CBS: Sun Belt may end 'addiction' to Power Five games

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per CBS:

Comments by a Sun Belt Conference commissioner at the league's media day usually won't generate much attention. But Karl Benson's remarks this week warrant further consideration.

Benson said he wants Sun Belt teams to try to shed their “addiction” to lucrative, nonconference games against heavily favored Power Five opponents. He wants to improve the Sun Belt's chances of having an undefeated team to reach a College Football Playoff access bowl and increase the league's portion of CFP money divided among Group of Five schools.

“This isn't anything new I'm saying, but it's the first time we've had all 11 schools around the table that had been with the Sun Belt for a period of time for stability,” Benson told CBSSports.com. “Rather than playing multiple million-dollar payday games, we're better off to get a return on our investment, so to speak, on the back end by being able to win games against our peer opponents.”

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...un-belt-may-end-addiction-to-power-five-games

Go Gophers!!
 

What are the chances an undefeated Sun Belt team playing a patsy non-conference schedule getting to one of the six alliance bowl games? I'm guessing not too good as I'm not convinced the level of play is as good as say Conference USA.
 

If they want to have a chance at the playoffs, they really need to play power 5 opponents. Their schedule is just way too weak without them.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
What are the chances an undefeated Sun Belt team playing a patsy non-conference schedule getting to one of the six alliance bowl games? I'm guessing not too good as I'm not convinced the level of play is as good as say Conference USA.
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Pretty high because the top non P5 team gets an auto bid.
The chances would go up even more if BYU and/or Boise joined the big 12 or pac 12
 

Some guy said:
Pretty high because the top non P5 team gets an auto bid.
The chances would go up even more if BYU and/or Boise joined the big 12 or pac 12
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Boise State (12-2) was selected over Marshall (13-1) I assume based on schedule strength as Boise logged wins against Colorado St, LA-Lafayette, BYU, and Utah St. Marshall, on the other hand, boasted wins against Rice and LA Tech and was rewarded with a trip to the Boca Raton Bowl. Their NC schedule consisted of three crappy MAC teams and a crappy FCS team. I can easily see a one or two loss team like CSU or N.Ill. being chosen over an undefeated Sun Belt team that padded it's schedule with the likes of Savannah St. and Incarnate Word.
 


Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
Boise State (12-2) was selected over Marshall (13-1) I assume based on schedule strength as Boise logged wins against Colorado St, LA-Lafayette, BYU, and Utah St. Marshall, on the other hand, boasted wins against Rice and LA Tech and was rewarded with a trip to the Boca Raton Bowl. Their NC schedule consisted of three crappy MAC teams and a crappy FCS team. I can easily see a one or two loss team like CSU or N.Ill. being chosen over an undefeated Sun Belt team that padded it's schedule with the likes of Savannah St. and Incarnate Word.
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Boise state and BYU get the benefit of the doubt that most other non P5 schools wouldn't get
 

The Sun Belt isn't likely to get the benefit of the doubt.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk
 


Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
Why do you think that is? :confused:
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Because they have a history of success against P5 teams. Granted BYUs success was more than 20 years ago now.

Marshall didn't get it over Boise because Boise gets more respect....
Although, I would argue it had more to do with the fact that Marshall lost later in the year. Marshall was ranked higher than Boise until November 28 (At that point Marshall = 19, Boise = 25)...Marshall lost their one game of the year that week...but Boise never actually got ranked higher than 19 until after the bowl games...Had Marshall won by stopping the 2 point conversion against WKU they probably go to the Fiesta Bowl instead.

If Marshall had lost earlier in the year than Boise they may have gotten it.
If it had been 13-0 Marshall against 11-2 Boise it DEFINITELY would have been Marshall instead of Boise.

As it was a 12-1 team who lost to 8-4 WKU late in the year and never beat anyone of consequence was not as good as an 11-2 team who lost to an Ole Miss team that made a New Years 6 bowl and a 10 win Air Force team early in the year and also had wins over 5 bowl eligible teams including 2 10 win teams was more appealing. That does not mean that they would have gone over an unbeaten Marshall team.




The point of my original post was that the Sun Belt is MUCH more likely to have a team sneak into the NY6 bowl games if they play easier non-conference schedules. If they go undefeated, it is likely they go. If they can afford to not play these games against P5 teams I think they would be very smart to do so in a vacuum... although I do not know what it does to their recruiting to not play the games.
 



Some guy said:
Because they have a history of success against P5 teams. Granted BYUs success was more than 20 years ago now.

Marshall didn't get it over Boise because Boise gets more respect....
Although, I would argue it had more to do with the fact that Marshall lost later in the year. Marshall was ranked higher than Boise until November 28 (At that point Marshall = 19, Boise = 25)...Marshall lost their one game of the year that week...but Boise never actually got ranked higher than 19 until after the bowl games...Had Marshall won by stopping the 2 point conversion against WKU they probably go to the Fiesta Bowl instead.

If Marshall had lost earlier in the year than Boise they may have gotten it.
If it had been 13-0 Marshall against 11-2 Boise it DEFINITELY would have been Marshall instead of Boise.

As it was a 12-1 team who lost to 8-4 WKU late in the year and never beat anyone of consequence was not as good as an 11-2 team who lost to an Ole Miss team that made a New Years 6 bowl and a 10 win Air Force team early in the year and also had wins over 5 bowl eligible teams including 2 10 win teams was more appealing. That does not mean that they would have gone over an unbeaten Marshall team.



The point of my original post was that the Sun Belt is MUCH more likely to have a team sneak into the NY6 bowl games if they play easier non-conference schedules. If they go undefeated, it is likely they go. If they can afford to not play these games against P5 teams I think they would be very smart to do so in a vacuum... although I do not know what it does to their recruiting to not play the games.
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If by MUCH you mean the champions from other non P5 conferences have more than two or three losses, I can see that point. Eventually, this conference of glorified FCS teams will need to prove itself against top half of the FBS to get an automatic more than once a decade or so. That will be impossible to do if you aren't scheduling any games against them.
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
If by MUCH you mean the champions from other non P5 conferences have more than two or three losses, I can see that point. Eventually, this conference of glorified FCS teams will need to prove itself against top half of the FBS to get an automatic more than once a decade or so. That will be impossible to do if you aren't scheduling any games against them.
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Not what you want to hear from a G5 conference commissioner. Quite frankly, the Sunbelt was well below the top FCS conference last year, MVFC, and former FCS Georgia Southern strolled in a won the conference. That conference should really be playing for a championship with the FCS, not straining to pay for 85 scholarships.

The reason you are sponsoring 85 scholarships is so you can test yourself against the best. Dumb statement by the commissioner, and a recipe for the P5 to say "see ya" to the Sunbelt. However, let's not be nieve enough to think that the P5 is all Ohio State, Alabama and USC. There are plenty of winnable games for the G5 vs. the P5 outside the top 25-30. Even an good FCS team can dip into the top 25 for a win once in a while.
 

RodentRampage said:
The Sun Belt isn't likely to get the benefit of the doubt.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk
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Not right now, no.

But have a couple of undefeated teams over the next 5-10 years and perceptions start to change. Pull an upsel or two in a bowl, and who knows? This is a long-term strategy. The commish knows they're likely not sending someone to the playoffs this year.
 

josh087 said:
Not right now, no.

But have a couple of undefeated teams over the next 5-10 years and perceptions start to change. Pull an upsel or two in a bowl, and who knows? This is a long-term strategy. The commish knows they're likely not sending someone to the playoffs this year.
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However, if you lose the bowl games it becomes even worse. A couple losses could bury your conference. Every loss is magnified with fewer opportunities...

Now, I can see turning down the opportunity to play tOSU or Alabama or FSU. Playing a team of that caliber makes no sense. But playing an Illinois or Vandy or NC St or whatever other lower-mid-tier Power 5 team makes sense. You still have to win some of the games, but if you can't win a reasonable portion, then why are you in D1 FBS? I would argue any of the other non Power 5 conferences could consistently win some games against those types of teams.

Honestly, I think the commish is fooling himself that the Sun Belt is equal to the other 4 non Power 5 conferences. They are not. They are the minor league for the other 4 conferences which are the minor league for the Power 5. If they ever split the Power 5 off into a super division, they'd be the joke of the remaining conferences. I can't imagine an undefeated team from there getting into the playoffs UNLESS they beat a reasonable Power 5 team(s) simply because they are that bad.
 



Lakeville Goldy said:
However, if you lose the bowl games it becomes even worse. A couple losses could bury your conference. Every loss is magnified with fewer opportunities...

Now, I can see turning down the opportunity to play tOSU or Alabama or FSU. Playing a team of that caliber makes no sense. But playing an Illinois or Vandy or NC St or whatever other lower-mid-tier Power 5 team makes sense. You still have to win some of the games, but if you can't win a reasonable portion, then why are you in D1 FBS? I would argue any of the other non Power 5 conferences could consistently win some games against those types of teams.

Honestly, I think the commish is fooling himself that the Sun Belt is equal to the other 4 non Power 5 conferences. They are not. They are the minor league for the other 4 conferences which are the minor league for the Power 5. If they ever split the Power 5 off into a super division, they'd be the joke of the remaining conferences. I can't imagine an undefeated team from there getting into the playoffs UNLESS they beat a reasonable Power 5 team(s) simply because they are that bad.
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The best team in the SBC was ranked #63 last year (GASo), ahead of 4 teams in the Big Ten. So, yes the conference is the worst FBS conference, but its best teams are not terrible. A little perspective for you. Rutgers 62, NW 66, IL 83, IN 89, Purdue 99
 

Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0 said:
If by MUCH you mean the champions from other non P5 conferences have more than two or three losses, I can see that point. Eventually, this conference of glorified FCS teams will need to prove itself against top half of the FBS to get an automatic more than once a decade or so. That will be impossible to do if you aren't scheduling any games against them.
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An unbeaten Marshall would have gone over a 2 loss Boise state last year. Do you disagree?

If you agree, you see my point.
If you don't, you aren't worth debating.
 

Some guy said:
An unbeaten Marshall would have gone over a 2 loss Boise state last year. Do you disagree?

If you agree, you see my point.
If you don't, you aren't worth debating.
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Barely because of a pretty weak schedule. Then again, Marshall plays in the CUSA which is a better football conference than the Sunbelt. If Marshall rolled thru the Sunbelt with the NC schedule it played, Boise likely would still go ahead of them IMO.
 

I'd suggest a similar approach to a different problem. How about all P5 teams refuse to play Notre Dame unless they join a conference?
 

kellyleeks said:
I'd suggest a similar approach to a different problem. How about all P5 teams refuse to play Notre Dame unless they join a conference?
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Why do people want Norte dame in a conference?
If notre dame has such an unfair advantage why don't more programs go independent?
Certainly Texas or Michigan or someone else could.
 

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