scheduling matters
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 3:13 pm
Philosophies differ and opinions vary about how to schedule non-conference opponents, but one thing seems to be agreed upon by SEC coaches: Booking at least one nationally-recognized team is not only beneficial to college football but also to conference exposure and recruiting. That's if those major teams will play the top-notch SEC schools.
"You hear people say SEC teams won't play anybody, heck, nobody will play us," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We could play teams that maybe are of lesser caliber and still our schedules will be tough enough to win a national championship in the end.
"Just talking to all the other coaches in the spring, everybody tries not to play just one but as many (quality non-conference opponents) as they can. You don't want to go out and just have murderers' row. We went out to Los Angeles a couple years ago. USC came here. It's good for the conference. It's good for college football."
Auburn's non-conference schedule this season is no walk in the park. The No. 18 Tigers open with Big XII opponent Kansas State and then host an up-and-coming South Florida team in the second week. Offensive juggernaut New Mexico State visits Auburn on Sept. 22.
No. 15 Tennessee has the toughest non-conference opponent in the opening week when the Volunteers visit No. 12 California, which seeks revenge after being beaten 35-18 in last season's opener in Knoxville.
Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge is expected to have an X-ray on the injured pinky of his right throwing hand, possibly as early as Wednesday. He jammed it in Monday's practice. Coach Phillip Fulmer said Ainge threw in practice Tuesday and the team does not expect any problems with Ainge heading to Berkeley this weekend.
"The national exposure that's out there for recruiting whether you play a Notre Dame or Miami or UCLA or Syracuse or in this case Cal," Fulmer said. "Last season the Cal game really kicked our season off well. Opening with a game like Cal makes the summer better. The guys know they have to be ready from jump and they know they can't play themselves into shape or play themselves into being efficient.
"If I had my druthers I'd open with a lesser opponent particularly with our schedule as it stands this year with Southern Miss and Florida in the first three. I'd like to probably have it differently but we're going to play them when they schedule them. It helped us last year when we had a big win over Cal. It was a lot of momentum…We had a really poor season for us in '05 and we wanted to show people what we were really about as a program. Folks wanted us to go away and we didn't go away. Cal went on to prove they were a very good team during the course of the year."
The opinion SEC teams schedule only soft non-conference opponents does not hold up to scrutiny. One reason some coaches prefer a lighter load is because the conference schedule is so taxing. For some schools, it's tough enough to earn wins in the SEC so some lower-rated programs must be scheduled to bump up the number in the win column. For the higher-level SEC teams, playing for a national championship is the motivator. If a top-flight team is scheduling quality non-conference opponents each week and then must play the demanding SEC schedule, a slip up is more likely to occur.
Still, from a recruiting and national exposure perspective, coaches seem to favor at least one highly-rated non-conference matchup.
"Everybody knows how much I respect the competition in this league, the great players in this league and the quality of coaches in this league," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Everybody from top to bottom can beat you. At the same time, even though we have a great reputation in the SEC as a strong conference, in this day and age, it's important for the conference to get national exposure as well. Playing one good opponent outside the league is a positive for the league. It's good exposure for the league as well as the program itself in terms of recruiting."
Said Arkansas coach Houston Nutt: "We've played Texas. We've played USC and then we've had some lower (Division I) games. If you had your druthers, I like playing where you kind of ease into it and you have a good win the first game and you're able to play some players. You don't get to set the schedule. The schedule is what it is. It helps you with national exposure."
Florida hosts Western Kentucky in its season opener but has the Florida State game on its schedule. That is a regional rivalry that is important for the mystique of college football. Georgia hosts Oklahoma State in its opener. The Bulldogs visit in-state rival Georgia Tech in the regular season finale.
The Kentucky-Louisville game has regional implications. Quarterbacks Andre Woodson, from Kentucky, and the Cardinals' Brian Brohm should put up big numbers this season. South Carolina visits North Carolina and hosts Clemson this season. Vanderbilt plays Wake Forest.
In the western division, Alabama plays Florida State in Jacksonville. Arkansas arguably has the easiest non-conference schedule in the SEC with games against Troy, North Texas, Chattanooga and Florida International, all in Fayetteville.
LSU hosts Virginia Tech in the second week after opening on the road at Mississippi State. Ole Miss visits Memphis and plays Missouri in its first two games. Mississippi State visits West Virginia in October. There is no doubt SEC teams have scheduled many quality non-conference games this season.
"This is the top league," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. "When you have programs that are committed to being the best in the country they're going to hire good coaches and you have to prepare for them each week. That's what makes it so much fun. You know you're going to be challenged as a coach. Your team is going to be challenged. That's what makes SEC football so interesting."
"You hear people say SEC teams won't play anybody, heck, nobody will play us," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We could play teams that maybe are of lesser caliber and still our schedules will be tough enough to win a national championship in the end.
"Just talking to all the other coaches in the spring, everybody tries not to play just one but as many (quality non-conference opponents) as they can. You don't want to go out and just have murderers' row. We went out to Los Angeles a couple years ago. USC came here. It's good for the conference. It's good for college football."
Auburn's non-conference schedule this season is no walk in the park. The No. 18 Tigers open with Big XII opponent Kansas State and then host an up-and-coming South Florida team in the second week. Offensive juggernaut New Mexico State visits Auburn on Sept. 22.
No. 15 Tennessee has the toughest non-conference opponent in the opening week when the Volunteers visit No. 12 California, which seeks revenge after being beaten 35-18 in last season's opener in Knoxville.
Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge is expected to have an X-ray on the injured pinky of his right throwing hand, possibly as early as Wednesday. He jammed it in Monday's practice. Coach Phillip Fulmer said Ainge threw in practice Tuesday and the team does not expect any problems with Ainge heading to Berkeley this weekend.
"The national exposure that's out there for recruiting whether you play a Notre Dame or Miami or UCLA or Syracuse or in this case Cal," Fulmer said. "Last season the Cal game really kicked our season off well. Opening with a game like Cal makes the summer better. The guys know they have to be ready from jump and they know they can't play themselves into shape or play themselves into being efficient.
"If I had my druthers I'd open with a lesser opponent particularly with our schedule as it stands this year with Southern Miss and Florida in the first three. I'd like to probably have it differently but we're going to play them when they schedule them. It helped us last year when we had a big win over Cal. It was a lot of momentum…We had a really poor season for us in '05 and we wanted to show people what we were really about as a program. Folks wanted us to go away and we didn't go away. Cal went on to prove they were a very good team during the course of the year."
The opinion SEC teams schedule only soft non-conference opponents does not hold up to scrutiny. One reason some coaches prefer a lighter load is because the conference schedule is so taxing. For some schools, it's tough enough to earn wins in the SEC so some lower-rated programs must be scheduled to bump up the number in the win column. For the higher-level SEC teams, playing for a national championship is the motivator. If a top-flight team is scheduling quality non-conference opponents each week and then must play the demanding SEC schedule, a slip up is more likely to occur.
Still, from a recruiting and national exposure perspective, coaches seem to favor at least one highly-rated non-conference matchup.
"Everybody knows how much I respect the competition in this league, the great players in this league and the quality of coaches in this league," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Everybody from top to bottom can beat you. At the same time, even though we have a great reputation in the SEC as a strong conference, in this day and age, it's important for the conference to get national exposure as well. Playing one good opponent outside the league is a positive for the league. It's good exposure for the league as well as the program itself in terms of recruiting."
Said Arkansas coach Houston Nutt: "We've played Texas. We've played USC and then we've had some lower (Division I) games. If you had your druthers, I like playing where you kind of ease into it and you have a good win the first game and you're able to play some players. You don't get to set the schedule. The schedule is what it is. It helps you with national exposure."
Florida hosts Western Kentucky in its season opener but has the Florida State game on its schedule. That is a regional rivalry that is important for the mystique of college football. Georgia hosts Oklahoma State in its opener. The Bulldogs visit in-state rival Georgia Tech in the regular season finale.
The Kentucky-Louisville game has regional implications. Quarterbacks Andre Woodson, from Kentucky, and the Cardinals' Brian Brohm should put up big numbers this season. South Carolina visits North Carolina and hosts Clemson this season. Vanderbilt plays Wake Forest.
In the western division, Alabama plays Florida State in Jacksonville. Arkansas arguably has the easiest non-conference schedule in the SEC with games against Troy, North Texas, Chattanooga and Florida International, all in Fayetteville.
LSU hosts Virginia Tech in the second week after opening on the road at Mississippi State. Ole Miss visits Memphis and plays Missouri in its first two games. Mississippi State visits West Virginia in October. There is no doubt SEC teams have scheduled many quality non-conference games this season.
"This is the top league," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. "When you have programs that are committed to being the best in the country they're going to hire good coaches and you have to prepare for them each week. That's what makes it so much fun. You know you're going to be challenged as a coach. Your team is going to be challenged. That's what makes SEC football so interesting."