Recently the question arose about scheduling in college football.
When asked about his opening game against Louisville in Orlando, Fla., Alabama head coach Nick Saban presented his view on the need for more quality opponents for SEC teams, especially in terms of non-conference opponents.
“I think philosophically we’re sort of changing our thoughts on that and our future scheduling and trying to get more home-and-homes,” said Saban, who also lobbied once more for a nine or 10-game SEC schedule. “I know nobody really asked this, but I’ve always been an advocate of playing all Power Five schools. I think we need to have more really, really good games on TV for the players. We can’t have fans who pay a lot of money for tickets and boxes and loges who support our programs to pay for games that no one is interested in watching.”
Although I agree with Saban somewhat, I do believe that there must be a balance struck when it comes to scheduling games, not only in college football, but also in high school football.
It is easy to promote tougher scheduling when you have arguably the best program in the country. With the talent that Alabama possesses, they can afford to take on all comers and take their chances on remaining unscathed by the time the season ends.
However, 99% of the country is not Alabama.
I know what a lot of you out there are going to say, “To be the best, you have to beat the best.”
That is true, but I really think fans of the game understand that having a so called “cupcake” on the schedule is not necessarily a bad thing.
First and foremost, it gives good football programs that are not apart of the Power 5 Conferences a chance to showcase their talent on the big stage.
Secondly, if your team is in a brutal conference, like the SEC, it gives a team a chance to find their rhythm before facing the gauntlet. And, if that “cupcake” team appears in the middle of the conference schedule, or right before a heated rival, you give your injured stars just a little more time to heal any injuries induced at the start of the season.
And don’t forget, some of those “cupcake” teams can come into your place and down right embarrass you. (See Appalachian St. and for you LSU fans, UAB)
Then there is the in-state rivalries. I myself am an advocate of the bigger programs in each state giving their in-state colleagues a shot at taking down the flagship program.
I love it when LSU plays Tulane, McNeese, ULL, or anyone of the other teams in Louisiana. I believe the draw and the crowd for those games are just as big as any SEC opponent coming to Death Valley. Just call me nostalgic.
In professional football, the opportunity to play other teams outside of your division is dictated by the NFL. So, besides those natural rivals (i.e. Saints/Falcons) the NFL teams really do not have a say on who they play year in and year out.
But, in college and high school, those non-conference/district games are controlled by the schools themselves. And there are a number of factors that go into scheduling those games, including the mighty dollar.
But, when you see games like Sacred Heart vs. Ville Platte, Sacred Heart vs. Basile and Ville Platte vs. Pine Prairie being played just because, it seems just to make sense.
Having been a high school coach myself, I always tried to play teams that were close to me and I knew would give me a good game. I knew I could not control my district schedule, but I wanted competition and to play teams that would give our team their all, no matter what. And, a lot of those teams were our natural rivals from around the area.
So, I just want Mr. Saban and the rest of the college coaches to know that sometimes the best game is not necessarily going to be against the best team.
Just my opinion!!!
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Tracey Jagneaux