SEC FOOTBALL : Tough slate may generate some Gator tears
Darren Epps Commentary
The prognosticators love to tally returning starters, count the number of seniors, compare coaches and assess quarterbacks when predicting the Southeastern Conferences final standings this fall. But one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of a teams chances is completely out of its control: the SEC schedule.
Road games matter. The positioning of the bye week matters. The three interdivision games each team plays are all different, and all impact each schools chances to reach the SEC championship game.
Tennessee played on the road against Florida, LSU and Alabama in the first half of last season and self-destructed. Georgia drew two cushy SEC West teams, got a fairly easy road schedule and won the SEC championship.
No one is saying the schedules determined the fates of those two teams Georgia beat Tennessee in Knoxville but they make a difference. Rarely do teams draw unusually rough SEC slates and win the conference, though Auburn won at Tennessee and Alabama along with hammering Georgia during a perfect 2004 campaign.
This isnt a look at the toughest overall schedules the nonconference games can be controlled meaning we wont penalize Alabama, which proved you can schedule Louisiana-Monroe and not make it your homecoming game (that distinction belongs to Florida International ). The rankings also consider the placement of bye weeks, giving more credence to the schedules of Alabama, Auburn and Vanderbilt all of whom play 12 straight weeks without a bye. Even the NFL doesnt force teams to play 12 straight weeks before their first bye, and those guys are professionals. Its completely unfair to those three schools, and changes need to be made.
Ranking the conference schedules, starting with the toughest: 1. Florida I bet Urban Meyer cried, again, when he saw this schedule. Not only do the Gators draw the three toughest teams out of the West, but they have to play them in consecutive weeks. Throw in a trip to Tennessee and Meyer could be showing his sensitive side even more in 2006. 2. LSU Coach Les Miles, who tried to call a timeout during a change of possession against Tennessee last year, will need to keep his cool with this schedule. Ive heard road trips with the in-laws arent this bad. The Tigers travel to Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas. Of course, LSU fans will tell you Nick Saban would have won all those games by an average of 30 points.
3. Alabama Dont laugh. Yes, with Hawaii, Louisiana-Monroe, Duke and Florida International making up the nonconference schedule, the Tides home slate rates somewhere between wet notebook paper and Richard Simmons on the toughness scale. But I wouldnt want to play 12 straight games with road trips to Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee and LSU.
4. Auburn The Tigers start the season against Washington State on Sept. 2 and dont get an open date until Nov. 25, the week before the SEC title game.
"Thats suicide in the SEC," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said.
Worse, theres no Vanderbilt or Kentucky to break up the schedule.
5. Tennessee Last years brutal schedule doesnt change too much, except the Vols get Florida, Alabama and LSU at Neyland Stadium this time. But will it make a difference? The Vols are 0-6 in their last six home games against Top 10 teams, losing five of them by double digits.
6. Kentucky The Rich Brooks Farewell Tour includes both Mississippi schools, which is nice, but also road trips to Florida, LSU and Tennessee, which is why this is the Rich Brooks Farewell Tour.
7. Vanderbilt The SEC shows a dark sense of humor by forcing Vanderbilt to play games in 12 straight weeks leading up to the all-important bye week before the SEC championship game, otherwise known as an early start to the offseason in Nashville. The schedule isnt terribly difficult, but playing 12 straight weeks with so little depth will be brutal.
8. Mississippi State Im guessing any road trip is good when you live in Starkville, but games at LSU, Georgia and Alabama might make the Bulldogs long for the days of... whatever you do in Starkville. Mississippi State draws only one of the Easts Big Three, and two of its crossover games are at home.
9. Georgia The schedule initially looks easy by SEC standards, but remember the Florida "home" game counts as a fifth road trip and the Bulldogs dont get a bye week until the conference schedule is complete (before the Georgia Tech game). Two games against the Mississippi schools, thats good times.
10. Ole Miss Quarterback Brent Schaeffer gets a favorable start at his new school, facing Kentucky, Georgia a team he saw while taking snaps at Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
11. South Carolina A remarkably easy road schedule, except for one familiar stop at the end for coach Steve Spurrier. A place he used to call home.
12. Arkansas No Florida, no Georgia, no trip to Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa. It could be a job-saving schedule for coach Houston Nutt well, after the opener against Southern Cal.
