Florida coach Will Muschamp would prefer the Gators not play FCS opponents moving forward. http://t.co/WrEdLb8Xd7 pic.twitter.com/9CaRiFraED— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) May 27, 2014
I don't blame them, given...
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That's the smartest thing he has ever said. It was a terrible decision to allow FCS wins count for bowls. I know there is some positive from these games, so we should allow them as an optional 13th game as a preseason game.
True- although admittedly I think it is a good point that these FCS schools really depend on the money they make from playing in those games.
i don't think it is any other school's responsibility to fund another school's football program.
that said, i do think 12 games is already too many, so adding a 13th as someone else suggested makes me cringe a little. maybe the simple solution would be that you can only play an FCS team in week 1 or 2 and the W does not count towards your 6 wins for bowl eligibility. then it is up to the schools if they want to take that on.
i think the biggest issue with FCS games i have is SEC teams plugging them into their November schedules. that has always driven me nuts.
I propose the 13th game as optional. Instead of your last scrimmage, if you want to play an FCS team and sell tickets, that's fine with me. You don't get to start summer practice any earlier and you don't have to do it. It doesn't count as a win or a loss.
how much money would it be worth if it doesn't "count"? we can pay $500k-1M to these schools to come (hopefully) take a beating because we can sell it as part of the season ticket package AND in many cases get it on regionally syndicated TV. could either of those things be done if it doeasn't count as a regular season game?
those FCS schools do it for money and for exposure, not sure they would be interested in a scrimmage that no one watches...
My biggest problem with these games is that they're absolute no-win scenarios for the BCS schools who schedule them.
You're paying upwards of a mil to get a team in your house guns blaring because its likely the biggest game they'll ever play, whereas your school essentially treats it like a scrimmage. Should you beat the everliving piss out of them, who cares, you were supposed to do that. Should you play a close game, you'll get roasted by the pundits (who are now the same pundits that will decide whether or not you're deserving of a playoff spot), and god forbid, should you have a really bad day and lose the game, regardless of how well the FCS team was that year, its a game that will be remembered and brought up til the end of time. Mind you, YOU are paying $1M for this opportunity.
I just don't see where the benefit of this is to the big teams anymore, especially now that these lower schools are proving that in a scenario where one team cares about a game a hell of a lot more than the other, upsets can and will happen.
$$ and a perceived guaranteed W. home games are vital to BCS schools, so buying a game with no return is very valuable. and from a coach's standpoint, that W could be the difference between going to a bowl and not going to a bowl, something that has both $$ and job security implications.
for the SEC, they use these games as a "break" late in their 8 game SEC schedule before they play their 2-3 biggest games of the year, including their rival and possibly the SEC CG.
i see all of the potential downsides you bring up, and i am also not a fan of the games. i'm simply saying that if they are still going to be played (for all the reasons i mention above), it should have to be prior to ANY conference games and it shouldn't count towards bowl eligibility...
sidenote: i believe there is also political pressure for state schools to help prop up other state schools in some cases, so it may not always be up to the coach or AD as much as the President of the university telling them to make it happen.
Plus the threat of injury.
I was always under the impression that FCS teams usually received less than that, the amounts I remember seeing for VT's OOC opponents were less than $500,000 and the same goes for the the games my FCS Alma Mater has played against FBS teams. Looking around online, i came across a couple that were higher than $500,000, but I think that payouts in the <$500,000 range are more common for FCS games while payouts in the >$500,000 range are more common for OOC matches against Mid-major teams. Some examples inclued Austin Peay getting $318,750 for their game in Blacksburg, Liberty getting $365,000 to play the Cousins in 2009 (13 point loss for my Flames). By comparison the Sunbelt's Arkansas State recieved$750,000 from Nebraska(2009), $900,000 from Iowa(2009), $1 Million from Auburn (2010) and $1 Millions from VT(2011).
If you depend on money given to you by a school that beats your head in, you need to revisit your business model.
Well, Miami and FSU fans always accuse Florida of shying away from OOC competition...
There are still plenty of SunBelt teams for Florida to play OOC.
Well shoot, if this takes hold, we'll have to stop playing UVA every year...
This did not make me giggle.
Florida's is more satisfying because SEC IZ DUH BEHST EVARRRRRRRRRRRR
... and because Georgia Southern made them bowl ineligible.
AIN'T NO PUPPY BOWL LOOKIN TEAM CAN BEAT A SEC TEAM PAAAWWWWLLLLL
Dear ESPN:
That movie isn't even out yet, and there are already GIFs for it? Impressive.
Its from the trailer
Unless things have changed has UF played a OOC away from home (Flordida) in the last decade? This might actually force them to leave the state for a 1-1 or 2-1.
i think they and Georgia have both broken the streaks recently...but i'm not 100% sure about Florida.
Georgia has been pretty good with traveling out of state, mostly against Clemson, but also including some 1-1s with Colorado and Oklahoma State in recent years.
Florida is the one that sucks. Haven't left the state since they got thrashed by Syracuse in '91.
Sam Rogers is AWESOME !!!