COLLEGE FOOTBALL NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE NEEDS AN OVERHAUL
August 31st, 2016
It is time for a paradigm shift in non-conference scheduling for FBS college football. The vast majority of non-conference games are scheduled during the first few weeks of the season. There are two notable exceptions that come to mind. Since Notre Dame is not officially in a conference, teams who play them often must adjust their schedules to fit them in at some point later in the season. For example, Stanford out of the PAC-12 and Notre Dame traditionally play at the end of the season. Another very notable departure is teams from the SEC who typically schedule one of their non-conference opponents in late October or in November. I think the SEC has the right idea. Ah, but here is the problem: They are almost always FCS teams. This is often in addition to several other non-Power 5 conference opponents early in the season. Tough guys really seem to like their cupcakes.
Almost every Power 5 (P5) conference team schedules one game against another P5 non-conference advisory, including the SEC. The 2016 college football season has arguably one of the finest non-conference opening weekends in decades. Alabama-USC, LSU-Wisconsin, Texas-Notre Dame, UCLA-Texas A&M, FSU-Ole Miss. Almost all of the really good non-conference matches are in the first week or two of the season and then we don’t get to see most of the big boys match up again until the bowl games.
So let’s use the SEC concept of scheduling a non-conference opponent late in the season except have all of the P5 teams play another P5 instead of a cupcake. A few teams this season are already on board. USC faces Alabama in week one and then Notre Dame for their last game of the regular season. Georgia takes on North Carolina week one and then Georgia Tech as their regular season finale. This is right thinking. It should be rewarded. I know that coaches and some pundits will argue that “the conference schedule is so difficult that we need to have that cupcake party late in the year.” I’m OK with this. But can you please also schedule a P5 team late in the year as well? So somewhere in the first few weeks, play another P5 school and then schedule yet another in November. The non-P5 and FCS opponents can still be thrown in there.
This method of scheduling, if employed by all P5 conferences, will finally give us the much needed litmus test for where programs are late in the season compared to during those first few weeks. Football players should relish the opportunity to play in big games against other ballers. Fans will obviously love it. Athletic departments and all of the non-revenue generating scholarship athletes will benefit. Advertisers and broadcasters will raise their hands skyward in thanks. The playoff committee will undoubtedly find this quite useful in evaluating the teams vying for the post-season. In fact, this is the most likely catalyst for bringing this paradigm shift to fruition. If the committee rewards teams for another P5 early and then one late, and leaves those who fail to follow suit without a date to the dance, then conferences would migrate toward this model in hopes of catching their eye. After all, no one wants to be left sitting at home by the phone.