College Football Powers playing Creampuffs
Written by GatorSphere, Wednesday June 17 2009
It used to be if you were a big-time program, you played one creampuff game a year: Homecoming. Not so anymore, now some programs have two or three creampuffs every year and that needs to stop.
I am about to blast the University of Florida football program for its scheduling. But let me first disclose I am a 1996 Univ. of Florida graduate and have been a lifelong fan of the Gators. Last month I donated blood on my birthday and it was Orange and Blue. Ok, not really on the blood but you get the idea.
Thirty or 40 years ago, college football teams played ten to eleven games a year. It was the NCAA who sanctioned football and so schools were restricted on the number of games. After the regular season, some teams (usually conference champions) were invited to a bowl game. Back in those days some conferences, most notably the Big Ten, did not let more than one team go to a bowl game and at on point, a team couldn't go to a bowl game two years in a row - even if it won the conference.
A lot has changed on the college football landscape in that time. There are more than 30 bowl games now and we have had some teams go who were 6-6, lost the bowl game and finished 6-7. North Carolina State, Memphis, and Northern Illinois are three which come to mind who last year were 6-6 and lost their bowl game. The opportunity for a team to play more games is as great now as it's ever been under the NCAA rules.
But what some of the top programs do with their schedule is nonsense. A few years back, in the early part of this decade, the NCAA began allowing teams to schedule a 12th regular season game. That's great. More games for us to watch on tv, more money to be made by networks to show those games, more games for fans to attend, more games for players, etc. The benefits are seemingly endless. And some of those "extra" games we have been allowed to see have been classic games between top programs early in the season. Who could forget the Texas-Ohio State home and home in '05 and '06? This year we get the 2nd of a home and home with Ohio State and Southern Cal. Last year's game was a blowout, but it was nice to see top Top 5 teams. Georgia has played some games against the Big 12, Alabama played Clemson last year and will play Va. Tech this year. That extra game is nothing but good for college football.
Except when it comes to the Gators. Two of the last three national championship trophies are in Gainesville. The Gators had a great team last year and with the entire starting defense coming back and most of the offense (save for Percy Harvin) coming back, they look as good as any team. But why is it that Florida will not schedule an out of conference game against a team from out of the South who is also a top to middle-top program? Ok, I know. Last year UF played Miami and we all know the whole debated history of the discontinuation of that annual in-state rivalry. But some of the other teams Florida has played have been The Citadel, Western Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Wyoming, La. Tech, and Florida Atlantic. That's not exactly picking on someone your own size.
Seemingly every year for several years, the Gators homecoming opponent has been a fellow SEC team. So, yeah, I get that it's nice to have a team like The Citadel to beat up on, get the 5th stringers in the game and have fun in a no-stress game. That's all well and good.
But Florida's non-conference schedule this year is sorry. Aside from Florida State, the Gators HOST Charleston Southern, Troy, and Florida International. Ok, I'll excuse the game with FIU and the one couple years ago with Florida Atlantic. As the big boy in state you have an obligation to help out some of the smaller schools who are building programs by giving them some exposure and a nice payday. But Charleston Southern is not an in-state team, neither is Troy. Neither Alabama nor Auburn will play Troy because there is too much to lose if they don't win.
With ticket prices and booster fees as high as ever (and I know because I split the cost with my dad on our two season tickets to UF games), we deserve to see Florida follow the lead of Texas or Georgia or Ohio State or Alabama or any of a few other nationally prominent programs and play a home and home against someone on our level. Wouldn't it be nice to see an opening weekend game of Florida vs. Texas or Florida vs. Penn State? If you play it on Week One, the loss is not going to kill your season.
It's time the College Football valedictorian of two of the past three years take a hard course outside its major! The SEC is tough, but for the love of college football the Gators need to shake it up for a change. Enough of FIU, about a schedule worth a cuss!
Oh and one other thing, just 11 weeks until college football starts. I can't wait, can ya tell?
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