The Zone is slamming Franklin

#29
#29
bamawriter said:
Ultimately, yes. Today's vote was more of a straw poll to determine what the coaches want to see. If the coaches got what they wanted, we never would have started the SEC Championship Game.

Still, it's clear that Nick Saban is alone amongst his peers in trying to do what's best for the conference.
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Thanks. Yeah I'm well aware of what happened in 91 and how Kramer pretty much had to force them all to agree to do so...sometimes I wonder why they choose to have the coaches so involved in these decisions

(If it were up to just most of them, a lot of the teams might just play a few main rivals followed by a slate of only FCS teams...maybe)
 
#30
#30
reVealed said:
"mirage" is a little strong but I agree to a point and would add UT, UK and several more teams to the list. When a team is down and trying to rebuild a 30 point loss in an OOC game is a negative, not a positive. I saw where Hart locked the Vols into 2 games vs Oklahoma. Not what you guys need at this point with USC-e, UGA, UF and Bammer already on the schedule. At this point UK may be the closest thing to a 'gimme' in the SEC.
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Our aspirations are to get back to competing in the SEC, not merely getting to a bowl game. If we can't stay on the field against Oklahoma in a few years then that'll be the least of our problems.
 
#31
#31
TrueOrange said:
Which season were they voting on though?
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2015 as it's already been announced that 2014 will be another 'bridge' schedule. Word coming from Destin is that 5 presidents are pushing for 9 games, 5 sternly opposed and 4 either undecided or not saying. At this point they do not have enough votes to pass 9 games and are unlikely to call an official ballot.
 
#32
#32
jspvol76 said:
I would think every AD wants the 9 game schedule because it's just more revenue.
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Most of the ADs don't; especially at the smaller, winning less games schools

Plus a lot of them seem to possibly be oversimplifying it and just looking at the possibility of one less home game's worth of tickets in a season
 
#33
#33
Vercingetorix said:
Our aspirations are to get back to competing in the SEC, not merely getting to a bowl game. If we can't stay on the field against Oklahoma in a few years then that'll be the least of our problems.
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Oklahoma in a few years I can possibly see. Oklahoma in 2014 and 2015 I can't see.
 
#34
#34
TrueOrange said:
Most of the ADs don't; especially at the smaller, winning less games schools

Plus a lot of them seem to possibly be oversimplifying it and just looking at the possibility of one less home game's worth of tickets in a season
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One problem a few ADs have mentioned is playing 5 road games one year while your division rival is playing 5 home games.
 
#35
#35
TrueOrange said:
Most of the ADs don't; especially at the smaller, winning less games schools

Plus a lot of them seem to possibly be oversimplifying it and just looking at the possibility of one less home game's worth of tickets in a season
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Good point. How many schools play 8 home games in a season? I know that Alabama has never played more than 7 home games since Saban has been there.

It becomes a bit more challenging, but I don't see why teams can't simply schedule neutral site or away OOC games during the years when they get 5 conference home games.
 
#36
#36
reVealed said:
One problem a few ADs have mentioned is playing 5 road games one year while your division rival is playing 5 home games.
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The only fair way to do the 9 game schedule is have the West teams get 5 home games in Year A, while the East gets 5 in Year B.
 
#37
#37
reVealed said:
"mirage" is a little strong but I agree to a point and would add UT, UK and several more teams to the list. When a team is down and trying to rebuild a 30 point loss in an OOC game is a negative, not a positive. I saw where Hart locked the Vols into 2 games vs Oklahoma. Not what you guys need at this point with USC-e, UGA, UF and Bammer already on the schedule. At this point UK may be the closest thing to a 'gimme' in the SEC.
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It's a bit different though, TN has to set up home and homes with big teams like that in large part for recruiting reasons, namely the relative lack of in state talent in this state. Because of that, the team has to put more of a focus on recruiting nationally as a compensation. It's why UT schedules so many home and homes with California teams, for example, or other big name/state teams...if I understand it all correctly, it's not so much about being at an easy win level as it is getting the brand out there/seen, pipeline establishment, and being more seen (/recognition) by recruits in areas (both nationally as well as the local venue)



(Someone correct me if I'm mistaken on all that)
 
#38
#38
reVealed said:
Oklahoma in a few years I can possibly see. Oklahoma in 2014 and 2015 I can't see.
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What? 2015 will be Jones's third year; the game's going to be in Knoxville. I can't imagine a better way to announce our return to prominence than by beating Oklahoma on national TV to kick off Year 3.

Again, if Jones can't rebuild us to the point where we should expect to compete in that game in three years, then we've got much bigger problems.
 
#39
#39
reVealed said:
"mirage" is a little strong but I agree to a point and would add UT, UK and several more teams to the list. When a team is down and trying to rebuild a 30 point loss in an OOC game is a negative, not a positive. I saw where Hart locked the Vols into 2 games vs Oklahoma. Not what you guys need at this point with USC-e, UGA, UF and Bammer already on the schedule. At this point UK may be the closest thing to a 'gimme' in the SEC.
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The home-and-away series with Oklahoma has been on our docket for some time; we have one scheduled for Nebraska in 2016-2017 and had one for Ohio State scheduled immediately thereafter. The Buckeyes, however, backed out of that agreement for precisely the same reason discussed here; the Big Ten decided to go to a 9-game conference schedule. We also have agreed verbally to a home-and-away series for 2021-2022 with USC (see Tennessee Volunteers Football Schedules and Future Schedules). Scheduling marquis intersectional opponents is a Tennessee tradition.

TrueOrange, your perspective probably has considerable merit now. I'm not sure if Dickey, Battle, Majors and Woodruff were thinking in those terms when they were scheduling UCLA, Penn State, Pitt (in their heyday), Notre Dame, USC, etc. back in the '60s, '70s and early '80s. This is a deeply rooted tradition, one that I look forward to maintaining, hopefully, more so than the prospect of playing a 9-game conference schedule.
 
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#40
#40
reVealed said:
2015 as it's already been announced that 2014 will be another 'bridge' schedule. Word coming from Destin is that 5 presidents are pushing for 9 games, 5 sternly opposed and 4 either undecided or not saying. At this point they do not have enough votes to pass 9 games and are unlikely to call an official ballot.
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Any idea who are which, particularly the undecided 4?

I know Vanderbilt was against it and (if the presidents happen to be relating to their coaches) that probably means that Miss St and Ole Miss are as well...maybe UF as well. But I'd he just guessing here.
 
#41
#41
The division champs play 9 SEC games and the rest play 8 SEC games. Seems pretty fair to me.
 
#42
#42
Volosaurus rex said:
The home-and-away series with Oklahoma has been on our docket for some time; we have one scheduled for Nebraska in 2016-2017 and had one for Ohio State scheduled immediately thereafter. The Buckeyes, however, backed out of that agreement for precisely the same reason; the Big Ten decided to go to a 9-game conference schedule. We also have agreed verbally to a home-and-away series for 2021-2022 with USC (see Tennessee Volunteers Football Schedules and Future Schedules). Scheduling marquis intersectional opponents is a Tennessee tradition.
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The USC is actually a bit debatable; some of the reliable sites have it, others don't. No one seems completely sure about whether or not it's actually happening or if it's just something Kiffin or Hamilton mentioned as "in the works" or some verbal agreement...short story is that one's somewhat complicated
 
#44
#44
vols-1 said:
The division champs play 9 SEC games and the rest play 8 SEC games. Seems pretty fair to me.
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It's not an issue of fairness. It's an issue of what's best in determining the champion of a 14 team, 2 division conference while also providing for a strength-of-schedule component for the new playoff system.
 
#45
#45
TrueOrange said:
The USC is actually a bit debatable; some of the reliable sites have it, others don't. No one seems completely sure about whether or not it's actually happening or if it's just something Kiffin or Hamilton mentioned as "in the works" or some verbal agreement...short story is that one's somewhat complicated
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"Verbal agreement" is the status I have encountered, which would suggest that there are no contractual commitments in place yet. Then again, we have had a habit of scheduling these big intersectional games almost a decade ahead of time, so the fact that we aren't farther along in the process at this point is hardly surprising. When you schedule that far in advance, you really have no idea of where either team will be in terms of the ebb and flow of major college football programs.
 
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#46
#46
bamawriter said:
Good point. How many schools play 8 home games in a season? I know that Alabama has never played more than 7 home games since Saban has been there.

It becomes a bit more challenging, but I don't see why teams can't simply schedule neutral site or away OOC games during the years when they get 5 conference home games.
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A good point; it's probably doable, just complicated....then again most ADs seem to be of the mindset that they are never going to fork over a home game (which they seem to view as easier money) willingly without receiving a payment greater than they feel they would have received from the revenue of the home game itself (namely ticket sales, etc).

I guess that could make the neutral site a viable idea though (granted it would take several of them...and the conference seemingly only uses Atlanta and Dallas...it might have to expand them into other cities like St. Louis or New Orleans, depending on how many games are needed).

Also there's that somewhat mess that UF and UGA could possibly pose.
 
#47
#47
vols-1 said:
The division champs play 9 SEC games and the rest play 8 SEC games. Seems pretty fair to me.
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bamawriter said:
It's not an issue of fairness. It's an issue of what's best in determining the champion of a 14 team, 2 division conference while also providing for a strength-of-schedule component for the new playoff system.
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Also that by 2017 virtually every other conference is going to be playing a 9 conference game slate plus a championship game.


Also, on a lesser note, we're going into a new system where Strength of Schedule supposedly is going to weigh more heavily.
 
#49
#49
TrueOrange said:
A good point; it's probably doable, just complicated....then again most ADs seem to be of the mindset that they are never going to fork over a home game (which they seem to view as easier money) willingly without receiving a payment greater than they feel they would have received from the revenue of the home game itself (namely ticket sales, etc).

I guess that could make the neutral site a viable idea though (granted it would take several of them...and the conference seemingly only uses Atlanta and Dallas...it might have to expand them into other cities like St. Louis or New Orleans, depending on how many games are needed).

Also there's that somewhat mess that UF and UGA could possibly pose.
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Arkansas and A&M plan on going back to a neutral site game as well. So that is a tad sticky.

Honestly, the revenue for neutral site games is pretty good. I know the Chick-Fil-A game pays out more than 2 million.
 
#50
#50
bamawriter said:
It's not an issue of fairness. It's an issue of what's best in determining the champion of a 14 team, 2 division conference while also providing for a strength-of-schedule component for the new playoff system.
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Why go through the upheaval of changing the conference's schedule until we have some idea how strength of schedule will actually factor into the new system? Nobody has any idea how that's going to play out yet.

Any SEC team going through an 8-game conference schedule with at least one good OOC game will be fine, strength of schedule-wise. If we go to a 9-game schedule, most teams will just drop the good OOC game altogether, so it'll end up being a wash anyway. Going to nine conference games doesn't do any good if the rest of everybody's schedules gets even worse.
 
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