# 2014 College Football General Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 30, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937 "2014-08-30T03:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/322 "2014-10-20T17:20:56Z")
Why does the weather and academic calendar require the Big 10 to play more games on the road? Also, perhaps you could provide a cite for any of that. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/323 "2014-10-20T17:45:29Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The poll has never been more biased. When one SEC team beats another it’s proof of how strong the SEC is, when Pac 10 or Big Ten teams beat one another it’s proof of how weak their conference is. > > I will say this without any chance of ever being proven wrong- the SEC will never be in the class of the Big Ten in hockey. At least until the SEC envelops the Big 10 into the “SEC Midwest”…then they add the SEC Pacific (Men’s Water Polo titles at last!), the SEC Atlantic, and the SEC Central. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Let’s see- Ol’ Miss (that’s the proper abbreviation for “old”) played a Boise State team on the downturn, Louisiana-Lafayette, Memphis, and still has to get by powerhouse Presbyterian. Mississippi State (the lesser MSU) played Southern Miss, UAB, South Alabama, and still has Tennessee-Martin. Yep, keep a creampuff non-conference game for late in the season for a quickie jump in the polls should you lose a game against someone decent. Because playing Louisiana Tech at the end of the 2004 season gave Cal such a boost…oh, wait, that’s pretty much what cost it a Rose Bowl berth (talk about coaches raising Texas above Cal at the last second notwithstanding, I’m pretty sure the “penalty” the computers gave Cal for playing Louisiana Tech is what really did them in). Of course, in CFP, computers have no say in the matter, but you would think the committee members would be smart enough not to give too much of a boost to a team for a late-season creampuff win. (Also, remember that a lot of these creampuffs ask for these games, as (and I apologize if I mentioned this already) it results in a chunk of money that helps pay for the other sports - each Division I school has to have at least 12 sports besides football and men’s basketball.) > [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Why does the weather and academic calendar require the Big 10 to play more games on the road? Also, perhaps you could provide a cite for any of that. It’s well established that schools in lower latitudes have a major advantage in baseball because they don’t have to practice in really bad weather in the early season. How else do you explain schools like Fullerton State being baseball powerhouses? Then again, maybe SEC and southern Pac-12 schools do better in baseball for the reason they don’t even have NCAA hockey teams (when the NCAA men’s ice hockey championship was held in Anaheim, the official host was the University of Alaska-Anchorage) - that’s where the best players tend to come from, since the high schools have the same weather conditions. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/324 "2014-10-20T18:12:15Z")
Its pretty rich that the B1G advocates dismiss Southern Miss. Southern Miss historically has been a very good 2nd tier football team going 11-2 as recently as 3 years ago. They are historically every bit as good as any creme-puff Mid America conference team that B1G likes pick on. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/325 "2014-10-20T23:54:46Z")
On a different note, please? I saw this quote from Muschamp today > [@](#): > > I’m not going to get concerned about those things I don’t have any control of other than this team which is funny to me because it seems saying he doesn’t have control of his team. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/326 "2014-10-21T00:19:59Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > On a different note, please? > > I saw this quote from Muschamp today > > which is funny to me because it seems saying he doesn’t have control of his team. but he IS concerned about that; that’s gotta count for something, right? I mean, c’mon: laser-like focus in evidence here! ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/327 "2014-10-21T00:27:02Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Why does the weather and academic calendar require the Big 10 to play more games on the road? Also, perhaps you could provide a cite for any of that. I played baseball in the Big Ten and it’s true. Do you have any idea what it’s like in Madison in mid-February when the season starts? Frozen ground covered by a foot of ice and snow. We’d start the season with a Southern road trip getting pole-axed by teams who had been practicing outside for a month. We’d come home with a nasty sunburn and a 2-10 record, then start playing better. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/328 "2014-10-21T00:38:59Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Please tell me who you mean. Miss St? Surely you aren’t refering to Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss, or Arkansas. Since all of those teams have at least one quality OOC team on their schedules, you must mean Mississippi State. When did an SEC team last play a P5 conference school at their house? A true road game, not one of those bogus “neutral site” games in Dallas or Atlanta. Out of 14 schools (x 4 OOC games) it probably happens 8 or 10 times a year, right? ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/329 "2014-10-21T01:18:20Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > I played baseball in the Big Ten and it’s true. Do you have any idea what it’s like in Madison in mid-February when the season starts? Frozen ground covered by a foot of ice and snow. We’d start the season with a Southern road trip getting pole-axed by teams who had been practicing outside for a month. We’d come home with a nasty sunburn and a 2-10 record, then start playing better. **BobLibDemocrat** was basically telling the SEC that they don’t have Hockey teams. The implication of course that the SEC schools should build hockey rinks and every small town in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, etc should have a hockey rink so kids can learn how to play hockey. So by extension, maybe the B1G schools should build domed stadiums so they can practice and host games in the winter. Maybe Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Detroit can lease out their domes. **BLD** also claimed the B1G has competitive baseball teams. They clearly don’t, only having one representative in the World Series since 1984. All he made was excuses. I guess that was his way of admitting that he was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/330 "2014-10-21T01:32:43Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > When did an SEC team last play a P5 conference school at their house? A true road game, not one of those bogus “neutral site” games in Dallas or Atlanta. Out of 14 schools (x 4 OOC games) it probably happens 8 or 10 times a year, right? UT went to Norman, Auburn went to Manhattan, Arkansas went to Lubbock, UGA, UK, USC and UF do it every other year, Georgia went to Clemson last year, etc. that’s just off the top of my head. Stop moving the goalposts. You said the SEC plays 4 OOC nobody teams, now you’re changing the argument. Stop digging and admit you were wrong. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/331 "2014-10-21T01:35:03Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > When did an SEC team last play a P5 conference school at their house? Is this a rhetorical question? Just this season alone, Tennessee at Oklahoma, Auburn at Kansas State, and Arkansas at Texas Tech. Not to mention away games played every other year at Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/332 "2014-10-21T03:06:24Z")
Obviously the games vs Ga Tech, Clemson, Louisville, and Kentucky don’t count. Because they don’t have to travel very far. :dubious::dubious::dubious::dubious::dubious: IIRC, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota don’t even have a FBS in their state, other than the Badgers and Golden Gophers. That ought to make recruiting easier. Florida and Texas probably have as many FBS teams (or more) as all the states in the B1G. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/333 "2014-10-21T15:08:30Z")
In interest of science 😛 Texas has 12 FBS schools: Baylor Houston North Texas Rice Southern Methodist Texas Texas A&M Texas Christian Texas State Texas Tech Texas-El Paso Texas-San Antonio Florida has 7 FBS schools: Central Florida Florida Florida Atlantic Florida International Florida State Miami (FL) South Florida There are 31 FBS teams in the Big Ten states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin): Akron Ball State Bowling Green Central Michigan Cincinnati Eastern Michigan Illinois Indiana Iowa Iowa State Kent State Maryland Miami (OH) Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Navy Nebraska Northern Illinois Northwestern Notre Dame Ohio Ohio State Penn State Pittsburgh Purdue Rutgers Temple Toledo Western Michigan Wisconsin In fact there are more FBS teams in Ohio (8) than Florida (7). ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/334 "2014-10-21T15:38:53Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > In interest of science 😛 > > Texas has 12 FBS schools: > Baylor > Houston > North Texas > Rice > Southern Methodist > Texas > Texas A&M > Texas Christian > Texas State > Texas Tech > Texas-El Paso > Texas-San Antonio > > Florida has 7 FBS schools: > Central Florida > Florida > Florida Atlantic > Florida International > Florida State > Miami (FL) > South Florida > > There are 31 FBS teams in the Big Ten states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin): > Akron > Ball State > Bowling Green > Central Michigan > Cincinnati > Eastern Michigan > Illinois > Indiana > Iowa > Iowa State > Kent State > Maryland > Miami (OH) > Michigan > Michigan State > Minnesota > Navy > Nebraska > Northern Illinois > Northwestern > Notre Dame > Ohio > Ohio State > Penn State > Pittsburgh > Purdue > Rutgers > Temple > Toledo > Western Michigan > Wisconsin > > In fact there are more FBS teams in Ohio (8) than Florida (7). Thanks, I omitted Power 5 conference schools in my hypothesis that are not part of the Conference. Lets eliminate the non Power 5 Conferences schools and concentrate OoC. TAMU competes for FBS players with the following OoC in state schools. Baylor Texas Texas Christian Texas Tech Houston and SMU in the remnants of the old Big East. Florida competes for FBS players with the following OoC in state schools. Miami Florida State UCF and USF in the remnants of the old Big East ================= The entire B1G competes against the FBS teams Iowa State Pittsburgh And Cincy and Temple in the remnants of the old Big East. The B1G has to leave the region to play Elite FBS Teams because there aren’t many available in the region. The SEC has plenty of elite FBS teams in their back yard. Clemson, FSU, GaTech, Miami, Louisville, TTU, TCU, UT, Baylor. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/335 "2014-10-21T15:42:35Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > Is this a rhetorical question? Just this season alone, Tennessee at Oklahoma, Auburn at Kansas State, and Arkansas at Texas Tech. Not to mention away games played every other year at Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville. The SEC had 56 OOC games this year, including the 4 traditional matchups. Of those, 9 were against P5 opponents: 6 on the road (including Clemson and Florida State), 3 at home. Kudos to Auburn for leaving the South and venturing all the way to Manhattan, KS. The Pac-12 had 36 OOC games. 12 were against P5 opponents (counting Notre Dame as P5), 7 at home, 5 on the road. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/336 "2014-10-21T16:08:27Z")
Well to be fair you need to add Notre Dame to list of schools the Big Ten competes against. Yes the SEC overlaps in “region” with the ACC (Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida) and (somewhat) the Big 12 (Texas). The Big overlaps in "region"with ACC (Pennsylvania) and Big 12 (Iowa). Could claim that the SEC and Big Ten both overlap more with Big 12 with the addition of Missouri and Nebraska. There is a strong tie between the SEC and ACC is terms of schools and rivalries, but relatively speaking the other “Power 5” conference are pretty isolated in terms of geography. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/337 "2014-10-21T16:44:09Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Well to be fair you need to add Notre Dame to list of schools the Big Ten competes against. > > Yes the SEC overlaps in “region” with the ACC (Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida) and (somewhat) the Big 12 (Texas). The Big overlaps in "region"with ACC (Pennsylvania) and Big 12 (Iowa). Could claim that the SEC and Big Ten both overlap more with Big 12 with the addition of Missouri and Nebraska. There is a strong tie between the SEC and ACC is terms of schools and rivalries, but relatively speaking the other “Power 5” conference are pretty isolated in terms of geography. You are correct, I forgot Notre Dame. :smack: The Power 5 Conferences are all losing their “geographic” identity in an effort to expand their “Footprint”. The geographic lines are really blurry now SEC with the addition of Mizzou and TAMU. ACC with the addition of Pitt and Louisville and to a lesser extent Syracuse and Boston College. B1G with the addition of Nebraska, Rutgers, and Maryland. PAC12 with the addition of Utah and Colorado. Big12 with the addition of West Virginia. The PAC12 is always going to be isolated. There are no OoC Power 5 opponents within a easy drive of any of their schools. Colorado is the closest, and what would their closest OoC poer 5 school. I think Lincoln Ne is closest at 500 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/338 "2014-10-21T17:30:29Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > The SEC had 56 OOC games this year, including the 4 traditional matchups. Of those, 9 were against P5 opponents: 6 on the road (including Clemson and Florida State), 3 at home. Kudos to Auburn for leaving the South and venturing all the way to Manhattan, KS. > > The Pac-12 had 36 OOC games. 12 were against P5 opponents (counting Notre Dame as P5), 7 at home, 5 on the road. Clemson Georgia Tech Florida State Louisville Clemson Indiana Oklahoma Texas Tech Wisconsin West Virginia Kansas State That looks like 11 to me. That’s not counting #18 ECU, or Boise St., since they don’t help your shifting argument. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/339 "2014-10-21T18:12:20Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Clemson > Georgia Tech > Florida State > Louisville > Clemson > Indiana > Oklahoma > Texas Tech > Wisconsin > West Virginia > Kansas State > > That looks like 11 to me. That’s not counting #18 ECU, or Boise St., since they don’t help your shifting argument. Neutral field games don’t count since they are played in SEC territory. As if it makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/340 "2014-10-21T18:36:38Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Neutral field games don’t count since they are played in SEC territory. As if it makes a difference. Where did he say that? He just said that 9 of the SEC’s total 56 OOC games were vs teams from the big 5 conferences. And it still doesn’t equal 9 if you take away the neutral site games. He just didn’t count right. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937/341 "2014-10-21T19:13:33Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Where did he say that? He just said that 9 of the SEC’s total 56 OOC games were vs teams from the big 5 conferences. And it still doesn’t equal 9 if you take away the neutral site games. > > He just didn’t count right. I should have inserted the :dubious: emoticon. From the context of his post, he didn’t count the two neutral field opponents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2014-college-football-general-thread/696937.md?page=18)