B1G's Delany, Pac's Scott will try to weasel teams in CFB Playoff

[jbcarol]

Starting in 2016, all 14 SEC teams must play at least one opponent from the other four major conferences: the Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference.

Missouri and Purdue officially announced a two-year football series on Wednesday that will help the Tigers fulfill the requirement. MU is still looking for a major opponent for 2016.

The series will begin Sept. 16, 2017, in Columbia, where Purdue will play its first game at Memorial Stadium since a 16-7 victory over the Tigers in 1956. [Coach Broyles took the head coaching position in 1957.] The return game will be Sept. 15, 2018, in West Lafayette, Ind., where the Tigers last played in 1954, losing 31-0.

The last of the two schools' eight meetings was in 1980, when Purdue won 28-25 in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.

"We're pleased to add a quality opponent such as Purdue to our schedule," said Missouri executive associate athletic director Bryan Maggard...

[jbcarol]

Starting in 2016, all 14 SEC teams must play at least one opponent from the other four major conferences: the Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference.

Scott Stricklin        ✔ @stricklinMSU
In his #Chillin4Charity video @John_Currie invites @HailStateFB to play at K-State. '16 in Manhattan, '17 in Starkville? #HailState

Scott Stricklin        ✔ @stricklinMSU
Nice wardrobe RT @John_Currie: #Chillin4Charity @stricklinMSU We have raised the bar in this effort! Enjoy the video: http://kan.st/1wm

Scott Stricklin        ✔ @stricklinMSU
So, @HailStateFB vs @KState_Football: '18 in Manhattan; '19 in Starkville. Pleasure doing business with you, @John_Currie. #HailState

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  43m

Alabama to open 2016 season against USC in neutral-site clash http://ow.ly/zepc6

Cowboys Classic in Arlington, Texas.

[jbcarol]

CFB Playoff @CFBPlayoff  ·  Jul 14

For more information on the #CFBPlayoff National Championship Trophy, visit http://www.collegefootballplayoff.com/trophy

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  2h

Richt on @CFBPlayoff selection committee: "I really don't know for sure how they go about their business"

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  15h

ACC, Big 12 commissioners tout strength of schedules in their leagues | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/zt74b

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  3h

Pac-12's Rick Neuheisel next up to rip SEC scheduling | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/zyLhO

[jbcarol]

Cecil Hurt @CecilHurt  ·  13h

Today's column on SEC-bashing: it's strategy, not just jealousy. http://dlvr.it/6QRMY4

In every league that has followed the SEC in holding its media days, and in trekking up to Bristol to appear on various ESPN platforms, there has been little talk of what is ahead and a constant barrage of swipes at the SEC. Even a hardened cynic couldn't help notice it.

Now, SEC Media Days wasn't a week of unremitting entertainment and brilliant quotes. But at no point during the proceedings did any SEC coach come in and spend more time bashing another league instead of discussing their own conference. SEC coaches talked about the SEC. So did everyone else.

Now, there is a reason for all this, aside from simple jealousy.

This is a new day in college football. We are steaming straight ahead, like the Titanic at the iceberg, into a postseason where the participants in the championship playoff will be chosen by a committee. There are no objective criteria in place, just the votes of 13 people. And when an issue is going to be decided by partisan voting (and it will be partisan), the way things are done in America means it will lead to one thing.

Lobbying.

That's all these other leagues are doing. They are so fearful the committee will actually pick the four best teams (don't worry, they won't) and the SEC may have more than one of those teams, they are lobbying as hard as they can before the season is even played. They are planting seeds for their own leagues they hope to harvest in November...

[jbcarol]

Kevin Scarbinsky @KevinScarbinsky  ·  4h
Lie about the SEC long enough, and the playoff selection committee just might believe it | http://AL.com  - http://po.st/5xE4e6

[jbcarol]

Patrick Brown @patrickbrownTFP  ·  4h

side note: #Vols will play five teams (Bama 2, OU 3, Carolina 9, UGA 12, Ole Miss 19) ranked in the just-released preseason coaches' poll.

[jbcarol]

Matt Hayes @Matt_HayesSN  ·  6h
SEC: "Our 8 better than your 10." RT @McMurphyESPN: Iowa's Kirk Ferentz believes B1G will eventually go to 10 conference games.

Ross Dellenger @DellengerAdv  ·  8h
SEC teams in the USA Today Coaches poll:
2 Alabama
5 Auburn
9 South Carolina
12 Georgia
13 #LSU
19 Ole Miss
20 Texas A&M

[jbcarol]

Scarblog: The votes are in, and the anti-SEC propaganda campaign is off to a miserable start

Bob Stoops, Rick Neuheisel and friends are going to have to ramp up their anti-SEC propaganda.

It's early, but so far their misguided campaign of misinformation is failing miserably.

Preseason polls are based on perception, and the first vote in the Amway Coaches Poll indicates the perception of the SEC among coaches across the nation is as strong as ever.

[jbcarol]

GoGamecocks.com @gogamecocks  ·  44m

Spurrier: Tougher to play ECU than some Big Ten teams http://scne.ws/6WNrDq  #gg

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  6h

Power 5 coaches favor P5 only schedules. How they voted in @ESPN poll http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11320309/majority-power-five-coaches-want-power-five-only-schedules ...


Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  7h

How they voted: Power 5 only schedules (yes-no-undecied) Pac 12 (7-1-4), SEC (7-5-2), Big 12 (6-4-0), B1G (6-6-2), ACC/ND (4-7-4)

[jbcarol]

Dave Matter @Dave_Matter  ·  4h

Pinkel among 5 SEC coaches opposed to Power 5-only schedule (w/ Richt, Bielema, Mason, Spurrier) http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11320309/majority-power-five-coaches-want-power-five-only-schedules ...

[jbcarol]

In discussing potential "apocalyptic" scenarios for the first college football playoff, SI.com lays out a scenario where the Southeastern Conference could potentially have three of the "chosen" four playoff teams.

As implausible as this situation is, it's more about what the other Power Five conferences do than what the SEC does. The reason Auburn got into the BCS championship a year ago with no controversy was because Ohio State came up short in the Big Ten title game. Now extrapolate across multiple conferences...

...if LSU comes out of nowhere and beats Alabama but 'Bama wins out the rest of the way, if Georgia (which avoids LSU and Alabama) takes care of business against everyone except Auburn and if South Carolina only loses to the Dawgs, things could get weird fast.

Might cause "Apoplexy Now" for Jim Delany and Scott in the unlikely event this came to pass.

[jbcarol]

Chris Low: Wading through Power Five 'propaganda'

More than ever, the Power Five conferences are jockeying for the pole position as we get set for the first season of the College Football Playoff.

Each conference has its own pitch as to why it's the best conference in the country or has the toughest path to the title. Consider it an early dose of lobbying to the selection committee.

Do the math and at least one of the five conferences is going to be left out...

I've long contended that the grind of the SEC is what makes the league so difficult, and it's a grind I think will once again ensure that everybody finishes with at least one conference loss this season.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  2h

College Football Playoff selection committee releases protocol for ranking teams | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/AlbMd

Also approved recusals

[jbcarol]

Kevin Scarbinsky @KevinScarbinsky  ·  Aug 14

Is the College Football Playoff hinting that only conference champions need apply? http://ow.ly/AlbmW

...it's quite possible that winning the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12 will be more important to the 13 committee members than finishing second in the SEC, no matter how good the SEC runner-up may be.

If that becomes the prevailing opinion in the committee room, the Iron Bowl will be nothing more than a round-of-16 game and the SEC Championship Game will be a quarterfinal.

[jbcarol]

Clay Travis @ClayTravisBGID  ·  7h
Strong analysis here. RT @GW_USPS: a closer look at Ohio State's schedule

[jbcarol]

Paul Finebaum @finebaum  ·  4h

Broadcaster Paul Finebaum doesn't hide his message about dominance of SEC football - JSOnline http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/271732341.html ...

Finebaum's thesis is simple and self-evident.

"Find me a conference with a better commissioner, better players, better head coaches, better staffs, better game day atmosphere, better-looking coeds . . . better anything," he says.

The Big Ten Conference? Hah. 

"The Big Ten can't win the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, much less a national championship," Finebaum/Wojciechowski write. "It had exactly one national title during the BCS era. And it took a late, you've-got-to-be-kidding-me! pass interference penalty against Miami in overtime to help give Ohio State the much-debated victory. The coach of that Ohio State team, Jim Tressel, was such an upstanding guy that he was eventually fired for a rules cover-up and handed a five-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA."

The Big Ten just doesn't have the championship numbers.

"For all the Big Ten's insufferable yammering about tradition, and The Shoe and The Big House and its alumni base, the conference has as many national championships in the last 45 years (four) as the SEC has won in the last five," they write. "And, Big Ten fanatics, don't even think of trying to count Nebraska's national titles. The Cornhuskers won those when they were still members of the Big Eight or Big 12."

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  Aug 17

Already furious about a poll that doesn't count? Just wait til @CFBPlayoff unveils its Top 25 on Oct 28

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  3h
Braxton Miller's injury another reason the Big Ten's likely to be watching the College Football Playoff. http://ow.ly/AvgkF

[Vantage 8 dude]

Interesting to see the comments by Pat Forde today that in his opinion the SEC is no longer the top conference in college football. I just hope the rest of the league got the word that we've been officially usurped by the Pac 12.

[jbcarol]

Clay Travis @ClayTravisBGID  ·

If LSU beats Wisconsin opening weekend & Oregon beats Michigan State week two, Big Ten is probably eliminated from playoff by second week.

[jbcarol]

CFB Playoff @CFBPlayoff  ·  21h
Tickets are now on sale for the 2015 #CFBPlayoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl! Who's In? @SugarBowlNola http://buzz.mw/bc3e2_f

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  2h
ESPN's Lee Corso says SEC is not the best conference 'top to bottom' | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/AEkpv

College GameDay        ✔ @CollegeGameDay
"In my opinion the #SEC is not the best conference from top to bottom. The #Pac12 is." - Coach Corso
11:32 AM - 23 Aug 2014


(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

College GameDay        ✔ @CollegeGameDay
"I don't think the SEC West has ever been stronger." - @KirkHerbstreit
11:35 AM - 23 Aug 2014

[jbcarol]

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/25/2014-cft-preseason-preview-playoff-primer-predictions

[jbcarol]

The USA TODAY Sports college football staff finally projects the winners of college football's five power conferences and the College Football Playoff:

...SEC

EAST: Georgia | WEST: Alabama

CHAMPION: Alabama

College Football Playoff picks

SEMINFINALISTS: Florida State, Alabama, Oregon and Baylor...

[jbcarol]

Barrett Sallee @BarrettSallee  ·  12h

How Can SEC Get 2 Teams in CFB Playoff? (via http://ble.ac/teamstream ) http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2174587-what-needs-to-happen-for-sec-to-get-two-teams-in-2014-college-football-playoff ...

[jbcarol]

'Noles, Tide 1-2 in final Bovada CFP odds

[jbcarol]

Seth Emerson @SethEmerson  ·  11h
Memo to media member on ACC teleconference: "Congratulations for last year's big win" is not a question.

[jbcarol]

ESPN's Mark Schlabach; Here are five things I learned in college football this week:

1. We're often guilty of putting too much stock in a team's opening performance, but it was clear Thursday night that South Carolina is going to miss star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney a lot more than Texas A&M is going to miss Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel...

2. Ole Miss had its struggles against Boise State in Thursday night's opener at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Quarterback Bo Wallace threw three interceptions in the first half, and the Rebels couldn't pull away from the Broncos until early in the fourth quarter of a 35-13 victory.

Still, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze has plenty of reasons to be excited, mainly that his vaunted freshman class of 2013 is a year older and wiser...

4. So-called football factories such as Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas were in the news for all the wrong reasons during the offseason...

[jbcarol]

Updated:

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  6h

Title odds: FSU 4/1 Ala 6/1 Ore 8/1 OU 10/1 Aub 18/1 UCLA 20/1 Ga 22/1 LSU 25/1 OhSt, MSU, A&M 30/1 Bay, Wis 32/1 USC 35/1 via @BovadaLV

A&M's odds to win national title dropped from 100/1 to 30/1 after South Carolina win via @BovadaLV

[pigsooietim]

IMO the Big 10 is by far the weakest conference. The Pac 12 has a good arguement this year based on strength of schedule... I could see Oregon , Florida St., Auburn and Oklahoma playing it out this year. But I don't think Ohio St. belongs. They need to play someone.

[jbcarol]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/87526/video-football-playoff-is-simple-right

Leaving behind the crystal of the BCS and bringing in the gold of a new era: Tom Rinaldi takes a look at the new solution: the College Football Playoff system -- simple ... right?

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  2h
Gene Chizik picks Alabama over Auburn for spot in College Football Playoff during SEC Network debut http://ow.ly/AVkbd

[jbcarol]

Clay Travis @ClayTravisBGID  ·  2h
Why Baylor at Oklahoma is the black hole of the Big 12. Nothing else matters in the conference: http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/starting-11-georgia-thumps-clemson-edition-090114 ...

[jbcarol]

Bruce Feldman @BruceFeldmanCFB  ·  19h

SOURCE: #Baylor QB Bryce Petty has two cracks in back, listed day-to-day, @FoxSports reports: http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/baylor-bears-bryce-petty-back-injury-090114 ...

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  6m

Title odds FSU 9/2 Ala 7/1 Ore 8/1 OU 9/1 Aub 10/1 Ga 12/1 UCLA 14/1 LSU 16/1 OhSt, A&M 18/1 MSU, Bay, USC 20/1 UF, Stan 40-1 via @BovadaLV

[jbcarol]

ESPN: Ohio State got the message about strength of schedule being a very important factor in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes announced on Thursday that they've scheduled a home-and-home series against Notre Dame in 2022 and '23. Hopefully, other Power Five schools will follow the Buckeyes' lead in scheduling difficult out-of-conference games...

[jbcarol]

 Cecil Hurt @CecilHurt  ·  3m

Of course Charlie Strong gets a pass for this year. Might be intercepted, though.

[jbcarol]

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/98262/what-we-learned-in-the-big-ten-week-2-6

1. The Midwest misery index is at an all-time high...

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  9h

Sept. 17, 1988: Last time Ohio State, Michigan & Mich. State all lost on the same day

And Virginia Tech caps off a perfect 11-0 Saturday for the ACC

[jbcarol]

Ralph D. Russo @ralphDrussoAP  ·  35m

Before we eulogized B1G's playoff chances prematurely, take look at nonconf skeds of Oklahoma and Baylor and play out 11-1 B12 v 12-1 B10

[jbcarol]

Bruce Feldman @BruceFeldmanCFB  ·  9h

#USC AD Pat Haden: "In the best interests of our team and our coaches, I will stay off the sidelines for our next two games."

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC @ESPN_SEC  ·  22h

Big Ten plummets in conference rankings http://es.pn/1CJE53m

1. SEC
2. Pac-12
3. Big 12
4. ACC
5. B1G

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC @ESPN_SEC  ·  21m

Playoff update: SEC looking good http://es.pn/WNstLY

How is the SEC looking in the race to make the College Football Playoff? According to Heather Dinich, it's looking pretty good.

And looking at Mark Schlabach's weekly Eliminator -- which tracks the teams that are still alive for the playoff -- nine conference teams are still firmly in the "Still in contention" category, with another four "On the fence." (Sorry, Vanderbilt.)

Links to Dinich and Schlabach's articles are accessible via the link above.

[jbcarol]

Chuck Dunlap @SEC_Chuck  ·  16h

SEC teams play 36 games against top-10 opponents, more than any other conference and 15 more than the next closest conference-Big 12 (21).

Three SEC teams play a nation-leading four games against top-10 opponents, while eight SEC teams (MORE THAN HALF) play three or more.

[jbcarol]

Dan Wolken @DanWolken  ·  9h

We'll all have to say this a million times b/c it's confusing: BYU isn't eligible for the "Group of 5" slot b/c they're not in a conference.

BYU is a really nice team, but top-4 is just not on the table. Key is can they get to top-10 and get an at-large in Fiesta or Cotton?

Lot of drops for Houston tonight.

If Houston hadn't been a complete disaster on special teams tonight, this would be a 6-point game.