Ok but if RU plays a tougher OOC schedule than their competitors, what does it accomplish in the grand scheme of things?
Football B1G considering removing P5 OOC opponent requirement
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
Respect for one. I guess I can ask you back what does it accomplish to not play anyone? Chances for a crappy bowl game in the age of the playoffs?
When you are a new kid on the block/historical loser, you need to win games against teams that people actually know to draw fans/eyeballs. For example, all my non-RU friends reached out after we beat Boston College. Not one did after Temple. Names matter.
Bad idea in my book. Then all the rep of the league hangs on bowl games.. and bowl/playoff games are played in warm weather/indoors when Big Ten bodies have adjusted to the cold.. as has the Big Ten playbooks and recruiting.
Furthermore, this will provide another reason for haters to rank Big Ten teams down all season.. making playoffs harder to get into.
Now.. if we went back to no New Years Six, no CFP and all bowl games were done by competitive invite and allowing the polls to determine national champions and final rankings after all games are played... this might work out.
OR.. maybe this is just another step toward a superconference made up of a Big Ten side and an SEC side... with the BigXII and PAC and ACC filling out the sides. North vs South. All competition is programmed like the NFL does it today. Playoffs, wildcard games.. leading to the SuperGame, aka College Football Championship Game.
Furthermore, this will provide another reason for haters to rank Big Ten teams down all season.. making playoffs harder to get into.
Now.. if we went back to no New Years Six, no CFP and all bowl games were done by competitive invite and allowing the polls to determine national champions and final rankings after all games are played... this might work out.
OR.. maybe this is just another step toward a superconference made up of a Big Ten side and an SEC side... with the BigXII and PAC and ACC filling out the sides. North vs South. All competition is programmed like the NFL does it today. Playoffs, wildcard games.. leading to the SuperGame, aka College Football Championship Game.
Respect? From who?
Do you think other B1G fan bases would say Rutgers is great for playing a tougher schedule than the rest of us or is it more than a few want it so they can brag about a tougher schedule while other team's fans laugh and talk about wins?
Rutgers will only get respect when they beat B1G teams.
That’s it, plain and simple.
And as the season wore on no one cared we beat a 3-9 BCU team. Especially after they lost to UCan’t and one of those wins was against FCS Maine.
Respect from the committee that selects the playoff teams/polls. I think we all hope Rutgers can get to a place where it is fighting for a playoff spot. Rutgers will never get the benefit of doubt unless we prove ourselves. We will never win the B1G so we need to do what it takes to be an at large team.
@RUTGERS95 - I see you keep liking Knighfan's posts. I could be wrong but seem to recall you were always critical on Schiano scheduling creampuffs. Am I wrong there? Would love to get your perspective.
I think that's a different conversation. We can't control what their records are at the end of the year. The rest of college football doesn't think the B1G is very good. Rutgers will never win the B1G as it is. Playing a soft schedule just gets us to crappy bowl games at best. What's the point of even being a fan of a team like Rutgers? If I wasn't an alumni I don't think I would be here.
I like two P5 games a year, one mid-major FBS or FCS and the rest B1G. One of the two P5 with the 2000s Big East teams/2010s AAC teams the other with the other P5 conferences
Not anymore.
In the old Big East/AAC days that was true. Although to be honest I had fun in Phoenix, Houston and Toronto.
But with the B1G bowl tie-ins and more importantly their rotation policy, even with the iffy schedule…we win and we could still end up somewhere really good.
Go 3-0 in the OOC and 5-4 or 6-3 in the B1G, we go somewhere nice for the holidays.
I didn't make Phoenix or Houston, but had a fun time in Toronto as well. Makes sense if you want to go to a bowl game. But with the expanded playoffs, I think bowls will become even more meaningless than they are now. Attendance was horrendous this past season. Players opting out. Not sure how the bowls survive.Not anymore.
In the old Big East/AAC days that was true. Although to be honest I had fun in Phoenix, Houston and Toronto.
But with the B1G bowl tie-ins and more importantly their rotation policy, even with the iffy schedule…we win and we could still end up somewhere really good.
Go 3-0 in the OOC and 5-4 or 6-3 in the B1G, we go somewhere nice for the holidays.
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anon_ivydyf0amkzay
Guest
I would hate 10 B1G game schedule. Honestly after 30 years the fewer Big games the better. After 3 decades the majority of the games I wouldn’t miss if they went away. NW, MSU, ILL, Iowa, Ind ect are just another game. I like variety and seeing new teams. As long as 7 homes games is the normal my ideal 8 big games, 1 regional (Pitt, UVA, Syr, WVU ect) and one national game.
Honestly I wish the NCAA would say all teams must 6 home and 6 away. Then we could dump the rent a victim game. I would gladly pay more for 6 p5 homes games then 7 games with 5 p5 and two rent a victim games.
Honestly I wish the NCAA would say all teams must 6 home and 6 away. Then we could dump the rent a victim game. I would gladly pay more for 6 p5 homes games then 7 games with 5 p5 and two rent a victim games.
I was but it's different today with the BIG. our conference schedule is tough so ok with lighter weight fighters added to the ring
we need wins although the more he loses, the faster he is gone and he's certainly not lived up to expectations for most reasonable fans
We can do an intraseason home and home with themWill we schedule Wagner twice now?
IDK if I agree. I like the idea of us and other B1G teams playing other P5 schools (apparently the AAC is "lobbying" to remove the P5 label, but I digress), which gives the B1G teams a good measuring stick against ACC, PAC12, SEC and Big 12 teams.
What is ironic is that many Board members state that their are too many Bowl Games and some should be eliminated. I have always been an advocate of the Bowl Games because you get a chance to play competitive teams who you usually don't get to play against (ex Pitt vs Michigan State/UCLA).
However, some on the board would like to play easier/non competitive OOC teams just to get to a Bowl Game.
As for Pitt, I prefer our OCC games to include several competitive P-5 teams who we usually don't get to play against.
Last year it was (Tennessee, West Virginia, Western Michigan and Rhode Island) and this year (Notre Dame, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Woford).
Playing the Wofords doesn't do much for our Nielsen Ratings or our home attendance.
HAIL TO PITT!!!!
I think the expression is “steel hardens steel”. Pitt plays a real OOC schedule and that is why they are a good team. Schiano and most fans here are happy to play a soft OOC and hopefully make a bowl game. Reality is that the B1G schedule isn’t that tough (outside of OSU, Mich, PSU) so it makes the soft OOC schedule look worse.
3 games in 2023 ( don't count ND as a OOC)
Wolford and Cincinnati and WV
Not bad, but nothing that deserves calling mother to brag about.
I agree Rutgers needs to toughen up it's OOC
Playing Wagner makes the Temple game look worse than it is , but VT on OOC is a good game
I listen to Sirius college sports and those guys just can’t figure this out ( even Brett Mcmurphy). If the SEC went to a 9 game conference schedule and kept the power 5 requirement. I’m sure the Big would too.
This is really the only way the Big can level the playing field.
Face it, every team in the Big is in a different
position for what the best schedule would help them have a successful season.
It won’t effect our top ranked teams because they are always scheduling up anyway.
Paywalled article in the Athletic, but here are some highlights on meetings this week on the B1G schedule format starting in 2024:
"Athletic directors and league officials will meet on Monday and Tuesday at Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Ill., ......, it’s possible the decision gets kicked down the road yet again."
the three scheduling formats under consideration are the following:
• Protect 3: Three permanent protected matchups, with games against six of the remaining 12 Big Ten opponents one year and the other six the next. Every four years, each team would play three teams four times and the remaining 12 teams twice.
• Protect 2: Two permanent protected matchups, played four times over four years. Over the course of four years, each Big Ten team would play the remaining league opponents at least twice and two of those teams three times.
• Flex Protect: A hybrid model in which each Big Ten team has one, two or three protected opponents. This format allows schedule-makers the most flexibility in terms of competitive balance, home-and-away rotations and the specific challenges around West Coast travel for teams playing USC or UCLA.
Rivalries and Rutgers:
"But newcomers Maryland, Rutgers, UCLA and USC don’t require more than perhaps one protected foe. Plus, the league wants to limit all of its football programs to only one West Coast trip per year. If USC and UCLA were each other’s only fixed opponent, that would help with scheduling and sequencing everyone else — a big benefit of that Flex Protect option."
"Despite a report to the contrary last week, the Big Ten has not operated under a system that required each institution to play at least one Power 5 opponent per year. Michigan, for example, did not play any Power 5 nonconference opponents in 2022 and will not this coming fall, either."
A lot more in the link, subscription is cheap.
"Athletic directors and league officials will meet on Monday and Tuesday at Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Ill., ......, it’s possible the decision gets kicked down the road yet again."
the three scheduling formats under consideration are the following:
• Protect 3: Three permanent protected matchups, with games against six of the remaining 12 Big Ten opponents one year and the other six the next. Every four years, each team would play three teams four times and the remaining 12 teams twice.
• Protect 2: Two permanent protected matchups, played four times over four years. Over the course of four years, each Big Ten team would play the remaining league opponents at least twice and two of those teams three times.
• Flex Protect: A hybrid model in which each Big Ten team has one, two or three protected opponents. This format allows schedule-makers the most flexibility in terms of competitive balance, home-and-away rotations and the specific challenges around West Coast travel for teams playing USC or UCLA.
Rivalries and Rutgers:
"But newcomers Maryland, Rutgers, UCLA and USC don’t require more than perhaps one protected foe. Plus, the league wants to limit all of its football programs to only one West Coast trip per year. If USC and UCLA were each other’s only fixed opponent, that would help with scheduling and sequencing everyone else — a big benefit of that Flex Protect option."
"Despite a report to the contrary last week, the Big Ten has not operated under a system that required each institution to play at least one Power 5 opponent per year. Michigan, for example, did not play any Power 5 nonconference opponents in 2022 and will not this coming fall, either."
A lot more in the link, subscription is cheap.
Richie, according to article and link posted above, there was never such a "requirement." Thoughts?
No, not really. Doubt a single coach could have that much influence. It was never a requirement anyway. See above. Maybe you can rail against Harbaugh.
But I agree with you that the OOC games against ACC, PAC12 and Big12 teams are entertaining. The Arkansas games were great, so were the Kansas games, and playing Syracuse, BC, and Pitt are good yardsticks against former conference foes.
There are a number of teams that have played each other over 100 times. Being the B1G is so heavy on tradition, I'm guessing the Protect 3 or Protect 2 will both have support. If I'm correct the downside would be uneven travel to the west coast.
I've mentioned those models before and I like the flex protect model the best. Teams don't have the same number or rivals. Also it can account for and balance schedules with teams rising or falling of in given years or time periods.
Absolutely agree. Basketball got in this bad habit as well and it cost us a tournament bid this year. It is better to risk a loss playing a tough OOC opponent than get a meaningless win against a team nobody has ever heard of.
Don't know where you get that narrative from on "most fans" or Schiano, but whatever.
And no, the B1G schedule is much tougher than the pillow soft Big 12 and ACC schedules. PAC 12 is more difficult but not at B1G level. SEC and B1G are toughest conferences, and that is pretty much not even debatable.
but there is something to be said for playing better teams and especially so with a younger team
that said,
Just win as that is what is needed here and is most pressing. I believe to be especially so as Greg only gets 4 wins max this year and will be looking for a new gig next year as the seats starts to boil
Sorry, wasn't implying Greg was the driving force for this. Just that he would have his hand up first in the room if there was a vote. I am just tired of paying to watch crappy teams. I am not a proponent of playing a soft schedule since my take is that is a part of the reason for our WTF games each year (when we are decent). Just a lack of talent and coaching the past 8+ years.
My take is the schedule weakness is based on getting the most home games and too many 1 and one series might keep the schedule from having more home games than evenly split between home and away.
So a real cupcake is brought in, at a reasonable price, rather than paying though the nose for a decent opponent.
Rutgers isn't the type of program that can bring in a good program for a one and done just because the program wants to make a name for itself by beating a power
That said, playing Temple would be more acceptable , on the OOC, if another mid major was also on the schedule instead of programs like Wagner. VT is a good OOC choice
Think it is OK to play one Wagner-level (preferably better, however) per year, but the rest SHOULD be P5 or at least G5.
This year's non-P5 opponents for other B1G East Teams:
Michigan- East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green--all fairly respectable
Ohio State- Youngstown State, Western KY, Notre Dame- same
Mich State- Central Mich, Richmond, Washington--Richmond kind of weak, but overall solid
Indiana- Indiana St, Louisville, Akron- Not bad with Louisville, but Indiana State is weak
Penn State- Delaware, WVU, UMass-- this is really weak, probably worse than RU's OOC?
Maryland- Towson, Charlotte, Virginia- not bad, but kinda weak?
Agreed. Nothing wrong with scheduling G5 teams from the American or MAC, which have decent football programs. Heck, Tulane beat USC in a bowl last year, so you never know what might happen. A mildly (or very) competitive game against a stronger opponent is more interesting to watch for the fans and probably better for player development than playing a total cupcake team.
Another B10 scheduling tidbit. Also reported the B10 had their first tv draft with their tv partners a few weeks ago.
We will have the money to pay the going rate for a G5 game going forward to get us to 7 home games every year…when it’s the 4H/5A B1G set up. Even easier when it’s reversed.
It will be less a financial issue than a coach’s decision one.
Don't forget Northwestern's big game against Howard.
Topped off with UTEP and Duke.
Thinking about it Rutgers could do a better OOC, but they are doing the same as a lot of other programs when it comes to scheduling a winning OOC lineup with 1 cupcake, one P-5 and a mid major that might not be a strong opponent