The war of words in college football scheduling continues, and this time it’s from South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier.
Speaking to the Columbia Touchdown Club, Spurrier didn’t mince words when he described the Aggies scheduling since joining the SEC.
“They haven’t played the bigger teams so their schedule has been a little misleading,” Spurrier said.
He’s referring to their non-conference schedule of late, which has been lackluster. In 2012, Texas A&M hosted South Carolina State and Sam Houston State and traveled to Louisiana Tech and SMU.
Then in 2013, the Aggies played Rice, Sam Houston State, SMU, and UTEP, all at Kyle Field. Those four opponents, Spurrier scoffed, are “barely Division I.”
This season, Texas A&M is set to host Lamar, Rice, and ULM and travel to SMU.
But Texas A&M was in a slight scheduling pickle when they left the Big 12, which only played three non-conference games per season. The Aggies had to scramble to add a fourth opponent and with that late of notice, most of the top tier opponents were booked.
The Aggies’ non-conference strength of schedule is also hurt by them not playing their biggest in-state rival, the Texas Longhorns. Spurrier noted that at SEC Media Days, saying “it’s a shame Texas and Texas A&M don’t play.”
Spurrier again referenced the dormant Texas-Texas A&M rivalry.
“I find it interesting that they quit playing Texas,” Spurrier said. “They played Texas 115 years like we have played Clemson and then they left that Big 12 conference and both schools got mad at each other and said, ‘We aren’t going to play you anymore.’ It would be like us and Clemson saying we are not playing anymore. Our whole state would go crazy. The governor would get involved in that.”
Steve Spurrier is not the only coach that has taken a jab at Texas A&M’s schedule. Last month at the ESPN Car Wash, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops weighed in.
“They have Lamar, Rice, SMU and Louisiana-Monroe,” Stoops said. “Boy, those are all a bunch of toughies, right?”
Asked about those comments, A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin offered up a perfect response.
“Coach Stoops has the right to say whatever he wants,” said Sumlin. “But if he’d like to play again we’d take him up on that.”
Sumlin would probably say the same thing in reference to Spurrier’s comments, but they’ll actually get to settle it on the field annually. A&M and South Carolina are now permanent cross-division rivals, and they open the 2014 season on Aug. 28 in Columbia (6pm ET, SEC Network).
Football Schedules
A&M weak OOC the last 3 years is by design. The authors notion that they were in a bind to add 1 game each year doesn’t reconcile the fact they had no major conference OOC scheduled. Those major conf games are scheduled way in advance in most cases and the fact a&M didn’t have them means they didn’t want them regardless of whether they had stayed in the B12 they had not planned them. Btw, it is ludicrous to have 14 teams with a 8 conf schedule in 6-1-1 format b/c it means you play 6 teams in your conference twice over 12 years. Play another conf game instead of more soft OOC’s so Bama vs Florida or Georgia isn’t once in a blue moon.
A&M had OOC games scheduled with Oregon and UCLA, but to cancel each of these series because of the new conference schedule. They have since rescheduled with UCLA (play each other starting in 2015) and have picked up other big schools like Arizona State (also beginning in 2015). There was in fact no means to keep those games as scheduled with the new conference scheduling and the other schools’ prior agreements.
Cancel the series do to the new conference schedule? They didn’t change anything except take away one conference game and add one extra OOC game per season (switching from 9 to 8 conference games) That’s a joke, A&M should have never cancelled any series, period. Plus for those who didn’t know (since it hasn’t been pointed out) Texas A&M did have Arkansas scheduled for several years in a row before they left the B12. Once they joined the SEC, that game became an annual conference game, giving them another extra game to scramble for when joining the SEC.
They did make a “little” effort with originally scheduling Arkansas, but they really should have gotten something together by their third season in the SEC, give me a break.
Gig Them, they actually did end up keeping the series with UCLA and Oregon. But one correction.
ASU they play in 2015
UCLA they play in 2016 and 2017
Oregon they play in 2018 and 2019
Texas A&M only played the nine-game conference schedule for one season (2011). Before that when the Big 12 still had twelve teams, they played eight conference games.
@ schoup, sorry but you are incorrect. A&M DID have a major conference opponent lined up for the last 3 years. A&M was 3 games into a 10 game series with Arkansas when they moved to the SEC. When they moved that obviously became a conference game. That means A&M actually had to add 2 OOC games for the last few years, not just 1.
Come on Really South Carolina plays Furman, East Carolina, and South Alabama yeah those are hard teams. Get over yourself Steve Spurrier.
Tex. A&M and Missouri should have stayed in the Big-12, and both conferences would still be at 12 squads, and all would = out better in the long run.
This is very true. Colorado and Nebraska need to be forced back into the Big 12 and West Virginia needs to be forced back into the Big East. Maryland needs to forced back into the ACC and Rutgers needs to be in the Big East. Syracuse, Pitt and Boston College need to be in the Big East. The only teams allowed to stay where they went are FSU and MIami. Louisville gets to decide if they want to be in the ACC or the Old Big East. And teams need to stay in these conferences so that the rivalries are kept alive forever.
I’d love to see the coaches from those “barely I-A” schools call Spurrier and cuss him out. Seriously. All coaches, regardless of # of bodies, etc, SHOULD have a common bond as it relates to the long hours, road travel, etc. To demean another coach’s team, institution, etc is classless and well, classless is what Spurrier has always been. I hope A&M takes them to the woodshed.
“To demean another coach’s team, institution, etc is classless and well, classless is what Spurrier has always been.”
It’s what the good coaches do . . . stir the pot. He obviously got to you. We’ll see how well A&M plays in Williams-Brice Stadium in two weeks. Sounds to me like Spurrier is pretty confident that this year’s team will start the season off with it’s 19th home victory in a row.
No Manziel = no chance.
He was right, some of them are lower 1-A. Texas A&M isn’t challenging themselves by facing competition that isn’t at their level.
Hey maybe A&M can open up against the SHSU/EWU winner in the FCS kickoff next year:)
Spurrier is a great coach, but he should keep his thoughts to himself.
Hi Ho Hi Ho, off to the woodshed they will go where all roosters belong
Maybe Spurrier will finally learn his lesson and keep his pie-hole shut in the future! Maybe he ought to focus on making his team better. Aggies are not as strong a team as they will be in next few years, but obviously strong enough to beat Spurriers ass into the ground!
Its the truth, lamar gets to take a game knowing they will lose and get paid…those coaches know they’re not winning..
I’m tired of people’s feeling be hurt by the truth…
We do play 1 state school per year, bc it helps them
None of you would ever say one of these team will win..so you disrespect the players….and it’s not a diss to the coaches…the greatest coach couldn’t beat Texas A&M with some of the ts they play…Welcome to reality
Its funny how in the Big12 , Texas AM was a mediocre team with losing records to Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, in the 2000s they had 4 losing records and one 6-6 season. They get in the SeSleeze and they are all of a sudden world beaters with the propaganda machine of ESPN and CBS huckster Tim Brando behind them.
The recipe for a 9 win team in the SEC: 2 games vs Sunbelt/MAC, one fcs, one downtrodden fbs school at nuetral site, Vanderbuilt, Kentucky, Miss stake, Ol Miss, and split the remaining 4 games. Quite the gauntlet!
That is why Alabama gets exposed against Oklahoma and Utah in a bowl in their backyard.
That is why they clamour for SEC vs SEC in the national championship game.
Kudos to Bob Stoop for telling it as it is!
“That is why Alabama gets exposed against Oklahoma and Utah in a bowl in their backyard”
.Alabama did not exposed against Oklahoma & Utah, they got beat. Not taking anything away from Oklahoma & Utah in which on those nights were faster, quicker, had something to prove & deserved to win. SEC just came off 7 straight National Titles, (yes one with two SEC teams in it) Alabama had 3 of them. Alabama won all three of their BSC championships by cruising through their opponent, Beat Texas by 16, beat LSU by 21 & beat Notre Dame by 28. Was Alabama exposed in these games as well?
Oklahoma’s schedule this year is ranked 93rd in the country, A&M’s is ranked 5th ! Bob stoops needs to keep his moth shut ! What’s funny is the dumb%#! $ that talk like this is the same team that was in the big 12, it’s not ! The football program is new from the AD to the last assistant on the coaching staff totally new system all the way around and top recruiting classes to back that up. And as for the rivalry with Texas, A&M said they wanted to keep the game and Texas said no !
I am a SEC fan and you said the truth. But when it comes to talent, speed, size, and intensive of the fans we are the best. We have great athletes, but other coaches are on par with our coaches. Nick Saban is best college in college football because he is so intense. Gus Malzahn, and Les Miles are in the top ten. The other conferences are getting better especially Bob Stoopes at Oklahoma and the coaches at Oregon, USC and and Charles Strong at UT.
What happened last time A&M played OU ??
I agree with Spurrier about how bad A&M’s schedules have been… but… on the flip side, let’s take a quick look at South Carolina’s OOC schedules. Ok, every year the play Clemson. They pretty much have to. The state would probably get involved if they didn’t. Since Spurrier has been head coach at South Carolina, the OOC slate, beyond Clemson, has included:
Central Florida (2 times, one of them well before they were actually decent)
Troy
FAU
MTSU
LA-Laf
UAB
Southern Miss
East Carolina
Navy
North Carolina (2 times)
North Carolina State (2 times)
… and a bunch of FCS teams.
For most of that period Clemson was a decent team but not a world beater. And beyond them, they’ve played 4 games against “Power 5” opponents since 2005.
It’s a lot better than A&M’s recent schedule for sure, it’s just funny for him to say that A&M “hasn’t played the bigger teams” when, I mean… South Carolina has kind of barely gone beyond the minimum with that respect most years themselves.
Well said, Jeff. Well said…
Give the Gamecocks some credit. They did play North Carolina and NC State on the road in one of those games. They also traveled to play UCF last season. They haven’t been scheduling dynamos, but they haven’t really played a super soft non-conference schedule either.
Yeah, like I said, I’m giving South Carolina SOME credit for scheduling. I just think that Spurrier’s choice of words in his criticism is a bit ironic. It’s not like South Carolina is scheduling the Southern Cal, Ohio State, Florida State, etc., level of teams. I’m not sure they are scheduling the “bigger teams” for OOC games either. But yeah, still way better than A&M has done in recent years.
Bottom line here …… Gamecocks crush the Aggies in 2 weeks. 42-17
I got Joke.
B JOb you were nearly correct about the score….but brainless that you were; you simply mixed up the teams and the score. TEXAS A&M ROUTED the Gameless Cocks. It is always good to post in public so that others may make fun of you later. Now go back to your coloring books…
I guess you look more than a little ignorant now, don’t you? Hahahahahahahahaha….. I loved reading that. Gamecocks crush the Aggies….. hahahahahahahaha.
Not an Aggie or an Owl, but Rice did win their conference this year.
While the article correctly points out that A&M had to scramble to add an OOC game due to 8 conference games in the SEC instead of 9 in the Big 12, it forgets to note that A&M in fact had to scramble to add a 2nd OOC game each year b/c the 10 year Arkansas series at JerryWorld became a conference game.
That’s true, obviously forgot about that
He is the biggest moron in DI Coaching .He makes my skin crawl.
Really enjoy reading the cocky comments by South Carolina fans from two weeks ago. Bet they would like to retract those comments after tonight’s game against the Aggies. WHOOP!!
Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to be under-rated. Texas A&M took advantage of that last night. So, Pa, Shoup, Job and all the other naysayers, it doesn’t pay to be too cocky! And I hope you heard Spurriers half time on the field interview, “They’re kicking our butts.” Gig ’em, Ags!
Hey wackycock….you might want to put whatever is making you wacky back in the drawer….No Manziel no win?? Really? That’s just …well…wacky!! Gig “Em!!!
Texas A&M wins… 52-28 over South Carolina…. enough said!!!
Did anyone tell Spurrier that the reason they scheduled Lamar and Rice was because they wanted some tougher competition before they started their SEC schedule. :o)
lol, I see what you did, there…. ;)
When you play in the SEC West, the toughest division of the toughest conference EVER, I think it wise to schedule some easy OOC opponents. They all do it in order to survive with a decent record that still reflects how good they are despite potentially losing 2 games to the likes of Alabama, Auburn and LSU. Tough enough thank you … Gig’em!
So they play SC and won…….big. so I guess SC isn’t a big team yet? Fire Steve.
I find it funny that two teams and coaches A&M beat the bejesus out of are the one’s complaining about the aggies schedule sounds like sour grapes. By the way Bob and Stevie who the bell did you play!
We beat Georgia.