pasted some copyin' from Kevin Scabimskee. Spurrier said basically the same things yesterday with regard to scheduling. And I agree that lately it's been advantage Bama. The Visor says the Big 10 plays everyone in conference and that's the fair way to do it. Seems logical but how do you do that in the SEC? You can't unless you eliminate all OOC games. The Hat feels it's unfair for LSU to play Florida and Georgia while Bama plays UT and UK. No, it's not balanced for that particular year. But first, most teams go in cycles regarding how strong they are. Auburn is a prime example. I don't imagine Les had a problem with playing Florida 2-3 years ago when they sucked. Second, when they changed the Choppe...err...format, all teams chose and agreed who their cross division yearly opponent would be. AU and UGA agreed that the oldest rivalry in the south should continue. UGA is damn good now. Just the way it goes. For their part, Bama and UT have always had a great rivalry game on the 3rd Saturday of October. Not Bama's fault that the Vols can't get their collective shit together. Anyway....
HOOVER, Alabama - Never mind that he opened by telling us he spent his summer doing hyperbaric oxygen therapy research on concussions. That, and rappelling down the side of a building.
Put aside his historical thesis on social media and the Harlem Shake and his unfortunate demonstration of his ability to speak Australian.
Forget all the fun on the fringe, and focus on the facts, mate.
Based on the facts, Les Miles is right. Right on time. Right on topic. Right on the inexplicable imbalance in SEC football scheduling.
"Scheduling should never decide championships," the LSU coach said Thursday morning. Of course, it shouldn't, but obviously, it helps. Or hurts.
Miles went off on what would be called a rant if he'd raised his voice and pounded the podium during his big-room appearance at SEC Media Days. But he didn't go full Saban. Miles stuck to the facts, and the facts are all on his side.
His main point: There's a repeated scheduling advantage and disadvantage in the SEC when it comes to cross-division opponents based on traditional rivalries.
Not even Mike Slive, as skilled a debater as he is, can deny that point.
The most eye-popping stat of this year's schedule is a big part of the reason the media here was right to pick LSU third in the West behind Alabama and Texas A&M.
LSU plays Florida and Georgia from the SEC East. Last year, the Gators and Bulldogs went a combined 14-2 in the league.
Alabama plays Tennessee and Kentucky. Last season, the Vols and Wildcats combined went 1-15 in the league and fired their head coaches.
That's beyond imbalance. That's the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it.
There's a good chance this "bridge" schedule is going to collapse on LSU's title hopes.
Hence, my suggestion that the SEC do away with traditional cross-division rivals as long as the league stays with eight conference games.
My AL.com colleague Jon Solomon broke down the strength of SEC schedules from the start of a two-division league in 1992 to the present. He demonstrated that Alabama's had the third-easiest league schedule over that time frame.
One fun fact from Jon's study: The SEC has had six traditional powers in Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee. Among that group, Auburn and Florida have played the others 83 times since 1992. Alabama and Georgia have played the others 75 times.
Advantage, Alabama and Georgia.
Earlier this week, South Carolina's Steve Spurrier renewed his call to have division games only decide the division championships because of the imbalance in cross-division games. That's not going to happen, but Spurrier made a valid point.
So did Miles. Again. And again, all the facts and the stats in the world probably aren't going to change a thing.
He might as well have been speaking Australian.
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