So I was looking at the

[missouridawg]

Thursday night NCAAF game this week... and see that it's Memphis hosting Cincy... (Memphis is a 10 point favorite!)

But that's not what caught my eye. On Friday night, UVA hosts Boise State. Which means UVA's out of conference schedule included UCLA, Boise State, and Notre Dame (and William and Mary). I would punch Scott Stricklin in the face if he scheduled that tough out of conference. What an ignorant thing to do for a perennial doormat.

What benefit does UVA get out of scheduling those tough games? It's one thing to have a roster like Alabama/UGA/LSU and be the better team to step on the field each game... but when you're a mid-to-low tier team in your own conference, you gain absolutely nothing by having it verfied that you are simply average-to-below-average again.

 

[RebelBruiser]

Even if you're Alabama or LSU, you don't schedule OOC like that.

You need off weeks that aren't off weeks. Teams that have to be up for 10 or 11 out of 13 weeks won't survive the rigors of the season. You need a couple freebies in there where your starters only have to play 20-40 snaps, and they don't have to be mentally perfect.

 

[patdog]

If you're an ACC team looking to get into a major bowl or the playoffs, you have to schedule tougher OOC than an SEC school does. But UVA isn't going to a major bowl or the playoffs. They need to schedule to get 6 wins and go to a bowl game, which they've done only once in the last 7 (soon to be 8) years.

 

[johnson86-1]

What benefit does UVA get out of scheduling those tough games?

Presumably the AD is trying to build a case to fire his football coach. Ensure a terrible record, fire him, bring in a new coach and soften the schedule and it increases the chances it will look like you improved the situation?

 

[Tin Cup Cowboy]

Doesn't ND fall into the ACC schedule now though? While not a football member don't they play a set number of games? My guess is when the Bosie and UCLA game were scheduled ND was not, could be that the conference 17'd them.

I also bet that a school that doesn't value football as much as others do isn't willing to out pay a traditional power for a easier game.

To your original point though, that is a brutal schedule for them.

 

[patdog]

Notre Dame plays 5 ACC games per year. So each ACC team plays them about once every 3 years. My guess is the Boise and UCLA games were probably scheduled before the Notre Dame - ACC deal was set. Still, I'd have tried to get the ACC to move Notre Dame to another year or moved one of the other games.

 

[msstate7]

Notre Dame plays 5 ACC games per year. So each ACC team plays them about once every 3 years. My guess is the Boise and UCLA games were probably scheduled before the Notre Dame - ACC deal was set. Still, I'd have tried to get the ACC to move Notre Dame to another year or moved one of the other games.

Home game vs ND... I doubt you wanna move that game as AD. Pretty much guaranteed national tv and a sell out

 

[patdog]

Home game vs ND... I doubt you wanna move that game as AD.

Good point.

 

[RebelBruiser]

True, ACC schools may need to beef up more than other leagues, but you're right that UVA is not one of those schools needing to beef up its schedule.

Of course, the tricky part is that when you're scheduling, you typically don't know what your team will be like. For example, Baylor played no one in OOC last year, and it didn't help them as a 1 loss team trying to make the playoff. However, when they set their 2014 OOC schedule, they were likely just thinking getting 6-8 wins would be a good year. They couldn't know that they'd go 11-1 and be in the playoff hunt.

Unless you're one of those programs that's currently near the top and usually near the top, it's hard to predict 5-6 years in the future where you'll be and whether you'll need some beef on your OOC schedule, or whether you'll need 4 cupcakes to help you get to 6-6.

The other tricky part is that you don't know what the opponent will be like when you play them. Take us and our Wake Forest series. When we scheduled them, they sucked. Currently, they suck. During the two years they were on our schedule though, they won something like 18 or 19 combined games over those two years and even won the ACC one of those seasons.

Likewise, when Boise originally scheduled us, we looked like we would be a crappy Power 5 team, and we would've been had the game gone off in 2010 like originally planned. Instead, it got moved to 2014, and we were a Top 20 caliber team.