Blog... Championship Game Hurts SEC

Outside the SEC and other Conference Championship leagues teams are scheduling games on Championship Saturday to get additional bye weeks. Teams playing a Conference Championship are at a severe disadvantage the way scheduling is currently set up.

By Brian Harbach

Possibly the most crucial part of a championship run in college football is the schedule. Just ask UGA fans how fed up they are with hearing the schedule is too hard this year for them to go undefeated. Last year Ohio State was mocked unmercifully for their terrible out of conference schedule and the lack of competition in the Big 10 last season.

Championship Saturday has turned into an absolute joke because teams are manipulating their schedule to add additional bye weeks to their season. Championship Saturday was once a special day for conferences willing to play a Conference Championship game. It has turned into a scheduling free for all in other conferences with teams taking advantage of the extra week.

Two teams in the Big 12, SEC and ACC have to fit 13 games into a time period where the PAC 10 and Big East get to play 12. The other 10 teams in the Championship Game conferences who do not play in the Championship game still have one less week to play their regular season schedule while other conferences get an extra bye week.

This won’t happen often in this column, but the Big 10 deserves some credit for keeping their games during the regular season. While the rest of the non-championship game BCS teams seem to be exploiting the system, the Big 10 is upholding its tradition by playing its regular season games in November when they should be played. The Big 10 is doing at least one thing the right way and they deserve some credit for doing so.

This problem may be an issue for half of the BCS conferences but it is more of an issue for the SEC because of how competitive the league is; it can be argued that the Big 10 is almost the SEC’s equal, but the ACC and Big 12 do not deserve that distinction. Even some non-BCS schools are jumping on the bandwagon playing games in December in order to raise their chances at going undefeated and an at-large BCS berth.

In 2003 there were 7 football games played on the last weekend of the college football season, 3 of those games were championship games, one was the Army/Navy game and the other 3 were regular season games. Last year there were 17 games played on the last weekend of the year, two additional Championship games ( the ACC and Conference USA did not have a title game in 2003) and the rest were just regular season games played to give teams an unfair advantage over the course of the year.

If conferences want to play on Championship Saturday they should get 12 teams in their league and play a championship game instead of trying to promote big games on that day. The last couple years there have been pointless games played on Championship Saturday only because schools are taking advantage of NCAA scheduling. Louisville vs. Connecticut December 2nd, 2006, are you serious? Who wasn’t fired up for the Hawaii/Washington game December 1st, 2007 and how much did that extra bye week help Hawaii go undefeated last year?

The teams that seem to be taking the most advantage of this situation are in the PAC 10; they seem to be moving all of their rivalry games to that weekend in order to extend the schedule. Nine PAC 10 teams played games on December 1st last year, the only exception being Washington State. The Apple Cup was the only PAC 10 rivalry game played when it should be, in November. Five PAC 10 teams had 3 Saturdays off in the fall this past season and they had to play 12 games in a 14-week span. Every PAC 10 team except Washington State and Washington had 2 bye weeks as well.

Last year the SEC had to play 12 games in a 13-week period and not a single team had more than 1 bye week. Arkansas play 11 straight games after their bye week, Auburn played 11 straight games to open the year until they got a bye week in week 12. The teams competing for the SEC Championship in 2007 played 13 games in 14 weeks. Considering the SEC is the toughest conference in the country it is amazing there has been a National Champion the last two years with the immense advantages other conferences have.

How can this obvious advantage be stopped to try and level the scheduling playing field for all the teams in College Football? The NCAA needs to step in and adjust future schedules to not include games on Championship Saturday. Teams don’t need to be hurt if games have already been scheduled, but going forward this needs to be shut down.

The SEC does not have an advantage by playing a Championship game. Playing an additional game against a division champion has cost a number of teams the opportunity to play for a National Title. There is a direct advantage being given to the teams who are allowed to schedule regular season games on Championship Saturday. How is not an advantage when players are allowed to rest an extra week during the grueling season and when teams are given an extra week to complete a 12 game season. If the SEC has 14 weeks to play 12 games, the PAC 10 and Big East should not be given 15 weeks to complete their schedule.

This is another example of how College Football fails to obtain an even playing field for the teams competing for a National Championship. It is even more impressive that the SEC has managed to defy such serious odds to win back-to-back national titles. It is up to the men in charge of the College Football to fix this advantage and give Championship Saturday back to the fans of college football. It is supposed to be a special day in college football, not just another Saturday. Give it back to the fans; they deserve it.

Questions or comments? E-mail me Brian Harbach

Championship Game Hurts SEC, July 6