LITTLE ROCK The stop-and-go football schedule of 2008 inserts a first-time variable into the Southeastern Conference.
Never before have all 12 teams had two open dates during the season.
The last time a 12-game season ran from Aug. 30-Nov. 29 as it does this year was 2003. That year, Arkansas had only one open date during the season because the Razorbacks waited until Sept. 6 to begin against Tulsa. Alabama had one open date that year because the Crimson Tide played 13 regular-season games, including Hawaii. Auburn's second open date came at the end of the season, after its finale with Alabama. South Carolina and Vanderbilt did the same thing after finishing the regular season against rivals Clemson and Tennessee.
This year, none of the 12 has the final week off. In fact, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina are idle on Nov. 22, giving them an extra week to prepare for traditional rivals.
The question is, does the schedule favor one team or another?
Considering the week-to-week pounding in the SEC and the mandatory open dates, Arkansas and Auburn have the worst of it in the Western Division when it comes to the flow of the schedule. None of the other four teams in the division has more than four league games without a break.
Auburn has five straight SEC games, ending with Arkansas on Oct. 11. The Razorbacks have five league games in a six-week stretch.
Kentucky's schedule is a grind; same for Georgia, one of the league teams mentioned prominently in the national picture.
Beginning Oct. 4, Kentucky plays seven straight SEC games, with a home game against Arkansas three games deep in that run. The Wildcats' first open date is a waste, falling between Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky. The other break is a week prior to the season finale.
Georgia plays six consecutive league games, including LSU and Florida back-to-back. That six-game run begins with Tennessee, but Georgia does get a week off prior to the Vols.
Tennessee has six SEC games without an open date, but the Vols have something even better two cooperative opponents interspersed in the stretch. Alabama-Birmingham precedes Florida and Auburn, and Northern Illinois introduces Georgia-Mississippi State-Alabama-South Carolina.
Tulsa, Arkansas' mid-season non-conference opponent, is different. Quite capable of taking the Razorbacks to the limit, the Golden Hurricane comes after four straight SEC games and falls between Ole Miss and South Carolina.
Auburn's non-conference assignment in October is even more difficult. The Tigers gets a week off after Arkansas and then go to West Virginia, with Heisman Trophy candidate Pat White.
Arkansas' first open date is nicely placed. September games against Texas in Austin and Alabama in Fayetteville should offer some insight into the Razorbacks' strengths and weaknesses, and they'll have a week off to work on both.
Arkansas' second open date is in mid-November, something that Frank Broyles would have railed against during his coaching days. This year, each of the SEC teams has a Saturday off in the 11th month.
The ebb and flow dictated by the open dates will make it difficult to get a handle on the league race until deep in the season.
Auburn will be five games into conference play on the second weekend in October. At that point, Kentucky will have played only two league games while Arkansas and others will have played three.
(Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.)
