to not have any at all. Otherwise you're at the mercy of everyone else. I don't mind facing more than others but that mess last year was beyond insane. Anybody think it an accident the only 3 games we lost were to teams with 2 weeks to prep?

Only the LSU loss was therefore legitimate with an even playing field. Without the extra week we beat Auburn & SC and repeat. That's how big it was.

Amen to that. I'm honestly surprised that this factor hasn't gotten more attention.

I won't be satisfied until every team has the same number of bye-week opponents. There is no reason why one team should play three teams coming off a bye-week, while another team plays one or none coming off a bye. The only reason three doesn't sound like alot now is because we've been shafted for so long if feels good not to have more.

Amen #2. Everybody should have the same number of pre-conference byes. If we can have a fair and equitable basketball schedule, we can do it with football.

I'll give a resounding AMEN! to this! Still, it's much, much better than Tennessee Roy intended it to be for 2011, and IMO that's worthy of a tip-o-the-hat to Slive.

Gotta disagree here. We still have time-and-a-half the number of byes of the next fewest team, and have been royally shafted for two decades. The fact that Slive presided over merely a princely shafting (as opposed to a kingly one) isn't reason for praise.

 

[ALA2262]

I won't be satisfied until every team has the same number of bye-week opponents. There is no reason why one team should play three teams coming off a bye-week, while another team plays one or none coming off a bye. The only reason three doesn't sound like alot now is because we've been shafted for so long if feels good not to have more.

There is probably no way that it can be equal with each conference team having a bye before another conference team. More than likely impossible rather than improbable. However, there is a way that it could be limited to no more than one per year. It would have to be done three or four years in advance but it could be done.

Here is my proposal using the 2011 schedule as an example and using 3 years in advance as the parameter:

At the 2008 SEC Spring meeting in Destin they could have taken the 2011 schedule and allowed each school to pick, in reverse order of the 2007 SEC standings, a bye week for 2011. Once a school is chosen as a bye-week opponent then it is removed from any other school's list in which it is one of the choices. The picking order, choices, and my prediction in parentheses that would have been made in 2008 for 2011:

1. Ole Miss--- VU, (Bama), LSU, other

2. VU--- UM, Bama, (Ark), other

3. UK--- UF, MSU, (other)

4. USC--- UGA, VU, (ut), other

5. Bama--- Ark, (LSU), Aub, other

6. MSU--- AU, UGA, USC, (UK), Bama, other

7. Ark--- Bama, (UM), other

8. UF--- ut, (UGA), other

9. AU--- MSU, (USC), UGA, Bama, other

10. UGA--- USC, UM, (UF), AU, other

11. ut--- UF, UGA, Ark, (other)

12. LSU--- MSU, UK, Bama, UM, (other)

 

[WMack4Bama]

Speaking of the bye week situation. Auburn is gonna NEED some bye weeks. This guy who's an Auburn fan just came into my office and showed me Auburn's schedule for next season and asked what we would do with it. And I said, as confidently as I always do, before I even looked at it "The same thing we're gonna do with ours. Run it." But then I looked at that schedule, and man. Auburn's gonna get torn a new one this season. In a span of 4 weeks with no bye weeks in between them, they got South Carolina (Lattimore), Arkansas (Davies), Florida, and LSU. That's more than likely 4 straight losses. So for everybody who was sour about Auburn's season last year, see this season as a mild sentiment of retribution.

 

[ALA2262]

Speaking of the bye week situation. Auburn is gonna NEED some bye weeks. This guy who's an Auburn fan just came into my office and showed me Auburn's schedule for next season and asked what we would do with it. And I said, as confidently as I always do, before I even looked at it "The same thing we're gonna do with ours. Run it." But then I looked at that schedule, and man. Auburn's gonna get torn a new one this season. In a span of 4 weeks with no bye weeks in between them, they got South Carolina (Lattimore), Arkansas (Davies), Florida, and LSU. That's more than likely 4 straight losses. So for everybody who was sour about Auburn's season last year, see this season as a mild sentiment of retribution.

And you didn't even mention that 3 of the 4 are on the road. Only the Florida game is at Auburn.

 

[RTR91]

Speaking of the bye week situation. Auburn is gonna NEED some bye weeks. This guy who's an Auburn fan just came into my office and showed me Auburn's schedule for next season and asked what we would do with it. And I said, as confidently as I always do, before I even looked at it "The same thing we're gonna do with ours. Run it." But then I looked at that schedule, and man. Auburn's gonna get torn a new one this season. In a span of 4 weeks with no bye weeks in between them, they got South Carolina (Lattimore), Arkansas (Davies), Florida, and LSU. That's more than likely 4 straight losses. So for everybody who was sour about Auburn's season last year, see this season as a mild sentiment of retribution.

And you didn't even mention that 3 of the 4 are on the road. Only the Florida game is at Auburn.

I have a feeling Columbia will be louder then than it was when we played them.

 

[Harmost]

Speaking of the bye week situation. Auburn is gonna NEED some bye weeks. This guy who's an Auburn fan just came into my office and showed me Auburn's schedule for next season and asked what we would do with it. And I said, as confidently as I always do, before I even looked at it "The same thing we're gonna do with ours. Run it." But then I looked at that schedule, and man. Auburn's gonna get torn a new one this season. In a span of 4 weeks with no bye weeks in between them, they got South Carolina (Lattimore), Arkansas (Davies), Florida, and LSU. That's more than likely 4 straight losses. So for everybody who was sour about Auburn's season last year, see this season as a mild sentiment of retribution.

I'm taking a wait-and-see on USCe and especially UF, and they'd lose to Arky and LSU in any given manipulation of their schedule, but that is fairly rough.

 

[rgene]

There is probably no way that it can be equal with each conference team having a bye before another conference team. More than likely impossible rather than improbable. However, there is a way that it could be limited to no more than one per year. It would have to be done three or four years in advance but it could be done.

Here is my proposal using the 2011 schedule as an example and using 3 years in advance as the parameter:

<SNIP>

One big problem is that some teams would have an open date so early (or late) in the season that another unfair situation would result.

 

[ALA2262]

One big problem is that some teams would have an open date so early (or late) in the season that another unfair situation would result.

If you are referring to my proposal, 9 of my 12 "predictions" were the actual selections made for 2011. The only changes were with the other 3 that originally chose Bama. The only one of the 3 that would have had a problem was LSU, but that would be expected each year for the conference champion who would be choosing last.