SEC Football: Teams should copy Wake Forest-North Carolina scheduling plan
By Lee Wardlaw
SEC football scheduling can be a nightmare with so many rivalries, but a couple of teams in the ACC may have a way around those obstacles.
We know one thing about this sport these days- this ain’t your grandpa’s college football.
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As college football fans, we are forced to accept newly created conference realignments that make many classic rivalries a rarity, because it’s all about the benjamins.
In the Southeastern Conference, our version of the reality is this: we have eight conference games, and we rarely see our cross-division opponents, unless we’re talking about Alabama-Tennessee or Auburn-Georgia.
That’s right, the ole’ Florida-Auburn game that we used to see every year is a once in a blue moon occasion. Since 2002, the teams have meet three times. Their next meeting is in 2019. By then, players might be making six figures.
And while Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia got saved, the conference lost its chance to increase the league schedule to nine or ten games a season. No player will get a chance to face all thirteen conference opponents during a four-year college career for the foreseeable future.
But wait. There’s a glimmer of hope. Just ask academically appraised ACC schools Wake Forest and North Carolina about their smart decision this offseason.
The schools, a mere 78 miles apart separated by a straight shot down I-40, realized that their next meeting after the upcoming season would be in 2022, so their respective athletic departments acted swiftly.
The result? The Atlantic Coast rivals “achieved a scheduling first,” agreeing to “a home-and-home nonconference series in 2019 and 2021” according to ESPN.
Since two ACC schools agreed to a series, it’s not a question if two SEC cross-division opponents could work out a non-conference deal, but it’s a question if two schools would be willing to do so.
Because scheduling a game of this nature could be a possible roadblock to a bid in the college playoffs in a league that is already ‘plenty tough’ to survive in, most schools would be afraid to sign the dotted line on a deal like this.
However, a game like this would increase cash flow for SEC schools, because it would increase television inventory and put butts in seats, which is often a problem when your team is facing a Sun Belt or FCS school.
Instead of New Mexico State traveling over 1,600 miles just to become Gator Bait in Gainesville, why don’t we just invite defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and his Auburn Tigers to return to the Swamp and face Jim McElwain?
Former Florida coach Will Muschamp could have a shot at his former team as the Auburn defensive coordinator if the schools agreed to a non-conference series in the near future
Because we know they’re good friends, right?
The rivalry, which was once a yearly occurrence, would certainly be College Gameday material, even without its appearance in the conference standings.
And we all know that’s not the only matchup on SEC fans’ wish lists. There’s more.
Like LSU-Georgia and South Carolina-Alabama. The last time the Bengals and Dawgs tussled, we saw a 44-41 thriller between the Hedges.
On the other hand, most people remember the Gamecocks and Tide’s 2010 meeting. Conference series or not, the talk would about the excellent coaching matchup between Coach Spurrier and Saban and Alabama’s plot for revenge.
And trust me, the list goes on.
Write ‘em down fans, because we’re sending our wish lists to the SEC’s new Santa Claus, Greg Sankey.
Hear my plea, SEC. Copy the Wake Forest-North Carolina scheduling plan.