Alabama football coach Nick Saban has lobbied for Power Five teams only playing Power Five opponents. The Tide could begin a transition by ending FCS games.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban does not get enough credit for his bold thoughts on improving the college game. There will be plenty of negative chatter in the 2019 and 2020 seasons when the Crimson Tide faces FCS teams, Western Carolina and UT Martin.
Scheduling those games is not Saban’s preference. He does it because all the SEC schools do it. Every SEC school but one has one FCS game in the 2019 season. The Florida Gators have two. However, the Gators do not play any Group of Five games in 2019. Florida’s two other, out-of-conference games are Miami and Florida State.
What Nick Saban has long proposed is for SEC teams to play 10 conference games, plus two other Power Five teams. The only other SEC head coach ever voicing support was Jim McElwain at Florida. Most of the dissenters are concerned about qualifying for bowl games.
Nick Saban has a plan that changes the six-win threshold for bowl games. Saban believes bowl games should be seeded like the NCAA basketball tournament, without a minimum win requirement. Such a big effort would either require a new committee or an extension of scope for the CFB Playoff Committee. Saban’s suggestion has merit but so far he appears to be a lone voice.
There is a downside to Saban’s plan for smaller programs. Many of them, particularly at the FCS level, are in dire need of the financial guarantees provided by Power Five teams. In the 2018 season, MTSU was paid over $3M for games against SEC schools, including $1.7M by Georgia. Not all deals are so lucrative but smaller football budgets would be hard hit without the games.
SEC teams are becoming somewhat bolder in scheduling out-of-conference games. Seven teams have what should be either a marquee game or a tough challenge in 2019. In neutral site games, Auburn plays Oregon and Florida plays Miami. SEC home games include Notre Dame at Georgia and West Virginia at Missouri. SEC teams also travel, with LSU at Texas, Texas A&M at Clemson and Vanderbilt going to Purdue.
Other, solid SEC versus Power Five competition has Alabama and Duke in Atlanta; Florida hosting Florida State; Kentucky home to Louisville; Mississippi State has Kansas State at home; Ole Miss hosts Cal and South Carolina plays North Carolina in Charlotte.
Alabama football has made a solid move to a slate of home-and-home games. After two more neutral site games in 2020 (Southern Cal) and 2021 (Miami), the Tide has pairs of games with Texas (2022 and 2023), West Virginia (2026 and 2027), Notre Dame (2028 and 2029) and Oklahoma (2032 and 2033).
The Georgia Bulldogs have, so far, been bolder than the Tide. From 2021-2033, UGA will play Clemson five times, have pairs of games with Oklahoma, Texas, FSU and UCLA, plus one game with Oregon.
Another treat for Alabama football fans comes in the 2020 season. The Georgia Bulldogs return to Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2007.
Fans will love the schedule improvements but they are still a long way from Saban’s plan. As usual, Nick’s plan is the best one.
The 2021 season is far in the future but the Tide in Athens may set a record for ticket prices in the secondary market. Currently, picking up a UGA vs UND, 2019 ticket is running over $500.