(12-08-2017 01:58 PM)Gamecock Wrote:  

(12-08-2017 01:04 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(12-08-2017 12:32 PM)Gamecock Wrote:  

(12-08-2017 09:35 AM)AllTideUp Wrote:  I don't mind the neutral site games as long as they're in interesting locales and the match-up is good. I've been to a couple of them with Bama in recent years and it's pretty fun.

Part of me would prefer the home and home, but I get why they do it this way.

I think the best way to do it though is change cities regularly and try to keep the match-ups fresh. Otherwise, fans will lose interest.

Alabama doesn’t have much to complain about the last few years, but if I was a Bama fan the schedule would be one of them. Opening season neutral site game and three cupcakes every year.

Go back and put a star by the schools which have won the national championship in the last 30 years and then grade everyone's schedule by the number of starred teams on it and then reevaluate your assessment of Alabama's schedule when it includes Florida State or Clemson, or Ohio State as that OOC game. Then compare that to the number of stars on the Gamecocks schedule. It's close but Bama has more as do most of the West division schools. Then do the same for the other conferences and their schools. That's why the 8 game SEC schedule is far more difficult than most of the other conferences play. It's also why schools like Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida State, and Clemson play in those OOC season openers as it helps give the the data points they need to keep pace. They're good enough on their own to keep pace but playing and winning one of those games makes sure they are around at the end of the year in position to make the CFP.

I'm looking at it mostly from a fan's perspective. These games are just so bland most of the time unless it's FSU/Alabama or something very similar.

I agree that intersectional matchups are important, I just think home and home matchups are superior in every way. Ohio St, Texas, Oklahoma, So Cal and others largely insist on them and only rarely do neutral site openers. Alabama does the neutral site openers annually which sort of grew out of the Chick Fil A kickoff and now has seemingly spread across the Southeast.

I think for the SEC an 8+2 model would be ideal, requiring all schools to play two power five teams a year. This is essentially what UGA and SC have been doing for years and I think it would help the conference and individual programs as well.

I agree with that. But note: The SEC and ACC agree to neutral site games, especially the Chic-fil-a game in Atlanta because the sponsor is a generous donor to both conferences. So that really explains why we do it. Alabama is fine with the game because otherwise they lack a presence in Georgia most years. It's really a meh game for Auburn because we play Georgia annually and quite frankly our stadium seats more so we would enjoy the ticket sales at home. But then there's Chic-fil-a and we're all grateful to them.