The Sporting News: SEC Out of Conference Schedule-Lots of Cupcakes

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Here's a slideshow that covers several topics beginning with the 2015 OOC schedule for each SEC team, from the strongest to the weakest. Arkansas sits right in the middle.

http://www.sportingnews.com/list/4649693-sec-nonconference-schedule-rankings-south-carolina-florida-tennessee-texas-am-alabama-georgia-auburn-lsu/slide/338608

[Yamahog]

I think we should be ranked higher - after all, UTEP and Toledo were Bowl teams last year.

As for Texas Tech, they almost knocked off Baylor at the end of last year 48 - 46.

Argh - Texas Tech has "trap game" written all over it. We'd better pay attention.

[ChicoHog]

Article is absolutely right on some of these ridiculous schedules.  All comes down to money.  Most SEC teams can still sell out stadiums playing directional schools.  And many of them are not far away.  Pac 12 schools have harder time finding these opponents close by and they don't sell as many tickets so they have to play higher profile opponents (except for a couple teams like Oregon who always sell out and have a smaller venue).

If I remember correctly UCLA and Notre Dame are the only Power 5 schools that have not played an FCS team over the last ten years or something like that.  I hope this playoff format will get everyone trying to schedule better OOC games and get everyone playing 9 conference games. 

[The NewEra]

I think we should be ranked higher - after all, UTEP and Toledo were Bowl teams last year.

As for Texas Tech, they almost knocked off Baylor at the end of last year 48 - 46.

Argh - Texas Tech has "trap game" written all over it. We'd better pay attention.

There was a time when I use to worry a lot about trap games.  Mainly under Nutt.  Under this coach I don't.  The physicality he instills in the players as well as his unique ability to get the team to focus on the task at hand and somehow make it a must win game have managed to put me at ease. 

I do appreciate your point though.  In the past all of our out of conference games were realistically trap games.

[HappyHogFan]

Here's a slideshow that covers several topics beginning with the 2015 OOC schedule for each SEC team, from the strongest to the weakest. Arkansas sits right in the middle.

http://www.sportingnews.com/list/4649693-sec-nonconference-schedule-rankings-south-carolina-florida-tennessee-texas-am-alabama-georgia-auburn-lsu/slide/338608

You know, we HAVE to play these cupcake schools. Yes , I would love to 12 P5 caliber matchups every year to, but that's not good for college athletics.

Some of these directional school programs would dry up and die if not for the payouts they receive from going somewhere to get their butts kicked every year, and that would mean not just hundreds of kids every year would be out of a scholarship (which in many cases is the only way they have been able to attend college) but also in some cases the football programs at these schools support non football athletics as well, so now you're talking thousands of students being negatively affected.

Also, in most cases the very good coaches begin their careers in these smaller schools, which would obviously not be the case if these smaller schools stopped playing football.

No, it would negatively affect college athletics as a whole to do away with these games.

That being said, we should play ONE cupcake a year.

[ThisTeetsTaken]

IMO with the SEC schedule being as brutal as it is we need a cupcake every season about mid way through to rest our starters and let them heal up.  Won't hurt us in rankings because we play 2-5 top ten teams every year regardless.

[Torqued pork]

Do we not have TCU and Michigan in the future?

[Lake City Hog]

The one thing that so many of the "self-righteous" schedule freaks forget is that those games with FCS schools actually help the FCS schools to be able to fund their programs. That big payday is a necessary evil of fielding a football team.

When you play in a DIVISION, much less a conference, where 6 teams are ranked in the top 25 you already have a pretty darned rough schedule. 12 of the 14 teams in our conference went to a bowl last year and even if we did have more losses than usual, that is pretty salty.

If you choose to focus on only 1 segment of the schedule you can make things look a lot worse than they really are.
The ACC had 6 (14)teams finish below .500.  (2 finished 1 gm over .500)
The Big 12 had 4 (10)teams finish below .500.  (2 finished 1 gm over .500)
The Big 10 had 5 (14)teams finish below .500.  (3 finished 1 gm over .500)
The Pac 12 had 4 (12)teams finish below .500.

Meanwhile the SEC had 2 teams that finished below .500. The SEC had a team in the playoffs and 2 teams playing on New Year's day. It is quite normal for an SEC team to have the hardest schedule in football every year and that does include the "cupcake" games.

[widespreadsooie]

I think we should be ranked higher - after all, UTEP and Toledo were Bowl teams last year.

As for Texas Tech, they almost knocked off Baylor at the end of last year 48 - 46.

Argh - Texas Tech has "trap game" written all over it. We'd better pay attention.

Save yourself the worry, it will get ugly

[GuvHog]

I think we should be ranked higher - after all, UTEP and Toledo were Bowl teams last year.

As for Texas Tech, they almost knocked off Baylor at the end of last year 48 - 46.

Argh - Texas Tech has "trap game" written all over it. We'd better pay attention.

If that game was being played in Lubbock, there might be a slight chance of that being true but it's being played in DWRRS with a stadium full of very loud Hog fans. There is no way that game will be a trap game.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, given that our regular season schedule is usually one of the toughest in the country as well as the most physically testing, I see no harm in scheduling 2-3 cupcakes out of 4 games each season.

And, I am a big advocate of giving these smaller schools a big payday to help continue to finance their programs at a lower level of football. They need those big paychecks each season and I think it would be wrong to exclude them and deny them the opportunity to help their programs and to help athletes that aren't talented enough or big enough to play P-5 football to continue to play the game they love while getting their educations.

On the other hand, if you plug in 3 difficult OOC games and win those, as well as traversing your conference schedule with a record of say, 7-1, it might be doggone difficult to keep you out of the play-off picture even if you didn't go to or win your SEC CCG, at least if you play in the West.

As far as fans wanting to be more "entertained" because of who we play at home, well, fans need to want what is best for the team and for what helps them the most to get to the play-offs instead of whining about home games that they pay for whether they feature UT-Martin or the South Mississippi College of Sisters of the Poor. If you are buying season tickets you still get to see UTEP, Toledo, Texas Tech, Auburn, Miss State and Missouri as well at home.

So I guess I lean towards whichever scenario the AD and HC feel benefits our team the most, though I realize that you have to offer the fan something for their money.

[hoghiker]

I like watching the Hogs play some cupcakes. Less stress, get to see some football and I get to see some players out on the field that will be future starters in mop up. SEC schedule is terribly tuff without adding more bone crushing teams to the dance card. We have plenty of marquee games. I don't really get the 'more entertaining for the fans' angle. I'm more entertained with a W than an L. Way I see it.

[navyhog24]

Do we not have TCU and Michigan in the future?

Yes and maybe even Baylor for a season for a neutral site game

[Hawgzinbowlz]

1 mid to high level D-1 team
1-2 mid-level directional (or equivalent) schools
1-2 scrimmage level teams where we can empty and evaluate the bench

Currently the SECW is strong enough to not have a strength of schedule issue.

" GO HOGS "

[ThisTeetsTaken]

I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, given that our regular season schedule is usually one of the toughest in the country as well as the most physically testing, I see no harm in scheduling 2-3 cupcakes out of 4 games each season.

And, I am a big advocate of giving these smaller schools a big payday to help continue to finance their programs at a lower level of football. They need those big paychecks each season and I think it would be wrong to exclude them and deny them the opportunity to help their programs and to help athletes that aren't talented enough or big enough to play P-5 football to continue to play the game they love while getting their educations.

On the other hand, if you plug in 3 difficult OOC games and win those, as well as traversing your conference schedule with a record of say, 7-1, it might be doggone difficult to keep you out of the play-off picture even if you didn't go to or win your SEC CCG, at least if you play in the West.

As far as fans wanting to be more "entertained" because of who we play at home, well, fans need to want what is best for the team and for what helps them the most to get to the play-offs instead of whining about home games that they pay for whether they feature UT-Martin or the South Mississippi College of Sisters of the Poor. If you are buying season tickets you still get to see UTEP, Toledo, Texas Tech, Auburn, Miss State and Missouri as well at home.

So I guess I lean towards whichever scenario the AD and HC feel benefits our team the most, though I realize that you have to offer the fan something for their money.

I used to feel this way.  When college football became more about money and less about the colleges and tradition I changed my mind.  Since now I have been made a consumer of college football instead of a fan (in the minds of powers that be) I am more picky about what I spend my entertainment dollar and time on and I best be entertained because college football is becoming a minor league NFL and loyalty is fading.  Now, having said that I want more than anyone for the Hogs to win a championship and I'm still a fanatic BUT it isn't a blind loyalty like it used to be. I think they need a rest during the middle or late part of the season to heal and rest but when they play those games against UT-Martin , etc. I'll watch on tv and keep my dollars to myself. 

[hoglady]

Well considering the in conference schedule for most SEC teams is brutal - a few out of conference cupcakes is warranted.
Helps to even things out a little.

[hoglady]

NCAA strength of schedule Top 10 - has 6 SEC teams.
Ohio St - a NC contender has a strength of schedule at #42.
That should be more of a concern than SEC teams playing a few cupcakes.

[HF#1]

Well, OSU plays 12 cupcakes.  This notion that the SEC plays too many weak out of conference teams is laughable.  Only folks outside the SEC say that yet Alabama has played a BCS school the last few years.  We've got upcoming series with TCU and Michigan. 

[ChicoHog]

Well, OSU plays 12 cupcakes.  This notion that the SEC plays too many weak out of conference teams is laughable.  Only folks outside the SEC say that yet Alabama has played a BCS school the last few years.  We've got upcoming series with TCU and Michigan. 

Michigan st is a cupcake?  UM is a cupcake?  Penn st is a cupcake?  I don't think so.  Cupcakes are the FCS schools.  You can't control your in conference schedule but you can control your OOC schedule.  I love seeing us play Michigan, TCU, etc.,  Play 9 conf games, 1 cross conference Power 5 game like UM or TCU, and then maybe a Sun Belt team and a MAC team or a Mountain west team.  You guys can watch the UT-Martin type games but I will pass.  Same with Ohio st or FSU or OU or whoever playing Savannah st or Wofford.  I'll pass.  I understand the reasoning behind it, I just don't enjoy watching those games.  And I watch a ton of college football every Saturday. I'm not just a Hog fan but fan of college football period. 

[Lake City Hog]

Ohio State plays teams that finished---7-6(V Tech), 4-8, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 8-5, 11-2 and 5-7 plus Hawaii and Western Michigan.

Arkansas plays teams that finished---11-3, 8-5, 7-6, 12-2, 8-5, 9-4, 8-5, 10-3, 11-3, plus Texas Tech and Toledo who finished 9-4 winning their Bowl game. Also consider that the losses of the teams in our own division were inflicted almost exclusively by other teams in that division.

I would think that any team playing 1 of those schedules would struggle a little bit more than any team playing the other schedule.

[sowmonella]

Ole Miss, MS State & Mizz always schedule no name cupcakes.

[HF#1]

Michigan st is a cupcake?  UM is a cupcake?  Penn st is a cupcake?  I don't think so.  Cupcakes are the FCS schools.  You can't control your in conference schedule but you can control your OOC schedule.  I love seeing us play Michigan, TCU, etc.,  Play 9 conf games, 1 cross conference Power 5 game like UM or TCU, and then maybe a Sun Belt team and a MAC team or a Mountain west team.  You guys can watch the UT-Martin type games but I will pass.  Same with Ohio st or FSU or OU or whoever playing Savannah st or Wofford.  I'll pass.  I understand the reasoning behind it, I just don't enjoy watching those games.  And I watch a ton of college football every Saturday. I'm not just a Hog fan but fan of college football period. 

OSU will destroy the Big10.  I'd be shocked if anyone kept within 10 points of them in any game.

[HF#1]

Again only fans of teams outside the SEC, complain about the SEC out of conference schedule.  Come play some Saturdays down here and you'll see why we play cupcakes, cupcake.

[HF#1]

Do remind everyone again just how successful this has been for Arkansas....

How do you mean?  I'm not talking about gaining success from it.  I'm talking about other whining about it.

[Lake City Hog]

7, please explain to me how changing our OOC schedule will help us to build towards a championship. I simply don't follow your thought process on that one.

[HF#1]

In terms of creating the possibility for overall success for the program..building a team that can win championships. 

The OOC schedule has been a problem for a long time and while there is a game here and there which can be judged as steps in the right direction, it is an area in need of more attention. 

Ok, so let's add 4 annual top 25 teams along with our SEC schedule.  Why not... 

[HF#1]

It's absolutely nuts to schedule more than 1 or 2 Power 5 teams per year in this conference.  Not if you want to win anything.

Now if the league as a whole begins to decline, then yes we should beef up the schedule. 

We play 8 league games.  Virtually every SEC game we played in 2013 and 2014 was against a top 10 team.  Now you want to add more to that? Makes no sense to me.  Bring on UTEP, Toledo, and various other directional sisters of the poor schools.

[scruf]

The Red Raiders a trap game? Hogs will line up and run it right at Texas Tech until they break. On the flip side, our defense will hold them to 10 points - tops. I think it winds up 52-10 Hogs. Might feature three 100 yard rushers.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

In terms of creating the possibility for overall success for the program..building a team that can win championships. 

The OOC schedule has been a problem for a long time and while there is a game here and there which can be judged as steps in the right direction, it is an area in need of more attention. 

Sorry, I disagree. Given the strength of our conference schedule every year and for the most part, that of other SEC teams, what is gained by adding more P-5 opponents to our schedules? Now I will agree that a team that plays an OOC schedule that includes 1 FCS team and 3 lower ranking FBS teams needs an overhaul. But if you play 1 P-5 team, 2 higher ranking FBS teams and an FCS team, in this conference you don't need to do anymore for OOC games. The conference schedule is difficult enough.

[scruf]

What should happen going forward is that the regular season is shortened by one game and the playoff is expanded. This would be a great way to get rid of FCS opponents and encourage teams to schedule tougher OOC games since the odds of getting in the postseason goes up with a playoff expansion. Might not be a bad idea to cut two OOC games in favor of two home-and-aways with P5 schools and a 16-team playoff. Just spitballin. The playoff is going to expand naturally over time regardless.

[ricepig]

7, please explain to me how changing our OOC schedule will help us to build towards a championship. I simply don't follow your thought process on that one.

Don't waste your time, he thinks we need to only play top 10 teams, of course, lots of times we do against SEC teams. I suspect he wants to watch a nice game from his recliner, maybe I'm wrong.....

[Torqued pork]

Weak non-conference schedules aren't why we're 20+ years into the SEC and still looking for our first football championship. It's mostly been due to overall talent issues and coaching to a lesser degree.

Upgrading a treacherous schedule at a school that has a huge challenge just to be competitive with the big dogs of its conference would be making the Arkansas job even more of a pressure cooker.

[GoHogs1091]

Pretty disappointing non-conference football scheduling by the SEC this upcoming season.

After Georgia Southern scored the most points against Alabama in 2011 out of all of the teams Alabama played in 2011, and after Georgia Southern defeated Florida in 2013, it's as though the SEC is now afraid to schedule any of the good FCS football teams.

The best way to prepare for Conference competition is to play high quality non-conference competition, and the SEC seems to now not understand that aspect.

[ricepig]

Pretty disappointing non-conference football scheduling by the SEC this upcoming season.

After Georgia Southern scored the most points against Alabama in 2011 out of all of the teams Alabama played in 2011, and after Georgia Southern defeated Florida in 2013, it's as though the SEC is now afraid to schedule any of the good FCS football teams.

The best way to prepare for Conference competition is to play high quality non-conference competition, and the SEC seems to now not understand that aspect.

Yeah playing Wofford, App St, Western Mich type teams really help.....

[Professor Psychosis]

I don't have a problem with cupcakes.  Every school schedules them, including the other conferences that trash talk the SEC teams. As long as you're putting one P5 non-conference game on your schedule, then I don't have a problem with 3 cupcake games.

The problem I have is that over half of the SEC plays a cupcake game the next-to-last week of the season.  Essentially, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and sometimes others are scheduling themselves a glorified bye week to get ready for their rivalry games the following week.  LSU, Arkansas, Texas A&M, and some others don't have this luxury.

I think all SEC teams should be playing SEC games during the month of November.  Put your cupcakes in the first couple of weeks of the season, or in October if you have to, but nobody  should be playing cupcakes in November, especially in the best conference in college football.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Pretty disappointing non-conference football scheduling by the SEC this upcoming season.

After Georgia Southern scored the most points against Alabama in 2011 out of all of the teams Alabama played in 2011, and after Georgia Southern defeated Florida in 2013, it's as though the SEC is now afraid to schedule any of the good FCS football teams.

The best way to prepare for Conference competition is to play high quality non-conference competition, and the SEC seems to now not understand that aspect.

You mean like Northern Illinois who Arkansas scheduled as an FBS team in 2014 that had a 57-13 record (5th best in FBS) from 2010 through 2014?

[BigSexyHog]

I want 4 winnable games on my non-conference schedule and I don't give a damn what newspaper or media people think.  It makes no sense what so ever to play top 10 teams in your non-conference games and then play the sec schedule.

[GoHogs1091]

You mean like Northern Illinois who Arkansas scheduled as an FBS team in 2014 that had a 57-13 record (5th best in FBS) from 2010 through 2014?

Did playing NIU really help us prepare for Conference competition?  After we played NIU, we lost the following consecutive Conference games against;

Texas A&M
Alabama
Georgia
Mississippi State

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Did playing NIU really help us prepare for Conference competition?  After we played NIU, we lost the following consecutive Conference games against;

Texas A&M
Alabama
Georgia
Mississippi State

Playing NIU didn't hurt us, it helped us. As for those other games you know as well as I do that there could be an argument made for us having won 3 of the 4, if not 4 of 4. We literally handed Georgia that win. And guess what? Having played Notre Dame, USC, Ohio State or Florida State prior to those games wouldn't have changed that.

[ricepig]

Did playing NIU really help us prepare for Conference competition?  After we played NIU, we lost the following consecutive Conference games against;

Texas A&M
Alabama
Georgia
Mississippi State

So, if we had won those 4 games would it have made a difference, no. We played Auburn the first game, so we didn't start off playing non-cons Einstein.

[GoHogs1091]

So, if we had won those 4 games would it have made a difference, no. We played Auburn the first game, so we didn't start off playing non-cons Einstein.

The fact that we played Auburn before we played NIU is irrelevant to the discussion of what occurred the weeks immediately after we played NIU (especially considering the fact we played 2 non-conference games between Auburn and NIU).

The bottom line is that it was thought that NIU would be a high quality non-conference opponent that would help us prepare for the meat of our Conference schedule, and after we played them, we then lost 4 Conference games in-a-row.

Really didn't prepare us.

[ricepig]

The fact that we played Auburn before we played NIU is irrelevant to the discussion of what occurred the weeks immediately after we played NIU (especially considering the fact we played 2 non-conference games between Auburn and NIU).

The bottom line is that it was thought that NIU would be a high quality non-conference opponent that would help us prepare for the meat of our Conference schedule, and after we played them, we then lost 4 Conference games in-a-row.

Really didn't prepare us.

How do you know it didn't help? We could have played anyone and won or lost those four games. Who knows , it may have been the reason those games were close before the late season push. Anyone can look at a schedule and make asinine statements to fit an agenda. Every year and every team is different, that's the only fact you need to concern yourself with.

[Lake City Hog]

Will Playing NIU this year help Ohio State? Will playing 3 conference teams with below .500 records help them? The simple answer is YES! Those are pretty sure wins against teams that cannot match up physically.

Playing those teams every week takes far less of a toll on the bodies than does playing LSU, Alabama, Mississippi State and the rest of the SEC West! SEC teams take a pounding EVERY week.
Again, the SEC is projected to have 9 of the top 25 toughest schedules in college football this year(the Big 10 has 3) .

[GuvHog]

The fact that we played Auburn before we played NIU is irrelevant to the discussion of what occurred the weeks immediately after we played NIU (especially considering the fact we played 2 non-conference games between Auburn and NIU).

The bottom line is that it was thought that NIU would be a high quality non-conference opponent that would help us prepare for the meat of our Conference schedule, and after we played them, we then lost 4 Conference games in-a-row.

Really didn't prepare us.

To be honest, playing Auburn first at Auburn hurt last years team. They needed to open with three straight non conference opponents to get the kinks out and be in mid-season form when they started conference play. They have that luxury this season and IMHO it will pay big dividends.

[OneTuskOverTheLine™]

I just noticed that Louisville was playing Auburn in Atlanta... That has 0-1 written all over it for Gus. CBP pwns him...

[ricepig]

You are wrong.

Again.

Ok, give us the reasons for playing this schedule you wish, and do you watch at home, or season ticket holder?

[ricepig]

Well, college sports is about the Benjamin's, has been for awhile. Who knew Texas Tech would be down, but more importantly, Texas is much more important for recruiting than N.J.

[EastexHawg]

You can say fans ought to attend the games regardless of how terrible the opponent is out of a sense of loyalty to the program and the players...but attendance numbers over the years tell us that's simply not the case.

[ricepig]

You can say fans ought to attend the games regardless of how terrible the opponent is out of a sense of loyalty to the program and the players...but attendance numbers over the years tell us that's simply not the case.

Well, I guess you have to decide if you want one less home game vs 7-10,000 less in the seats for the cupcake.

[HF#1]

I acknowledge Texas has many more recruits than NJ does but the NE part of the U.S. isn't exactly arid.  A lot of lineman up there......

I'd like to see Arkansas make meaningful recruiting inroads to some parts of the country where the SEC doesn't have so much of a presence.  Go where others aren't - that sort of thing. 

What's the value in it?  Should we go recruit Idaho because other SEC schools aren't?  What about North Dakota? Maine?  In recruiting you have to get the best bang for your buck.  Why pay to go visit a state that might produce one or two SEC caliber players every 2 or 3 years?