Smart on scheduling tough OOC

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

I can post our OOC that has already happened to show that Smart walks his talk. I mean ND x 2, Clemson, Oregon, UNC, Colorodo, ASU to name a few. You just picked the wrong team to argue with. If you want to get all indignant about OOC, go talk to UF in the SEC, or your own team in the B1G.

For someone who says he doesn't care about OOC, you seem to care a lot about our OOC.

None of those games were schedule because of Kirby Smart. They were scheduled before he even got there. They were scheduled before the SEC was adding Texas and Oklahoma. They were scheduled before Georgia could be going to a 9 game conference schedule, eliminating an OOC game. Which game do you think they will get rid of? A game they will sell out regardless of which FCS or HBCU school they play, where they can give their starters much needed rest, while giving their backups valuable experience..............or a game where they are going to have to do a home and home, where they will have to travel and they could end up with starters hurt in a game that has nothing to do with their conference?

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

We got the 8 billion dollars because more people watch the B1G than any other conference, including the SEC. 3 of the 4 most watched teams are from the B1G. 6 of the top 12 most watched are from the B1G.

THAT is why they got the huge contract. It isn't just OSU, UM, PSU. Teams like Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska average 2.5-3 million viewers per game.

They also paid the absurd amount because the B1G is a huge basketball conference too.

To put it in perspective for you, you know how big a deal Georgia was last year. They would have been the 4th most viewed B1G school if they were in that conference. Ohio State AVERAGED 1.6 million more viewers per game than Georgia. Michigan AVERAGED 1.1 million more viewers per game than Georgia.

The B1G has a massive amount of viewers for both football and basketball.

You got the money because you have a lot of people watching football because you have very large student bodies and have for decades. The SEC and other conferences are just catching up each year, but it will take decades to catch up, if they do. That is a clear advantage to the B1G.

BUT, you also got the money because they are expecting you to have a better schedule. You will be getting rid of divisions, and you will be bringing in USC and UCLA. And, at least tOSU and other B1G schools are more aggressively scheduling OOC. You guys should try it, it's fun. The SEC's TV inventory is okay now, but is going to be unreal starting in 2025 ... you will have to match it to keep the eyeballs on the screen.

As for having the most people watching, kind of, but not really. The differences aren't overly significant, and the SEC has more games with over 4 million viewers than the B1G, and those are the games that matter the most.

I did the research for you:

Here are the 2021 average numbers for both conferences:

1​	tOSU	5.22​		3​	Bama	4.64​
2​	UM	4.74​		5​	UGA	3.61​
4​	PSU	3.87​		6​	OU	3.46​
8​	MSU	2.89​		7​	Auburn	3.22​
11​	Wisky	2.41​		13​	Texas	2.26​
12​	Nebraska	2.29​		14​	UF	2.21​
20​	Iowa	1.64​		15​	Arky	2.03​
21​	Purdue	1.63​		16​	LSU	1.9​
24​	Minny	1.28​		17​	ATM	1.86​
26​	Indiana	1.24​		18​	Ole Miss	1.81​
29​	UCLA	1.18​		23​	UTjr	1.51​
31​	Illinois	1.13​		33​	Ky	1.08​
32​	USC	1.11​		43​	MSU	0.858​
39​	Maryland	0.971​		53​	USCjr	0.575​
48​	NW	0.716​		60​	Mizzou	0.462​
58​	Rutgers	0.488​		106​	Vandy	0.037​
		32.81​	Avg 2.05​			31.52​	Avg 1.97​

That's not really a significant difference.

But what sets the market are games above 4 million viewers. The SEC is ahead of the B1G there. Citation below.

What’s the Four Million Club? It’s the group of football games that draw more than four million viewers.

These are the games networks are willing to pay premium prices for, and they’re also the type of games the SEC’s addition of Oklahoma and Texas will add to that league’s inventory. In conversations with television executives and consultants, conference officials and athletic directors, it has become clear that the hunt for premium television product will drive this round of realignment (or, in the case of the alliance, rearranging). So I asked a trusted source who has been involved with many television contracts what audience qualified as meter-moving in this ever-splintering environment, and that source drew the cutline at four million.

Examining which games cracked the Four Million Club explains a lot about the Oklahoma/Texas move, and it also offers a potential explanation why those three leagues would want to work together. It also helps explain why the schools Oklahoma and Texas left behind are seemingly being left in the cold.

I didn’t include viewing data from the 2020 season because everything about 2020 was weird and I didn’t want to skew the data, so I charted every rated regular-season game involving at least one FBS team from 2015-19. I didn’t include conference championships or bowls, which fetch different prices. Those five seasons featured 1,593 rated telecasts* and dozens more on the ACC Network, Big Ten Network, Pac-12 Network and SEC Network, which weren’t measured for audience size.

Of those, 198 telecasts made it into the Four Million Club. The audience size ranges from massive (16,841,000 for the 2016 Michigan-Ohio State game) to just above the cutline (4,010,000 for the 2015 Louisville-Auburn game). And the conference distribution of the games is quite telling.

* All of this data is publicly available at the indispensable Sports Media Watch, where Jon Lewis combs through industry publications and compiles ratings on a weekly basis for a variety of sports.

Setting aside the five split “reverse mirror” telecasts where two games were simultaneously sent to different portions of the country on ABC and the other game was available to each section on ESPN2, here is how the 193 single-game telecasts broke down…

• 58 games between either independents or teams from different conferences (including all five Army-Navy games played during that period)
• 55 SEC-only games
• 49 Big Ten-only games
• 13 ACC-only games
• 12 Big 12-only games
• Five Pac-12-only games
• One American Athletic Conference-only game (2017 South Florida at UCF)

The conference difference is stark. But before we show you how it’s about to get even more dramatic, let’s examine how individual teams fared. These 13 schools made at least 10 appearances in Four Million Club games from 2015-19.

Most games in the Four Million Club

TEAM	APPEARANCES
Alabama	35
Ohio State	31
Michigan	26
Auburn	17
Notre Dame	17
Florida	16
LSU	16
Clemson	15
Georgia	15
Oklahoma	14
Tennessee	13
Penn State	12
Michigan State	11
Texas A&M	10

Why would the Big Ten form an alliance with the ACC and Pac-12? It's all about TV's 'Four Million Club'

One way for conferences to get as much money as possible from TV? Get matchups that draw 4,000,000+.

theathletic.com

 

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

The post referred to UGA's schedule as a "Gauntlet," stated very sarcastically so as to throw shade on UGA's schedule.

Trust me, we heard it from the Michigan talking heads leading up to the Orange Bowl ad nauseum - UGA didn't play anyone all year.

So, yeah, in that context, our game with you became part of our "Gauntlet" that counters the point that was being made.

They will find a way to talk up any game. Reality is -- teams like Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, etc. should be heavy favorites any time they play, as they are vastly more talented than every other team.

Michigan hit their ceiling last year unless the school opens up the wallet and starts buying recruits. They also need to get the stick out of their ass academically speaking. If they want to be relevant nationally -- you can't expect your recruits or transfers, etc. to be brain surgeons. They are coming to play football.

I called what was going to happen against Georgia. The schools play a lot alike, but Georgia is essentially Michigan on steroids (I.E. bigger, stronger, faster, better recruits, etc.). Could UM have beaten Georgia last year? Sure, if the stars align, every bounce goes their way and all the luck is on their side.

 

[Kburjr]

None of those games were schedule because of Kirby Smart. They were scheduled before he even got there. They were scheduled before the SEC was adding Texas and Oklahoma. They were scheduled before Georgia could be going to a 9 game conference schedule, eliminating an OOC game. Which game do you think they will get rid of? A game they will sell out regardless of which FCS or HBCU school they play, where they can give their starters much needed rest, while giving their backups valuable experience..............or a game where they are going to have to do a home and home, where they will have to travel and they could end up with starters hurt in a game that has nothing to do with their conference?

If you are worried about injuries, you shouldn't be playing football. OOC shouldn't be exhibition games against weak teams, but a way of sorting out the best teams. When one of those top teams lose out on a spot in the CFP due to poor SOS attitudes will change.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

None of those games were schedule because of Kirby Smart. They were scheduled before he even got there. They were scheduled before the SEC was adding Texas and Oklahoma. They were scheduled before Georgia could be going to a 9 game conference schedule, eliminating an OOC game. Which game do you think they will get rid of? A game they will sell out regardless of which FCS or HBCU school they play, where they can give their starters much needed rest, while giving their backups valuable experience..............or a game where they are going to have to do a home and home, where they will have to travel and they could end up with starters hurt in a game that has nothing to do with their conference?

First, that simply is not true. We started scheduling those OOC games once CKS got there. ND, UNC, were before he got there, but not the future OOC.

2018/2020 - Clemson games announced - 5 of them right when Clemson had won 2 NCs.
2019 - tOSU
2019 - FSU
2019 - OU
2018 - TX
2021 - NC State / Lousiville

In case you don't recall, Smart took over as coach in 2016.

They were scheduled before the OU/TX, for sure. And because we still haven't gone to 9 IC games, it was done before that. But other than you just having your panties in a twist for some reason, there is no reason to think that we will get rid of all the OOC. I agree we won't play 2 tough OOC, so we will move those around where we have 2 tough OOC. But we will play 1 tough OOC. Our fans have demanded it.

 

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

As for having the most people watching, kind of, but not really. The differences aren't overly significant, and the SEC has more games with over 4 million viewers than the B1G, and those are the games that matter the most.

I did the research for you

No, the B1G does have more people watching. They had more people watching before Texas/Oklahoma/USC and UCLA decide to change conferences -- they have more viewers even when you include them.

And you didn't have to do any research for me -- I follow along with it all -- it is why I knew the B1G had 3 of the 4 most viewed programs in CFB. The part that seems to be missing is -- basketball is another reason for the big pay day. It is huge in the Midwest, adding a blue blood like UCLA. as well as USC, to go along with crazy depth the B1G already has in their conference is a big deal.

 

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

If you are worried about injuries, you shouldn't be playing football. OOC shouldn't be exhibition games against weak teams, but a way of sorting out the best teams. When one of those top teams lose out on a spot in the CFP due to poor SOS attitudes will change.

OOC games is to give your team some experience before you start your conference schedule. If you play in the B1G East or in the SEC -- you have no need to worry about SOS, as your divisional games will put you near the top for SOS. Wisconsin if they don't get a Michigan, OSU, PSU, MSU in a crossover would need an OOC game to strengthen their schedule, as they won't face many elite programs.

But it is a double edged sword. Wisconsin had to face ND, Michigan and PSU last year -- how'd that go for Wisconsin? Great schedule, but your season was over by week 4.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

No, the B1G does have more people watching. They had more people watching before Texas/Oklahoma/USC and UCLA decide to change conferences -- they have more viewers even when you include them.

And you didn't have to do any research for me -- I follow along with it all -- it is why I knew the B1G had 3 of the 4 most viewed programs in CFB. The part that seems to be missing is -- basketball is another reason for the big pay day. It is huge in the Midwest, adding a blue blood like UCLA. as well as USC, to go along with crazy depth the B1G already has in their conference is a big deal.

I mean I posted the numbers for you. I am not saying you don't have people watching ... to the contrary I've given credit where it is due, and have even given Warren credit for a hell of a deal. But you are just repeating the couple areas where you are ahead of the SEC, and ignoring the rest.

- Yes, you have more of the top 5, but take a look at the middle ... the SEC dominates. I mean if I wanted to skew the numbers I could have said something like the SEC has 10 of the top 16, and the B1G only has 6 of the top 16, but I put all the numbers up there.

- Ignoring the 4 Million Club where the SEC is ahead is telling. I will presume you can read, and comprehend, so to be silent about that means you just want to ignore the facts that don't support your narrative.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

OOC games is to give your team some experience before you start your conference schedule. If you play in the B1G East or in the SEC -- you have no need to worry about SOS, as your divisional games will put you near the top for SOS. Wisconsin if they don't get a Michigan, OSU, PSU, MSU in a crossover would need an OOC game to strengthen their schedule, as they won't face many elite programs.

But it is a double edged sword. Wisconsin had to face ND, Michigan and PSU last year -- how'd that go for Wisconsin? Great schedule, but your season was over by week 4.

You seem to forget that with the expanded CFP, teams with 2 losses will be getting in. Teams with better SOS are going to get in and they will look at your OOC schedule. So you keep playing ColoSt, UConn, and Hawaii and let's see how that works for you.

 

[Kburjr]

OOC games is to give your team some experience before you start your conference schedule. If you play in the B1G East or in the SEC -- you have no need to worry about SOS, as your divisional games will put you near the top for SOS. Wisconsin if they don't get a Michigan, OSU, PSU, MSU in a crossover would need an OOC game to strengthen their schedule, as they won't face many elite programs.

But it is a double edged sword. Wisconsin had to face ND, Michigan and PSU last year -- how'd that go for Wisconsin? Great schedule, but your season was over by week 4.

I look more at 2017 when there was discussion(a little) that if undefeated Wisconsin had won the CCG, that their SOS would not be enough to overcome Alabama due to poor schedule strength. I don't think a conference champ has much to worry about, but those 1 loss teams do.

 

[Kburjr]

OOC games is to give your team some experience before you start your conference schedule. If you play in the B1G East or in the SEC -- you have no need to worry about SOS, as your divisional games will put you near the top for SOS. Wisconsin if they don't get a Michigan, OSU, PSU, MSU in a crossover would need an OOC game to strengthen their schedule, as they won't face many elite programs.

But it is a double edged sword. Wisconsin had to face ND, Michigan and PSU last year -- how'd that go for Wisconsin? Great schedule, but your season was over by week 4.

You had to remind me about that. Yeah, the beginning of the season was a clusterfuck of epic proportions, but that 7 game winning streak right after felt better. Minnesota was a WTF game. We got what we deserved.

 

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

You seem to forget that with the expanded CFP, teams with 2 losses will be getting in. Teams with better SOS are going to get in and they will look at your OOC schedule. So you keep playing ColoSt, UConn, and Hawaii and let's see how that works for you.

You seem to not grasp -- the B1G and the SEC will be at the top of the SOS WITHOUT having to play big OOC games............why?......................because they have the overwhelming majority of the top programs in their conference now.

The preseason poll they put out -- 13 of the top 20 teams are either in the B1G or SEC. The other conferences don't have the teams in their conference to match the strength of schedules those two conferences have. The Pac, Big 12 and ACC NEED the big OOC games -- the B1G and SEC do not.

It is why I guarantee you see your school start dropping some OOC games if you do go to 9 conference games and once Texas and OU are in the SEC. Why?

Because unless they expand the playoff, which we know will take forever them to do -- It doesn't matter if you have two losses to quality teams if a team like Oregon goes undefeated in the mighty Pac or a Big 12 team goes undefeated -- they'd get in over a two loss Georgia, even if the two losses were to Bama and say Ohio State or Clemson or whoever.

 

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

You had to remind me about that. Yeah, the beginning of the season was a clusterfuck of epic proportions, but that 7 game winning streak right after felt better. Minnesota was a WTF game. We got what we deserved.

That is the part that sucks. You schedule a big program early, especially a big program with a ton of experience returning and it can end your season almost immediately.

If the B1G realigns the conferences and Wisconsin is put with OSU or UM or PSU -- then they wouldn't have to worry as much about OOC, as their SOS would be just fine.

 

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

I look more at 2017 when there was discussion(a little) that if undefeated Wisconsin had won the CCG, that their SOS would not be enough to overcome Alabama due to poor schedule strength. I don't think a conference champ has much to worry about, but those 1 loss teams do.

Unfortunately for Wisconsin -- they are in the West, so they are the top program and they don't really have any top 10 type programs to face, unless they play them in the crossover games against the East. Iowa, Minnesota, etc. are solid programs, but not top programs.

I'm all about seeing the B1G moving teams around to see what they can come up with. Unfortunately for Michigan, it essentially guarantees them to have Ohio State and Michigan State in their pod, but I'm interested to see what they could do.

 

[Kburjr]

That is the part that sucks. You schedule a big program early, especially a big program with a ton of experience returning and it can end your season almost immediately.

If the B1G realigns the conferences and Wisconsin is put with OSU or UM or PSU -- then they wouldn't have to worry as much about OOC, as their SOS would be just fine.

I get what you are saying, but I'd still rather have the tougher schedule year in, year out. Luckily I don't have this history of Champs or bust like some fandom does. I am totally with measuring up against the best as often as can be arranged.

 

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

I get what you are saying, but I'd still rather have the tougher schedule year in, year out. Luckily I don't have this history of Champs or bust like some fandom does. I am totally with measuring up against the best as often as can be arranged.

As a fan -- I love to watch the games. But also as a fan, I want to see my team get as far as they can and know, losing early gives you zero room for error the rest of the year. Lose twice and the season is over. So the risk outweighs the reward, especially in conferences like the B1G and SEC, where you schedule is going to be tough every year.

If they made the change to 12 or 16 for the CFP, I'd say big OOC games could have rewards, but I truly don't see them going to that many, as they are worried about the health of student athletes/concussions, so making a kid play possibly 16 or 17 games a year in college seems to be against everything they talk about.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

You seem to not grasp -- the B1G and the SEC will be at the top of the SOS WITHOUT having to play big OOC games............why?......................because they have the overwhelming majority of the top programs in their conference now.

The preseason poll they put out -- 13 of the top 20 teams are either in the B1G or SEC. The other conferences don't have the teams in their conference to match the strength of schedules those two conferences have. The Pac, Big 12 and ACC NEED the big OOC games -- the B1G and SEC do not.

It is why I guarantee you see your school start dropping some OOC games if you do go to 9 conference games and once Texas and OU are in the SEC. Why?

Because unless they expand the playoff, which we know will take forever them to do -- It doesn't matter if you have two losses to quality teams if a team like Oregon goes undefeated in the mighty Pac or a Big 12 team goes undefeated -- they'd get in over a two loss Georgia, even if the two losses were to Bama and say Ohio State or Clemson or whoever.

You don't seem to understand that our team isn't a bunch of pussies that are afraid to play really good teams like it seems your team is. We like playing in big games and not just in the SEC.

You don't seem to understand that we've been playing tough games the past many years even when one loss to ND, Clemson, Oregon, etc. would knock us out of the CFP. We do it because our fans like the games, the players love the big games, and the coaches like the big games.

You don't seem to understand that when we were set to play an 8 game IC, we were scheduled to play the likes of tOSU and TX, OU and FSU, etc. in the same season meaning we were playing the same number of games we were before.

It's like you can't read a calendar. All these games are after 2026 when the CFP will expand. It's how come we knew expansion was coming years ago.

We may not need to play tough OOC games, but we have balls and like to play them. Grow a pair of balls, for fucks sake.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

As a fan -- I love to watch the games. But also as a fan, I want to see my team get as far as they can and know, losing early gives you zero room for error the rest of the year. Lose twice and the season is over. So the risk outweighs the reward, especially in conferences like the B1G and SEC, where you schedule is going to be tough every year.

If they made the change to 12 or 16 for the CFP, I'd say big OOC games could have rewards, but I truly don't see them going to that many, as they are worried about the health of student athletes/concussions, so making a kid play possibly 16 or 17 games a year in college seems to be against everything they talk about.

I swear, I wonder if you actually follow college football. There isn't a question about whether the expansion is going to happen, it's just whether it is 12 or 16.

But, wait, you've been telling me that even if we expand we won't play tough OOC. Now you are backing off that? SMMFH.

 

[Kburjr]

As a fan -- I love to watch the games. But also as a fan, I want to see my team get as far as they can and know, losing early gives you zero room for error the rest of the year. Lose twice and the season is over. So the risk outweighs the reward, especially in conferences like the B1G and SEC, where you schedule is going to be tough every year.

If they made the change to 12 or 16 for the CFP, I'd say big OOC games could have rewards, but I truly don't see them going to that many, as they are worried about the health of student athletes/concussions, so making a kid play possibly 16 or 17 games a year in college seems to be against everything they talk about.

I am more of a game-by-game fan. The CFP means nothing to me at the start of the season. If we win, we win, but I aim first for division champ, then conference champ. The OOC games have nothing to do with those goals. If the CFP committee wants to invite us then, w'll play. If not we'll play someone else. By 3/1 It's history.

 

[Volbound1700]

You don't seem to understand that our team isn't a bunch of pussies that are afraid to play really good teams like it seems your team is. We like playing in big games and not just in the SEC.

You don't seem to understand that we've been playing tough games the past many years even when one loss to ND, Clemson, Oregon, etc. would knock us out of the CFP. We do it because our fans like the games, the players love the big games, and the coaches like the big games.

You don't seem to understand that when we were set to play an 8 game IC, we were scheduled to play the likes of tOSU and TX, OU and FSU, etc. in the same season meaning we were playing the same number of games we were before.

It's like you can't read a calendar. All these games are after 2026 when the CFP will expand. It's how come we knew expansion was coming years ago.

We may not need to play tough OOC games, but we have balls and like to play them. Grow a pair of balls, for fucks sake.

I have never disagreed with this logic for most teams on why they schedule cupcakes. Scheduling cupcakes is all about the $$$$ a team brings in by having a game at home. A team loses 50% or more of its $$$ per game when they are on the road. (Ticket Sales, Concessions, Parking, etc.).

Local home football games are not just a boon for the University but also for the city itself with hotel stays, restaurant visits, etc.

If it comes down to having to play a home-home or getting two cupcakes that play at home both times, the latter seems far more attractive from an economic perspective.