Steve Spurrier prefers game with East Carolina over lesser Power Five program

Steve Spurrier has always been known as a maverick, so it’s no surprise that he has a different view of some of the Power Five propositions.

The Power Five conferences — the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC — will vote to give themselves more autonomy under the NCAA, and one topic has to do with non-conference scheduling. In 2016, SEC teams will have to play one non-conference game against a Power Five program. Spurrier doesn’t think that’s ideal.

“Well I like the other conferences, too. Heck, those guys deserve the chance to go play just like the big conferences,” Spurrier said at a news conference Sunday. “The SEC – we’ve got some down the line teams just like every conference has down the line teams. The big five conferences all playing each other, I don’t think that makes a lot of sense really. Playing East Carolina is a lot tougher game than maybe picking up one of those bottom Big Ten teams. Plus the fans around here, we’d rather see a team from close by.”

South Carolina plays East Carolina in their second game of the upcoming season, which likely explains why he mentioned them. The Pirates are entering the AAC and went 10-3 last season, which makes them a tougher team than the lower-ranked programs from the power conferences. And while the regional matchup may be attractive to fans, I guarantee the fans would get more excited about a game with a program that is traditionally tougher.

In addition to making his point about not limiting the scheduling to Power Five programs, Spurrier wants scholarships to cover the full cost of attendance for players. He cited a $25 mailbox fee students have to pay as the type of additional expense he wants covered. He also wants the families of each player on the team to get $200 per game to help their expenses as they relate to attending games.

Helmet smack to Dr. Saturday