With the way that the Big 10 (+1) has been playing as of late, a strong out-of-conference (OOC) schedule would benefit the teams. When one of the top 2 teams in your conference is on the verge of a 6 win season *chough…Michigan*cough *cough, your conference may be lacking in the quality opponent category. The ACC and Big East are getting more love from top to bottom than the Big 10 (+1). I got an idea. If you want to beat a team like LSU or Florida, then try to play some of the same team they do. Let us see who had the Rocky Mountain Oysters to schedule some competition OOC. In case you missed my other grades here are the links: Big XII, ACC, SEC, Pac-10, and Big East.
Ohio State – Youngstown State, Ohio, USC, Troy. I like this OOC schedule because they want to play USC. Sure Youngstown St is a patsy, but to go out and willfully schedule arguably the most successful team over the last 5-6 years shows moxy. That is gutsy considering that you will probably will be competing for a national cahmpionship yourself. That subscribes to my philosophy of beating the best to be the best. I can’t say that Ohio is a patsy, but I can say that they stand no chance against OSU. Troy is a very decent team, but they stand little chance here against the Buckeyes. Here’s my best Ali G impersonation “Respect! Boo-Ya-Ya!” Grade: A
Michigan State – California, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame. The Spartans did go out and get a game with a quality team in Cal. I understand the need to play the Eastern, Western, and Central Michigans every year. What I really like about this schedule is that there are no FCS(Div-1AA) teams. If you want to be considered one of college footballs elite, then you have to stop shceduling non-Div-1 teams. Notre Dame is the Spartans’ prison girlfriend year in and year out. Watch out for Florida Atlantic this year. They have shed that “patsy” title and will upset some one in the OOC. Could it be the Spartans? Quite Possibly. That Cal game will be really tough for the Spartans. Grade: A-
Purdue – Northern Colorado, Oregon, Central Michigan, Notre Dame. I give a little credit for having Notre Dame on the schedule because they have a potential of giving a good game. Not this year, but in years past. The Ducks are a consistently good team. They are certainly a Top-25 team year-in and year-out. Central Michigan is like Ohio in that they will fight hard, but it is hard for them to compete with the talent level difference. Although, Central Michigan has a great quarterback in LeFevour. N. CO stinks and there is too much stabbing going on in the special teams. Grade: B+
Illinois– Missouri, Eastern Illinois, Louisiana-Lafayette, Western Michigan. Illinois is certainly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Big 10 (+1). It would seem that Coach Zook may have the foundation for something special. Mizzou is a serious test for Illinois right off the bat. Then they get a few weeks to recover. The rest of their OOC schedule is cream-puff city. I wonder if they had the thought that Mizzou was going to be a top-10 team when they contracted the games. I guess they just got lucky. I don't think they need to have both Eastern Illinois and Louisiana-Lafayette on the schedule. One of those two and substitute a Div-1A cream-puff like Buffalo for the other. Grade: C-(that is all dumb luck having Top-10 Missouri on the schedule)
Northwestern – Syracuse, Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio. I guess if you are Northwestern this schedule is somewhat competitive, but I call it giving up. Syracuse and Ohio are the only teams of any kind of note in this one. Ohio is the best team on the OOC schedule? My, my how far we have fallen since the glory days with Barnett. Syracuse has not been the same since McNabb left and that was a long time ago. I love the Salukis, but they are no good at football. Duke is at least from the ACC and they are a BCS conference. I guess that is something. Right? Grade: C
Iowa – Maine, Florida International, Iowa State, Pittsburg. At least there are two teams from BCS conferences in IA St and Pitt. Iowa always gets Iowa State’s best shot of the year. I love that game because whoever wins seems to do worse throughout the rest of the season. Pitt did beat WVU, much to the chagrin of the refs and the Mountaineer faithful. That is something that Oklahoma couldn’t even come close to doing. Maine and FIU are bad patsies. With the way Iowa has been playing lately, maybe they deserve a break here. Grade: C-
Wisconsin – Akron, Marshall, Fresno State, Cal Poly. Wisconsin is trying to be the cream of the Big 10 (+1). They’re just not trying very hard. I love Pat Hill and Fresno State. These guys will play anyone/anywhere. I give credit to Wiscy for the Bulldogs on the schedule, but Akron? Cal Poly? UGH. That is U-G-L-Y. Akron should have been the weakest team on the schedule. They could step it up a bit and get a team from a BCS conference. Marshall is ok, but it is not really a test, is it? Why not switch-out the Cal-Poly game for a game with Baylor or Vanderbilt? For the Badgers it is still a probable win, but it looks much, much better than beating up on Div-1AA or Div-2 teams. Grade: C-
Indiana – Western Kentucky, Murray State, Ball State, Central Michigan. Again, like Northwestern and Minnesota before them, Indiana really can’t be blamed too much for the smelly ####-fest that is their OOC schedule. Central Michigan will probably beat Indiana this year. Western Kentucky has recently made the move from Div-1AA to Div-1A. The Hilltoppers shouldn't put up much of a fight here. The same could be said about Murray State. Ball State had one heck of an offense last year as teams in the MAC found out the hard way. Indiana needs to be careful with this one. Grade: D
Minnesota – Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Montana State, Florida Atlantic. For the Golden Gophers it has been tough. I can’t really say anything about this OOC schedule. They may not be favorites in a couple of them. GO GOPHERS!! I'm being hard on the Gophers here, but they should lose to Florida Atlantic and Bowling Green. Grade: D
Penn State – Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse, Temple. This OOC schedule is pretty bad. Oregon St is ok, but the rest is stinking up the joint here. For a team of Penn St’s status, this is disappointing to say the least. They need another middle-of-the-road BCS conference team to ####e it up a bit like Oklahoma State or South Carolina. If Oregon St was Oregon, then it would be respectable to have the three flaky, cream-centered pastries. This is very unlike a typical Penn State OOC schedule. Grade: F+
– Utah, Miami (OH), Notre Dame, Toledo. This is not really good , but it is not quite as bad as it looks. Notre Dame may be the worst team on this OOC schedule. Utah has not been able to put it back together since losing Meyer, but they are ok. Miami (OH) is like Ohio and Central Michigan…not going to win but they will fight hard. Toledo may or may not put up a fight. I suppose I should cut Michigan some slack after last year’s 0-2 start. Naw. This is pitiful for a team that wants to be considered elite. Grade: F
I did not know Illinios play Missouri this year. That could be a good one. You were a little tough on Michigan. They don't have any DII schools and it's not their fault that Notre Dame isn't that good. Utah and Miami (OH) should be close up to half.
ed, I know that these games are scheduled 3-5 years in advance in most cases. I thought about taking that into account, but it is a duel-edged sword. Some of these games would have been stinkers 3-5 years ago, but could be pretty good now. Example: South Florida, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Florida Atlantic.
I have a hard time considering ND an OOC game with the Big 10(+1).
I can understand that logic. I usually bunch Notre Dame with the Big 10 also. Illinois should have a pretty good chance at returning to the Rose Bowl. I thought I read that FIU will be decent this year. Maybe it was Florida Atlantic.
ed, I get those two confused also. You may be right with FIU. I know that one of the two should have a good season.
As for Illinois, I love that team. Any team with a guy named Juice on it is ok in my book. I'm rooting for them in the Big 10 (+1), but I think Ohio State will take the conference yet again.
Last edited by oldskewler on April 25th at 12:32 PM.
I don't know why teams don't schedule tough ooc schedules, when you lose to a top ten team, you don't fall very far and you test your team before the bowls. The Texas/Ohio State series was some of the highest rated games of all time for the tv networks, and the games are still being talked about. I'm sure Ohio State/USC will be simular.
Teams should get rewarded for tough OOC schedules, i've only seen a small handful of teams with top 10 ooc teams on their schedule. You could do this to any conf.
OldSkewler: Pretty tough on Notre Dame aren't we? As for Ohio? You been sleeping with Frank Solich? They will likely be the worst team in the MAC this year. Central Michigan is VERY respectable. Defending MAC champions and they have one of the best QB's in the country in Dan LeFevour returning next year. Lock ND in with 7 or 8 wins this year. Also give Wisconsin some credit for TRAVELLING to Fresno State. Something you won't see from many BCS conference schools to travel to an away Non-BCS school, much less across the country. Penn State is weak, but Michigan's schedule is respectable. Utah is always tough, and they always have their Notre Dame game. An F rating is harsh. They aren't playing a Sun Belt team, nor are they playing an FCS school like many others do. Miami(OH) and Toledo at least have some decent history of being competitive.
You watch oldskewler... Michigan will play undefeated right up to the OSU game and be ranked right at the top with a schedule like that... No doubt about it, I got to shout it!!!
When u make skeds, u have to assume they will be competitive when you sked them. USC sked Nebraska when they were on the upside, and looked what happened.
Also, the Utah sked was made when they won a BCS BOWL...again, they dropped off when Meyer left.
My only beef is with teams who sked 2A (FCS) teams...there is no excuse...NONE.
When Florida Atlantic was sked, they were a bad team, and brand spanking new to FBS (like Western Kentucky)....they have improved drastically! This may be a bad timing thing. While they sked them when they were a cream puff, it back fired on them. HC Howard Schnellenberger has an NCAA ring and some super bowl rings as well. Watch out!
App St got lucky w/ Michigan b/c no one really takes them seriously and they got caught with their pants down. 9/10 times, Mich wins that game. No disrespect to App St, but that game was an aberration.
Nost, Yeah, I got a soft spot in my heart for Frankie. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see him coaching Nebraska, but I hope he does well. You are right about Central Michigan. I just don't know how that defense will hold up OOC. As for ND, you may be right, but I'll believe it when I see it. Wisconsin is going to Fresno State and the timing may be bad for the Badgers, but I don't need to tell you that some BCS teams do travel to NON-BCS games.
DWindy, The last time I saw a hot-shot coach come in and revamp an offense using players recruited for a much different style offense, Callahan lead us to our first losing season since....a long dang time. Good Luck!
Lisa, I thought about trying to gauge the grades to reflect how good the teams were when the games were scheduled. I understand that Utah was great just a few years ago, but write or wrong I tried to use the teams' most recent performance.
ed, I have to give credit to any top team getting a top 10 team to play OOC. Period. No one would have berated OSU for trying to schedule Oregon insted of USC, but they took USC. I respect that tremendously. Maybe I was a little hard on the Wolverines. I suppose they do have Central Michigan on their schedule.
Way to hard on Michigan. I smell the anti-mich bias from here! The 5 schools directly above Mich have way easier skeds. Last time Mich played Utah they barely won 10-7. A good game and Meyer was coach then I believe. ND is usually always tough because of the rivalry and MiamiOH wont be a blow-out by any means
Notre Dame is still OOC, though they seem to play UofM, MSU and Purdue every year, its not necessarily true. Also, they will be a much better team this year. (frankily, I dont understand how they can be judged a push over because of one really bad year)
Wisconsin going to Fresno St is a big game. This year Fresno St has the best chance of being that non-bcs school that cracks the BCS.
OSU plays an FCS team in Youngstown St and you still give them an A+!?! They have 3 cakewalk OOC and one really tough one. Law of averages would drop that in the B range.
Dezz #### ranks
Purdue
MSU
OSU
Illinois
Michigan
Wisconsin
etc.
Also a few year ago when Illinois made up that sked, they were still a big10 bottom feeder...so those were tough for them then...vice versa its the same with Missouri not being very good when that sked was made...
Nothing intelligent to add, just wanted to thank oldskewler for a thoughtful post. I would like to think I would enjoy the post if OSU was given an "F"...but could I act that grown up..only the shadow knows
Deez, I consider Ohio State and Michigan to be top-tier teams. Ohio State has had the intestinal fortitude to schedule arguably(?) the best college football team in the past 5-6 years. THE BEST! I give lots of credit for that one fact alone.
I will admit that when Michigan scheduled these teams, this would have shaped up to be a very good schedule. I did not want to take into account how good the teams SHOULD have been. The fact is that Michigan's OOC schedule is not going to be competitive this year. Is that Michigan's fault? NO. Maybe I was a bit harsh with Michigan, but I feel that as good as they are from year-to-year, they can afford to play better teams than this.
Also, I did not grade these on an even playing field. I took into account how good or bad the Big 10 team was. If Indiana played Michigan's OOC schedule, then it would have had a higher grade. If Michigan had played Indiana's schedule, then the grade would have been much lower.
Last edited by oldskewler on April 28th at 10:46 AM.
Oldskewler, great blog that I will follow across all the conferences. I agree with OSU getting an A for scheduling USC. Buckeyes tend to have one good OOC game nearly every year going forward and they are usually home and away series, not one offs. That said, I would like to see them creat an OOC rivalry game like USC-ND, GA -GT, or FL -FSU. That used to be PSU before they joined the Big 10. The top heavy nature of the Big Ten should be pushing them to have two good OOC games every season. I did think you were a bit harsh with the Illini and somewhat inconsistent. Doesn't really matter if they backed into the Mizzou game it is still a very competitive game. Should have been at least a B. Michigan's OOC is really disappointing in 08.
I agree Michigan's schedule is pretty lame this year, but at least there's no FCS schools like some of our conference members.
Notre Dame is a love/hate relationship.
If Notre Dame beats MSU and Purdue, it make Michigan schedule seem tough when they play them. But then again, the Big 10 schedule looks weak because Notre Dame beat those 2 schools.
SKC, I would agree on the Illinois schedule if they had scheduled a middle tier team of somesort. All they have is Mizzou. Sure, Mizzou is a doozy, but nothing else is even in the same ballpark. Also, Mizzou is no USC.
I agree that PSU's ooc sched is in the dumpster. I feel ripped off when my season tickets have those patsies scheduled for a fine autumn sat. I miss the days when our ooc sched had ala. nd, miami, tex, usc or neb on tap. i would like to point out that we had ala sched however, they opted out until 2010-11. hence temple for two years.
WOW! u might want to reevaluate michigans. is it really worse than Penn st.s, IU, northwestern, or minn?!
really?
i mean Utah would beat most people on wisconsin and illinois's OOC list. credit goes to all but UM for ND? toledo routinely beats BCS teams (its true look it up).
you must really not like Michigan. i don't mean good ole fashioned OSU dude that hates the team up north. i mean you must be like a WVU fan
Prof, Yeah. I was a little harsh on Michigan, but you can't compare their schedule to IU, Northwestern, or MN. I am not comparing them side by side, I am taking into consideration the talent level of the team doing the scheduling. In this case, Michigan should be trying to schedule one team like USC or Oklahoma, one team like Missouri or Oregon, one team like Baylor or Arizona, and one scrub like any of their presently scheduled teams. It's not fair to compare Minnesota's schedule to Michigan's on the same level is it? Not to me.
oldskewler:
Michigan has been getting cupcake lately. And Michigan used to hold the torch for the tougher scheduling in the Big 10. Now Ohio State has taken that.
Last season, when Michigan scheduled App State and ducked Hawai'i. It was starting a trend that most UM fans don't like. I'd much rather see Michigan scheduling a VT, Bama, USC, UCLA and lose than have to schedule a div 1AA school or mid major and win.
Personally, I think Indiana's schedule is far worse than Michigan.
Also, Illinois and Mizzou have been trying to create an interconference rivalry like Iowa/Iowa State. They play every year in basketball (Braggin Rights) and now they are trying to make a tradition against those two schools. Could Mizzou possibly be auditioning for the Big 10? Hmmm, who knows.
GoBlue, I have been hearing that for a few years now that Mizzou has ambitions for the Big 10. Stranger things have happened. I feel your pain with the weak OOC schedule. Over the years, Nebraska has had some really stinky years. It is frustrating.
UM should get a pass this season anyway.Give em a year to get the house back in order then we'll see what happens.Putting together a new team in a new system requires as many cupcakes as they can cram onto their schedule.
Go Blue92: Yeah, they did temper down that OOC sked. it was because we kept losing away openers and they were almost alwyas OOC games. Carr coaching failures had them make an easier sked...that is why we have been sked two cupcakes, teh ND game and one, up and comer(Which Utah would have been when they agreed to play for a few years)
I liked last years sked when we had ND, and a good Pac-10 team. I thought we picked App St over Hawaii because of the spread offense they ran. Ya dont see a lot of spread in the Big10, so the defense needs the practice...
everyone is dogging on OSU for putting the FCS school on their schedule but the only reason they are on there is Tressel wants to throw his old team a bone and give them extra money for playing them. I dont think they would have even thought about scheduling them if it wasnt for that exact reason. I think that is pretty cool of Tressel.
As other people have mentioned your ratings system is skewed and very harsh towards Michigan which I would say has about a C range schedule.
At the time there was no way of knowing that Utah and Notre Dame would be lacking in as good of quality that they are.
Its truly unfair for you to judge teams based on how good they are supposed to be. Saying that Michigan should be scheduling premiere teams while giving other teams a pass based on supposed competitiveness is garbage.
Why is it garbage? Don't the preseason polls, and the early season polls, do it every year? I understand that Utah and ND were expected to be much better than they were last year, but they weren't. If ND had not fallen apart at the seams last year, then this would have been a decent schedule. Is it Michigan's fault? No. Is everything in life fair? Not for me. This is a snapshot of the most current performances from all these teams. Michigan is expected to be one of the elite teams every year. Heck! Michigan beat Florida and the superman himself Tebow. So your opinion is that I should not think of Michigan as a very good team?
is Notre Dame really better then Syracuse? Oregon State was a bowl team in top 25, granted Coastal is a let, much like Youngstown, Eastern, ot La-Laf, and PSU is pretty much saddled with Temple, but schedule is still stronger then, Northwestern, Indiana,Minnesota, and Michigan and easily equal to Wisconsin's. Coming from NC I know Coastal would stick it to Cal Poly and Akron.
free polls
I like the match-ups and the years of bad-blood between rivals in college football. I enjoy a good game no matter the national implications. Give me a 3OT game between a couple of Sun Belt teams over a 40 point blowout between a couple top 25 teams anytime. I consider myself to be a fan of the game. I will be as respectful to visitors on my blog as they are to me. Go Huskers! Go Navy! Go Jags! Go Cubbies!
With the way that the Big 10 (+1) has been playing as of late, a strong out-of-conference (OOC) schedule would benefit the teams. When one of the top 2 teams in your conference is on the verge of a 6 win season *chough…Michigan*cough *cough, your conference may be lacking in the quality opponent category. The ACC and Big East are getting more love from top to bottom than the Big 10 (+1). I got an idea. If you want to beat a team like LSU or Florida, then try to play some of the same team they do. Let us see who had the Rocky Mountain Oysters to schedule some competition OOC. In case you missed my other grades here are the links: 
Ohio State – Youngstown State, Ohio, USC, Troy. I like this OOC schedule because they want to play USC. Sure Youngstown St is a patsy, but to go out and willfully schedule arguably the most successful team over the last 5-6 years shows moxy. That is gutsy considering that you will probably will be competing for a national cahmpionship yourself. That subscribes to my philosophy of beating the best to be the best. I can’t say that Ohio is a patsy, but I can say that they stand no chance against OSU. Troy is a very decent team, but they stand little chance here against the Buckeyes. Here’s my best Ali G impersonation “Respect! Boo-Ya-Ya!” Grade: A
Michigan State – California, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame. The Spartans did go out and get a game with a quality team in Cal. I understand the need to play the Eastern, Western, and Central Michigans every year. What I really like about this schedule is that there are no FCS(Div-1AA) teams. If you want to be considered one of college footballs elite, then you have to stop shceduling non-Div-1 teams. Notre Dame is the Spartans’ prison girlfriend year in and year out. Watch out for Florida Atlantic this year. They have shed that “patsy” title and will upset some one in the OOC. Could it be the Spartans? Quite Possibly. That Cal game will be really tough for the Spartans. Grade: A-
Michigan, Notre Dame. I give a little credit for having Notre Dame on the schedule because they have a potential of giving a good game. Not this year, but in years past. The Ducks are a consistently good team. They are certainly a Top-25 team year-in and year-out. Central Michigan is like Ohio in that they will fight hard, but it is hard for them to compete with the talent level difference. Although, Central Michigan has a great quarterback in LeFevour. N. CO stinks and there is too much stabbing going on in the special teams. Grade: B+
Illinois – Missouri, Eastern Illinois, Louisiana-Lafayette, Western Michigan. Illinois is certainly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Big 10 (+1). It would seem that Coach Zook may have the foundation for something special. Mizzou is a serious test for Illinois right off the bat. Then they get a few weeks to recover. The rest of their OOC schedule is cream-puff city. I wonder if they had the thought that Mizzou was going to be a top-10 team when they contracted the games. I guess they just got lucky. I don't think they need to have both Eastern Illinois and Louisiana-Lafayette on the schedule. One of those two and substitute a Div-1A cream-puff like Buffalo for the other. Grade: C- (that is all dumb luck having Top-10 Missouri on the schedule)
Northwestern – Syracuse, Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio. I guess if you are Northwestern this schedule is somewhat competitive, but I call it giving up. Syracuse and Ohio are the only teams of any kind of note in this one. Ohio is the best team on the OOC schedule? My, my how far we have fallen since the glory days with Barnett. Syracuse has not been the same since McNabb left and that was a long time ago. I love the Salukis, but they are no good at football. Duke is at least from the ACC and they are a BCS conference. I guess that is something. Right? Grade: C
Iowa – Maine, Florida International, Iowa State, Pittsburg. At least there are two teams from BCS conferences in IA St and Pitt. Iowa always gets Iowa State’s best shot of the year. I love that game because whoever wins seems to do worse throughout the rest of the season. Pitt did beat WVU, much to the chagrin of the refs and the Mountaineer faithful. That is something that Oklahoma couldn’t even come close to doing. Maine and FIU are bad patsies. With the way Iowa has been playing lately, maybe they deserve a break here. Grade: C- 
Indiana – Western Kentucky, Murray State, Ball State, Central Michigan. Again, like Northwestern and Minnesota before them, Indiana really can’t be blamed too much for the smelly 
Minnesota – Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Montana State, Florida Atlantic. For the Golden Gophers it has been tough. I can’t really say anything about this OOC schedule. They may not be favorites in a couple of them. GO GOPHERS!! I'm being hard on the Gophers here, but they should lose to Florida Atlantic and Bowling Green. Grade: D
Penn State – Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse, Temple. This OOC schedule is pretty bad. Oregon St is ok, but the rest is stinking up the joint here. For a team of Penn St’s status, this is disappointing to say the least. They need another middle-of-the-road BCS conference team to 
– Utah, Miami (OH), Notre Dame, Toledo. This is not really good , but it is not quite as bad as it looks. Notre Dame may be the worst team on this OOC schedule. Utah has not been able to put it back together since losing Meyer, but they are ok. Miami (OH) is like Ohio and Central Michigan…not going to win but they will fight hard. Toledo may or may not put up a fight. I suppose I should cut Michigan some slack after last year’s 0-2 start. Naw. This is pitiful for a team that wants to be considered elite. Grade: F 
