Saban campaigns for extra SEC game
He may be called The Devil, and he may be called a lot of other worse things by college football and Miami Dolphins fans alike, but you can’t fault Nick Saban for campaigning for something that he sees is right.
In 2013, it’s the thought of adding one team to every team’s existing nine-team schedule.
On the Crimson Caravan’s stop in Mobile, he said: “I’m for playing nine conference games; I was the only person that spoke out in favor of it last year…If you increase the size of the league and the number of teams you have in the league then you’ve got to play more games.”
He added at a press conference at the SEC Media Days in Destin, FL. today: “If we all played good teams it would be easier to quantify who the best teams are“. We don’t agree a lot with Saban, but we certainly agree with him on this point.
He also said that a lack of a ninth game would be detrimental to the SEC’s already-falling stadium attendance: “They’ll just stay home and watch it on TV.”
This hasn’t been one of the best weeks for the SEC, speaking of attendance: Figures were released before the Memorial Day weekend which showed average SEC attendance fell for the fourth year in a row.
If teams get an extra SEC game, it might see the end of at least one of the FCS schools that SEC schools seems to think it really important to schedule. Saban’s Alabama plays Georgia State and Chattanooga in 2013.
Oh, and he also ensured that he had a barb ready for old foe Urban Meyer, who’s in charge of Ohio State. ESPN college football reporter Brett McMurphy reported that he said: “How many would they have won against those top 6 (in SEC) last year? Would they have won three? I don’t know.”
Ohio State finished 12-0 last year, but didn’t go to a bowl game due to the administration’s decision to forgo a bowl game in 2013 instead of 2012 after ‘Tattoogate’- one that didn’t exactly prove to be a wise one.
Oh, and he also had a barb ready for LSU coach Les Miles, who has been complaining relentlessly about LSU playing Florida year in, year out. Again, McMurphy on Saban: “When he was at LSU it didn’t bother [me] to play Florida every year.” Saban’s record against Florida? 1-3.