The road to the CFB playoffs is...
1. Be in a Power 5 conference
2. Win all your games
3. If you fail at #2, win your conference championship

While some like to yammer on about non-con scheduling, it has yet to matter. One day it might but it hasn't yet.

TBH, scheduling a tough road game in another region is dumb if you're at the top of the heap. For a Purdue, it makes sense to go south. Some HS kids in central Florida may have never heard of Purdue. "WTF is a Purdue Boilermaker?" they might say. Alabama doesn't need that exposure in middle America.

That's what I'm saying. Saban, Smart, and Malzahn could give two ***** about proving to us that they coach in the best conference. They are doing what it takes to reach the ultimate goal. This is smart coaching.

I think the AD does the actual scheduling with the coach's "guidance".


Bama AD: Nick, what do you think about opening the 2019 season in California against USC?

I'm not sure how CFB does it. In baseball, we make our schedule and the AD signs off on it. I know football is a totally different world because of the revenue.

Posted by MikeT23 on 12/1/2017 9:27:00 AM (view original):
TBH, scheduling a tough road game in another region is dumb if you're at the top of the heap. For a Purdue, it makes sense to go south. Some HS kids in central Florida may have never heard of Purdue. "WTF is a Purdue Boilermaker?" they might say. Alabama doesn't need that exposure in middle America.

And yet USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, etc. all do that exactly that. They are all historical top 10 programs and they all consistently schedule home and home series with other powers.

At least Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia have their ACC rivalry game every year. Obviously they don't have to travel that far for the games, but at least they play them. And I can commend Auburn for putting a home and home series with Penn State in 2021/22 (and with Clemson which just finished even with it being in its region). The true travel games are just so few and far between it is really hard to gauge the SEC conference. Even the bowl games and playoff locations are by and large in the SEC region.

Bowl games are a poor way to judge a conference. Fournette and McCaffrey proved what is on the best, draft-eligible players' minds last season(which I've been yammering about with you for quite some time).

But, back on point, SEC schools don't have to schedule non-regional non-con games. None of the schools you list have to. I don't think it's smart to do IF the playoff is your goal.

Posted by strikeout26 on 12/1/2017 10:41:00 AM (view original):
I'm not sure how CFB does it. In baseball, we make our schedule and the AD signs off on it. I know football is a totally different world because of the revenue.

Since football/basketball fund the other sport's programs, I've always assumed the AD handled the scheduling of those two sports. The coach just wants to win games, the AD has to look at the financial side. That said, at the power schools, the football or basketball coach is the most powerful man. No way in hell does the Bama/Duke AD schedule games without Saban/Coach K approval.

I don't understand how anyone could argue against the SE having the most talented players in the country. It isn't a big deal it is just a fact due to the very long stretches of milder weather there. There are any number of things you could look at that would lead you to draw that conclusion. One of the easiest IMO would be the NFL draft and current NFL rosters. Overwhelmingly full of players who hail from the SE.

The only way one can argue against this fact is if they are just stubborn and refusing to kowtow to reality.

Posted by MikeT23 on 12/1/2017 11:16:00 AM (view original):

Posted by strikeout26 on 12/1/2017 10:41:00 AM (view original):
I'm not sure how CFB does it. In baseball, we make our schedule and the AD signs off on it. I know football is a totally different world because of the revenue.

Since football/basketball fund the other sport's programs, I've always assumed the AD handled the scheduling of those two sports. The coach just wants to win games, the AD has to look at the financial side. That said, at the power schools, the football or basketball coach is the most powerful man. No way in hell does the Bama/Duke AD schedule games without Saban/Coach K approval.

You're probably right.

Posted by MikeT23 on 12/1/2017 11:14:00 AM (view original):
Bowl games are a poor way to judge a conference. Fournette and McCaffrey proved what is on the best, draft-eligible players' minds last season(which I've been yammering about with you for quite some time).

But, back on point, SEC schools don't have to schedule non-regional non-con games. None of the schools you list have to. I don't think it's smart to do IF the playoff is your goal.

And yet without Ohio State beating Oklahoma last year, Ohio State isn't in the playoff. There are obviously both pros and cons to scheduling that type of game, but you should be rewarded for stepping up and playing them and not rewarded for being a *****.

And OSU will probably be left out this year because of the Oklahoma game.

Posted by strikeout26 on 12/1/2017 2:01:00 PM (view original):
And OSU will probably be left out this year because of the Oklahoma game.

No, if OSU is left out this year it will be because of the Iowa game.

Well his point being if they played Indiana St instead of OU, they likely win and therefore absorb the Iowa loss OK.

Posted by Vitamin_C on 12/1/2017 11:53:00 AM (view original):
I don't understand how anyone could argue against the SE having the most talented players in the country. It isn't a big deal it is just a fact due to the very long stretches of milder weather there. There are any number of things you could look at that would lead you to draw that conclusion. One of the easiest IMO would be the NFL draft and current NFL rosters. Overwhelmingly full of players who hail from the SE.

The only way one can argue against this fact is if they are just stubborn and refusing to kowtow to reality.

You know that teams in the South don't practice any more than teams in the North, right? There are NCAA regulations on that. Which Conference is best (in any sport at any time) will NEVER be a fact. It's impossible - every team in a Conference would need to play every other team in every other Conference for it to be a fact. Yes, the Southern Colleges may have a higher number of better athletes, but better athletes don't always make better football players. Those better athletes also perform better in the combine testing, which is what so many NFL teams love. That gets those athletes a spot in the NFL, but does it make them better NFL players? Even if you'd argue it does (which it doesn't), being better in the NFL doesn't mean you were better in College (especially given the admitted Coaching lack in the SEC as a whole). Not sure why you want to continue arguing that your opinion is fact.