Tiger Eye Preview of the 2020 Season

In this strange, half started season of college football, the Southeastern Conference finally begins play this week in closed session. Like other conferences have shown, the extended protocols call for extraordinary measures that have changed the entire fan experience like few other events in history. Gone are such regular features like tailgating, Tiger Walk, full stadiums, nostalgic strolls through the campus on the way to the stadium, just about everything that makes the in-person game day a memorable occasion.

But what will we see between the sidelines these first few games? From the style of play that other programs have shown in the early season, even in the few limited games that have been played, teams are at wildly different levels of preparation depending on a number of factors – numbers of returning starters, turnover of coaching staffs, length and levels of practice during camps, numbers of interruptions due to protocol restrictions, etc. With such limited sets of data, scant public information released and even so few games actually played, it will be difficult to rate any team’s results with any sort of accuracy on the root cause or impact of reasons for success or failure.

How does this affect the Tiger Eye Review for the season? In this article I’ve tried to classify and discuss these factors.

One thing to note first off. While there will be no distinct change in the analysis I do, there is the fact that now that the season is purely conference play, the numbers generated will be relevant much, much faster than in any previous year. My expectation is that there will not be many (or any) ‘throwaway’ games in which statistics have less value than others. In this respect, ALL the games and their numbers will matter a great deal in a way that I haven’t seen in any other season I’ve analyzed. So rather than waiting until the third or fourth game of the season for relevant results, I think the first two of the schedule might be significant in analyzing what we’re likely going to see as we progress.

To start the discussion I should point out what you won’t see impacting games this year.

Home field advantage There is a new dynamic in 2020 to each and every game – absolute field neutrality. With limited fans in the seats, the dread of places like The Swamp, Jordan-Hare, Bryant-Denny, Baton Rouge will be lost on visiting teams. There will be fewer distractions, less hoopla, and almost scrimmage-like games. I believe this will mean the play will be faster, with greater substitutions and an increase emphasis on the conditioning of the players and depth of rosters. Fast paced teams will have a distinct advantage, in my opinion.

And there won’t be any blasted Cow bells.

That being said, I think certain aspects of game play will be heightened due to several factors concerning this abnormal pre-season both in the Spring, Summer drills and Fall camps. Things that will matter only in 2020 after the break.

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