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Difficulty of scheduling non-conference opponents


alabamabrown14

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It's easy for someone who has no expertise in dealing with the major logistical and economic issues that arise when scheduling these OOC games (and to scheduling in general) to throw out the generic "name" schools and then criticize when that doesn't happen. I imagine there are many levels involved with this and as long as AU's best interests are taken in to account, I don't really care who we play. In the end, it takes two to tango and it takes multiple folks at different schools working together to make it happen. I'm for whatever helps us get to the title game period. :)

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It's easy for someone who has no expertise in dealing with the major logistical and economic issues that arise when scheduling these OOC games (and to scheduling in general) to throw out the generic "name" schools and then criticize when that doesn't happen. I imagine there are many levels involved with this and as long as AU's best interests are taken in to account, I don't really care who we play. In the end, it takes two to tango and it takes multiple folks at different schools working together to make it happen. I'm for whatever helps us get to the title game period. :)

Wow....better watch out...logical and rational thinking....gonna git you in trouble.

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ND of course is a special situation. Other than the fact they play maybe 3 or 4 ranked teams each year, they are a national school, recruit all over the country and have alums or fans everywhere....BUT...they are now partly in the ACC now which gives them some guaranteed games each year instead of having to go around trying to find reasonable opponents. Brigham Young was hoping to follow the ND model, be an independent and such but so far it has not worked out very well.

And a good friend USMA grad says he wonders how much longer the military schools will play Div 1.....paid for by the taxpayers, everyone losing big money (taxpayer money) and he thinks it will be hard to justify the cost in the years to come. Expects them to drop down a level and quit playing the big time football factories. He's a big fan and I thought his view was interesting.

Correct. The biggest reason BYU wanted to become an independant was because of TV. Very few people get the Mountain West games on TV so BYU's thinking was if we become an independent then we can schedule games whenever and get them on ESPN and show what we've got and expand our recruiting base. But as you said, just hasn't worked out for them.

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We could play South Florida at their place or in the Gator bow in 2018 and then have USF come to Auburn in 2021.

Why the fascination with USF? Even if they were a power 5 member, I see no compelling reason for that.

Would be nice to make up for that ugly loss to them at Jordan-Hare in 2007.

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I definitely have more respect for Jay Jacobs job after reading this article. Looks like it's getting harder to schedule opponents since Gus came back to town.

http://www.saturdayd...says-auburn-ad/

Scheduling non-conference opponents getting tougher, says Auburn AD

Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive announced earlier this year that the league would require its teams to schedule at least one non-conference opponent from a Power 5 conference moving forward.

Auburn has accomplished that in five of the next six years, excluding 2018. Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs is searching for a possible neutral-site game in 2018, and that’s proving more difficult than expected.

“We’ve got to find an opponent that is willing to play us, which is getting more and more difficult to do with the offense Gus [Malzahn] runs and the way this league is playing,” Jacobs told AL.com earlier this week.

Auburn announced earlier this week that it had agreed to a home-and-home series in 2019 and 2020 with California. Future non-conference opponents for the Tigers include Louisville and Clemson.

According to AL.com‘s Brandon Marcello, Auburn is looking for a potential home-and-home series in 2018 and a year beyond 2021, though Jacobs isn’t ruling a one-year neutral-site game. Jacobs reportedly has expressed interest in Florida State, Michigan and Notre Dame.

Other SEC schools have scheduled traditional Power 5 powerhouses for the coming years. Florida plays Michigan in 2017, while Georgia will play a home-and-home with Notre Dame in 2017 and 2019. LSU has scheduled a home-and-home series with Texas in 2019 and 2020.

The SEC’s rule of scheduling at least Power 5 non-conference opponent will take effect in 2016. Jacobs, however, makes a point that many programs are likely to face as they continue to schedule non-conference games.

With the SEC’s dominant run to close out the BCS era, and with the dominance of the SEC West this season, other Power 5 teams have no incentive to schedule SEC opponents. Teams such as TCU, Arizona and others who appeared in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 are building a national brand, trying to move up the ranks and establish itself as a national player.

One could argue that if you schedule and SEC opponent and lose to them, that’s a quality loss that wouldn’t hurt a resume. On the other hand, beat an SEC opponent and your national profile is raised automatically. However, with these programs that aren’t top 10 teams perennially and don’t regularly schedule top-tier Power 5 non-conference opponents are hesitant to schedule SEC teams.

Jacobs, in the case of Auburn, attributed this to scheduling dynamics with opponents getting booked up. The other argument, however, is that with as dominant a run as the SEC has been on over the last decade, why would other Power 5 conferences schedule SEC opponents?

Don’t ask why, just do it. When the top four playoff rankings are revealed annually, you’ll be thankful.

Yet, those high profile schools from power five conferences will play Alabama, LSU and Georgia...... BUT not Auburn. Jay Jacobs is full of it.

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We could play South Florida at their place or in the Gator bow in 2018 and then have USF come to Auburn in 2021.

Why the fascination with USF? Even if they were a power 5 member, I see no compelling reason for that.

Would be nice to make up for that ugly loss to them at Jordan-Hare in 2007.

Let's go back and get a game with someone we lost to 20 years ago while we're at it.
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