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Message: [QUOTE="Knicks411, post: 120468, member: 767"] I kinda think the fact that we don't normally play a true non conference road game against a BCS opponent is a good argument that our non conference schedule is often a joke. But I also think we are speaking past each other a bit. There are people out there who don't follow our schedule very closely, and make the cracks about not leaving the state or what have you. That's annoying, especially last year when it's Atlantic city, which is like 400 miles away from Syracuse. That was one of the stupider ones I've heard. And there are other big time schools out there that play a cupcake schedule, littered with home games, like we do. But that doesn't mean there aren't legitimate points to be made about how challenging our non conference schedule typically is. I don't really care what random ESPN talking head says about our schedule, if they want to act like we aren't leaving the Dome because AC is 400 miles away or because we have a lot of fans at the garden, they can feel free to be wrong. Most years, I'm generally not happy with the schedule we play in November and December, and it's not because of what someone on ESPN or CBS says. It's for a few reasons 1) I like watching SU play! I particularly like watching them play competitive games against good teams 2) I think it's good for us to challenge ourselves early in the season, to see what are strengths and weaknesses are. I think that can benefit the team later in the season. It's one thing to see a team in practice, but another to see how a team does against good competition. This goes double for playing good teams on neutral sites, which is a good proxy for March. 3) It helps us with seeding. So I guess my point is, to combat me knocking the schedule by saying other teams schedule poorly as well, or ESPN would rip us anyway, that doesn't do much for me. (I don't think we'd be ripped if we played a 2009 type schedule every year, but even if we were, I wouldn't care). That doesn't mean it isn't true, at least part of it, but I don't want to schedule tough to shut up Eamon Brennan or Joe Lunardi or whoever we don't like this week. [/QUOTE]

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