Is a 5-1 start too crazy to expect next year?

[SUfanNC]

We are in the 4th or 5th best P5 conference. "Game of attrition?" Bayside, it's college football, not World War 1. This is supposed to be fun!

Fun for us as fans but it is a business. Jobs depend on it. If it was just for fun then you wouldn't see the time or the money spent on it.

 

[Eric15]

Fun for us as fans but it is a business. Jobs depend on it. If it was just for fun then you wouldn't see the time or the money spent on it.

It looks like at least half of the teams in the SEC this year will play a non-conference game against a Top 25 caliber-program based on that link you sent.

 

[MSOrange]

We are in the 4th or 5th best P5 conference. "Game of attrition?" Bayside, it's college football, not World War 1. This is supposed to be fun!

It's fun to me if I could watch us consistently win for a few seasons again.

 

[007]

but at the end of the day, if the Orange finish 1 game out of having the ability to get 15 extra practices, a game on NC and maybe net positive $$ from the game, then it was a waste of time other than selfishly giving the locals a big time opponent.

the real tragedy in this is that...we are not confident enough that even with LSU on the schedule that the Orange can find the necessary wins to get to said bowl.

they arent playing for the NC so who the cares who is on the schedule anyway, but jeez to not make a bowl because of it is ridiculous.

Amen brother. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I'm fine with whatever that opinion may be. But, everyone needs to understand the importance of the bolded part above, especially for a program that hasn't been relevant for 15+ years. Get to a bowl, any bowl, get the 15 extra practices, and try to build on that momentum.

Thankfully, Coyle gets it.

 

[SUfanNC]

It looks like at least half of the teams in the SEC this year will play a non-conference game against a Top 25 caliber-program based on that link you sent.

Please tell me the teams that you think are going to be in the top 25.
Clemson
Oklahoma
Gtech
Wisconsin
Louisville maybe
Fla st

Point is I find most of the ooc underwhelming

 

[007]

It looks like at least half of the teams in the SEC this year will play a non-conference game against a Top 25 caliber-program based on that link you sent.

What the SEC does it completely irrelevant to how SU should be scheduling at this time in the program's history. Those SEC teams are mortally locks to reach bowl eligibility, and they already have the attention of the nation and the recruits. They SHOULD schedule like that to enhance their chances of making it to the national playoff.

 

[Eric15]

I am against what Gross's general scheduling philosophy was.

RF, which season(s) specifically do you feel Gross overscheduled? I'm curious.

 

[Eric15]

What the SEC does it completely irrelevant to how SU should be scheduling at this time in the program's history.

I wasn't the one who brought up the SEC.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I still don't grasp the "selfish" side of either argument. To say so is rather asinine and I do understand both sides of the argument. A marquee regular season game potentially in a juicy TV slot or a weak ass bowl game in an empty stadium against another mediocre at best team. Not sure.

 

[anomander]

Well I don't think the ACC is that far off. A lot hype goes a long way. Especially when trying to land recruits

Top to bottom the SEC is tough to match up with. I believe Arkansas finished in last in the SEC West. I think they would have finished 2nd last year in the ACC.

 

[SUfanNC]

Top to bottom the SEC is tough to match up with. I believe Arkansas finished in last in the SEC West. I think they would have finished 2nd last year in the ACC.

Agreed.
My point is you really don't know how good the SEC is because they only play themselves. They aren't always as good as advertised either. Thus keeping all the preseason love they get in the SEC until bowl season which a bunch of teams get to go because it "is the toughest conference". They make a bunch of bowl money and receive exposure. Snowball effect

 

[TheCusian]

Agreed. My point is you really don't know how good the SEC is because they only play themselves. They aren't always as good as advertised either. Thus keeping all the preseason love they get in the SEC until bowl season which a bunch of teams get to go because it "is the toughest conference". They make a bunch of bowl money and receive exposure. Snowball effect

Don't forget the SEC way - if you lose your bowl game - it was because you expected to be in the playoffs and couldn't get up for a normal bowl...

 

[SWC75]

I always figure out what the most optimistic but reasonable start we could have is and then change at least one of the victories to a loss.

 

[Bayside44]

We are in the 4th or 5th best P5 conference. "Game of attrition?" Bayside, it's college football, not World War 1. This is supposed to be fun!

Watching the uni get it's head kicked in on national TV isn't fun. I'd take the 4 short putts with Clemson and FSU on the schedule year in and out. In the Big East different story.

 

[Full_Rebar]

RF, which season(s) specifically do you feel Gross overscheduled? I'm curious.

Let's see in 2012, Syracuse had already scheduled Northwestern, USC and Minnesota and when SU had to fill a game due to TCU backing out of the BE, Gross chose to play a November game at Missouri for the $$$ (while in a make or break year for the staff). The reason he was so excited about Lemon's late TD catch was he didn't want to get on the plane with the team if they had lost.

2011- Road game at USC, with no bye until a month later. Team came back from the West Coast trip and had two small wins and the crushing Rutgers loss.

2009- Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern to open the season and then Maine. Ever wonder what might happen if Paulus/Marrone get Maine to open the year and a chance to get something a bit easier under their belt before going against 3 BiG teams?

 

[Eric15]

Let's see in 2012, Syracuse had already scheduled Northwestern, USC and Minnesota and when SU had to fill a game due to TCU backing out of the BE, Gross chose to play a November game at Missouri for the $$$ (while in a make or break year for the staff). The reason he was so excited about Lemon's late TD catch was he didn't want to get on the plane with the team if they had lost.

2011- Road game at USC, with no bye until a month later. Team came back from the West Coast trip and had two small wins and the crushing Rutgers loss.

2009- Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern to open the season and then Maine. Ever wonder what might happen if Paulus/Marrone get Maine to open the year and a chance to get something a bit easier under their belt before going against 3 BiG teams?

In 2012 the Big East was basically a mid-major conference with Temple having replaced WVU. USC, Minnesota and Missouri were all mediocre teams that year (NW was solid and finished toward the bottom of the Top 25). Everything worked out fine, we went to a bowl and won it.

I feel like you're really grasping at straws in blaming scheduling for our 2009 and 2011 woes. 2011 USC was on probation and it was our third game of the year after two home games.

 

[Full_Rebar]

Yeah everything worked out fine in 2012, but the margin of error was ridiculously small. Two plays and SU misses a bowl yet again.

So when Vegas tells you to bet against NFL teams coming off coast-to-coast trips, it's grasping at straws to suggest that having college kids make that trip, might lead to lingering effects?

You asked for examples where scheduling hurt SU and those are clear examples. No one else was playing 3 straight OOC games against Big 10 teams, home or not.