College Football Scheduling Issues

My favorite thing to watch on TV every year is college football. This is no different than any other red blooded American male. There are matchups I look forward to every week as I pointed out last week. It is really good to see exciting matchups all season long. These great matchups are always exciting to see and it is terrific to see some of the powerhouses step out and schedule elite out of conference competition. However, this does not always happen.

This year even my beloved Seminoles have fell victim to this trap. Usually, the Seminoles have some very strong out of conference opponents, but this year they play two FCS schools (well Texas State is really Sun Belt and not FCS, but I am still calling the Noles out!). This is not uncommon either for a powerhouse team. Half the SEC does it every year, by actually scheduling two FCS schools. Does that excuse the Seminoles weak schedule? No! It does however raise a question of how to get better football games. I answered that question with one, two, three posts last year. None of those are completely necessary though because all you have to do is make this type of scheduling illegal.

I have no problem with a team playing one cupcake early, but it should only be one game and it should only be allowed in the first or second week of the season as a tune up game. We want and we deserve better matchups as the American consumer. Florida State scheduling two games against such weak opponents should not have the 40th best preseason schedule according to the NCAA method. This schedule should be ranked much lower with those caveats. Sure, being in a power conference helps that ranking, but with two horrible teams there, it should be at least lower half, you would think. The schedule isn't ranked that low though and that is a problem.

Had any team that is guilty of this been only allowed to schedule 1 FCS opponent, that is about 50 or so better football games right there off the bat. (It would have also made scheduling SEC opponents easier. FSU does have matchups with Mississippi and Alabama in the next few years and they are trying to add a date with Auburn.) That is change I think everyone supports. Well except maybe the University of Florida....

The other power team in the state never plays anyone decent out of conference other than Florida State. In fact, the SEC as in general has been pathetic. Out of the SEC's 14 teams they are playing a combined 3 road games in Power 5 stadiums. Combined for the whole conference 3 road games in power 5 stadiums. One of those games is a rivalry matchup (Georgia v. Georgia Tech). 3 power 5 road games!

To get even more serious let's look at the Florida Gators real non-conference resume. The Florida Gators have not scheduled a non-conference game outside of the state of Florida since 1991! Since 1991! That means that they haven't really been tested outside of the SEC other than against Florida State. They haven't played someone since 1991 outside the conference and they don't even play Miami on any kind of consistent basis. Absolutely pathetic! That 1991 game was a loss to Syracuse by the way. Their last win in a non-conference road game was 1989 against Memphis State when I was 2 years old. That Memphis State team was 2-9. The last win for UF outside of the state in a non-conference regular season matchup against a team with a winning record came in 1947 against NC State. You read that correctly 1947. This team has the most pathetic history of scheduling opponents and more can be read about it here.

What about this year though?

This year, there are 88 teams with worse schedules in FBS than the Seminoles according to the NCAA method. That is just sad considering that FSU has two FCS opponents and Wake on the schedule for 2015. It needs to change, but before it is, lets look at the teams with the 10 worst schedules from Power Conferences.

10. Missouri Tigers SEC (73/128)
9. Oregon State Pac 12 (78/128)
8. UCLA Bruins Pac 12 (82/128)
7. Baylor Bears Big 12 (T-88/128)
6. Oklahoma Sooners Big 12 (T-88/128)
5. Kansas State Wildcats Big 12 (91/128)
4. TCU Horned Frogs Big 12 (93/128)
3. Wisconsin Badgers Big 10 (95/128)
2. Iowa Hawkeyes Big 10 (100/128)
1. Duke Blue Devils ACC(SOS 102/128)

Looks like the Big 12 has some explaining to do! Four of the 10 worst schedules in Power 5 are from Big 12 schools. Those with poor schedules include contenders Baylor and TCU. Let's see if that is brought up around playoff time.

Meanwhile the top 3 schedules according to the NCAA method belong to...
1. Washington Huskies PAC 12
Non-conference opponenets: Boise State, Sacramento State, Utah State

2. Arkansas Razorbacks SEC
Non-conference opponents: UTEP, Toledo, Texas Tech, UT-Martin

3. Miami Hurricanes ACC
Non conference opponents: Bethune Cookman, Florida Atlantic, Nebraska, Cincinatti

Not the most daunting non-conference schedule, but not cake either. Compared to the toughest non-conference schedule in my opinion belonging to Virginia....
UCLA, Notre Dame, William and Mary, Boise State!

Now, that is a non-conference schedule!

They don't all have to look like Virginia's schedule this year, but the state of college football would be a lot more exciting if they did. If every non-conference schedule looked a little bit more like Virginia's, we would be sitting pretty this year football fans. We sure would be sitting pretty. There will still be exciting matchups for sure, but we will get a lot of clunkers like Florida State v. Texas State thrown in there. That is a shame, that is an issue, and that should change.

Kudos to the Virginia Cavaliers though!

Until next week,

-Noland

Roscoe Parrish Knocked Out Again

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. Been super busy with this school year, but I will try to get at least one post a week, and will shoot for more than that.

The big news for me lately is that football season is about to begin! FSU kicks off on Saturday, and it looks to be a strong year for the Seminoles. When you think of Seminole football it is hard not to think of the many great Seminole moments. One of those moments was what happened to Roscoe Parrish.

Well Parrish was knocked out then and is knocked out now. His NFL career appears to be over since he was cut by the San Diego Chargers.

We will always have such great memories of Roscoe Parrish here at Robinson Athletic News. For it is because of Roscoe Parrish that Stanford Samuels is a household name for Seminole fans. This cut just gave me another reason to post this amazing video. Another Seminole masterpiece.

Stanford Samuels wherever he is, knows that Seminole fans will always remember that hit.

-Noland

NCAA Tournament (Baseball Style)

The bracket has been announced. The Noles are a top 8 seeed. They will be joined by many others in the conference. Nobody has as many teams as the SEC though who has 8 teams (No Alabama). The ACC has the next most teams with 7 (FSU, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami, UNC, NC State, and Miami). I thought Virginia Tech and Maryland had a shot, but after they weren't in the ACC Tournament it was hard for them to get the invite. Maybe next year. Another surprising exclusion was the Texas Longhorns. Texas is usually a team that does pretty well in tournament play so it is surprising to see them out of the field. The Miami Hurricanes have the most consecutive appearances with 40. Our beloved Noles are next with 35.

South Carolina was also a top 8 national seed as they try for their third straight title. They would be only the second team to do that.

The top 8 national seeds are listed here in order. If any of these teams advance, they will host super regionals next week. Winners of the Super Regionals advance to the College World Series.
1. Florida
2. UCLA
3. Florida State
4. Baylor
5. Oregon
6. UNC
7. LSU
8. South Carolina

All of those teams are pretty familiar with the top 8 besides the Baylor Bears. I cannot remember Baylor as a baseball powerhouse, but perhaps I am just forgetting their exploits. Now that I looked it up I can see that Baylor has been to three College World Series and been ranked in the top 8 twice.

Now on to the Tallahassee Regional.
I like the draw other than the fact that we must play Mississippi State. How does the SEC champion get into the regional of the #3 team in the nation. It would seem that Miss State should have hosted a regional or at least been at a regional that was not a host site. That I don't like. Miss State knocked us out of a regional before and I do not like to play them. However, we are the better team and should still win. Also in our bracket is first year postseason team, Samford. All 3 teams in the regional with us won their conference.

Friday, June 1, 2012
Game 1: Mississippi State vs. Samford - 12:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 2: Florida State vs. UAB - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 12:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 - 12:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Monday, June 4, 2012
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary) - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Tournament passes are $50.00 for reserved seats and $35 for general admission seats. These are good for every game of the tournament. Single game reserved seats are $12.00 with single game general admission tickets priced at $10.00 for adults, $7.00 for youth and students. The stadium will be cleared at the end of each game.

-Noland

The Guys @ Warchant Question Barron's Statement

I will not post the whole article here, because I encourage you to check out warchant. I will post some major ideas though. I will also say that Gene Williams picked Barron's statement apart. This conference expansion thing hasn't gone away after all.

Williams says that the information given by Barron on third tier rights is misleading. He argues that FSU not being rewarded by the ACC for their brand name is a major problem with the current deal. It is not really fair that Wake Forest gets the same cut as FSU for football. The argument about travel is misleading according to Williams. He says that the difference right now is 2.9 million as Barron said, but it will increase with FSU leaving for the Big 12. If FSU and Clemson, VT, or Miami leave for the Big 12 that difference grows. After the re-negotiated deal, there could be a 6 or 7 million gap. Imagine if all four leave like I had originally proposed. The Big 12 deal would be huge.

The final argument Williams makes against the statement is about academic perception. Williams says the academic perception of FSU leaving shouldn't matter. It is interesting the argument he gave as it is the same as booster president Andy Haggard. When a person gets a degree from FSU they don't think gee I am glad I got a degree from a school in the same conference as Duke and UVA. FSU students get a degree from FSU. Why do we care if Texas or Duke are in our conference? Does it really affect our academic perception if we are in Duke's conference?

My favorite point is the one about exit fees. It seems to be the most relevant to the discussion. This idea about exit fees is probably going to be the main issue for FSU leaving or staying. Williams points out that the Big 12 paid 1/2 of WVU's exit fee. Why wouldn't they do the same for FSU and say VT who would bring more of a brand name? This is a complicated issue and may take some more time to play out.

-Noland

The Move to the Big 12 NEEDS to Happen

This move needs to happen. Take Clemson, VT and Miami with us, but it needs to happen. I know our school is worried about the perception of leaving the ACC academically, but that doesn't really matter. Our athletic department needs to cover their costs and the ACC negotiated a horrible deal. The projected revenue coming from the ESPN deal is expected to be backloaded a great deal. That won't help programs that are in current budget deficits very much. It will also make the gap between the haves (Big 12 and SEC) greater than the have nots (ACC and Big East). We cannot expect to continue to compete at a high level when those schools are raking in twice as much as us.

We sell more tickets in the Big 12. Sure, the schedule will be harder too, but does that hurt the SEC. If you lose a game in the SEC you still have a chance. We lose to VT in the ACC next year and we are done. If we move to the Big 12 and lose to VT, we can make up for it with games against Ok, Ok state, and Texas. It sets up a defacto national championship of Big 12 against SEC unless USC or Oh State go undefeated. It also brings in more money. We also don't have to worry about selling tickets from home games. Every single game against Big 12 opponents should sell out, except for maybe Iowa State.

Over the last two years FSU has finished in the top 10 of the Director's Cup twice, won the ACC in basketball, had a sweet 16 appearance, won two bowl games each time while having the best record in the state. We cannot expect that to continue if this move is not made. The budget deficit will likely increase due to a poor TV deal and lower ticket sales. People just aren't coming to see the Noles play Duke. Nobody cares. Let's make the bold move and see what happens. Let the ACC sink themselves, but don't let them take us with them. President Eric Barron said that FSU is not seeking alternatives, but that should change ASAP. We need to join WVU and make a good decision for ourselves.

-Noland