The matchups sound too salivating to ignore.
Florida-FIU? Alabama-Chattanooga?
If I’m a college football fan, there’s obviously nothing I’d rather do than plop on the couch to catch these thrillers (and shell out extra for the opportunity if I’m a Gators fan).
Twenty teams ranked in the AP poll play this week. None face a ranked foe.
The culprit? Well part of it is the April 2005 decision by the NCAA to permanently allow Football Bowl Subdivision teams a 12th regular-season contest.*
(The American Football Coaches Association was in favor of staying at 11 games* at the time. Not like college football coaches would know anything about the game.)
Four years later, the result is crappy games and bigger athletic department budgets.
It’s all about the money, baby.
Big-time programs like Florida got a chance to host a seventh game and reap all the financial rewards.
Further confirming that it’s all about the dollars and cents is the fact that a year later, the NCAA decided not to put the same rule in effect for Division I-AA teams. They still play 11 regular-season games* (yes, I realize they have a playoff). These teams wouldn’t get much of a financial boost because they already have much lower attendance figures.
* Note: Division I-A and I-AA teams have always been allowed 12 games in years where the schedule happens to have 14 Saturdays (like 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2013). Three byes would be rather absurd. Therefore, the rule passed was referring to allowing schools to play 12 games in 13-week years, which are much more common.
Fans get to see their team beat up on a lowly opponent.
After Saturday, Florida will have hosted one game each of the last four years between the end of SEC play and the FSU game — two against Sun Belt Conference opponents (Florida Atlantic 2007, FIU 2009) and two against Football Championship Subdivision opponents (Western Carolina 2006, The Citadel 2008). UF already has a similarly scheduled game next year — Applachian State, a FCS team.
Why would Urban Meyer play a tougher opponent at this point of the year? There is no advantage, especially in the BCS system. Every year, the Gators’ SEC record will have either set them up for a possible national title or have knocked them out of the race. A nonconference loss in November would always wreck national championship hopes, something absolutely absurd if UF managed to make it through SEC play at 8-0 or 7-1. No need to buff up the schedule.
No matter how much Meyer wants to talk coach-speak about how great FIU is, the truth is it’s a break between conference play and the annual rivalry matchup with Florida State.
In fact, you might say Meyer has found just the recipe for his scheduling. Florida starts the season with two cupcakes before opening SEC play against Tennessee. The Gators then play their eight conference games in a nine-week span, with a bye thrown in there during the middle.
(Although as much as it seems like the bye is always perfectly timed, part of this is coincidence, based on the league’s scheduling. It has sure paid off, however. In ’06, it fell after the Auburn loss. In ’07 and 08, it came right at the halfway point. This year, it gave Tim Tebow a chance to recover from a concussion. Like I said, it’s coincidental.)
Then UF gets one more confidence-boosting blowout the week before the Florida State game.
It used to not happen this way. From 1992 to 2001, a 10-year span, the Gators faced the Seminoles the week after UF’s last SEC game in every season but one. So Meyer gets a week to fix things while still getting his guys some game reps and avoiding rust. Florida gets another home game to help its athletics budget
What’s the problem? The casual football fan loses. The sport becomes a little more diluted. Senior Day loses some punch.
Didn’t see that last one coming? In 2006 and 2008 (and it’ll likely continue in every even year), the Gators seniors played their last game in The Swamp against embarrassingly inferior competition.
I realize the door has been opened, and there is no going back. I just wish adding more pitiful football games wouldn’t have been so irresistible to the NCAA.
