Sid: Could college football go to regional nonconference games in the future?

[BleedGopher]

per Sid:

• Could college football go to regional nonconference games in the future? The only FBS program from a neighboring state is Iowa State. Nearby FCS programs will include St. Thomas as well as Drake, North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State.

Sid's jottings

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Go Gophers!!

 

[MplsGopher]

In some distant future, I could see 12 P5 games being the norm, with each P5 getting the 7th home game as a "pre-season" game against a local FCS or FBS (G5) team.

The TV money has to be worked out. That's the main thing.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I know some people disagree with this violently, but I would be happy to see the Gophers play one game every year against a regional FCS team like the Dakotas. And, in future years, I would be happy to see the Gophers play St. Thomas.

I know people say it's a no-win situation for the Gophers. I'm just thinking of it as a fun opportunity to compare two different programs and their approaches.

having said that, I would also prefer to see the Gophers play one non-conference game against a "name" team from another P5 conference. And frankly, given scheduling trends, I think that is less likely to happen as opposed to seeing the Gophers play NDSU.

 

[MplsGopher]

I know some people disagree with this violently, but I would be happy to see the Gophers play one game every year against a regional FCS team like the Dakotas. And, in future years, I would be happy to see the Gophers play St. Thomas.

I know people say it's a no-win situation for the Gophers. I'm just thinking of it as a fun opportunity to compare two different programs and their approaches.

having said that, I would also prefer to see the Gophers play one non-conference game against a "name" team from another P5 conference. And frankly, given scheduling trends, I think that is less likely to happen as opposed to seeing the Gophers play NDSU.

If P5 can all agree to: 10 conf games, then 2 games against other P5, that would give you your "name" non-conf game. Two in fact, one home and one away.

Then if they follow my idea of having the pre-season game as the 7th home game, it could indeed be against a Dakota/St Thomas type team, as a warm-up. Doesn't count for W-L record. Get everyone playing time. Sell some tickets, enjoy a game at the stadium, tailgating, etc.

 

[hello-world]

I think the SEC has done a pretty good job proving that you need a few 'gimmie' games every year to get the kinks out. Alabama might run up a 50-point lead on NMSU, but they are using that time to answer questions before they play LSU. Who's their best backup at each position? What plays won't work at game speed? Where are the holes on their defense? Etc.

Minnesota came dangerously close to losing to some under powered opponents last year and then turned around and kicked into into gear against Purdue. I don't think we'll ever seen a full P5 schedule for that reason.

 

[harley_gopher]

per Sid:

• Could college football go to regional nonconference games in the future? The only FBS program from a neighboring state is Iowa State. Nearby FCS programs will include St. Thomas as well as Drake, North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State.

Sid's jottings

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Go Gophers!!

sorry man...Sid doesn't write anything anymore. I'm not sure who does the writing for him.

 

[Ope3]

If P5 can all agree to: 10 conf games, then 2 games against other P5, that would give you your "name" non-conf game. Two in fact, one home and one away.

Then if they follow my idea of having the pre-season game as the 7th home game, it could indeed be against a Dakota/St Thomas type team, as a warm-up. Doesn't count for W-L record. Get everyone playing time. Sell some tickets, enjoy a game at the stadium, tailgating, etc.

I've always thought it was a foregone conclusion that the P5 would break off if some manner from the NCAA. Watching the each Conference struggle mightily to get on the same page with Covid, makes me doubt they will ever get it together.

- Big 10 announces their 10 game Conf only plan, Pac12 follows suit but others hold off.
- ACC goes with 11 games, which was assumed to preserve in state rivalries with the SEC. Same day, SEC says no dice, and goes with the Conf only plan.
- Big 12 is pushing ahead with NonConference games.
- Some schools (Big 12) want to play as soon as possible in August, others (SEC) pushing it back to late September. Big 10? No comment yet.

Too many agendas, short and long term while seeking self-preservation. Is there ever going to be enough incentive for the Big 10 & SEC to share their TV cash with other conferences?

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

To answer Sid's question - NO. Not for the long term. If they did that teams that are closer to a bunch of P5 schools would have a huge advantage w/ strength of schedule. Not to mention teams can only have one FCS scholarship opponent count toward Bowl eligibility. The Gophers would struggle to fill an NC schedule.

The Gophers are not the only team that is isolated from other FBS teams, but the vast majority of teams are not isolated.

It might have been a possibility this year w/ COVID, but that ship sailed.

I know some people disagree with this violently, but I would be happy to see the Gophers play one game every year against a regional FCS team like the Dakotas. And, in future years, I would be happy to see the Gophers play St. Thomas.

I know people say it's a no-win situation for the Gophers. I'm just thinking of it as a fun opportunity to compare two different programs and their approaches.

having said that, I would also prefer to see the Gophers play one non-conference game against a "name" team from another P5 conference. And frankly, given scheduling trends, I think that is less likely to happen as opposed to seeing the Gophers play NDSU.

St. Thomas won't happen anytime soon. Games against non-scholarship FCS don't count towards Bowl eligibility.

I think seeing an occasional game against an NDSU, SDSU, etc. could be interesting (in theory shouldn't be, but I digress...), but if the Gophers played them every year it'd get old, fast. Maybe I don't care about UNLV or Fresno State or BYU. If the Gophers played them every year, I'd start tuning out those games. But when it's a team we haven't played in years (or my lifetime or ever) it gets a lot more interesting.