Karl Benson said at SBC Media Days that the 2018 conference schedule would come out in the "next couple of weeks." I'm assuming that the exact dates will take until February or March to be released, as usual, but I expect that each team's home and away opponents will be announced any day now.

I'm hoping that the league office does its best to have eastern teams miss western teams that they have not already missed in the past four years. For example, App has missed two years of Texas State, two years of Arkansas State, and two years of South Alabama. (They also missed two years of New Mexico State, but they're leaving anyway. They miss Troy this year, but they'll be in the same division.) I think it would make the most sense for ULM or LA to be the team App misses out of the west next year since the other three western teams will have only been played twice in the past four years.

Also, it's unclear whether USA and Troy will be the only permanent cross-division rivals. Does anyone know whether everyone else will have a permanent cross-division rival, the way the ACC and SEC do, or will it be like the Big Ten, where the only permanent cross-division rivals are Purdue and Indiana?

I'm so ready football season to get started, BTW. Who's with me?

Karl has no idea about the answer to any of your questions.


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(08-15-2017 09:16 PM)WolfBird Wrote:  Karl has no idea about the answer to any of your questions.


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Though I hear he keeps the "Psychic Network" on speed dial . . .

. . you know . . . in case he needs a quick consult . . . before a presser . ..

It'll be interesting to see how they go about the future scheduling. For instance, Astate will conclude year 2 of playing future East Teams Troy & Georgia Southern and after this season NMSU will drop off after being on the schedule for 4 seasons. Because of that red wolves will draw at least one of the two again for another two years and more than likely be dropped from the other schedules for the next two seasons...if I had to guess:
-western teams (@ULL, @txst, ULM, USA)
-return game to CCU
-Ga st will rotate back on and replace ga Southern and will be a home game
-i still think regardless if it's a permanent cross divisional or not app will rotate back on Astate schedule and be a road game, as the red wolves will replace NMSU on the Mountaineers schedule
-I would assume league will try to keep it balance and red wolves will play at Troy in '18

I'm going to assume:

1. Cross-division rivals are
GS/UL
StAte/App
South/Troy
Coastal/ULM
Georgia State/Texas State

2. The Sun Belt won't let teams skip each other 4 seasons straight
GS currently skipping ULM, Texas State
Troy currently skipping UL/ULM
App currently skipping Troy, StAte, USA
Coastal currently skipping UL, USA
Georgia State currently skipping UL, StAte

This forces 3 skipping partners for 2017 and 2018
App must skip UL
That forces ULM and Georgia State to skip each other
and that in turn forces GS and South Alabama to skip each other

That leaves Troy and Coastal in the east each skipping one of StAte and Texas State.

(08-16-2017 06:54 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  I'm going to assume:

1. Cross-division rivals are
GS/UL
StAte/App
South/Troy
Coastal/ULM
Georgia State/Texas State

2. The Sun Belt won't let teams skip each other 4 seasons straight
GS currently skipping ULM, Texas State
Troy currently skipping UL/ULM
App currently skipping Troy, StAte, USA
Coastal currently skipping UL, USA
Georgia State currently skipping UL, StAte

This forces 3 skipping partners for 2017 and 2018
App must skip UL
That forces ULM and Georgia State to skip each other
and that in turn forces GS and South Alabama to skip each other

That leaves Troy and Coastal in the east each skipping one of StAte and Texas State.

We skipped Idaho and Texas State.

(08-16-2017 06:59 AM)eaglewraith Wrote:  We skipped Idaho and Texas State.

Everyone is skipping 3 teams, and I'm not counting lame duck members.

(08-16-2017 07:39 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 06:59 AM)eaglewraith Wrote:  We skipped Idaho and Texas State.

Everyone is skipping 3 teams, and I'm not counting lame duck members.

I wasn't accounting for CCU filling in for ULM this year, was thinking about the 2 year cycle we were previously on and it didn't click since we played ULM in 2016. My bad.

Got to work early and decided to comprehensively look at who missed playing who since 2014. Four schools skipped different conference foes from 2016 to this upcoming season...

-Georgia State (They skipped on the Cajuns and Aggies in '16 and this year will miss the Cajuns again along with Astate)

-South AL (Skipped App and Texas State in '16--Will miss Coastal this season)

-Troy (Didn't play either louisiana schools in 2016 and will not play App this season)

-App (They missed South Al in 16 and will also not play troy in '17)

It's interesting because I assumed the likes of NMSU and idaho would have different conference foes swapped between seasons, not three future east schools versus one western team.

(08-16-2017 06:54 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  I'm going to assume:

1. Cross-division rivals are
GS/UL
StAte/App
South/Troy
Coastal/ULM
Georgia State/Texas State

2. The Sun Belt won't let teams skip each other 4 seasons straight
GS currently skipping ULM, Texas State
Troy currently skipping UL/ULM
App currently skipping Troy, StAte, USA
Coastal currently skipping UL, USA
Georgia State currently skipping UL, StAte

This forces 3 skipping partners for 2017 and 2018
App must skip UL
That forces ULM and Georgia State to skip each other
and that in turn forces GS and South Alabama to skip each other

That leaves Troy and Coastal in the east each skipping one of StAte and Texas State.

I think GS cross rival is a coin flip with Ul and ULM. We had one epic game with ULM. Either one would be fine though.

(08-16-2017 07:57 AM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 06:54 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  I'm going to assume:

1. Cross-division rivals are
GS/UL
StAte/App
South/Troy
Coastal/ULM
Georgia State/Texas State

2. The Sun Belt won't let teams skip each other 4 seasons straight
GS currently skipping ULM, Texas State
Troy currently skipping UL/ULM
App currently skipping Troy, StAte, USA
Coastal currently skipping UL, USA
Georgia State currently skipping UL, StAte

This forces 3 skipping partners for 2017 and 2018
App must skip UL
That forces ULM and Georgia State to skip each other
and that in turn forces GS and South Alabama to skip each other

That leaves Troy and Coastal in the east each skipping one of StAte and Texas State.

I think GS cross rival is a coin flip with Ul and ULM. We had one epic game with ULM. Either one would be fine though.

I think the push to put us against each other is because of how the fanbases were like oil and water when we were invited to the conference. Also, ULL fans were one of the main ones pushing the whole asterisk thing when we ran through the conference in 2014.

(08-16-2017 07:47 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  Got to work early and decided to comprehensively look at who missed playing who since 2014. Four schools skipped different conference foes from 2016 to this upcoming season...

-Georgia State (They skipped on the Cajuns and Aggies in '16 and this year will miss the Cajuns again along with Astate)

-South AL (Skipped App and Texas State in '16--Will miss Coastal this season)

-Troy (Didn't play either louisiana schools in 2016 and will not play App this season)

-App (They missed South Al in 16 and will also not play troy in '17)

It's interesting because I assumed the likes of NMSU and idaho would have different conference foes swapped between seasons, not three future east schools versus one western team.

I just want the schedules to be balanced.

App's schedule this year is just ridiculous. And I know people will bring up our 2014/2015 schedule but that's not quite the advantage App has this year (A-state finished fourth in 2014, UL dropped off a cliff in 2015).

Letting a team like App have such an easy schedule is bad for both maximizing bowl-eligible teams and increasing chance for a New Year's Six bid. Let the teams that haven't been doing as well all play each other and let the presumed top teams all play each other to improve strength of schedule.

Even if there's no one G5 team this year that really stands out like 2014 (I could see that this year), App could miss the NY6 bowl with an 11-1 record and a Power 5 win because their best G5 win is a 7-win G5 team.

(08-16-2017 08:13 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 07:47 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  Got to work early and decided to comprehensively look at who missed playing who since 2014. Four schools skipped different conference foes from 2016 to this upcoming season...

-Georgia State (They skipped on the Cajuns and Aggies in '16 and this year will miss the Cajuns again along with Astate)

-South AL (Skipped App and Texas State in '16--Will miss Coastal this season)

-Troy (Didn't play either louisiana schools in 2016 and will not play App this season)

-App (They missed South Al in 16 and will also not play troy in '17)

It's interesting because I assumed the likes of NMSU and idaho would have different conference foes swapped between seasons, not three future east schools versus one western team.

I just want the schedules to be balanced.

App's schedule this year is just ridiculous. And I know people will bring up our 2014/2015 schedule but that's not quite the advantage App has this year (A-state finished fourth in 2014, UL dropped off a cliff in 2015).

Letting a team like App have such an easy schedule is bad for both maximizing bowl-eligible teams and increasing chance for a New Year's Six bid. Let the teams that haven't been doing as well all play each other and let the presumed top teams all play each other to improve strength of schedule.

Even if there's no one G5 team this year that really stands out like 2014 (I could see that this year), App could miss the NY6 bowl with an 11-1 record and a Power 5 win because their best G5 win is a 7-win G5 team.

This can never be because teams get hot and cold all the time. As you mentioned coming into this conference in 2014 one would have thought stAte, ULL and Troy were the teams to beat but each of those had at least one down year in the first two seasons we were in the conference.

I’m just glad there is a title game at the end to eliminate the skipped who and Co-champ discussions.


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(08-16-2017 08:50 AM)WolfBird Wrote:  I’m just glad there is a title game at the end to eliminate the skipped who and Co-champ discussions.


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+1

(08-16-2017 08:13 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 07:47 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  Got to work early and decided to comprehensively look at who missed playing who since 2014. Four schools skipped different conference foes from 2016 to this upcoming season...

-Georgia State (They skipped on the Cajuns and Aggies in '16 and this year will miss the Cajuns again along with Astate)

-South AL (Skipped App and Texas State in '16--Will miss Coastal this season)

-Troy (Didn't play either louisiana schools in 2016 and will not play App this season)

-App (They missed South Al in 16 and will also not play troy in '17)

It's interesting because I assumed the likes of NMSU and idaho would have different conference foes swapped between seasons, not three future east schools versus one western team.

I just want the schedules to be balanced.

App's schedule this year is just ridiculous. And I know people will bring up our 2014/2015 schedule but that's not quite the advantage App has this year (A-state finished fourth in 2014, UL dropped off a cliff in 2015).

Letting a team like App have such an easy schedule is bad for both maximizing bowl-eligible teams and increasing chance for a New Year's Six bid. Let the teams that haven't been doing as well all play each other and let the presumed top teams all play each other to improve strength of schedule.

Even if there's no one G5 team this year that really stands out like 2014 (I could see that this year), App could miss the NY6 bowl with an 11-1 record and a Power 5 win because their best G5 win is a 7-win G5 team.

It'll be as balanced as can be. No one will miss more than one other team. So last year, for instance, even if App and A State had missed each other, App would still have had to play (whom they missed last year), and A State would have played everyone else too.

I'm a big fan of the 10 team model.

(08-16-2017 07:57 AM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 06:54 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  I'm going to assume:

1. Cross-division rivals are
GS/UL
StAte/App
South/Troy
Coastal/ULM
Georgia State/Texas State

2. The Sun Belt won't let teams skip each other 4 seasons straight
GS currently skipping ULM, Texas State
Troy currently skipping UL/ULM
App currently skipping Troy, StAte, USA
Coastal currently skipping UL, USA
Georgia State currently skipping UL, StAte

This forces 3 skipping partners for 2017 and 2018
App must skip UL
That forces ULM and Georgia State to skip each other
and that in turn forces GS and South Alabama to skip each other

That leaves Troy and Coastal in the east each skipping one of StAte and Texas State.

I think GS cross rival is a coin flip with Ul and ULM. We had one epic game with ULM. Either one would be fine though.

If I was going on a road trip, id prefer to go to Lafayette over Monroe. That's the only reason I want ULL.

(08-16-2017 08:13 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 07:47 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  Got to work early and decided to comprehensively look at who missed playing who since 2014. Four schools skipped different conference foes from 2016 to this upcoming season...

-Georgia State (They skipped on the Cajuns and Aggies in '16 and this year will miss the Cajuns again along with Astate)

-South AL (Skipped App and Texas State in '16--Will miss Coastal this season)

-Troy (Didn't play either louisiana schools in 2016 and will not play App this season)

-App (They missed South Al in 16 and will also not play troy in '17)

It's interesting because I assumed the likes of NMSU and idaho would have different conference foes swapped between seasons, not three future east schools versus one western team.

I just want the schedules to be balanced.

App's schedule this year is just ridiculous. And I know people will bring up our 2014/2015 schedule but that's not quite the advantage App has this year (A-state finished fourth in 2014, UL dropped off a cliff in 2015).

Letting a team like App have such an easy schedule is bad for both maximizing bowl-eligible teams and increasing chance for a New Year's Six bid. Let the teams that haven't been doing as well all play each other and let the presumed top teams all play each other to improve strength of schedule.

Even if there's no one G5 team this year that really stands out like 2014 (I could see that this year), App could miss the NY6 bowl with an 11-1 record and a Power 5 win because their best G5 win is a 7-win G5 team.

Get this man some cheese, what a cry baby. Beating Ark St., and Troy wasn't going to get App to a NY6 bowl, we are fooling ourselves to believe that. Beating a top 20 P5 team and going 12-0 is the only path for a SBC program currently unless every other G5 program has two losses. Perception is reality.

I thought I heard CCU/TXST was gonna be a cross division rival?

(08-16-2017 10:52 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 08:13 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  

(08-16-2017 07:47 AM)RamblinRedWolf Wrote:  Got to work early and decided to comprehensively look at who missed playing who since 2014. Four schools skipped different conference foes from 2016 to this upcoming season...

-Georgia State (They skipped on the Cajuns and Aggies in '16 and this year will miss the Cajuns again along with Astate)

-South AL (Skipped App and Texas State in '16--Will miss Coastal this season)

-Troy (Didn't play either louisiana schools in 2016 and will not play App this season)

-App (They missed South Al in 16 and will also not play troy in '17)

It's interesting because I assumed the likes of NMSU and idaho would have different conference foes swapped between seasons, not three future east schools versus one western team.

I just want the schedules to be balanced.

App's schedule this year is just ridiculous. And I know people will bring up our 2014/2015 schedule but that's not quite the advantage App has this year (A-state finished fourth in 2014, UL dropped off a cliff in 2015).

Letting a team like App have such an easy schedule is bad for both maximizing bowl-eligible teams and increasing chance for a New Year's Six bid. Let the teams that haven't been doing as well all play each other and let the presumed top teams all play each other to improve strength of schedule.

Even if there's no one G5 team this year that really stands out like 2014 (I could see that this year), App could miss the NY6 bowl with an 11-1 record and a Power 5 win because their best G5 win is a 7-win G5 team.

Get this man some cheese, what a cry baby. Beating Ark St., and Troy wasn't going to get App to a NY6 bowl, we are fooling ourselves to believe that. Beating a top 20 P5 team and going 12-0 is the only path for a SBC program currently unless every other G5 conference champion has two losses. Perception is reality.

Fixed it for you.

Undefeated is no doubt. But even with a loss, or maybe two, it depends on how the conference races work out. All it takes is someone messing up and not winning their conference and they're out of it.

That's honestly how WMU made it last year, even with 2 B1G wins and an undefeated record. Navy would have been the team in last year, and the CFP committee had already said they would hold off on making selections until after Army/Navy if they won the AAC....but they lost and it made things simple.