Thinking Out Loud. How to Improve the New SEC

[BamaMoon]

1. Cut out difficult OOC games in the future
2. Cut out all bye-weeks
3. Go back to conference divisions
4. Keep 8 game schedule/add 4 cupcakes
5. Eliminate permanent rival games

Fleshing it out:

1. Why play tough games and risk losing if a loss bites you at playoff time? While that didn't impact us this year, a future loss to TOSU in a Sept. game could cost us a playoff birth.

2. We've got hosed too many times with teams being able to spend two weeks preparing to upset Bama and "make their season." Just play straight through with 12 straight weeks. It may cause every team to play starters less and sub more freely. Will build some team/roster depth and experience!

3. I guess I'm leery of how scheduling 16 teams into 8 games a year will work fairly. Figure out of way to divide into 4 team pods or back to two 8 team divisions. While it seems there was better balance this year with traditionally weaker teams being stronger, the conference will likely still be controlled by Bama, Georgia, UT, Florida (we need them to get better if traditional rivalries continue), LSU, A$M, UT and OU. Yeah, I left out the Barn.

4. NO need to go to 9 conference games. Play four automatic win games. Sure, maybe not the best games but it lowers ticket prices and allows families to take the whole family out to see Bama pummel the sisters of the poor. Also taking away the OOC games or neutral site games it gives Bama 2 more home games!

5. I'm not super clear on how future schedules will work out, but based on what I'm finding permanent rivals still exist, but if this continues it will never be fair. Why should Bama have to play UT, LSU and the Barn (who lives to only upset Bama) as permanent rivals each year??? But, if I'm reading some articles right, Tenn gets: Bama, Vandy and South Carolina??? The "permanent rivalry" has got to go!

 

[BamaNation]

You realize as soon as SEC goes to no OOC games vs P4 then the CFP PTB will say "yall didn't play anybody tough so you're not in"

They have no excuses other than petty hatred for their decision making. Warde Manuel embarassed himself and the committee in how contradictory he has been the whole season. His statements yesterday were abject untruths and/or nonsesical. ("I don't know why people voted the way they did" / "We watched and discussed the games together in the same room")

The only solution is the SEC/B1G nuclear option of leaving this stupid format and going to a superleague.It's bad for college football but is the ONLY logical conclusion from the chaotic path of the last 10 years.

 

[TideEngineer08]

My improvements are more global. I feel like the SEC is set in as it stands currently. There's no going back. I also think the strong out of conference schedules are going to be a must, due to TV. The networks are paying out 10s and 100s of millions for the good games - not games against Mercer or Louisiana Tech.

The playoff system was poorly designed and rewards mediocrity. That system is the one that needs to be destroyed and built again. There needs to be a separation. The SEC and Big Ten need to break away, but I don't know if either side understands that nor understands how to accomplish it. But we need to get to an NFL model of 2 big conferences with 3 or 4 divisions each. Get rid of rankings. Get rid of committees. Actually do play it out on the field, reward division winners and then 2 or 3 wildcards based upon actual record and tiebreakers.

 

[BamaNation]

Strange to say, but I agree with Roll Tide Willie's infamous quote(s)

 

[TideEngineer08]

You realize as soon as SEC goes to no OOC games vs P4 then the CFP PTB will say "yall didn't play anybody tough so you're not in"

They have no excuses other than petty hatred for their decision making. Warde Manuel embarassed himself and the committee in how contradictory he has been the whole season. His statements yesterday were abject untruths and/or nonsesical. ("I don't know why people voted the way they did" / "We watched and discussed the games together in the same room")

The only solution is the SEC/B1G nuclear option of leaving this stupid format and going to a superleague.It's bad for college football but is the ONLY logical conclusion from the chaotic path of the last 10 years.

We've already seen people bemoan the SEC's lack of OOC opponents in the past and completely gloss over how much tougher the league schedule is than any other league. I remember them doing this with Boise State in the BCS era. Greg Byrne has a point though. They started beefing up the OOC schedules because they were told SOS would make big impact on playoff selection.

 

[BamaMoon]

And then it didn't...

 

[RTR2u]

@BamaMoon I whole-heartedly agree with #5. With all of the team flag planting and stuff somebody is going to get hurt. Can't imagine how many fights break out after the games under the bleachers.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Upgrade the entire Officiating Department...from top to bottom!

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

1. Cut out difficult OOC games in the future
2. Cut out all bye-weeks
3. Go back to conference divisions
4. Keep 8 game schedule/add 4 cupcakes
5. Eliminate permanent rival games

Fleshing it out:

1. Why play tough games and risk losing if a loss bites you at playoff time? While that didn't impact us this year, a future loss to TOSU in a Sept. game could cost us a playoff birth.

2. We've got hosed too many times with teams being able to spend two weeks preparing to upset Bama and "make their season." Just play straight through with 12 straight weeks. It may cause every team to play starters less and sub more freely. Will build some team/roster depth and experience!

3. I guess I'm leery of how scheduling 16 teams into 8 games a year will work fairly. Figure out of way to divide into 4 team pods or back to two 8 team divisions. While it seems there was better balance this year with traditionally weaker teams being stronger, the conference will likely still be controlled by Bama, Georgia, UT, Florida (we need them to get better if traditional rivalries continue), LSU, A$M, UT and OU. Yeah, I left out the Barn.

4. NO need to go to 9 conference games. Play four automatic win games. Sure, maybe not the best games but it lowers ticket prices and allows families to take the whole family out to see Bama pummel the sisters of the poor. Also taking away the OOC games or neutral site games it gives Bama 2 more home games!

5. I'm not super clear on how future schedules will work out, but based on what I'm finding permanent rivals still exist, but if this continues it will never be fair. Why should Bama have to play UT, LSU and the Barn (who lives to only upset Bama) as permanent rivals each year??? But, if I'm reading some articles right, Tenn gets: Bama, Vandy and South Carolina??? The "permanent rivalry" has got to go!

With Cray and AI, let the computers figure out a lot more fair to even out the scheduling. utex had the easiest SEC schedule by far...

 

[BamaMoon]

You realize as soon as SEC goes to no OOC games vs P4 then the CFP PTB will say "yall didn't play anybody tough so you're not in"

So why did we eve listen to them while we knew all along the SEC grind is hard enough? Seems we got punked to do something no other conference was held to and now we are paying the price.

 

[BamaMoon]

With Cray and AI, let the computers figure out a lot more fair to even out the scheduling. utex had the easiest SEC schedule by far...

Yeah, we rolled out the welcome mat for them and let them skate. But the two toughest games they had they lost both of them.

Case in point about how the league schedules need some serious analysis to make sure what happened with UT doesn't happened again.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

SEC and Big Ten both need to fix the uneven schedules and then I agree get rid of tough OOC games unless the Big Ten and SEC get together and decide on a different playoff format which may happen

 

[UAH]

A Bloomberg special report over the weekend on the business of College Football
Why Paying Players Hasn't Fixed College Sports
I found interesting on the between the lines look of how the NCAA has failed in all of this.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

bye weeks should be equal. if they have a bye week, so do you.

 

[Bazza]

How about just win your games? Because no matter what - the system will never be fair to everyone....

 

[statgrad96]

I'd move to a 4-team pod system and get rid of the SECCG. You play 9 conference games. You would play the 3 teams in your pod, and 2 teams from every other pod. 3 Non-conference games.

Maybe look something like this:

Pod 1

Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
Vanderbilt

Pod 2

Tennessee
Oklahoma
Auburn
Kentucky

Pod 3

Alabama
LSU
Ole Miss
Miss St

Pod 4

Texas
Texas A&M
Arkansas
Missouri

You could also combine Pods into 2 8-team divisions and perhaps rotate the pods each year (Divisions are 1-2 and 3-4 this year, 1-4 and 2-3 the next, etc.), play 7 games in your division and 2 in the other division, seeded each year based on prior year's standings.

 

[FloridanBlogger]

Make the schedules more balanced. If that means losing permanent rivals then so be it. I could care less about playing LSU and the barn every year.

Also, send Texas and OU back to the Big-12. I've argued from the beginning that adding them was a mistake and just makes it even more difficult for us and my point was made. Rather than beating Mississippi State aka the worst team in the conference, we played OU and their stout defense ate Milroe alive which sealed our fate. Even under Saban, we were notorious for having let down games following big wins and I liked our chances better against a Mississippi State than an Oklahoma.

You had three SEC teams that would have run the table in the playoffs get screwed over while multiple ACC and Big 10 teams got in with one or no wins over ranked teams. Complete garbage.

 

[Power Eye]

I don't want to see an SEC/Big 10 only format. I want every team that is worthy to have a chance to make the playoff and win the national title to have the opportunity to be included. How that gets determined is the key. I also don't want to do away with big OOC games. I look forward to those and it makes college football what it is. I don't want college football to become college basketball, the NBA or MLB where no one cares until the playoffs. The college football regular season is the best regular season in all of sports.

I get the arguments about scheduling and the "nuclear option", but I also think the discussion is premature when we are in year 1 of a 12 team format, and our team, that lost a game it absolutely shouldn't have late in the season, got left out when it controlled its own destiny 16 days ago. If Alabama beats Oklahoma, or even keeps it close maybe, it gets in the playoff.

Therefore, it's my opinion that there are really only two things that need to change to improve the playoff. First, get rid of the automatic byes. It's ridiculous that AZ St and Boise st have byes. To steal a quote from Lashlee "it's criminal." I'm fine with the top 5 conference champs getting in the playoff, but the top 4 don't deserve byes.

The other thing that needs to change is that we have to get rid of the committee determining who's in and go to a formula that takes into account, in a very meaningful way, strength of schedule. Force teams to beef up their schedule, don't push it to go the opposite way. I have to believe the CFP will move to this, because it will kill the sport otherwise.

I will hold off on any comments regarding NIL in hopes that the April 8th decision brings structure to that, but the transfer portal has to be fixed. I understand that it is determined to some extent based on school semester calendars, but players entering the portal for playoff teams or potential playoff teams has to stop.

As for the SEC specifically, I don't think there is anything wrong with it from a macro perspective. Sankey and crew, in my mind, have done a great job of positioning the conference well. Obviously, it didn't work out quite like we wanted this year, but it's for the reasons that need to change above. I want the SECCG, and would hate losing it. That's why I like the idea of conference champs automatically getting in the playoff, BUT NO AUTO BYES! SEC champ will almost assuredly get one anyway.

We need to put a lot more focus on conference scheduling. I'm fine with a two year rotating schedule of home and home, but no advanced conference scheduling beyond those two years. That way the league can see where the programs are at to better make the schedules as even as possible. If it means we can't always play Auburn, Tennessee and LSU so be it. Others will disagree, but I want to play Auburn and Tennessee every year and would be fine with dropping LSU. Whatever it takes to get this right.

Lastly, officiating has to be fixed. The conference makes so much money that it can afford to have highly paid, highly trained officials. I've never been more disappointed with officiating than I have this season, and it was atrocious. It definitely significantly impacted who got in the playoffs, and that can not happen. There are always going to be bad calls, but it was meaningful and widespread.