All P5 conferences now play some conference games early in the season.
How, exactly, does Bama playing Austin Peay put them in position to win a championship?
Perhaps. Then why don’t ALL SEC teams have this scheduling?
Because late-season conference games are among the most exciting contests in sports.
Having creampuffs so late in the year is an obvious strategy to maximize chances of preferable treatment by the bowls. If you’re going to lose, lose early in the year so you can recover some with a 70 point drubbing of a school that comes to your stadium to cash a check.
Michigan looks to have a real chance at the end this year. How are the “playoffs” or whatever it is called determined? Who picks what teams actually get to play in it since the rankings are all unofficial?
9 of the 12 SEC teams have a non-conf game in November. Four of them against intra-state rivals. UGA, UF, USCe, and UK.
How, exactly, does Bama playing Austin Peay put them in position to win a championship?
I explained that with my subsequent comment. Gives them a breather, a chance for players to take a rest. Test out new formations etc against a real-time opponent.
imo, The SEC features a must see game almost every week of the season. They are all spread out rather than concentrated during the month of November. and its not like the SEC doesn’t have any potential good November matchups. Like the two last weekend and we got Bama at ole Miss this week, and later this month, the Iron and Egg Bowls, UGA vs Ky and TAMU vs LSU.
Why doesn’t all the SEC teams do it? I don’t know. How would I know that? I am not privy to that info. But I do know that the SEC has won 5 of the last 7 Nat’l Championships, and runnerup in 4 of the last 7. If I were an Athletic Director in Columbus, or Ann Arbor, Lincoln or Eugene, I would be copying this playbook.
Plus, New Mexico State is an independent and can’t play all 12 of its games in September. This way, teams like NMSU can play a full season, and teams like Missouri get a nice breather in November (assuming they actually show up to play).
Very good point!
Much the same with Notre Dame, which is now in the ACC, but maintains a quasi-independent status for football (they do now play several games each year specifically against ACC schools).
Georgia-Georgia Tech has been the last game of the season for both teams for over a century. Complain all you want about non-conference games in November, this tradition will never change.
https://georgiadogs.com/sports/football/opponent-history/georgia-tech/58
Florida vs FSU and USCe vs Clemson are similar
And Washington-Washington State (the Apple Cup) will probably always happen no matter what goes on with the Pac-12 after this year.
Goddamn Pac-12…
Speaking of the Pac-12, there are a whole lotta homeless livestock in Oregon tonight. That game was a fucking Barn-Burner! First half Chess Match, second half Track Meet. Two teams that hate each other and so much at stake and on the line. Wow!
Dawgs pull it off!
Yep, Oregon is no longer in playoff contention. One helluva game.
With their seventh losses of the season, Indiana and Old Dominion are no longer in bowl contention-- but if Kent State wins out, they’ll reach six wins. (“So you’re saying there’s a chance?”)
I’m not even going to make the obvious joke.
Yeah, I know, I root for some godawful teams.
There was a shooting at the University of Virginia campus late last night, as a group of students returned from a field trip to Washington DC. Three members of the UVA football team were killed in the shooting: wide receiver Lavel Davis Jr., wide receiver Devin Chandler, and defensive end/linebacker D’Sean Perry. Two other student were injured in the attack, and were hospitalized.
The suspect, apparently a one-time member of the UVA football team, was taken into custody this morning.
Technically, Indiana has a shot if it finishes 5-7; its APR is high enough that it might sneak in if there aren’t that many 6-win teams (I count 63, plus there are three pairs of 5-win teams that play each other in the next two weeks, but that still leaves 14 bowl openings). Old Dominion’s APR is too low to be in serious consideration.
Shit! Notre Dame qualifies for a bowl if they win 3 games at home! 
There are 17 bowl berths remaining, and three of them will go to the winners of games between two 5-win teams (Florida Atlantic - Middle Tennessee State; Georgia Southern - Marshall; Oklahoma - Texas Tech).
Here is the current (going into Tuesday night 11/15) list of teams that can finish with 5 “counted” wins (somewhat long story about that) and would have to hope that there aren’t at least 80 6-win teams, in order of bowl eligibility (based on their football APRs):
“*” indicates the team has 5 wins, and is automatically bowl eligible with another win
“#” indicates the team has to win out to reach 5 wins, and cannot get to 6; Tulsa and Western Michigan would have to hope that at least four teams above them that finish with 5 wins decline bowl invitations, which I sort of doubt will happen
Note that three teams - Appalachian State, Army, and Marshall - beat two FCS teams; only one of those wins can count towards bowl eligibility.