Schedule rumor
- Thread starter pnt16
- Start date
I wish "ISU" meant Iowa State...but based on the Terre Haute, IN location of where the tweet originated, I'm assuming this is Indiana State. Not as exciting.
Yes, when Alabama was chosen for the playoff over Ohio State (even though Bama has a FCS team on the schedule and OSU did not), it became apparent that the committee was NOT penalizing schedules with FCS teams on it.
Now it’s economics. Indiana State would be cheaper than “buying” an opponent from the FBS ranks.
Still a shame, in my opinion .
B1G still plays a nine game conference schedule, while SEC plays only eight. Fitz grumbled about this at media day.
Non-conference schedules for the next three seasons:
2020: Tulane, Central Michigan, Morgan State (FCS)
2021: at Duke, Indiana State (FCS), Ohio
2022: Duke, Southern Illinois (FCS), Miami (OH)
2020: Tulane, Central Michigan, Morgan State (FCS)
2021: at Duke, Indiana State (FCS), Ohio
2022: Duke, Southern Illinois (FCS), Miami (OH)
I understand the logic here. We all do. But looking at these games . . . not much more than zero appeal here across the board. Duke is pretty much it, and even THAT'S not much.
You're right, GCG, as most anyone here would concede. Just speaking for myself, though, I'd like to think we're quite capable of beating at least slightly more interesting teams than these. These kinda remind me of the DePaul basketball schedules of the late '70's and early '80's. They had more cupcakes than a bakery.
You're right, GCG, as most anyone here would concede. Just speaking for myself, though, I'd like to think we're quite capable of beating at least slightly more interesting teams than these. These kinda remind me of the DePaul basketball schedules of the late '70's and early '80's. They had more cupcakes than a bakery.
... and a bunch of Sweet Sixteens, a couple Elite Eights, and a Final Four...
I don't understand the logic. Why not do Georgia State or Georgia Southern or Valdosta State, or someplace that may have a few interesting recruits? There’s lots of bad D-I and D-II schools out there. Not a ton of talent in Indiana, and more than a little competition for those few players who are interesting.
Scheduling Indiana State is an F-minus on every dimension, but travel costs.
Well, you have said the non-conference games don’t count. The losses, and therefore the wins, don’t matter. So for such meaningless games, schedule something interesting.
Because our recruiting is almost always Midwest-focused and beating a subpar Georgia school isn’t going to win any recruits.
You say lots of things. I said that winning conference games is what REALLY counts and is what I care about. Otherwise we wouldn’t have made Indy last year.
Disagree. Visibility in Indiana for a sub-par game adds nothing, nada, zero. Visibility from a game played in Georgia or Texas or Florida or California may help, and makes it easier to interact with those recruits.
Winning games enhances visibility. Beating Valdosta State does nothing more than beating Indiana State.
Are you seriously proposing that NU make trips to any of the schools you listed?
Are you seriously suggesting Indiana State adds anything but an easy win to our program? Sure it’s close in mileage and should be an easy win, but my guess is that there’s 100+ programs that would be better to schedule.
And yes, to be more direct, I believe scheduling those lower tier teams in Georgia from the previous post would be better than Larry Bird’s alma mater for the eternal glory of Northwestern!
Last edited:
I’m all for easy wins. It’s what we need with the B1G moving to nine conference games.
You want NU to take a trip to Valdosta State instead of a home game against Indiana State?
Hunter Johnson and Bryce Kirtz beg to differ.....
What percentage of the total team do those two make up? Is it even double digits? Yet Indiana is just a stones throw away. Now, what percent come from Texas, which is at the other end of the country?
What percentage of any of those guys care whether we beat Indiana State or Texas State?
Every thing is relative and compared to a number of other states including OH, MICH etc, the statement is correct. Because we were lucky enough to get a couple from IN with talent does not change the fact that there are not a huge number of guys with D1 talent coming out of there.Hunter Johnson and Bryce Kirtz beg to differ.....
Check out some of the teams SEC powerhouses are playing if you want the definition of "weak" and they only have eight conference games. Every power5 college team wants to play seven home games each season so by definition, you are going to have to "buy" at least one non-conference game every year. NU can't fill enough seats to justify a huge payout to lure a power5 for a one-off and even if they could, those teams have to fill their schedules too. Even big bucks draws, Ohio State and Michigan, have softened their out of conference schedules considerably since the nine game conference season kicked in.
Absolutely right, Catreporter. All of this is true, and I think all of us understand it. Just reserving the right to bellyache about being underwhelmed by most of these matchups.
More than a "couple" of guys from Indiana on our roster. There's also Skowronek, who made one of the biggest catches in program history, and Jared Thomas, who's a multiyear starter at center. NU sure is "lucky" to have those guys too.