Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division I Management Council has backed legislation that would allow Division I-A and I-AA schools to add a 12th football game starting with the 2006 season. The plan was given tentative approval by the council at its meeting on Monday and will be sent to the NCAA Board of Directors for final consideration April 28. Division I vice president David Berst said Tuesday he didn't know whether the NCAA board would go along with the council's recommendation, which was opposed only by the Atlantic Coast Conference among I-A conferences. "I would expect there will be more discussion," Berst said. "The board should have the freedom to make its own decision." There was no discussion of the issue at the council's meeting. "The various conferences came to the meeting prepared to vote, and we just tallied the votes," Berst said. Ron Wellman, the athletic director at Wake Forest and chairman of the ACC's athletic directors, said many of the conference's concerns dealt with academics. "We believe the season is long enough at 11 games, and we actually enjoy the bye week," he said. The council also approved legislation for more flexible recruiting calendars in men's basketball and increased the number of scholarships for women in gymnastics, soccer, volleyball and track and field. It also voted to grant another year of eligibility to players who were academically ineligible as freshmen but had completed 80 percent of their degree requirements after four years. No action was taken on the length of the season in basketball because of a pending court case, Berst said. The 12-game proposal in football was among more than 100 items considered by the council. Currently, Division I football teams play 11 regular-season games except in years when there are 14 Saturdays from the first permissible playing date through the last playing date in November. The 2002 and 2003 seasons qualified for the extra game, but without the new legislation, the next would not be until 2008. For the rest go here: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2035538
Not quite that simple. The problem with the new 12th game is that last time this was up for approval, it did not make an extra saturday available for scheduling. Meaning you would have had to play the game during your bye week. Not sure when ya'lls by week is...but ours is right before we play UGA and Alabama. Personally I don't like the thought of playing Florida St, UGA, and Alabama to end the season. Thats an awful tough stretch when players are already tired. Not to mention its very hard to find open dates that match up. The odds of you having the same open date as Michigan, Texas, or A&M are very slim. Which is why the if they NCAA is not goign to give us an extra week to schedule the games, I'd rather not have them at all. If they will give us the extra week to fit the games into, awesome, lets go for it. It is much easier to find a school from a smaller conference with an open date because they don't have so many conference games that permanently take up days. So chances are both of our schools would end up playing somebody from a conference like the Mountain West, WAC, or MAAC because thats the only team with a flexible date the same as our bye week. We happen to share the same conference bye week as Michigan, so that is a possiblity for us. But I have to tell you I'm not that thrilled about playing Michigan, Georgia, and Alabama on 3 straight saturdays. I'd much rather have that extra week to play Michigan somewhere in the beginning or middle of the season, rather than at the end. I say either give us an extra week so we can schedule the games we want, against the teams we want...or don't make us play an extra game against someone from the WAC. (which could happen if no major schools have the same open date as you)
You're exactly right. There's going to be some resistance in that some will say adding a tough non-conf opponent year in, year out is crazy due to the mandatory 8 SEC games, but it's a risk worth taking. Good inter-regional matchups between traditional powers *always* generates good press and goodwill among voters. Look how geeked people have been all offseason over that Texas-Ohio St. game, for example. I'll bet you now that, whomever wins that game, if they go undefeated that they're a lock to get to the Rose Bowl.
Interesting point regarding getting an extra Saturday. Why not, then, start the season a week earlier, like the end of August? Starting fall practice a week earlier wouldn't be a problem, unless that conflicts with some school's summer school schedules for players who are taking classes during the summer. I agree finding offweeks for seasons in the near future is difficult, but you go out a few years and it's not that difficult at all. Teams move dates around and occasionally buy out contracts in order to make certain matchups happen. I mean, Auburn was able to have a home and home series versus USC two years in a row, and that's just one example I can give. LSU, as recently as the early 1990s, would play teams like Ohio St, Notre Dame and Tx A&M. I bet that LSU-Oklahoma series gets set quickly if and when a 12th game is approved.
Last time I heard this issue come up, the extra week wasn't included. The NCAA was against bringing players to campus a week earlier. I agree with you to start the season a week earlier to allow schools flexibiltiy in their scheduling and to allow for bigger name opponents. Let's just see if the NCAA will go along with it...
Read that article and you will see why. Every certain number of years, the calender falls so there is an extra saturday between the NCAA dates of when games can be played. When we played USC in 2002, and 2003, those were those years. There is no way we could have done that without the extra date thrown in. Which is why we need it so bad. I haven't seen too many big match ups in years where the extra saturday didn't fall on the calender. Have you ever noticed how it seems some years there are lots of big match ups and then in others there arent that many? Most of it has to do with what years we get the extra week.
So much for the argument that there can't be a playoff (of some sort) because teams don't have the time to play an extra game.
even better idea... forget the 12th game.... lose the conference championships... and GIVE US A PLAYOFF!!!! I know it wont work but the NCAA talks about not wanting players to get hurt.... with a 12th reg season game you're looking at 14 games all together... leave it at 11, lose the three extra games, and give me an 8 team playoff..... life would be grand
