SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by FayetteDore »

cc11316 wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 9:12 pm Looking at these potential schedules with Oklahoma and Texas in the mix and 9 games instead of 8 just makes me shake my head and cry a little. Vandy has no business with that schedule. We may not see a bowl game for 30 more years if they have to get 4 conference wins out of that schedule (assuming they get 2 out of 3 wins in non-conference games). Lea has a nearly impossible job of recruiting with the handicaps he has compared to his competition.
And then you add all the other factors that that have developed over the past few years (which we all know and don't need to re-hash here) and it makes the situation even worse. Much worse. The question is, are these kinds of thoughts creeping in to the minds of VU's decision makers.


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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by Go Vandy! »

They HAVE to be aware of them. But the admin has come off as clueless so many times...
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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by charlestonalum »

I realize this thread is about football scheduling, but football is not the only sport being played. (Forget baseball this year - we still field many competitive teams in sports other than football.) Point is Vanderbilt competes in most sports way above its weight and that is part of the fun of being a fan. So stick with the SEC and use the revenue to help the other sports.
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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by cc11316 »

charlestonalum wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:09 am I realize this thread is about football scheduling, but football is not the only sport being played. (Forget baseball this year - we still field many competitive teams in sports other than football.) Point is Vanderbilt competes in most sports way above its weight and that is part of the fun of being a fan. So stick with the SEC and use the revenue to help the other sports.
I hear what you are saying but as long time fans who have invested in many season tickets and Commodore Club memberships for years and years, are you really okay with just using football as a means of financing other sports? I think that's an unfair approach for players, coaches, alumni, administration and fans if they treat the cash cow sport in the premier conference in the nation this way. It very well may be what is actually happening but if I thought this was their strategy, it would be impossible to continue to support any of the athletic programs.
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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by charlestonalum »

cc11316 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:24 pm
charlestonalum wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:09 am I realize this thread is about football scheduling, but football is not the only sport being played. (Forget baseball this year - we still field many competitive teams in sports other than football.) Point is Vanderbilt competes in most sports way above its weight and that is part of the fun of being a fan. So stick with the SEC and use the revenue to help the other sports.
I hear what you are saying but as long time fans who have invested in many season tickets and Commodore Club memberships for years and years, are you really okay with just using football as a means of financing other sports? I think that's an unfair approach for players, coaches, alumni, administration and fans if they treat the cash cow sport in the premier conference in the nation this way. It very well may be what is actually happening but if I thought this was their strategy, it would be impossible to continue to support any of the athletic programs.
I, too am an old fan and supporter, and I would love to win every football game. The new realities make it less likely than ever before in football, but we can and will be able to compete in most sports especially now that we finally have an administration that cares about athletics. The SEC payoff is because of football. I want to win and always have, but we all know the reasons we have trouble - even Poach figured that out. It is harder now with pay for play and free agency not to mention having the real UT and Oklahoma in the conference. But heck yeah I want to win in football, but if we don't lets take the SEC consolation cash prize money and at least make things nice for the players of all sports.
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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by cc11316 »

charlestonalum wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:31 pm
cc11316 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:24 pm
charlestonalum wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:09 am I realize this thread is about football scheduling, but football is not the only sport being played. (Forget baseball this year - we still field many competitive teams in sports other than football.) Point is Vanderbilt competes in most sports way above its weight and that is part of the fun of being a fan. So stick with the SEC and use the revenue to help the other sports.
I hear what you are saying but as long time fans who have invested in many season tickets and Commodore Club memberships for years and years, are you really okay with just using football as a means of financing other sports? I think that's an unfair approach for players, coaches, alumni, administration and fans if they treat the cash cow sport in the premier conference in the nation this way. It very well may be what is actually happening but if I thought this was their strategy, it would be impossible to continue to support any of the athletic programs.
I, too am an old fan and supporter, and I would love to win every football game. The new realities make it less likely than ever before in football, but we can and will be able to compete in most sports especially now that we finally have an administration that cares about athletics. The SEC payoff is because of football. I want to win and always have, but we all know the reasons we have trouble - even Poach figured that out. It is harder now with pay for play and free agency not to mention having the real UT and Oklahoma in the conference. But heck yeah I want to win in football, but if we don't lets take the SEC consolation cash prize money and at least make things nice for the players of all sports.
I'm with you in spirit and certainly recognize your loyalty and patronage to Vandy athletics. I suppose the only clarification that I would like to make is a reasonable effort for the football program to be competitive in football by starting to close the gap with at least the first rung of competition in the SEC (ie. Kentucky, Missouri, MSU, S.Carolina, Arkansas). Whether this administration actually cares more is still a bit up in the air IMHO, we shall see. My fear is just the status quo effort and with the new, increased competition with Texas and Oklahoma entering the league and potential 9 game SEC schedule the gap will only continue to widen between Vandy and the rest of the conference. It's already pretty significant and disheartening to contemplate.
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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by charlestonalum »

cc, we are two long suffering VU supporters - I'm with you.
To reassure you about Chancellor Diermeier he has already invested $300 m in athletics - far more than any of his predecessors, and he has attended more men and women's events in person than I can remember any of his predecessors doing, and in Omaha last year he attended every VU gathering before the finals games where I had the pleasure of questioning him about why he is supporting athletics and he came up with convincing answers - he get's it.
The football part is hard: what is a "reasonable effort" to compete with the other also rans in the SEC? Vanderbilt cannot and shouldn't, in my opinion, open up admissions to any itinerant, dissatisfied portal star player who cannot meet the already adjusted down requirement for VU athlete admission, nor do we have the alumni size, inclination to "buy" players for good old Vandy like the wild, wild west schools of A&M, Oklahoma, and Texas where athletics just means more and the money flows like oil.
The consolation, in addition to all the SEC money we get, is that Vanderbilt in football will join all the other also rans as we watch each year a very few places win the conference championship and national championships. We have plenty of company in watching the very few compete at the top, and our great consolation is we didn't compromise our integrity or spend absurd amounts of money like most of them will in football stadia, etc. trying to win the SEC each year. In the end, just think how much more miserable Tennessee, SC, LSU, Auburn etc are going to be each year compared with us. And, we will beat them from time to time and really enjoy it as their frustration goes through the roof and they have to fire another coach for losing to Vanderbilt increasing even more their already astronomical indebtedness. Meanwhile our other sports will continue to garner SEC championships and we will have the greatest satisfaction of all in seeing many of our student athletes graduate from our fine university.
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Re: SEC scheduling changes

Post by Versus75 »

I expect ESPN will have someone in that roundtable discussion. Money would likely trump Rivalries in this decision. I'm just not the one to say how much is at stake regarding:

A. # SEC teams in National Championship game
B. # SEC teams in College Football Playoffs, whether it be a 4-team or larger playoff
C. # SEC teams in lesser bowls
D. Attendance revenue from a ninth conference game
E. TV revenue from a ninth conference game

It seems to me that in Case D a 9-game conference schedule would pay off only slightly. Most of the teams not named Vanderbilt or Kentucky would be sold out or close to sold out if the game is State U versus any other FBS team (it's likely that every SEC team would still schedule one FCS opponent).

The TV money factor in Case E would compare the value of, say, Tennessee versus Mississippi State to that of Tennessee versus Texas State.

That could be a fair amount, but would those 14 upgrades offset the potential loss of mid-range or minor bowl games for two or three teams? See Case C.

Missouri (Armed Forces), Florida (Gasparilla), Auburn (Birmingham), LSU (Texas) and South Carolina (Dukes Mayo) each won just 6 regular-season games. Replacing one non-conference win with a game against another SEC opponent could have eliminated a couple of those bowl bids.

Finally, regarding Cases A and B, the playoffs and potential to play in the National Championship Game require teams to have few blemishes on their record. A one-loss SEC team likely makes a 4-team playoff; two losses would be extremely iffy. Should the playoff expand to 8 teams, a two-loss SEC team will have a fair chance. Three losses? I don't think so. A three-loss SEC team might not even get into a 12-team playoff, but it's possible.

Replace one 95% chance of victory game with a 60%-70% chance of victory game for each the top 3 or 4 SEC teams and one of the potential CFP teams is sent down to the Outback Bowl ... and the bowl bids trickle down from there. Then you will find the conference missing out on some multi-million dollar playoff games.


With that in mind, we might continue to see an 8-game conference schedule with an extra year or so between games against some conference opponents.

Could be 3 permanent opponents and play 5 of the other 12 each year (5 years to complete Home-Away round robin). But throw in a few million bucks more per team and who cares?
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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by AuricGoldfinger »

The networks (linear, cable/satellite, streaming, etc.) will eventually tire of having to pay to televise Alabama versus VMI or Florida versus The Citadel, even if it means getting access to the entire SEC package. The question is, what replaces those games? Another SEC matchup? An expectation of another Power Five game? Will the schools produce and sell the games themselves? Or do they continue to get played without any television revenue associated with them?
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Re: SEC to talk about scheduling changes at spring meetings

Post by Johnmn555 »

9 conference games may mean a team or two not going to minor bowls, but minor bowls don't pay much and a ninth conference game would probably mean more TV revenue and probably gate revenue, as, I assume, we are not the only ones who charge much more for conference games.
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