quote:
It's been proposed before.
and I do like it....except one thing.
Don't play an odd/even schedule, Play the same schedule back to back for 2 years, then play the other schedule. You still play everyone every four years. But I think doing it this way makes games a little better in that you are more likely to have rematch/payback scenarios a year later rather than 2 years apart. Makes it a little more recent and fans are likely to have fresh memories of the last time they played.
I love the play everyone 2x or 4x in 4 years - much more marketable and fans get road trips to every SEC destination at least once (or twice) every four years as opposed to 12 years.
That was what was bugging me. Seeing at least some teams back to back if not the whole non-permanent slate makes a lot of sense. But then you re-introduce the problem of balance of play. SBNation is analyzing that statically. The NFL analyzes it and schedules dynamically in the pods (aka "divisions") and matches as many cross-division opponents as possible and then assigns the two extra games largely due to results on the field the previous year. This doesn't allow for that kind of dynamic adjustment and if you have a harder schedule back to back there is reason to presume your outcome will be worse.
There are all kinds of potential issues such as two teams who played each other--even as late as the last week of the conference season--meeting again in the SEC Championship game (the issue that is the most discussed detracting element of the approved new BDF playoff.) The simplest question is whether the beauty of seeing every team every other year (or 2x every 4 years) is compelling enough to desire to absorb the other potential warts. I DO believe the schedule can be dynamically adjusted btw. But there is no way all 14 teams will ever agree it was fair.
I also note that they honored the current commitment to an eight-game conference schedule. I meant to point that out earlier.
