Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

For all the complaining I do about the SEC schedule (never travel, rare games against power conference opponents), I've got to say that 2013's schedule is MUCH better. The only thing that's conspicuous, is the lack of intermingling between the top teams from the east and west, which protects the conference in a way, but also sets up a better conference championship game. IMO, the SEC won't appear so dominant in the top of the polls by the end of the year, as the schedule looks a bit stiffer than in year's past.

Here are the top 6 team's schedule highlights:

Florida
OOC: Toledo, @ Miami, Ga. Southern, Florida St.
SEC: @ LSU, Georgia, @ S. Car. (No Alabama, Texas A&M)

South Carolina
OOC: North Carolina, SC St., @ UCF, Clemson
SEC: Florida, @ Georgia (No Alabama, Texas A&M)

Georgia
OOC: @ Clemson, N. Texas, Appalachian St., @ Georgia Tech
SEC: S. Car., LSU, Florida (No Alabama, Texas A&M)

Alabama
OOC: Virginia Tech (in Atlanta), Georgia St., Chattanooga, Colorado State
SEC: @ Texas A&M, LSU (No Florida, SC, UGA)

LSU
OOC: TCU (Cowboy Stadium), Kent St., UAB, Furman
SEC: @ Alabama, @ Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M (no SC)

Texas A&M
OOC: Rice, Sam Houston St., SMU, New Mexico
SEC: Alabama, @LSU (no SC, UGA, Fla)

Other Teams OOC (travel and BCS AQ match ups)
Vanderbilt @ UMass
Tennessee @ Oregon
Missouri @ Indiana
Miss. St. vs. Oklahoma St. (in Houston)
Kentucky vs. Louisville
Arkansas @ Rutgers
Ole Miss @ Texas
Auburn vs. Washington State

Notes:
- Still only 9 travel dates and 2 Neutral sites out of 14 teams (64 games).
- Georgia travels twice against the ACC (Clem, Ga. Tech) but still doesn't leave the immediate area.
- 15 OOC against BCS AQ Conference teams
- Missouri still has an open OOC date to fill
- LSU's schedule appears to be the toughest in the conference
- Aside from the showdown vs. Alabama and a trip to Death Valley, Tex. A&M appears to have the easiest schedule
- Book the Alabama at Texas A&M game for Gameday...Unless Rice or Va. Tech have upset ideas?

All in all, still a lot of cupcakes on the schedules and a lot of home games, but MUCH MUCH better than the past couple of seasons, IMO.

Looking at that it's hard to picture an easier OOC schedule then that. I've never paid attention to there previous ones before.

We each have a permanent opponent (ours is Florida) and then we do a home and away with each east team (2 a year) in turn, so the lack of top east/west team playing is just luck of the draw from year to year.

303DucksFan wrote:Looking at that it's hard to picture an easier OOC schedule then that. I've never paid attention to there previous ones before.

Have you looked at the PAC's for next year?

NORTH

Cal
Northwestern (BIG 12)
Portland State (FCS)
Ohio State (Big 10)

Oregon
Nicholls State (FCS)
at Nevada (MW)
Tennessee (SEC)

Oregon State
Eastern Washington (FCS)
Hawaii (MW)
at San Diego State (MW)

Stanford
at Army (ID)
Notre Dame (ID)
San Jose State (WAC)

Washington
Boise State (MAC)
at Illinois (at Chicago, IL) (BIG 10)
Idaho State (WAC)

Washington State
at Auburn (SEC)
Southern Utah (FCS)
Idaho (WAC)

SOUTH

Arizona (2?)
at UNLV (MW)
UTSA (WAC)

Arizona State
Wisconsin (BIG 10)
Notre Dame (at Arlington, TX) (ID)
Sacramento State (FCS)

Colorado
Colorado State (at Denver, CO)
Central Arkansas (FCS)
Fresno State (MW)

UCLA
Nevada (MW)
at Nebraska (BIG 10)
New Mexico State (WAC)

USC (4 games?)
at Hawaii (MW)
Boston College (ACC)
Utah State (WAC)
at Notre Dame (ID)

Utah
Utah State (WAC)
Weber State (FCS)
at BYU (ID)

All in all, still a lot of cupcakes on the schedules and a lot of home games, but MUCH MUCH better than the past couple of seasons, IMO.

We don’t play a 9th conference (right or wrong) so we will always have a lot of cupcakes compared to a “PAC” schedule.

It’s been my argument that people look at Florida during their Tebow days and complained about that schedule and assumed that we all only play in state, we never travel, and we don’t play a lot of BCS schools, I’m willing to bet you if you go back for the past 7 years you would see that 2013’s schedule is similar to the previous 7.

Bud Lee wrote:

303DucksFan wrote:Looking at that it's hard to picture an easier OOC schedule then that. I've never paid attention to there previous ones before.

Have you looked at the PAC's for next year?

NORTH

Cal
Northwestern (BIG 12)
Portland State (FCS)
Ohio State (Big 10)

Oregon
Nicholls State (FCS)
at Nevada (MW)
Tennessee (SEC)

Oregon State
Eastern Washington (FCS)
Hawaii (MW)
at San Diego State (MW)

Stanford
at Army (ID)
Notre Dame (ID)
San Jose State (WAC)

Washington
Boise State (MAC)
at Illinois (at Chicago, IL) (BIG 10)
Idaho State (WAC)

Washington State
at Auburn (SEC)
Southern Utah (FCS)
Idaho (WAC)

SOUTH

Arizona (2?)
at UNLV (MW)
UTSA (WAC)

Arizona State
Wisconsin (BIG 10)
Notre Dame (at Arlington, TX) (ID)
Sacramento State (FCS)

Colorado
Colorado State (at Denver, CO)
Central Arkansas (FCS)
Fresno State (MW)

UCLA
Nevada (MW)
at Nebraska (BIG 10)
New Mexico State (WAC)

USC (4 games?)
at Hawaii (MW)
Boston College (ACC)
Utah State (WAC)
at Notre Dame (ID)

Utah
Utah State (WAC)
Weber State (FCS)
at BYU (ID)

Every team besides Colorado and maybe Utah (depends how good BYU is next year) has at least one decent OOC match up. You could also make the argument that Fresno State is a decent match up. That being said, I see your point that the PAC 12's schedule is nothing to brag about, but I don't see it any easier then the SEC's. I honestly believe the SEC has an easier schedule.

USC has 4 games because, if you travel to Hawaii, you get an extra game.
Arizona still needs to schedule another OOC game, apparently.

AutzenMember wrote:USC has 4 games because, if you travel to Hawaii, you get an extra game.
Arizona still needs to schedule another OOC game, apparently.

Really, that's crazy! So do they still play all their conference games? Do they just add one? Does that mean Oregon State gets another one? I never knew of this...

Every team besides Colorado and maybe Utah (depends how good BYU is next year) has at least one decent OOC match up. You could also make the argument that Fresno State is a decent match up. That being said, I see your point that the PAC 12's schedule is nothing to brag about, but I don't see it any easier then the SEC's. I honestly believe the SEC has an easier schedule.

Fair enough, I just get a bug up my but about this.

So, let's do the math:

OOC Games
Pac12: 36 OOC games total (should be one more once AZ fills their schedule)
SEC: 55 OOC games total (should be one more once Mizzou fills their schedule)

BCS AQ Games (includes ND)
Pac12: 11 out of 36 = 31% (did not include BYU or Boise St.)
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

Travel Dates (includes neutral sites)
Pac12: 13 out of 36 = 36%
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

More than anything, this proves the point that an 8-game conference schedule versus a 9-game conference schedule are not a level playing field. It's blown further out of proportion by the fact that the SEC is now 14 teams. (teams play 9 out of the other 11 teams for the Pac, 8 out of 13 for the SEC). Not taking a side on which is the correct way, just that all of the conferences should be the same. The end result of this is 7 extra wins for the SEC vs. 6 extra losses for the Pac12, which dramatically skews the comparison of the conferences and the rankings. Hopefully, this will be fixed for 2014 so that somewhat unbiased selections can be made for the top 4 teams.

Bud Lee wrote:

AutzenMember wrote:USC has 4 games because, if you travel to Hawaii, you get an extra game.
Arizona still needs to schedule another OOC game, apparently.

Really, that's crazy! So do they still play all their conference games? Do they just add one? Does that mean Oregon State gets another one? I never knew of this...

It's only if you TRAVEL to Hawaii, so OSU does not get an extra game. The rule was put into place to encourage teams to travel to UH, which had a hard time scheduling non-conference opponents on their field. They had to travel more than any team in the country as a result, since they have to travel for half their conference games as well.

AutzenMember wrote:So, let's do the math:

OOC Games
Pac12: 36 OOC games total (should be one more once AZ fills their schedule)
SEC: 55 OOC games total (should be one more once Mizzou fills their schedule)

BCS AQ Games (includes ND)
Pac12: 11 out of 36 = 31% (did not include BYU or Boise St.)
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

Travel Dates (includes neutral sites)
Pac12: 13 out of 36 = 36%
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

More than anything, this proves the point that an 8-game conference schedule versus a 9-game conference schedule are not a level playing field. It's blown further out of proportion by the fact that the SEC is now 14 teams. (teams play 9 out of the other 11 teams for the Pac, 8 out of 13 for the SEC). Not taking a side on which is the correct way, just that all of the conferences should be the same. The end result of this is 7 extra wins for the SEC vs. 6 extra losses for the Pac12, which dramatically skews the comparison of the conferences and the rankings. Hopefully, this will be fixed for 2014 so that somewhat unbiased selections can be made for the top 4 teams.

Personally I would like the SEC to add another conference game and end the tie end game and go to a true rotation like that PAC does.

But I can argue that they have developed a good system to get results...I wonder if the PAC would drop a conference game?

AutzenMember wrote:So, let's do the math:

OOC Games
Pac12: 36 OOC games total (should be one more once AZ fills their schedule)
SEC: 55 OOC games total (should be one more once Mizzou fills their schedule)

BCS AQ Games (includes ND)
Pac12: 11 out of 36 = 31% (did not include BYU or Boise St.)
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

Travel Dates (includes neutral sites)
Pac12: 13 out of 36 = 36%
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

More than anything, this proves the point that an 8-game conference schedule versus a 9-game conference schedule are not a level playing field. It's blown further out of proportion by the fact that the SEC is now 14 teams. (teams play 9 out of the other 11 teams for the Pac, 8 out of 13 for the SEC). Not taking a side on which is the correct way, just that all of the conferences should be the same. The end result of this is 7 extra wins for the SEC vs. 6 extra losses for the Pac12, which dramatically skews the comparison of the conferences and the rankings. Hopefully, this will be fixed for 2014 so that somewhat unbiased selections can be made for the top 4 teams.

Nice post

Bud Lee wrote:

AutzenMember wrote:So, let's do the math:

OOC Games
Pac12: 36 OOC games total (should be one more once AZ fills their schedule)
SEC: 55 OOC games total (should be one more once Mizzou fills their schedule)

BCS AQ Games (includes ND)
Pac12: 11 out of 36 = 31% (did not include BYU or Boise St.)
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

Travel Dates (includes neutral sites)
Pac12: 13 out of 36 = 36%
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

More than anything, this proves the point that an 8-game conference schedule versus a 9-game conference schedule are not a level playing field. It's blown further out of proportion by the fact that the SEC is now 14 teams. (teams play 9 out of the other 11 teams for the Pac, 8 out of 13 for the SEC). Not taking a side on which is the correct way, just that all of the conferences should be the same. The end result of this is 7 extra wins for the SEC vs. 6 extra losses for the Pac12, which dramatically skews the comparison of the conferences and the rankings. Hopefully, this will be fixed for 2014 so that somewhat unbiased selections can be made for the top 4 teams.

Personally I would like the SEC to add another conference game and end the tie end game and go to a true rotation like that PAC does.

But I can argue that they have developed a good system to get results...I wonder if the PAC would drop a conference game?

I can go either way with this, so long as they are the same. The Pac12 prided itself in that each team played all other teams (in a 10 team conference), thus the 9 games. But now that there are 12 teams, there is no reason to play 9. They SHOULD consider dropping one.

EDIT: If the SEC picked up another conference game, and only dropped the cupcakes at home, the percentages in the math would be identical at 36% for travel dates and better than the Pac12 at 36% for BCS AQ opponents. Chances are that some bigger opponents would get dropped, but it certainly would even things out. So, the real difference in the conference schedules truly is the 8-game vs 9-game scheduling.

AutzenMember wrote:

Bud Lee wrote:

AutzenMember wrote:So, let's do the math:

OOC Games
Pac12: 36 OOC games total (should be one more once AZ fills their schedule)
SEC: 55 OOC games total (should be one more once Mizzou fills their schedule)

BCS AQ Games (includes ND)
Pac12: 11 out of 36 = 31% (did not include BYU or Boise St.)
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

Travel Dates (includes neutral sites)
Pac12: 13 out of 36 = 36%
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

More than anything, this proves the point that an 8-game conference schedule versus a 9-game conference schedule are not a level playing field. It's blown further out of proportion by the fact that the SEC is now 14 teams. (teams play 9 out of the other 11 teams for the Pac, 8 out of 13 for the SEC). Not taking a side on which is the correct way, just that all of the conferences should be the same. The end result of this is 7 extra wins for the SEC vs. 6 extra losses for the Pac12, which dramatically skews the comparison of the conferences and the rankings. Hopefully, this will be fixed for 2014 so that somewhat unbiased selections can be made for the top 4 teams.

Personally I would like the SEC to add another conference game and end the tie end game and go to a true rotation like that PAC does.

But I can argue that they have developed a good system to get results...I wonder if the PAC would drop a conference game?

I can go either way with this, so long as they are the same. The Pac12 prided itself in that each team played all other teams (in a 10 team conference), thus the 9 games. But now that there are 12 teams, there is no reason to play 9. They SHOULD consider dropping one.

My thoughts on it is it is better for you team to only have 8 conference games on a 12 game schedule. It gives your program a chance to schedule a nice easy game late in the year for homecoming. Basically giving you a tune up week mid season so your players get rest. It also gives you one more home game to collect more money to sink in your program.

Sucks for your fans a little because they lose a quality game but our system works and is a factor in the SEC's success I think. Not a BIG factor but still a factor.

Bud Lee wrote:

AutzenMember wrote:

Bud Lee wrote:

AutzenMember wrote:So, let's do the math:

OOC Games
Pac12: 36 OOC games total (should be one more once AZ fills their schedule)
SEC: 55 OOC games total (should be one more once Mizzou fills their schedule)

BCS AQ Games (includes ND)
Pac12: 11 out of 36 = 31% (did not include BYU or Boise St.)
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

Travel Dates (includes neutral sites)
Pac12: 13 out of 36 = 36%
SEC: 15 out of 55 = 27%

More than anything, this proves the point that an 8-game conference schedule versus a 9-game conference schedule are not a level playing field. It's blown further out of proportion by the fact that the SEC is now 14 teams. (teams play 9 out of the other 11 teams for the Pac, 8 out of 13 for the SEC). Not taking a side on which is the correct way, just that all of the conferences should be the same. The end result of this is 7 extra wins for the SEC vs. 6 extra losses for the Pac12, which dramatically skews the comparison of the conferences and the rankings. Hopefully, this will be fixed for 2014 so that somewhat unbiased selections can be made for the top 4 teams.

Personally I would like the SEC to add another conference game and end the tie end game and go to a true rotation like that PAC does.

But I can argue that they have developed a good system to get results...I wonder if the PAC would drop a conference game?

I can go either way with this, so long as they are the same. The Pac12 prided itself in that each team played all other teams (in a 10 team conference), thus the 9 games. But now that there are 12 teams, there is no reason to play 9. They SHOULD consider dropping one.

My thoughts on it is it is better for you team to only have 8 conference games on a 12 game schedule. It gives your program a chance to schedule a nice easy game late in the year for homecoming. Basically giving you a tune up week mid season so your players get rest. It also gives you one more home game to collect more money to sink in your program.

Sucks for your fans a little because they lose a quality game but our system works and is a factor in the SEC's success I think. Not a BIG factor but still a factor.

I would argue that it IS a big factor, when you consider win-loss ratios and rankings being determined by this. If you added a loss to even three of the five top SEC teams, the rankings would not be so skewed with SEC teams and ultimately, could have cost a participant or two in the NCG game during this 7 year stretch. You can't win the NC if you're not playing in it, so getting the opportunity is half the battle (100% of the battle if you're talking about last year, lol.) No arguments here that the SEC is using the system much better than the other conferences. It's up to the other conferences to get with the program and not just cry about it.