Also wants a 10 game conference schedule, with both non-conference games being against Power 5 schools, an expanded playoff, and a shorter downtime between regular season and postseason. Here we go....
Saban wants P5 to be completely separate of G5
- Thread starter MGSA99
- Start date
Isn't this the guy who didn't like no huddle spreads because there are more plays thus creating more injuries? Now he wants less down time and more games against tougher comp?
The SEC is the only P5 conference that doesn't even play 9 conference games. They only play 8, that way the lower level and mid level SEC teams can load up on cupcakes and the entire conference is almost guaranteed to make a Bowl.
A
anon_ivydyf0amkzay
Guest
Not just load up on wins. The home games are just as important. Either way, the big boys won't give up the $$ of 2 possible home games a year. So even if these ideas ever go through, you'll probably see yet another virtual class dividing line. The BigP5 and the LittleP5. The BP5 buying OOC home games from the the LP5.
As much as I like these ideas as a CFB fan, not sure it would it would be beneficial to RU in any real way. Not a shocker - the big boys (the ~20 power schools that really run the NCAA) make the music, the rest dance to the tune. I always assume that any decisions these guys make are mostly for their benefit, not the rest of the pee-ons.
I wonder if he is responding to complaints from tide fans that a powerful program like Alabama is shamefully playing the Mercer Bears this year.
Mercer has had a program for all of 4 years.
The important thing is to be in a conference with some "Power 20" schools. Schools like Oregon, Utah, Kansas State and Missouri all have a legitimate shot to make any future playoff, even though they were for the most part terrible 20 years ago. The same cannot be said for Houston, Boise State, Cincinnati, UConn, etc. Rutgers has made it into the lifeboat. That is more important long term than than winning a January bowl as a G6 team.
If a pure break of the P5
- B12 needs to add 2 teams (BYU and 1 other)
- 5 conference champs plus 3 at large in a playoff format for the championship
- 10 game conference schedule
- NCAA has a committee that schedules the other 2 games in a fair format
Top 32 teams qualify for playoffs / bowls (incl some vs. G5 teams)
- for teams not in the playoff they can qualify for mini tourneys (ie. NIT in hoops that may have the top 2 G5 teams)
- other 4 team tourneys at bowl sites
- B12 needs to add 2 teams (BYU and 1 other)
- 5 conference champs plus 3 at large in a playoff format for the championship
- 10 game conference schedule
- NCAA has a committee that schedules the other 2 games in a fair format
Top 32 teams qualify for playoffs / bowls (incl some vs. G5 teams)
- for teams not in the playoff they can qualify for mini tourneys (ie. NIT in hoops that may have the top 2 G5 teams)
- other 4 team tourneys at bowl sites
I bet that Mercer sought out the game vs. Alabama. Those big paydays mean so much to struggling school athletic departments. Saban will pull all of his starters before halftime.
Mercer has Alabama AND Auburn this year. AWAY of course. Like SG says, those paycheck games, which will beat up those Mercer players bigtime, will help the coffers.
I agree it is getting to the point where 1A (FBS) should consider formally splitting as Division I did in the 70's. The attendance mark to move to FBS is 15,000 per game. P5 conferences average more than 50K per game (OK, the ACC only averaged over 49K per home game last two seasons) whereas C-USA, Sun Belt, and the MAC all average under 20K per home game. Only six of the 65 P5 schools failed to average 35K over the past three seasons. Those schools are Syracuse (34,959), Vanderbilt (about 33K), Boston College (over 32K), Kansas (about 29K), Duke (about 28K), and Wake Forest (about 27K). On the other hand, there are only three G5 schools that averaged over 35K over the past three seasons. Those schools are BYU (58,080.6), East Carolina (44,057.7), and Memphis (38,280.8). There is already a split and most of the bowl games reflect this as there are only six games that match a P5 team against a G5 team (Las Vegas Bowl, Birmingham Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, Heart of Dallas Bowl, Military Bowl, and the NY6 game that will take the best G5 team).
If the expanded playoffs allow for an automatic bid for each conference champion, then I agree with the 10 conference games. I would also think we should do away with the conference championship games in that scenario to accommodate the expanded playoffs. If the playoff teams are determined by pollsters (or by committee), then I would lean toward 8 or 9 conference games with a conferences attempting to schedule enough teams from other P5 conferences to allow the pollsters (and fans) to make a realistic estimate of each conference's strength to enhance the accuracy and legitimacy of the poll.
These are the G5 schools that averaged better attendance than Kansas, Duke, and Wake:
BYU (58,080.6)
ECU (44057.7)
Memphis (38,280.8)
UCF (34,559.5)
Houston (33,510.9)
Boise State (33,412.4)
Cincinnati (33,195.3)
San Diego State (32,701.7)
Army (32,532.7)
Navy (32,127.8)
USF (31,855.1)
If the expanded playoffs allow for an automatic bid for each conference champion, then I agree with the 10 conference games. I would also think we should do away with the conference championship games in that scenario to accommodate the expanded playoffs. If the playoff teams are determined by pollsters (or by committee), then I would lean toward 8 or 9 conference games with a conferences attempting to schedule enough teams from other P5 conferences to allow the pollsters (and fans) to make a realistic estimate of each conference's strength to enhance the accuracy and legitimacy of the poll.
These are the G5 schools that averaged better attendance than Kansas, Duke, and Wake:
BYU (58,080.6)
ECU (44057.7)
Memphis (38,280.8)
UCF (34,559.5)
Houston (33,510.9)
Boise State (33,412.4)
Cincinnati (33,195.3)
San Diego State (32,701.7)
Army (32,532.7)
Navy (32,127.8)
USF (31,855.1)
No Athletic Department is going to agree to 6 home games & 6 road games, so somebody is gonna get screwed
Isn't he in the only conference that plays 8 conference games and complains about being pressured into 9 conference games like the other conferences because there conference is "so good". Maybe SEC should start off by playing 9 conference games.
I know I have my head in the sand, but I think the big picture is that he wants his college football world to be more like a pro league with fewer restrictions and pesky academic issues slowing him down. I realize I'm completely naive, but I prefer the charade of pretending these are really student-athletes...
edited to add: I hate the down time between regular season and post season, but it's there because there is a lot of academic activity in mid-December.
edited to add: I hate the down time between regular season and post season, but it's there because there is a lot of academic activity in mid-December.
I like the thought of attendance numbers determining who should be P5 vs G5. Maybe raise it to 25k or 29k so that Duke and Wake don't get eliminated. I see Army and navy over 30k on your list. Is Air Force around the same?
I agree with this and Saban is actually pretty great when it comes to not showing up the opponents for the most part.
Thing is...Alabama could go four deep at about every position and it would still look like a NFL team playing a high school team.
I like Saban's idea. One of the previous posters alluded to the possibility of a bigP5 and littleP5 developing. That is a possibility. I think the P5 conferences would have to chip in to some kind of revenue sharing to avoid that from happening. Not complete revenue sharing but some small percentage.
I still think you increase the playoffs to 8 so that each power 5 conference winner gets in plus some wildcard teams. However you include the highest ranked non power 5 team into the mix so you most likely eliminate any litigation. Plus it would add that long shot to the equation, sort of like the NCAA basketball tournament which does create some excitement.
The problem with these tougher schedules is somebody has to lose. It may not affect Alabama, but what would 2-3 years of 5-7 seasons do to a fanbase like Tennessee or South Carolina? People across the country like winning teams, and padding your schedule with 3 cream puffs allows schools across the country to fake their fanbase into thinking they're rooting for a good team.
The problem with these tougher schedules is somebody has to lose. It may not affect Alabama, but what would 2-3 years of 5-7 seasons do to a fanbase like Tennessee or South Carolina? People across the country like winning teams, and padding your schedule with 3 cream puffs allows schools across the country to fake their fanbase into thinking they're rooting for a good team.
This isn't the NFL. University presidents IMO are not going to risk the amateur status of the the sport by treating the players MORE like professionals. They don't want to risk killing their golden goose.
What is the point here? To completely professionalize big-time football? To trim the FCS-like schools from FBS? Or just to make more money?
Some of his ideas have merit, others seem a bit too much.
And if you're going to split FBS, I'm not sure if it's better to stick to 64-ish or bring aboard the top G5 schools (meaning the tops in quality AND the tops in attendance, if they don't match).
Anyway, any changes that don't make it feel like COLLEGE football should be immediately dismissed.
Some of his ideas have merit, others seem a bit too much.
And if you're going to split FBS, I'm not sure if it's better to stick to 64-ish or bring aboard the top G5 schools (meaning the tops in quality AND the tops in attendance, if they don't match).
Anyway, any changes that don't make it feel like COLLEGE football should be immediately dismissed.
Florida only plays 3 true away games ( & one neutral site), Alabama, Arkansas, S.C, T A&M, & Tenn only play 4 true away games this year (& one neutral site).
Talk about an advantage!
SEC schedules
http://www.espn.com/college-football/teams
Talk about an advantage!
SEC schedules
http://www.espn.com/college-football/teams
Tennessee went 5-7 in 2011, 2012, and 2013 and averaged 99,754 per home game in 2014, which was up from 95,584 in 2013.
I like that. Instead of only bowl teams getting that extra month of practice and play time.. everyone gets it.
Now.. that said.. if we were still AAC and G5.. I'd hate this plan. Virtually no chance of becoming a P5 level program after this happens.
If this did happen, it would probably kill football at the FCS level as well as some g5 schools. Too many schools rely on those paydays to keep their programs and athletic departments afloat.
The SEC needs to get rid of the tradition of scheduling November creampuffs. You can have homecoming with a conference opponent. Only in the SEC will you see Alabama playing Mercer a week before Thanksgiving. Arkansas plays Coastal Carolina, Auburn plays ULM and Florida plays UAB in November. I can go on.
Plus if the SEC divisions get tight late in the season, as a fan I wouldn't want to hit a mid-major speed bump towards the end of the season as my team is trying to get the SEC championship.
Plus if the SEC divisions get tight late in the season, as a fan I wouldn't want to hit a mid-major speed bump towards the end of the season as my team is trying to get the SEC championship.
Last edited:
The only way this would work is a complete break from the NCAA in all sports so that the Power 5 are their own thing with their own rules. That has little chance of happening.
