[CowboyIndian]

As I see it, the problem isn't the "when" of the schedule. That is a second-order problem. The first problem is that the PAC12 plays one more conference game, which makes a real difference in both the probability of getting beat by a "lesser" team and in the ability to "spread out" the clearly competitive games. The second problem is that some schools, particularly USC and Stanford, have other schedule constrains/desires that limits scheduling options. Given that we probably don't want to change those things, it is not probable a "better" schedule can be reliably created.

If getting to the playoff is a goal of the conference, university presidents and ADs should be raising holy hell about the 8-game conference schedules in the ACC and $EC. It is an enormous advantage.

[CowboyIndian]

As I see it, the problem isn't the "when" of the schedule. That is a second-order problem. The first problem is that the PAC12 plays one more conference game, which makes a real difference in both the probability of getting beat by a "lesser" team and in the ability to "spread out" the clearly competitive games. The second problem is that some schools, particularly USC and Stanford, have other schedule constrains/desires that limits scheduling options. Given that we probably don't want to change those things, it is not probable a "better" schedule can be reliably created.

If getting to the playoff is a goal of the conference, university presidents and ADs should be raising holy hell about the 8-game conference schedules in the ACC and $EC. It is an enormous advantage.