Mercy! Why does Alabama football play these games? Yes, I’ve heard that the Crimson Tide searches high and low for opponents who would be willing to sell Bama a home game, and no one returns the call.
Somehow I suspect that there are teams with respectable records or history who could be bought.
And so for Alabama’s home opener, a time for what should be great excitement and atmosphere, Crimson Tide fans get Mercer. Okay, you say (if you are, say, Nick Saban trying to get focus for his team), Mercer won 69-0 in Week One. They beat the Team Previously Known As Point, but last week Pointless.
This isn’t the last of it, by the way. Sprinkled among Alabama’s eight Southeastern Conference games later this year are two of the bottom 10 teams in rankings of the top 130 teams, 121 Southern Miss and dead last New Mexico State.
From an historical standpoint, I can accept Southern Mississippi. Although USM is not a power (obviously), at least Bama has some history against the Golden Eagles. Against Mercer, not so much.
The Crimson Tide has played Mercer three times, in 1939 and 1940, winning both games by 20-0 scores, and then again in 2017 when it was 56-0. Bama has played Southern Miss 44 times, the fist in 1947, most recently in 2019. To be sure, Alabama has dominated the Golden Eagles with a 37-5-2 record. New Mexico State, the other non-conference cupcake, has only that 2019 game, Alabama 62-10.
Now, from an athletics director’s viewpoint, the bills – big bills in Alabama’s case – must be paid and football provides that money. Home football games are part of the cash cow.
Speaking of livestock, from the standpoint of the sacrificial lamb, i.e. Mercer, it's an important payday.
Opening with Miami, as had been previously chronicled, was part of the Nick Saban Era of Alabama football playing neutral site season-opening games against non-SEC teams that were ranked and/or historically relevant.
There are cures, albeit bitter medicine for some SEC teams. Saban has been the vocal advocate for improved schedules, but Alabama’s coach isn’t taking that path unilaterally. In the long ago, another Tide coach – Paul Bryant, who was also director of athletics – made arrangements to play an SEC team that wasn’t on the arranged conference schedule. In one season that extra game provided Bama with the margin to win the SEC championship.
How did the conference react? In the future such arranged games would not count in league standings. Thus, Alabama and Ole Miss played a football game against one another, two charter members of the SEC and state universities, and the game was not recognized by the conference.
Saban began campaigning to increase the eight-game schedule to nine, but that was met with resistance. The stated reason? Half the teams would have five home games and the other half only four in a given year. The real reason? The addition of one game would also be an addition of total losses – as opposed to a cupcake win.
When Texas and Oklahoma complete their awkward continuation as members of the Big 12 and enter the SEC, one would think that the number of intraconference games would be increased.
Since then Saban has upped the ante from suggesting nine to “nine or ten,” and thrown in that remaining games be against Power Five opponents (teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 plus Notre Dame). That has had no traction from other SEC schools, and it could be that the anti-SEC Alliance of the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 would make it hard to find opponents.
Going forward, Alabama’s non-conference schedule is loaded with home-and-away games against name teams, the type games that have been those neutral site meetings. The neutral site games have been successful on every level for Bama (quality wins and quantity payoffs), but fans seem to want those type games in their home stadium…and the opportunity to see their team in the Big House or the Horseshoe or the Orange Bowl or Rose Bowl stadiums.
And no one will miss Alabama vs. Mercer.
Meanwhile, it’s Alabama (1-0) hosting Mercer (1-0) at 3 p.m. CDT Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium with television coverage by SEC Network.
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September 10, 2021 at 09:59PM
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No One Would Miss End Of Mercer-Type Games - 247Sports
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