Power Five coaches polled on games

Harry · August 7, 2014

A relative majority of the Power Five conference coaches told ESPN that they favor a schedule consisting of only Power Five opponents.

Of the 65 Power Five coaches from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and Notre Dame, 46 percent (30 coaches) favored playing exclusively Power Five opponents while 35 percent (23 coaches) were opposed. About 18.5 percent (12 coaches) were undecided.

The coaches, who were in Bristol, Connecticut, last month, were asked if they would favor all Power Five conferences playing their respective conference schedules and then scheduling all non-conference games against other Power Five teams. Because of the tougher schedules under this hypothetical scenario, teams would not be required to reach six wins to play in a bowl.

The Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC coaches favored playing all Power Five opponents, while the ACC coaches were against it by a 6-4 margin with four coaches undecided.

Big Ten coaches were divided: six each were for and against it with two undecided.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said "fans want" Power Five teams playing exclusively Power Five opponents.

"We need to be more concerned about the people who support the programs and the university and come and see the games," Saban said. "Those are the most important. But we never think about that."

Read more: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11320309/majority-power-five-coaches-want-power-five-only-schedules

forevereagle · August 7, 2014

What's stopping them? They talk a good game, but when losses start to pile up and jobs are on the line, I would imagine that the blame of the schedule starts and this concept falls apart.

UNT90 · August 7, 2014

What's stopping them? They talk a good game, but when losses start to pile up and jobs are on the line, I would imagine that the blame of the schedule starts and this concept falls apart.

Nope. They have a playoff now. A playoff that will be expanded as soon as they separate from the G5, but definitely not before that happens.

The goal here has nothing to do with getting student athletes more financial support, the goal is completely money generated. The goal is to create another 1AA league while the P5 separates and takes all the TV and sponsorship money with it.

And after last night's podcast, there is no doubt where we will end up in this scenario.

MeanGreenGlory · August 7, 2014

Nope. They have a playoff now. A playoff that will be expanded as soon as they separate from the G5, but definitely not before that happens.
The goal here has nothing to do with getting student athletes more financial support, the goal is completely money generated. The goal is to create another 1AA league while the P5 separates and takes all the TV and sponsorship money with it.
And after last night's podcast, there is no doubt where we will end up in this scenario.

UNT90, out of curiosity...if you became the AD of UNT today, what steps would you take to secure a P5 conference invite?

forevereagle · August 7, 2014

Nope. They have a playoff now. A playoff that will be expanded as soon as they separate from the G5, but definitely not before that happens.
The goal here has nothing to do with getting student athletes more financial support, the goal is completely money generated. The goal is to create another 1AA league while the P5 separates and takes all the TV and sponsorship money with it.
And after last night's podcast, there is no doubt where we will end up in this scenario.

Always the optimist.

And yes, they think they want to separate. Once teams that are used to having a bowl qualifying season by scheduling teams from the G5 and FCS start having losing records, losing fans, firing coaches, and declining programs, there will be less appetite to schedule this way. Sure, Alabama says that this is great, but what do Wake Forrest, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, and other mid to low tier P5 schools think about this? Those are the schools that will become the whipping boys of a break away that would get beat down to the point where they cannot compete. They still get a vote. They see dollar signs now, but would their fan bases survive the one and two win seasons that are likely to come their way when they cannot schedule games they can win out of conference?

JRock · August 7, 2014

What was said about the P5 last night?

UNT90 · August 7, 2014

UNT90, out of curiosity...if you became the AD of UNT today, what steps would you take to secure a P5 conference invite?

I would start by taking a deep breath and telling the fan base that, yes, 2015 is going to be a 5 home game season, but that we are doing this with a purpose, and that purpose is to buy another home game in 2015 with some of the money generated from Tennessee and Iowa to get to 5 and increase scheduling flexibility in the future.

I would then get my butt on the phone and try to sell the DFW recruiting area to every P5 that I thought we had a shot of beating at home. I would have a descending order of teams that I wanted. I would not settle for a 2 for 1 because that decreases scheduling flexibility.

I would also try to insert out clauses for either university in the SMU series after every 4 years. I would also try and get out of the Army series, if possible.

MeanGreenTexan · August 7, 2014

I would start by taking a deep breath and telling the fan base that, yes, 2015 is going to be a 5 home game season, but that we are doing this with a purpose, and that purpose is to buy another home game in 2015 with some of the money generated from Tennessee and Iowa to get to 5 and increase scheduling flexibility in the future.
I would then get my butt on the phone and try to sell the DFW recruiting area to every P5 that I thought we had a shot of beating at home. I would have a descending order of teams that I wanted. I would not settle for a 2 for 1 because that decreases scheduling flexibility.
I would also try to insert out clauses for either university in the SMU series after every 4 years. I would also try and get out of the Army series, if possible.

And if they all say "no thanks"? ...

TheFranchise · August 7, 2014

Always the optimist.

And yes, they think they want to separate. Once teams that are used to having a bowl qualifying season by scheduling teams from the G5 and FCS start having losing records, losing fans, firing coaches, and declining programs, there will be less appetite to schedule this way. Sure, Alabama says that this is great, but what do Wake Forrest, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, and other mid to low tier P5 schools think about this? Those are the schools that will become the whipping boys of a break away that would get beat down to the point where they cannot compete. They still get a vote. They see dollar signs now, but would their fan bases survive the one and two win seasons that are likely to come their way when they cannot schedule games they can win out of conference?

Here's the dirty little secret, or at least my theory: The "BIG" P5 schools (the ones that are almost always on top of the P5 standings) don't care one bit about this. In fact, they kind of like it because they're going to turn those same "little" P5 schools into their annual whipping boys. All they really care about is that they have the numbers going with them in favor of separating so that it will happen.

The Texas and Alabamas of the world want the Texas Techs and the Vanderbilts to blindly follow them so that they can turn them into the schedule-fillers that they have now.

The schools that are tagging along are simply being used.

Edited August 7, 2014 by TheFranchise

MeanGreenGlory · August 7, 2014

I would start by taking a deep breath and telling the fan base that, yes, 2015 is going to be a 5 home game season, but that we are doing this with a purpose, and that purpose is to buy another home game in 2015 with some of the money generated from Tennessee and Iowa to get to 5 and increase scheduling flexibility in the future.
I would then get my butt on the phone and try to sell the DFW recruiting area to every P5 that I thought we had a shot of beating at home. I would have a descending order of teams that I wanted. I would not settle for a 2 for 1 because that decreases scheduling flexibility.
I would also try to insert out clauses for either university in the SMU series after every 4 years. I would also try and get out of the Army series, if possible.

So that's scheduling...is scheduling alone your plan to secure a P5 conference invitation for UNT?

forevereagle · August 7, 2014

Here's the dirty little secret, or at least my theory: The "BIG" P5 schools (the ones that are almost always on top of the P5 standings) don't care one bit about this. In fact, they kind of like it because they're going to turn those same "little" P5 schools into their annual whipping boys. All they really care about is that they have the numbers going with them in favor of separating so that it will happen.

The Texas and Alabamas of the world want the Texas Techs and the Vanderbilts to blindly follow them so that they can turn them into the schedule-fillers that they have now.

The schools that are tagging along are simply being used.

Agreed. The problem comes down the line when those schools are not happy about the situation and begin to voice their concerns. They will have enough votes to make things uncomfortable, and if not, they can leave. If they leave, then the top schools begin to run low on also-rans and it starts to fall apart. Maybe the money is good enough to keep those schools around, but empty stadiums may eventually create issues.

UNT90 · August 7, 2014

And if they all say "no thanks"? ...

They won't.

They haven't.

To other schools with less to offer than UNT.

We simply haven't put the effort into it to get it done and to be honest haven't been able to because of the terrible scheduling pickle we were in. RV said on the podcast that he would rather play these games on the road for the money.

Edited August 7, 2014 by UNT90

NT03 · August 7, 2014

Nope. They have a playoff now. A playoff that will be expanded as soon as they separate from the G5, but definitely not before that happens.
The goal here has nothing to do with getting student athletes more financial support, the goal is completely money generated. The goal is to create another 1AA league while the P5 separates and takes all the TV and sponsorship money with it.
And after last night's podcast, there is no doubt where we will end up in this scenario.

https://twitter.com/cftalk/status/497181774355501056

GangGreen · August 7, 2014

So if the Pig5 only wanted to schedule each other, wouldn't that mean we could get out of the Tennessee and Iowa games and 90 and TFLF could skip off in harmony into the sunset?

BillySee58 · August 7, 2014

https://twitter.com/cftalk/status/497181774355501056

Not to start up another different debate, but here's David Shaw's (Stanford Head Coach) view on pay for play. These two are combining to lead this change.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/stanford-s-david-shaw-offers-strong-words-of-caution-on-possible-ncaa-changes-072514

NT03 · August 7, 2014

THIS JUST IN: NCAA approves reforms that will give Power Five conferences ability to write their own rules.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter)
August 7, 2014

GangGreen · August 7, 2014

ESPN link:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/...onferences

pastorgrant · August 7, 2014

https://twitter.com/cftalk/status/497181774355501056

Well, there's one P5 school that I can still pull for against other P5 teams. Lots of my family went to K-State and I grew up being a fan of theirs, so there's that. Still will root for any G5 against them, though (except SMU, I just can't do it).

BillySee58 · August 7, 2014

This impending change is the reason why I want our coaches to open up the offense and put Dajon at qb. Same reason I wanted Brock or Dajon last year.

We have a very unique opportunity in this change, in that we play in the heart of the Big 12. The only P5 conference that has less than 12 members, not enough to have a conference championship game which may hinder them in the future. They will very likely add at least 2 more members.

In order for this to happen, we need to do better than just 7-5 or 8-4 seasons. I'm not sure that can happen with a bus-driver qb approach. And it's not a knock on the qbs, it's the conservative approach.

Don't get me wrong, if Coach Mccarney can string together 7-5 and 8-4 seasons over the next 2-5 years, I'd be extremely grateful. And it'd be one of the best periods of North Texas football in years.

But ultimately we'll get left out and we'd be relegated to a new, lower division similar to FCS/1AA, as UNT90 said.

Now if we open things up, stick in our most electric player at qb, and let these freshmen skill players develop together we could see 10+ win seasons and the ability to play with the big boys that may catch the attention of the Big 12.

Imagine Dajon at qb, Jeffery Wilson (shoutout from Chico for all 3 practices), Willy Ivery, and Erick Evans at running back, Tee Goree, O'Keeron Rutherford, and Turner Smiley at WR, and potentially a guy like Caleb Chumley at TE. All of those guys are freshmen.

Sorry for post length, and I know that all was a stretch. But it's what I've been thinking about for us through all of this college-football landscape changing. 10 years ago I'd be ecstatic about 7 and 8 win seasons. But the truth is we need more than that. May not be fair for Coach Mccarney and crew, but it's just the truth.

Edited August 7, 2014 by BillySee58

DeepGreen · August 7, 2014

Well, there's one P5 school that I can still pull for against other P5 teams. Lots of my family went to K-State and I grew up being a fan of theirs, so there's that. Still will root for any G5 against them, though (except SMU, I just can't do it).

These new changes will cause people like Snyder to retire. I am sure he's pretty close to that anyhow.

UNT90 · August 7, 2014

So if the Pig5 only wanted to schedule each other, wouldn't that mean we could get out of the Tennessee and Iowa games and 90 and TFLF could skip off in harmony into the sunset?

If if if.

Do you really think this schedule was built with that consequence in mind?

Travis · August 7, 2014

I have never wanted to beat Texas more than I do now.

Eagle1855 · August 7, 2014

Would whoever -1ed me for my comment above please explain?

Accidental -1. My bad. New lap-top. Accidentally gave someone a +1, earlier. I'm new to the internet.

But I gave this comment a +1 so you're back to even.

pastorgrant · August 7, 2014

Accidental -1. My bad. New lap-top. Accidentally gave someone a +1, earlier. I'm new to the internet.

But I gave this comment a +1 so you're back to even.

Thanks man, no worries, just wanted to make sure I didn't say something that made someone mad, or that I don't have a secret hater.

:thumbsu: