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[Noah]

Readers of this site know that we’re in favor of a nine-game conference football schedule for SEC teams.  (Short of that, we’re for eliminating divisional play altogether).  There are basically four reasons why we believe the SEC should consider adding a conference contest for each football program each season:

1.  We’re tired of having to waste time writing about the Presbyterians, Jacksonville States and Furmans of the world.  Those games are meaningless — unless the SEC team loses — and fewer and fewer fans are turning out for them.  Apparently many of you are tired of wasting time (and money) and those cupcake games, too.
2.  The SEC takes a lot of hits nationally for what’s seen as a sub-par non-conference slate.  That might not matter under the current BCS system, but when a selection committee takes over and starts handing out playoff invitations it could.  If there are any biased members on that committee who want to see the national championship get spread around a bit more often, those people could use schedule slights as a way to keep multiple SEC teams out of the four-team playoff.
3.  We understand the business side of conference expansion, but tradition should still count for something.  In growing to 14 schools and keeping an eight-game schedule, the SEC has chosen to put in place a system that will prevent cross-divisional foes from seeing other very often.  How many SEC fans in the East Division will miss out on a chance to see a star like Johnny Manziel play against their favorite teams?  How many times will fans from Auburn get to visit a traditional rival like Florida?  Eight is not enough if you believe every conference team should see all its rivals over the course of a decade.
4.  Finally, there’s more money to be made from playing more conference games.  Hey, we said we understood the business involved.  That’s why we’ve consistently said that a nine-game league schedule will someday be adopted.  Whether it’s ESPN paying for better games or the conference making sure it has more content for its new SEC Network, it makes dollars and sense to expand the in-conference football schedule.

Now pleasee don’t give us the “It’ll make it too tough to win a national title” argument.  Nick Saban’s winning titles left and right and he’s the most outspoken proponent for a nine-game schedule.  When the league added an eighth game and a conference title game in 1992, coaches and fans pulled their hair out with fear.  Alabama immediately went undefeated, grabbed the national title, and the SEC has been on a roll ever since.

Why bring this back up today?  Back to the headline — CBSSports.com is reporting that the Big Ten is discussing schedule growth.  Nine games remains the more likely stopping point, but a 10-game plan is in the mix.  There had been talk of the ACC considering a 10-game schedule as well before it decided to stop at nine.
But the Big Ten has more motivation than the ACC to add league games.  That motivation is green and it comes by way of the Big Ten Network.  When a Big Ten team plays a football game in the home stadium of another conference’s team, that game’s television rights are owned the by home team and its conference.  But add another Big Ten versus Big Ten game to the schedule for 14 teams and you have seven more football games for Jim Delany to sell or put on his own network (to drive up subscriptions and subscriber fees)… regardless of where those seven games are played.

Prepping to launch its own league-owned network in 2014, you can be sure Mike Slive and the SEC’s presidents are paying attention.

http://www.mrsec.com/

[aTm 82]

Future rankings are going to be based more on strength of schedule so I see alot of "Cupcakes" going away, especially since the 4 team playoff will be Conference champions and SOS will keep Independent teams like Air Force, Army and ND from getting in.

[DGD]

I wouldn't mind seeing a 10 game conference schedule. Like a lot of people the cupcakes don't do a lot for me. Granted ill watch but it's hard to get excited about.

It would definitely increase SoS, there would no arguing that point.  The entire landscape of college football is ever changing lately and it's going to be interesting to see where it ends up.

[TrueGCFan]

Pass.  Nine games is fine when we go to a 16 team league.  To win the SEC or come close to having an actual shot at making the playoff you are already going to have to beat one or two top 10 teams and probably another two or three top 25 teams and then another two or three bowl eligable teams.

That is tough enough.  Especially when you are talking about one loss being the difference between getting the nod or not.

[WadeWilson]

aTm 82, on 29 January 2013 - 07:31 AM, said:

especially since the 4 team playoff will be Conference champions

[TrueGCFan]

aTm 82, on 29 January 2013 - 07:31 AM, said:

Future rankings are going to be based more on strength of schedule so I see alot of "Cupcakes" going away, especially since the 4 team playoff will be Conference champions and SOS will keep Independent teams like Air Force, Army and ND from getting in.

Not so fast my friend.  That will not be the case.  It appears it will be based on committee picks.  Winning your conference will be taken into consideration, but not make you an automatic in.

[Stefanozz]

No need to increase conference play.  Bad Idea.  It would literally bring down the overall SEC record each year just from beating each other up more.  

7 more losses for the conference per year for what?  Up the out of conference play some maybe... but not another conference game.

Edited by Stefanozz, 29 January 2013 - 08:45 AM.

[CrimsoNation713]

If they did do ten games maybe that would shut the whining up about who has the tougher schedule and who doesn't.


what am I thinking...no it wouldn't

[The Dude]

I'd only be in favor of this if they guaranteed the top 3 or 4 teams from the SEC get automatic nods of some sort

We saw this year that most of the top teams just beat each other up. This will only be exacerbated by going from 8 to 10 conference games.

[aTm 82]

TrueGCFan, on 29 January 2013 - 08:27 AM, said:

Not so fast my friend.  That will not be the case.  It appears it will be based on committee picks.  Winning your conference will be taken into consideration, but not make you an automatic in.

Your right
BCS standing
Win/ Loss record
Conference win/loss record
Strength of Schedule
Conference champion
Polls
The committee picks will keep stupid BCS bullshit like this years games from happening. The bowls other than the 4 in rotation for the playoff and Championship game get the left overs.

[DGD]

This new committee thing will be better but I wouldn't be opposed to the 4 conference champions making up the field either.

Then again having 2 or 3 SEC teams in there would be hilarious. Other conferences would go nuts lol.

[Gidnik]

The Dude, on 29 January 2013 - 08:53 AM, said:

I'd only be in favor of this if they guaranteed the top 3 or 4 teams from the SEC get automatic nod.

thats absurd

[xiv]

Noah, on 29 January 2013 - 06:42 AM, said:

2.  The SEC takes a lot of hits nationally for what’s seen as a sub-par non-conference slate.

Hits from whom?  Certainly nobody that matters.  Computers can't land a "hit," so to speak, and never has an SEC school been excluded from the national title game in lieu of a school with a weaker schedule.  

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That might not matter under the current BCS system, but when a selection committee takes over and starts handing out playoff invitations it could.

A selection committee likely would comprise of a group that looks similar to a group of Harris Poll voters, and there has never been an instance where the Harris Poll screwed the SEC out of anything.

When it comes to this specifically, I think you're worried about a big bad wolf that doesn't exist.

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In growing to 14 schools and keeping an eight-game schedule, the SEC has chosen to put in place a system that will prevent cross-divisional foes from seeing other very often.  How many SEC fans in the East Division will miss out on a chance to see a star like Johnny Manziel play against their favorite teams?  How many times will fans from Auburn get to visit a traditional rival like Florida?

The end of the yearly Auburn/Florida game is lamentable, yes.  That's really the only meaningful one that got the ax 11 years ago.  Speaking as an LSU fan, LSU used to hardly ever play Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina, and I'm fine with playing one of them once in a blue moon, but I don't feel the need to see them all too often.  Everybody in the SEC has those four or five schools they "need" to play every year, and everything else seems to me to be comfortably in some kind of rotation.

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Eight is not enough if you believe every conference team should see all its rivals over the course of a decade.

Right now you play each team at least every six years.

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4.  Finally, there’s more money to be made from playing more conference games.

This is an excellent point.  Auburn played Clemson, and Tennessee played North Carolina State in the same weekend.  Wouldn't the SEC have stood to make more money by just having Auburn and Tennessee play each other and, therefore, keep all of the money involved?

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it makes dollars and sense to expand the in-conference football schedule.

I actually think that the big football schools will lobby for two extra games, and one of their stated purposes of such a proposal--and it will be surprisingly justified--will be for the extra football games to bring in extra revenue for the non-revenue sports.

I think the SEC will one day play 10 games, and that day will come right after the regular season is expanded to 14 games.

Edited by xiv, 29 January 2013 - 11:46 AM.

[xiv]

Stefanozz, on 29 January 2013 - 08:29 AM, said:

No need to increase conference play.  Bad Idea.  It would literally bring down the overall SEC record each year just from beating each other up more.

7 more losses for the conference per year for what?  Up the out of conference play some maybe... but not another conference game.

Great point, and we need not look any further than the Pac-12 and Big 12.  Had the Big 12 kept an eight-game schedule in 2011, and had Oklahoma State won the extra out-of-conference game, and at least six of the remaining conference schools won their extra out-of-conference games, the Pokes would have been in New Orleans playing LSU.

[Noah]

Wasn't Auburn overlooked in 2004 because of a weak schedule?

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Edited by Noah, 29 January 2013 - 06:52 PM.