CFB Big Picture Scheduling

So, the hurricane has left me w/ some big picture thinking…

·       The powers that be need to move the start of the season to the last weekend in August.  The guys have already been practicing for 4 weeks by then.  Let them play.  Heck, High Schools are kicking off at, like, August 18.  Next year the season would kick off on Aug. 25 instead of Sept. 1.  Why?

·       We’ve got to get 2 open dates back on the schedule.  This hurricane is making teams cancel games.  UCF is only going to play 10 games this year.  Florida, Miami, and FSU are only going to play 11.  FSU and Miami are going to play for a bunch of weeks in a row to move their game to their (luckily) shared open date. 

·       I’m all for safety in the state of Florida, but the bottom line is that those players are only going to get beat on 11 games instead of 12.  Will that make a difference?  I don’t know.  No one knows.  I just know it’s a fact.  Perhaps it’s a bad thing for them.  Either way, it creates inequality.  Two open dates would allow for better flexibility to move games, and give the NCAA a little more leverage to ‘strongly encourage’ the rescheduling of games vs. the cancellation of games.

·       I think Labor Day would get better.  Teams could play an opening game, then have 9 days to prepare for a big Labor Day game, then schedule one of their off weeks in week 3.  They’d still have another open date around week 8-10 to play with.  There’s no reason we shouldn’t have great games starting at noon on Labor Day. 

I’m glad we play Samford.  I’m glad it’s not a nooner (more time to rest).  I can’t imagine how the guys felt getting back to Athens about 4 a.m.on Sunday morning.  Oh, hey Greg, turns out we needed that Indoor facility after all.  We have a hurricane in Georgia on Monday and Tuesdayand will be playing in sunny skies on Saturday.