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Difficulty of scheduling non-conference opponents


alabamabrown14

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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.

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Avoiding these high profile games won't help you a bit. The committee has shown that a quality loss is not a detriment to your position with them. Just ask K State. It can work better than a win over a lesser opponent. If you play in a weaker conference, the only way to enhance your resume' is to play a tough non conference schedule. Prove that you can play with and beat the big boys and it will help you beyond measure. I like the home and home but the neutral site games to open the season are good too. I sincerely hope we can get away from Clemson.

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Some of the up and comers mentioned...TCU, Az and others risk being classified as "not ready for prime time" if they schedule and lose to an SEC school. Boise State for example, stepped out and lost a couple....those losses sure did hurt them in their underdog role during the BCS era.

And, not many ADs are really trying to make their schedules more difficult than they already are...at least not if they are on speaking terms with the football HC.

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I'm of the opinion that if we can't schedule a top-tier team, then at least try and make a potential road trip a fun destination. That's why I'm stoked about Cal. Are they a perennial top-25 team? Nope. But if that's who's willing to play us, at least they are located in the Bay Area which gives an opportunity to see a new part of the country and maybe play Pebble Beach too.

So if we have to stay on that level of opponent, I'd love to look at Washington (Seattle), Northwestern (Chicago), Boston College, Arizona State (Phoenix), Colorado (Denver/Boulder), etc. At the very least, those locations and others offer some attractive sight-seeing and easy airport access with Power 5 teams right there.

Of course, my preference is to play a huge brand name. But that may not always be in the cards unfortunately.

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I'm of the opinion that if we can't schedule a top-tier team, then at least try and make a potential road trip a fun destination. That's why I'm stoked about Cal. Are they a perennial top-25 team? Nope. But if that's who's willing to play us, at least they are located in the Bay Area which gives an opportunity to see a new part of the country and maybe play Pebble Beach too.

So if we have to stay on that level of opponent, I'd love to look at Washington (Seattle), Northwestern (Chicago), Boston College, Arizona State (Phoenix), Colorado (Denver/Boulder), etc. At the very least, those locations and others offer some attractive sight-seeing and easy airport access with Power 5 teams right there.

Of course, my preference is to play a huge brand name. But that may not always be in the cards unfortunately.

That's me as well. I like those choices there. One never knows how these games will work out since they are scheduled so far in advance. I don't think anyone expected K State to be the team they have turned out to be this year, certainly not when this was scheduled.
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I'm of the opinion that if we can't schedule a top-tier team, then at least try and make a potential road trip a fun destination. That's why I'm stoked about Cal. Are they a perennial top-25 team? Nope. But if that's who's willing to play us, at least they are located in the Bay Area which gives an opportunity to see a new part of the country and maybe play Pebble Beach too.

So if we have to stay on that level of opponent, I'd love to look at Washington (Seattle), Northwestern (Chicago), Boston College, Arizona State (Phoenix), Colorado (Denver/Boulder), etc. At the very least, those locations and others offer some attractive sight-seeing and easy airport access with Power 5 teams right there.

Of course, my preference is to play a huge brand name. But that may not always be in the cards unfortunately.

That's me as well. I like those choices there. One never knows how these games will work out since they are scheduled so far in advance. I don't think anyone expected K State to be the team they have turned out to be this year, certainly not when this was scheduled.

Good point...but I guess money has an impact too...those long trips are expensive ....Clemson in Atlanta is about as cheap a date as we could have....but some good travel destinations make sense too.

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Good point...but I guess money has an impact too...those long trips are expensive ....Clemson in Atlanta is about as cheap a date as we could have....but some good travel destinations make sense too.

I wish more people would stop to think about that, when considering OoC scheduling and when considering the playoffs. It takes a lot of money to move an 80-man army plus the support staff and equipment around the country. I don't remember the amount they reported that Auburn spent on getting the team to Pasadena, but it was easily 7 figures.

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Avoiding these high profile games won't help you a bit. The committee has shown that a quality loss is not a detriment to your position with them. Just ask K State. It can work better than a win over a lesser opponent. If you play in a weaker conference, the only way to enhance your resume' is to play a tough non conference schedule. Prove that you can play with and beat the big boys and it will help you beyond measure. I like the home and home but the neutral site games to open the season are good too. I sincerely hope we can get away from Clemson.

LSU begs to differ. 2 quality losses and a quality win. W-L record is the first criteria of the selection committee. A lot of these teams would be better off scheduling TN or Vandy and taking the win.

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Well we had an opponent set up in 2018, but somebody decided to cancel the Georgia Tech series, which would've been fantastic!

That was Gene Chizik. Said as much on SEC Network. Defense was we didn't want to prepare to face a true triple option team.

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Well we had an opponent set up in 2018, but somebody decided to cancel the Georgia Tech series, which would've been fantastic!

That was Gene Chizik. Said as much on SEC Network. Defense was we didn't want to prepare to face a true triple option team.

I had not heard that. That is interesting if true. I wouldn't think an AD would give in to a head coach like that for a series so far out. Honestly, what are the odds that Gus is our coach come the Cal series? 20% maybe.

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It's all about strength of schedule now. We have it in abundance in the SEC West but are still expected to schedule a Big5 non SEC school.

Going after a strong out of conference match up makes great TV and is good for strength of schedule, unless you lose. The old USC and Texas type games, good match until you lose.

Washington State, Kansas State, UC Berkeley, are on the safer side and those programs really want the prime time national TV exposure.

Considering funding lots of national travel expense , that appears to be Notre Dame's way of staying in the mix. They travel to play at least one West coast team away every year. They usually add another.

2014 Schedule

  • Aug. 30 Rice
  • Sept. 6 Michigan (night)
  • Sept. 13 * Purdue at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind. (night)
  • Sept. 27 at Syracuse (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.)
  • Oct. 4 Stanford
  • Oct. 11 North Carolina
  • Oct. 18 at Florida State
  • Nov. 1 vs. Navy
  • Nov. 8 at Arizona State
  • Nov. 15 Northwestern
  • Nov. 22 Louisville
  • Nov. 29 at USC

2015 Schedule

  • Sept. 5 Texas
  • Sept. 12 at Virginia
  • Sept. 19 Georgia Tech
  • Sept. 26 Massachusetts
  • Oct. 3 at Clemson
  • Oct. 10 Navy
  • Oct. 17 USC
  • Oct. 31 at Temple (Lincoln Financial Services Field)
  • Nov. 7 at Pittsburgh
  • Nov. 14 Wake Forest
  • Nov. 21 Boston College at Fenway Park, Boston, Mass. (night)
  • Nov. 28 at Stanford

2016 Schedule

  • Sept. 3 at Texas
  • Sept. 10 Nevada
  • Sept. 17 Michigan State
  • Sept. 24 Duke
  • Oct. 1 at Syracuse (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.)
  • Oct. 8 at North Carolina State
  • Oct. 15 Stanford
  • Oct. 29 Miami
  • Nov. 5 vs. Navy (site TBD)
  • Nov. 12 * Army at Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (night)
  • Nov. 19 Virginia Tech
  • Nov. 26 at USC

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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.

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If Auburn pays the money they can play anyone they want

We have good schedule year after year, tougher than most schools in terms of competitiveness so.. "pay the money"... for what? ...or better yet...why?

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Well we had an opponent set up in 2018, but somebody decided to cancel the Georgia Tech series, which would've been fantastic!

That was Gene Chizik. Said as much on SEC Network. Defense was we didn't want to prepare to face a true triple option team.

I had not heard that. That is interesting if true. I wouldn't think an AD would give in to a head coach like that for a series so far out. Honestly, what are the odds that Gus is our coach come the Cal series? 20% maybe.

Link for you

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2014/10/gene_chizik_once_vetoed_possib.html

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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.

No, we can't. USF is NOT in a Power 5 conference. The mandate from the SEC is to play at least one team in your non-conference schedule from either the PAC 12, Big 12, Big 10, or ACC. Notre Dame would count here too.

South Florida is in the AAC, which is in the Group of 6 smaller conferences.

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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.

I think ND got nervous. After the big east folded they needed a basketball conference which the ACC provided. They also saw all the football conferences they had traditionally played a game or two with each year moving to 12 and 14 members making it harder for ND to schedule. So the football weak ACC allowed them 5 games a year to fill out NDs schedule and it allows those 5 ACC schools to claim a non conference opponent. I wonder if the Big10 had offered the same deal, would they gone there? Travel would have been easier and they already had traditionally played 2 or 3 big10 teams a year anyway. Perhaps the big10 is still hurt over being stuck at 11 tens for 20 years after ND turned them down,

I think ND will eventually fully join the ACC. BYU should be in the Big12. Army dropped out of conference usa, while navy is joining the AAC next year. The Air Force has been in the mountain west for 15 years.

All the service academies could save money and reduce travel by dropping to the I FCS. Army and Navy have lots of schools in the northeast they could play including the Ivy League schools. Air Force has fewer opponent choices based on where it is.

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Slive's successor is going to face the ultimate reality of having to go to a nine game conference schedule.

And challenge the PAC 12 to permanently schedule one cross conference game per year....

Speaking on the Pac-12 teleconference today, Stanford head coach David Shaw had the strongest words on the SEC’s choice to continue playing eight games. “We all need to play by the same rules. Don’t back down from playing your own conference,” Shaw said. That’s not the first time Shaw has blasted the SEC. Back in November, he said the Pac-12 had the toughest schedule to navigate partly due to the SEC’s November “cupcakes.” “You can write that — cupcakes,”

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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.

I think ND got nervous. After the big east folded they needed a basketball conference which the ACC provided. They also saw all the football conferences they had traditionally played a game or two with each year moving to 12 and 14 members making it harder for ND to schedule. So the football weak ACC allowed them 5 games a year to fill out NDs schedule and it allows those 5 ACC schools to claim a non conference opponent. I wonder if the Big10 had offered the same deal, would they gone there? Travel would have been easier and they already had traditionally played 2 or 3 big10 teams a year anyway. Perhaps the big10 is still hurt over being stuck at 11 tens for 20 years after ND turned them down,

I think ND will eventually fully join the ACC. BYU should be in the Big12. Army dropped out of conference usa, while navy is joining the AAC next year. The Air Force has been in the mountain west for 15 years.

All the service academies could save money and reduce travel by dropping to the I FCS. Army and Navy have lots of schools in the northeast they could play including the Ivy League schools. Air Force has fewer opponent choices based on where it is.

Good commentary. I think it's possible (local gossip) that a condition for ND to get into the ACC for basketball was that they schedule some football games too to give a boost the sagging ACC....brings some national attention, TV exposure and some good crowds. A good deal for both sides. My ND friends here can't wait for the Irish to play at Clemson next year.

BYU had some chances to join either Pac or Big 12 I understand but made what I think was big strategic mistake of going independent at a time when the larger schools were consolidating into the Power 5 conferences. Now they have a schedule without a single top 25 opponent and are traveling to play at Middle Tenn. Somebody, IMO, really screwed up and their goals of national prominence are not going to happen as an independent.

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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.
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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.

Ever been to Tampa?

Also, if they were a power 5 member, then they would be qualify as our power 5 OoC matchup that season and be less of a threat than many.

Also, it would be a hell of a lot easier to get the team (and fans) to Tampa than any Pac-12, Big 10 or Big 12 campus, and many ACC campuses.

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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.

Ever been to Tampa?

Also, if they were a power 5 member, then they would be qualify as our power 5 OoC matchup that season and be less of a threat than many.

Also, it would be a hell of a lot easier to get the team (and fans) to Tampa than any Pac-12, Big 10 or Big 12 campus, and many ACC campuses.

Personally I'd rather play a team that is a "threat" I love the big time matchups and in this day of the committee and sos, it matters. I've been to Tampa. It looks just like the rest of Florida. Been there done that big whoop. Let's go someplace different.
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