I went back and did a little research after reading on here that the home and away was a thing of the past, then getting a phone call from the ticket office hearing all those talking points about our home schedule repeated. Here is what I found:
Of 65 Power 5 football programs only five have no home and away games scheduled with other P5 programs. They are FSU, Alabama, UF, South Carolina (although they do have a home and away scheduled with ECU), and Kentucky (Kentucky also has OOC home and aways scheduled with non-Power 5 programs).
The SEC and ACC play 8 game conference schedules. The Big 12, Pac 12, and Big 10 all play nine game conference schedules, yet those conferences have no programs who haven't scheduled other P5 teams to play.
FSU can best be compared to Clemson, Ga. Tech, and Louisville who all play an eight game conference schedule plus an OOC (SEC) rival. Of those, only FSU doesn't have P5 teams scheduled for home and aways out of conference.
In looking through the schedules, there were several instances of teams that had neutral site games schedule but also OOC home and aways scheduled. So I think we can drop the notion that what we are doing is what everyone else is doing--it clearly is not.
We are doing what Alabama does. The difference is that Bama plays Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU at home this year. We play Louisville and Miami. .
I also read on here about the price of hotel rooms, flights, and that only 35% of our season ticket holders live within 2 hours of the stadium. I'd like to know if 50% of our fans stay in hotels in Tallahassee or fly to the games. If not, then we aren't playing neutral site games for the fans, we're playing them for the money. Again, this doesn't even take into account the 15,000 students who attend the home games.
I'm afraid that what often happens here is that our coach dictates what is going to happen and the rest of the program puts out PR pieces to make it look more palatable to the fans. I think a great many of us have no problem with him having that kind of control, but that doesn't make the "we are doing what everyone else is doing" stories any more true.
Of 65 Power 5 football programs only five have no home and away games scheduled with other P5 programs. They are FSU, Alabama, UF, South Carolina (although they do have a home and away scheduled with ECU), and Kentucky (Kentucky also has OOC home and aways scheduled with non-Power 5 programs).
The SEC and ACC play 8 game conference schedules. The Big 12, Pac 12, and Big 10 all play nine game conference schedules, yet those conferences have no programs who haven't scheduled other P5 teams to play.
FSU can best be compared to Clemson, Ga. Tech, and Louisville who all play an eight game conference schedule plus an OOC (SEC) rival. Of those, only FSU doesn't have P5 teams scheduled for home and aways out of conference.
In looking through the schedules, there were several instances of teams that had neutral site games schedule but also OOC home and aways scheduled. So I think we can drop the notion that what we are doing is what everyone else is doing--it clearly is not.
We are doing what Alabama does. The difference is that Bama plays Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU at home this year. We play Louisville and Miami. .
I also read on here about the price of hotel rooms, flights, and that only 35% of our season ticket holders live within 2 hours of the stadium. I'd like to know if 50% of our fans stay in hotels in Tallahassee or fly to the games. If not, then we aren't playing neutral site games for the fans, we're playing them for the money. Again, this doesn't even take into account the 15,000 students who attend the home games.
I'm afraid that what often happens here is that our coach dictates what is going to happen and the rest of the program puts out PR pieces to make it look more palatable to the fans. I think a great many of us have no problem with him having that kind of control, but that doesn't make the "we are doing what everyone else is doing" stories any more true.
