How would Dino be fairing if we played

[baggerbob]

"Equally crappy" as in, just as not good at playing football as us (arguably better).

If the ACC goes to 9 games then the 3 other games should be creampuffs, been a fan for 50+ years, we need bowl games every year. We play enough good teams in conference, we don't need to schedule losses in OCC games.

 

[djorange1989]

I'd skip the extra P5 school. It only matters if you are trying to get to the playoffs, otherwise schedule wins as much as possible.

I am ok with the extra P5 school if it's Kansas or Purdue. Beyond that, totally agree. It sure as hell makes no sense to schedule LSU and Wisconsin, and to play ND three times in five years, we only should be playing ND once every three years now.

 

[dollarbill44]

2-2 vs. Colgate(W), UConn(W), USF(L), Cincy(L) is better than 3-1 vs. directional school A, directional school B, Buffalo, New Jersey Institute of Technology. I get that getting to a bowl game is the big picture, but when the bowl game is the Bumf**k Nowhere Bowl, recruits and the media don't care, and the money's no good.

So, potentially missing out on a bowl, but playing one tougher opponent (who we still wouldn't get any national credit for beating), is better than guaranteeing a bowl because we had a lesser schedule? I don't follow this logic.

 

[Shimmy24]

We open up at what should be a really good Texas team next year, fwiw.

But anyway to most of your points, I am a fan of playing beatable OOC opponents, specifically now that the Big Ten has 9 conference games. We are going to play Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State every single year, so we need to take the wins where we can get them. I think this year was clearly very soft, but having a hot start with a new coaching staff creates complete buy in, and that's what we need right now.

 

[RF2044]

How does the 'Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner Bowl presented by Uncle Ben's Rice' played in 'John's backyard cuz he owed us a favor' to a crowd of 7 people who are there because they got free tickets and no weekend plans going to help recruiting, or the program as a whole?

First of all, that isn't a bowl.

But if you don't think that making a bowl, gaining the extra practices, and giving the coaches something successful to "sell" on the recruiting trail doesn't benefit the program, or make it easier to pitch recruits on the prospect that the program has rebounded and is on the upswing, then I honestly don't know what to tell you.

The long term goal of the program should be to aim higher than low level bowls, but short term such bowls are an interim step on the path to sustainable program success.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

(BC's joke schedule aside) how would we be having played?

Howard -
@FIU -
@UCF
Purdue -

Maryland is 4-0 and receiving votes

How would chocolate taste if it was tutti frutti?

 

[Chip]

I'd still like to play one good team. The problem this year was the USF series. A Florida school with a good coach isn't a great idea even if it's G5. Play MAC or Sun Belt first.

I don't want to completely creampuff it. You can build fake optimism with 4-0 and where does it get you? We were 3-0 last year. Wasn't there one year recently where NC State was 4-0 against creampuff states and finished 4-8? No one really talked about or remembered their 4-0 once the curb stomping began.

The conference weighting will level out. Could happen quickly too. If Jimbo goes to LSU. When Saban hangs them up, Dabo is on speed dial. Petrino will do Petrino things before too long and be gone from Louisville. FSU is the best chance to quickly reload, but even a giant like Clemson has had a lot of down cycles over the years. Meanwhile, Miami with Richt, VT with Fuente, UNC is on good footing with Fedora, UVA with Mendenhall, Pitt with Narduzzi, they'll make the Coastal better than it has been.

 

[Ish88888]

We've had 10 years plus of USF to understand their upside. It's needless. Throw a Cincy in that same bucket.

Buffalo is down the street, play them.

As is Ualbany as our fcs, add umass to the mac level of competition. We should rotate through the mac. Alot of respectable, fun teams.

 

[MSOrange]

I don't mind one P5 school. It seems like most conferences are trending in that direction anyway where it will be required, but it sure would be nice to have a couple seasons where we could schedule for success while Dino builds the program and tries to get some momentum going. I'm not talking about making it a permanent scheduling practice; only for a couple seasons while we try to build. We play enough tough conference games imho. So there might be a couple games where you the only reason to watch is just to see Syracuse play, I don't have a problem with that.

 

[Ozcuse]

I'd like to get WVU back on the schedule as our P5 OOC game every few years. The last few matchups left a good taste in my mouth and you may get to see the teams combine for 2,000 yards of offense in a single game! Rotate Maryland, PSU, Rutgers, WVU, and ND.

Add to that: 1 FCS, 1 MAC, and another regional low P5 program like UMASS or Old Dominion.

 

[elimunelson]

We should rotate our P5 among Rutgers, Uconn and WVU. It would be a meaningful game against those 3 teams. If we make a bowl we can get excited about a sexy opponent. The ACC and their crossover provides enough firepower now.

 

[dollarbill44]

I'd still like to play one good team. The problem this year was the USF series. A Florida school with a good coach isn't a great idea even if it's G5. Play MAC or Sun Belt first.

I don't want to completely creampuff it. You can build fake optimism with 4-0 and where does it get you? We were 3-0 last year. Wasn't there one year recently where NC State was 4-0 against creampuff states and finished 4-8? No one really talked about or remembered their 4-0 once the curb stomping began.

The conference weighting will level out. Could happen quickly too. If Jimbo goes to LSU. When Saban hangs them up, Dabo is on speed dial. Petrino will do Petrino things before too long and be gone from Louisville. FSU is the best chance to quickly reload, but even a giant like Clemson has had a lot of down cycles over the years. Meanwhile, Miami with Richt, VT with Fuente, UNC is on good footing with Fedora, UVA with Mendenhall, Pitt with Narduzzi, they'll make the Coastal better than it has been.

No one would have cared about the first four teams if they were 8-4 either. The point is that 4-0 gets you much closer to 6 wins and a bowl than 2-2 heading into conference play.

 

[dollarbill44]

As is Ualbany as our fcs, add umass to the mac level of competition. We should rotate through the mac. Alot of respectable, fun teams.

I'd like to play Akron every year. There's no way we could ever lose to Akron.Photobucket burning couch

 

[Crusty]

Coaches don't want to risk injuries in practice for a bowl game - even more so than during the regular season - and players already banged up are treated extra-gingerly so they're be as close to 100% for the final game of the season as possible. I don't know exactly how Babers tackles this, but prep for bowl games is usually more psychological and centered around strategy and gameplan than anything else. The players aren't learning new things at this stage of a season; everything they've learned is just being reinforced.

Are you saying coaches don't want the extra practices?

 

[Eric15]

I'd still like to play one good team.

Why would you want to do that? What is this, ENTERTAINMENT or something? Get out of here with that nonsense.

 

[Eric15]

And that's why teams like Alabama and FSU don't play teams like Chattanooga and Charleston Southern.

Oh, wait...what?

FSU plays Ole Miss, Florida and USF out of conference this year.

 

[Macky44]

I wasn't saying we should increase the difficulty. I just don't think we need to schedule softer cupcakes than the cupcakes we're already scheduling. Nobody is looking at the flip side. There are cupcakes out there who can beat us on more than dumb luck. I'd rather play two garbage bottom feeders like Colgate and UConn, then two equally crappy programs like USF and Cincy each year than 3 or 4 programs people have to look up because they've never heard of them. Let's not improve the likelihood of losing to a team like Buffalo anymore than we have to.

I've obviously been excluding the Notre Dame series from this because it's pretty much established fact that that move was stupid and shouldn't be repeated until we stop sucking. If the thread was saying we shouldn't be scheduling teams of Notre Dame's usual caliber, then duh.

2-2 vs. Colgate(W), UConn(W), USF(L), Cincy(L) is better than 3-1 vs. directional school A, directional school B, Buffalo, New Jersey Institute of Technology. I get that getting to a bowl game is the big picture, but when the bowl game is the Bumf**k Nowhere Bowl, recruits and the media don't care, and the money's no good.

I think we should schedule soft until we are consistently in the bowl picture. We are making it too damn hard on ourselves to succeed.

 

[GoSU96]

FSU plays Ole Miss, Florida and USF out of conference this year.

Is this program as good as FSU?

 

[Eric15]

I think we should schedule soft until we are consistently in the bowl picture. We are making it too damn hard on ourselves to succeed.

How many consecutive years do you want to make a bowl before you would feel comfortable not scheduling soft? Keeping in mind that home-and-home series are often scheduled 5 or so years in advance.

 

[GoSU96]

How many consecutive years do you want to make a bowl before you would feel comfortable not scheduling soft? Keeping in mind that home-and-home series are often scheduled 5 or so years in advance.

When strength of schedule impacts the chances of getting into the playoff.

 

[Eric15]

When strength of schedule impacts the chances of getting into the playoff.

I don't have the patience to wait that long. I'm already excited for next years long weekend in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

 

[TampaLaker]

That was UCF ... USF is not UCF never has been.

Actually USF leads series 5-2. UCF's best win was two years ago, 16-0. USF won 44-3 last year and has a much better overall history. Frost could get UCF back to the Blake Bortles' level, but most people have already penciled him in for NE. Taggart might move to a big boy school, but he is local boy. He may stay or he may move on. But there is a better chance he stays than Frost staying at UCF.

 

[GoSU96]

I don't have the patience to wait that long. I'm already excited for next years long weekend in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Get a ticket to the Clemson game. Same experience, better team.

 

[Bayside44]

I don't have the patience to wait that long. I'm already excited for next years long weekend in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

You don't need a game to go there.

 

[Cootface]

We should rotate our P5 among Rutgers, Uconn and WVU. It would be a meaningful game against those 3 teams. If we make a bowl we can get excited about a s e xy opponent. The ACC and their crossover provides enough firepower now.

Wait, are we just going to ignore that he called UConn a P5?