For years, there has been debate on whether or not teams should be forced to schedule tougher non-conference games throughout the season. This year has been no exception, especially for the defending national champions.
On Monday afternoon, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier, who is already one of the more outspoken coaches in all of college football, joined The Paul Finebaum Show when he was asked about the Ohio State Buckeyes’ schedule. According to College Spun, he was quick to say that he agrees with most SEC fans about the Buckeyes having a rather easy slate in front of them.
From Saturday Down South:
“Every now and then when I listen in to your show, I know the SEC fans are a little upset at Ohio State’s schedule and rightfully so to tell you the truth,” Spurrier said. “But that’s just the way it is and how it works out for all of us. I remember several years ago, Texas A&M had four gimme games outside the conference, then eight conference games.”
“There’s four of us that have that in-state rivalry games from another conference. We’ve got a pretty tough schedule.”
You can listen to Spurrier’s full interview here. His comments about Ohio State’s schedule starts around the 6-minute mark.
While some people may say he and the rest of the SEC fans just have sour grapes, he does have a point. The Buckeyes’ schedule is ranked 52nd on ESPN’s FPI rankings for strength of schedule. Their opponents outside of the eight Big Ten games are Virginia Tech, Hawaii, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan.
The Gamecocks’ ranking? 2nd in the country, following only Alabama. The Gamecocks play North Carolina, Central Florida, The Citadel, and Clemson. Yeah, those schedules compare REAL nicely.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
