Tramel's ScissorTales: Will SEC keep 8-game conference schedule when OU football arrives?

When OU and Texas join the Southeastern Conference in a few years, the SEC seems increasingly less likely to retain football divisions or add four-team pods. That’s according to ESPN, which detailed some SEC initiatives in advance of the league meetings this week in Destin, Florida.

One of the big decisions for the SEC is whether to focus on eight- or nine-game conference schedules. The nine-game slate provides more opportunity for SEC members to play against each other, a priority for commissioner Greg Sankey, while the eight-game model better protects contenders for the College Football Playoff, at least during what appears to the final few years of a four-team playoff format.

And the SEC could be looking at a 1-7-7 scheduling plan. One annual game against a traditional rival, with the other seven conference games rotated evenly among the other 14 schools, every two or four years.

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Such a model would mean every SEC member would make at least one appearance on every campus once every four years. Some SEC foes have gone long stretches between games. For example, Texas A&M joined the SEC in summer 2012. The Aggies and Georgia have played only once since then, in 2019.

The 1-7-7 model would mean each school would have an annual opponent. OU-Texas, Alabama-Auburn, Georgia-Florida, Ole Miss-Mississippi State. I’m assuming OU-Texas would trump Texas A&M-Texas, perhaps as SEC penance to the Aggies for letting the hated Longhorns into the league.

But there are drawbacks.

► Some longstanding rivalries would end their annual games. Tennessee-Alabama. Georgia-Auburn. Alabama-Ole Miss. Either Tennessee-Vanderbilt or Tennessee-Kentucky, depending on who becomes the Volunteers’ annual rival.

I’m an outsider, I don’t claim to know all the buried bodies of the SEC, but it seems likely the matchups also would include Louisiana State-Texas A&M and Arkansas-Missouri, then South Carolina matched with whoever isn’t matched with Tennessee.

► The eight-game conference schedule is inferior. For all the hype around the SEC, the biggest blight on the conference is the incessant non-conference, non-competitive games.

Georgia, Florida and now Alabama have taken steps to play two legitimate opponents among their four non-conference games, but the SEC’s scheduling tradition is frankly embarrassing.

Alabama this season plays Utah State, Louisiana-Monroe and Austin Peay.

Auburn plays Mercer, San Jose State and Western Kentucky.

Tennessee plays Ball State, Akron and  Tennessee-Martin.

LSU plays Southern U., New Mexico and Alabama-Birmingham.

A&M plays Sam Houston State, Appalachian State and Massachusetts.

South Carolina plays Georgia State, Charlotte and South Carolina State.

Missouri plays Louisiana Tech, Abilene Christian and New Mexico State.

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You get the idea. Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 teams play nine conference games and typically play just two rumdums in non-conference. The Atlantic Coast plays just eight conference games, but its teams usually play two Power 5 opponents.

Only the SEC choose to play three pushover games. That’s unbecoming of the toughest league in college football.

How would the 1-7-7 model affect OU? Depends on how the Sooners decide to deal with the non-conference.

Adopting the standard SEC model would run counter to one of the prime benefits of joining the SEC: beefing up the home schedule.

The 1-7-7 model would bring an Alabama, LSU, Florida or Georgia type team to Owen Field virtually every year. But depending on how the Sooners decide to schedule, it also could bring an extra Kent State or Texas-El Paso.

That’s a trade OU still would make. But having three rumdums on the home schedule would not be good.

The Sooners hosted Tulane and Western Carolina in 2021. Kent State and UTEP are on tap for 2022. Temple and Tulane for 2024. UTEP and New Mexico for 2026.

OU plays at Tulsa in 2023 and at Temple in 2025. The Sooners also played at Houston in 2016; at Tulsa in 2002, 2007 and 2014; at UTEP in 2012; at Air Force in 2001; at Louisville in 1999 (when the Cardinals were in Conference USA); at Texas Christian in 1998 (when the Frogs were in the Western Athletic Conference); and at San Diego State in 1996.

Some SEC members play such road games, but Alabama doesn’t. The Crimson Tide hasn’t played at a mid-major since Tulane in 1992. Georgia hasn’t played at a mid-major since Tulane in 1972!!!!!, and if you don’t count major independents, that streak goes back to 1966, when the Bulldogs played at Virginia Military Institute.

Alabama and Georgia are the programs the Sooners are trying to emulate, so who knows how much longer such trips to Tulsa and Temple will last?

However, if OU chose to follow Georgia and Florida and Alabama in playing beefed-up schedules, that could open the door for continuation of the Bedlam Series.

When the SEC departure was announced, OU officials were quick to say they wanted to continue playing Bedlam. Was that propaganda to smooth the exodus or did they meant it? Don’t know yet.

But OU clearly enjoys playing the intersectional non-conference games against the likes of Notre Dame, Ohio State and Nebraska, with future series scheduled against the likes of Michigan and Clemson, plus games against assorted SEC schools that will be wiped away.

If OU adopted a scheduling model calling for two of the four non-conference games to be legit, then room would exist for both Bedlam and the annual Power 5 opponent.

Still, a nine-conference scheduling format is the best ticket for the SEC. With the conference apparently set to join the likes of the Pac-12, the Big Ten and the ACC in casting off divisions, the 3-6-6 model looks best.

The 3-6-6 model is three games against annual opponents – which would protect the traditional rivalries – then six opponents played once every two years or twice every four years, which would allow every member to play at every other member at least once every four seasons.

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Mayfield & Garoppolo: Tale of two franchises

Baker Mayfield and Jimmy Garoppolo are good National Football League quarterbacks. Not great. Not unflawed. Not to be feared.

But good. Teams can win with Mayfield and Garoppolo quarterbacking, and teams have.

Garoppolo has quarterbacked the 49ers to two of the last three NFC Championship Games. Mayfield has quarterbacked Cleveland to a 29-30 record the last four seasons; before Mayfield’s arrival, the Browns were 29-99 the previous six years.

Their numbers are similar. In Garoppolo’s 45 games as a starter, he’s thrown 66 touchdown passes with 38 interceptions. Mayfield as a Brown has thrown 92 TDs, with 56 interceptions. Garoppolo’s passer rating with the 49ers is 98.3. Mayfield’s with the Browns is 87.8.

Both essentially have been replaced. The 49ers drafted North Dakota State QB Trey Lance third overall in 2021 and now seem ready to hand Lance the team. The Browns traded for the Houston Texans’ Deshaun Watson and have handed the reins to the embattled quarterback.

Both have run afoul of their organizations, though both are under contract. Garoppolo had off-season shoulder surgery, without 49er consultations. Mayfield cut ties with the Browns after the Watson trade; Mayfield is declining to report to voluntary organized team activities.

Both present their teams with contract issues.

Garoppolo’s 2022 salary is $24.8 million and is not guaranteed, but trading Garoppolo would come with a $26.7 million hit on the 49er payroll cap. Mayfield’s guaranteed salary is $18.8 million.

One big difference is that the 49ers can cut Garoppolo without it costing a huge hit to the payroll. The Browns cannot do the same with Mayfield.

But still. Check out all the drama and bitterness that has bubbled up around the Browns and Mayfield. Check out the lack of drama and bitterness involving Garoppolo and the 49ers.

Heck, it’s conceivable San Francisco could keep Garoppolo this season as the NFL’s highest-paid (and best) backup quarterback. It’s not conceivable that Mayfield will be a Brown in 2022; Cleveland even signed Jacoby Brissett, ostensibly to be Watson’s backup or start, if Watson is suspended by the NFL for the sexual-assault allegations that hastened his departure from Houston.

Two organizations. Two vastly different cultures.

The Browns mishandled things from the start, from picking up the fifth-year option on Mayfield’s contract, then soon regretting it, to alienating Mayfield with the courtship of Watson.

The 49ers were no less in the market for another QB, made clear by the drafting of Lance, but ties have not been severed. Garoppolo and the 49ers have clear channels of communication, even to the point of working on trades together.

The quarterbacks are not helpless observers. Garoppolo is a more calm personality, less inclined to take umbrage. Mayfield has stoked the fire of discontent, not without reason, of course, but still he did it.

However, the way the 49ers and Browns have handled their quarterback futures is a classic example of a franchise that historically knows what it’s doing compared with a franchise that does not.

I don’t know where Mayfield will land. I don’t know where Garoppolo will land.

I think it’s likely that both quarterbacks will be cut this coming summer, Garoppolo because it’s the prudent financial thing to do and Mayfield so that the Browns could rid themselves of the headache.

I doubt either quarterback lands as a starter. The two franchises that could use a starting QB – Seattle and Carolina – both seem willing to lose big in 2022, so they can draft high next April and find a potential star quarterback. No reason to try to improve at quarterback now.

But wherever they go, it’s most likely that Garoppolo goes to a more poorly-run franchise, while Mayfield most assuredly will go to a better-run organization.

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The List: College football contemporary rivalries

The Jimbo Fisher/Nick Saban feud has commandeered the college football news cycle, but there is plenty of ill will in the sport. Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde produced the 15 top bad blood power rankings:

1. Nick Saban vs. Jimbo Fisher: Saban said Texas A&M bought its recruiting class. Fisher called Saban “despicable” and intimated that Saban is a world-class cheater. October 8, when A&M plays at Alabama, can’t get here fast enough.

2. Jim Harbaugh vs. Ryan Day: The Michigan and Ohio State head coaches have been bickering for years. Day apparently told his players he wanted to “hang 100” on Michigan in 2020; Harbaugh trotted out the “born on third base” line about Day.

3. OU fans vs. Lincoln Riley: You know all about this one.

4. Notre Dame fans vs. Brian Kelly: The OU-Riley script, except Kelly didn’t pilfer Notre Dame’s roster after going to Louisiana State.

5. Southern Methodist vs. Texas Christian: Outside the Dallas Metroplex, only college football nerds knew that SMU-TCU had a rivalry name, the Battle for the Iron Skillet, but that has changed after SMU’s uprising, including trying to plant a flag after victory in Fort Worth last September, then TCU hiring away SMU coach Sonny Dykes.

6. Pat Narduzzi vs. Lincoln Riley: Riley is a two-timer on this list, having persuaded Pittsburgh star receiver Jordan Addison to leave for Southern Cal. And Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was not happy.

7. LSU vs. Florida: A fairly potent hatred already existed between the Tigers and Gators – then mediocre LSU knocked Floria out of College Football Playoff contention in 2020, and Louisianan Billy Napier didn’t get a sniff of the open LSU job, settling for Florida.

8. Lane Kiffin vs. Jimbo Fisher: Jimbo joins Riley as a two-timer on this list. Kiffin, the Ole Miss coach, took the original recruiting shots at Texas A&M. Fisher called Kiffin a clown act. Ole Miss plays at A&M on October 29.

9. Washington vs. Washington State: The Apple Cup is an underrated rivalry which gained even more steam last November, when WSU fans stormed Washington's field after a 40-13 victory, the largest in series history.

10. The Alliance vs. Playoff Expansion: The Pac-12, Atlantic Coast and Big Ten colluded to stop playoff expansion, much to the chagrin of Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey.

11. Rose Bowl vs. Playoff Expansion:  The Alliance has made us all take our eye off the ball – the Rose Bowl is dug in on tradition.

12. Auburn boosters vs. Bryan Harsin: If Forde had produced such a list each of the last 50 years, Auburn boosters vs. their coach would make an annual appearance.

13. Michigan State vs. Michigan: Maybe the shakiest rivalry on this list. Harbaugh mixed up everything, but does Spartan coach Mel Tucker engender hatred?

14. Texas vs. TCU: A stealth rivalry, but hear out Forde. The Frogs keep beating the Longhorns – six of the last eight years – and Texas in the offseason hired Gary Patterson, the TCU institution who was forced out as head coach last autumn.

15. TV vs. Everybody: Not just ESPN, which seems to draw the ire of everyone this side of the SEC, but Fox, which is serving as a consultant for Big Ten in negotiations with other networks and placed the Alabama-Texas game at 11 a.m.

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Mailbag: Thunder trade possibilities

The Thunder’s NBA Draft lottery luck has unlocked the imagination of fans:

Shannon: “What about trading 12, 30, 34 and Derrick Favors for max (contract) Deandre Ayton and Daric Saric? Draft Jabari Smith. Crazy, common or credible? I have really locked in on Smith. Chet Holmgren has the prototypical No. 1 bust potential to him and every time I look at Paolo Banchero, I think of Marvin Bagley. I’d be OK moving 30 or 34 to get to 1, if it meant getting Smith.”

Tramel: Lots to unpack here. Let’s start with the Phoenix trade.

I don’t see it. Ayton wants a maximum contract, and the Suns could be slow to commit, especially after Ayton’s Game 7 no-show against Dallas and being called out by Suns coach Monty Williams.

But is the Thunder in win-now mode? That’s the only way you trade for and sign Ayton. And if the Suns are willing to do a sign-and-trade for Ayton, they want a lot more than mediocre draft picks. I mean, some have suggested the Jazz and Suns make an Ayton-for-Rudy Gobert deal. So I don’t see the Ayton deal at all.

As for moving up to No. 1, it’s possible, I suppose, but teams are loathe to trade down, especially if you’ve got No. 1. There is tremendous marketing value in having the first pick, aside from the player himself.

Draft picks 30 and 34 are no factor in moving up from 2 to 1. It costs WAY more than that. It would probably involve No. 12 and at least two other future No. 1's, and probably taking on a bad contract (like Saric’s in Phoenix) and maybe throwing in a good player, like Luguentz Dort.

When Orlando and Golden State swapped 1 and 2 in 1993 (Chris Webber for Penny Hardaway), it cost three first-round draft picks.

If OKC likes Smith better than Holmgren, it’s a better bet to hope that the Magic likes Holmgren better, though it’s looking more and more like Orlando wants Smith.

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Portal pops St. Bonaventure basketball

St. Bonaventure played OU last March in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament, and the Bonnies proved to be one of the most delightful teams you’ll ever see.

The NIT is no proving ground. Neither the Sooners nor the Bonnies were fired up to miss the NCAA Tournament; the atmosphere at Lloyd Noble Center that night was typically dormant.

But St. Bonaventure had a charming team. Five senior starters who played almost all of every game, each of whom averaged double-digit scoring. Four starters played all 40 minutes of the Bonnies’ 70-68 upset of OU. Center Osun Osunniyi played 34 minutes. And all five starters scored in double digits that night in Norman.

St. Bonaventure, which was coming off a win at Colorado, went on to win at Virginia, to reach the NIT semifinals in New York, where Xavier ended the Bonnies’ run, 84-77.

But all five St. Bonaventure starters had an extra year of eligibility. The Bonnies seemed like a team capable of doing something special in 2022-23.

It was not to be. First, St. Bonaventure’s leading scorer, Jalen Adaway, a 6-foot-5 wing, declared for the draft. OK. It happens. But that still left four St. Bonaventure starters.

Now they are all gone, lost to power conference programs, via the transfer portal and immediate eligibility.

Osunniyi, a 6-foot-10 center who averaged 11.3 points and 7.5 rebounds, transferred to Iowa State, as did 6-4 Jaren Holmes, who averaged 13.5 points.

Kyle Lofton, 6-3, averaged 12.8 points but has transferred to Florida. Dominick Welch, 6-5, averaged 12.3 points and has transferred to Alabama.

St. Bonaventure’s was a fun team. A well-drilled team. That night in Norman, St. Bonaventure made 50.9 percent of its shots, including 10 of 19 from 3-point range. The Bonnies committed just 10 turnovers. Uncommon execution for the college game.

Now they are spread to the winds.

Here in Oklahoma, we look at the portal’s effects on OU and OSU. Caleb Williams and Isaac Likekele, Jarrick Bernard-Converse and Umoja Gibson going. Dillon Gabriel and John-Michael Wright, Jason Brooks and Joe Bamisile coming.

But the major impact of the transfer portal comes at the mid-major level. The power programs, in football and basketball or even softball, use the St. Bonaventures as farm clubs to fortify roster holes.

And in basketball, a program can be wiped out. The Bonnies, such a fun and promising team, were wiped out.

But St. Bonaventure’s is rebounding. The Bonnies have plucked new players out of the portal. From the likes of Holy Cross, Hartford and St. Peter’s. The food chain is in full force.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Will OU football face eight-game conference schedule in the SEC?