Seven-game slate possible for SWAC


Status
Not open for further replies.
JAGCAT

JAGCAT

Active Member
http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/4934721.html

Seven-game slate possible for SWAC

By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Dec 16, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The Southwestern Athletic Conference might return to mandating its members play seven conference football games next season.

The 2005 season was the first in which all nine games counted. Though that setup simplifies how games are counted, there apparently is growing sentiment to revert to a seven-game mandate.

The subject came up at the conference?s winter meetings this week. The presidents, who hold the power in the conference, will meet to decide on the format next month.

?(Thursday) we talked about nine game vs. seven game,? SWAC Commissioner Robert Vowels Jr. said. ?So, we?ve got that back on the table. There?s a real lean toward the seven game, especially if the 12th game comes into it.?

Southern Athletic Director Greg LaFleur said SU?s stance is likely to be for the seven-game format.

Members of Division I-AA, which will be the Championship Subdivision next season, will soon vote on adding a 12th game.

The SWAC swelled to 10 members and divisional play in 1999, with only a team?s four divisional games counting that first season. A seven-game format began in 2000. Initially, the seven games consisted of four divisional foes plus a rotation of three games against teams from the other division. The rotation was later ditched, with the top three teams from the previous year?s standings counted.

The downside to the seven-game mandate is the confusion. Conference teams continued to play each other in order to maintain traditional rivalries (and paydays) in games that didn?t count, and then the ?top three? scenario led to games counting for one team but not the other.
 
I hope the SWAC Presidents do the right thing and vote for the seven-game mandate. :lecture:
 



If they go to 12 games you can keep the 9 game mandate and get rid of that championship game. That will give you 3 non conferance games to schedule instead of trying to schedule 5 non-conferance games. What may also have to be done as a alternative is to go to 8 conferance games with 4 non-conferance games. But this is all based on 1AA going to the 12 game format like 1A has done this year.
 
Fiyah said:
If they go to 12 games you can keep the 9 game mandate and get rid of that championship game. That will give you 3 non conferance games to schedule instead of trying to schedule 5 non-conferance games. What may also have to be done as a alternative is to go to 8 conferance games with 4 non-conferance games. But this is all based on 1AA going to the 12 game format like 1A has done this year.
Click to expand...
I just don't see getting rid of the SCG as an option. For JSU, I'd love the flexibility of 5 non-conference games. Get FAMU, a SoCon team and possible BCS division school on the schedule, for example. As for 8 conference games, I guess that a decent compromise to help those with scheduling problems.

I just hope a truly progressive decision is made.
 
go to seven games. tell teams they can not play swac teams that are not on your conference schedule. don't like it? want to get su, jsu or grambling on the slate to fill up your stadium or meet them in a classic. tough beans..... there is no welfare in football!! fill up your own stadium with your own fans regardless of opponent.

if your going to keep a championship game it's time to get serious about expanding to 12 teams. famu and tennessee state top the list. making it 12 teams, means your championship game becomes a regular season game instead of a post season contest. you can participate in the playoffs and have the championship game that way. if IAA adds the 12 game they'll likely push the start of the playoffs back at least one week, meaning the swac can ask for an automatic bid.
 
FAMU, BCC in Jacksonville some more times, ULL and I wouldn't mind playing people like Furman, Coastal Carolina or even Montana State.
 
Robber said:
I just don't see getting rid of the SCG as an option. For JSU, I'd love the flexibility of 5 non-conference games. Get FAMU, a SoCon team and possible BCS division school on the schedule, for example. As for 8 conference games, I guess that a decent compromise to help those with scheduling problems.

I just hope a truly progressive decision is made.
Click to expand...

The SWAC Championship Game is holding the entire conference back. Teams that play in that game can't play in the Division 1 playoffs. What rationale is it to play a conference championship game three weeks after the regular season is over? It's not the Super Bowl. It's not even a high-profile game. What the conference should do is play Top 25 Division 1-AA teams and quit playing these Division II teams. You can still keep the "Classics" and rivialries and still play a competitive schedule.
 
I like the 7 game mandate.

I agree that it will hurt the smaller schools. I think everyone school AD will need to work overtime to find opponents.

A 12 game schedule seems like a bit much for me.

I think no school is safe from the scheduling drought. What if School A has a couple of down years and lower school D has a couple of great years then fortunes could be reversed as far as scheduling opportunities.

I love the SCG but don't like it with this 9 game mandarte from hell.
 
Fiyah said:
Only to help themselves, no one from the bottom asked for help cause they never needed help in getting a schedule done.
Click to expand...

Oh that's right I forgot, they can always fill 60% of their schedules with Paul Quinn, Lanston, and a couple of D3 schools. That'll help fill their budget.
 



Everyone will experience some scheduling problems sooner than later. Looking at our ON FIELD PRODUCT as a whole. Alot of folks will be having scheduling problems in the future.

I am waiting to see how this plays out.
 
it helps Grambling State.....your talking about potentially an additional 1 million dollars in revenue for football with the addtional games.

as for the vote....well......nevermind....
 
What is so hard for them to see.:no:

Drop the 9 game mandate and install the 7.

That would be to much like right.:rolleyes:
They will have more "discussion" on it...............AGAIN!!:upset:
 
This will allow all of us to get games that our fans really want to see and will come out for. No offense to any one here, but some poeple don't want to see PV or Southern as much as they want to see Tenn. State or Tuskegee ...
we have to live with that and use it to make ourselves better athletically and financially.
 
staggalee83 said:
What is so hard for them to see.:no:

Drop the 9 game mandate and install the 7.

That would be to much like right.:rolleyes:
They will have more "discussion" on it...............AGAIN!!:upset:
Click to expand...

The presidents will stick together like the COMMISION on the 9 game mandate cause some f those presidents from the lesser known school are pleadign their case to the presidents of the GSU's JSU's and all of them are sticking together.

Gram will benefit greatly cause of the Prestiguous name of Grambling as so will SU and JSU but others who name is not that known may find it tough to get QUALITY opponents and we might see alot of cupcake games and teams with inflated records.
 
STC_60 said:
The presidents will stick together like the COMMISION on the 9 game mandate cause some f those presidents from the lesser known school are pleadign their case to the presidents of the GSU's JSU's and all of them are sticking together.

Gram will benefit greatly cause of the Prestiguous name of Grambling as so will SU and JSU but others who name is not that known may find it tough to get QUALITY opponents and we might see alot of cupcake games and teams with inflated records.
Click to expand...


It was all those schools that you named up there that push this 9 game thing in the first place. You may want to think otherwise but those that was here know what really happened back then.
 
SU Jag 79 said:
This will allow all of us to get games that our fans really want to see and will come out for. No offense to any one here, but some poeple don't want to see PV or Southern as much as they want to see Tenn. State or Tuskegee ...
we have to live with that and use it to make ourselves better athletically and financially.
Click to expand...

I would rather SWAC schools mix in some more Top 25 Division 1-AA teams than Tuskegee or Tenn. State. That way our teams will have measuring stick games and earn a little respectability among the masses. SWAC schools have to realize eventually you have to go outside of their comfort zone and upgrade their opponents. That's why we keep getting hosed when it comes to TV deals and radio contracts. The networks are already telling us that the novelity of SWAC football has worn off. We need to play different teams and showcase them against quality competition. I don't think playing Tenn.St. or Tukegee makes the conference better finanically or athletically.
 
Man that seven game mandate keep holdng back the bottom feeders of the SWAC. We just gotta do something about it so they can start scheduling like this again.

Howard Payne (TX)
Panhandle State
Lanston
Hardin-Simmons
Mid-Western State
Albilene-Christian
Tarleton State
West Texas A&M
Angelo State
Cameron
Texas State
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top