Another marathon

[NUpolo8]

I recently looked at the schedule for 2007 and saw yet again that every game is back to back up until the week off for Colorado. While I understand that break is pretty mandatory for the short week with CU, it really annoys me that a compete and utter puff of a team is scheduled when I feel that this team could benefit from an extra week off.

 

I hated playing Nichols St before USC and I do not like Ball St before conference play opens next year. It is simply nothing more than a unmitigated cash grab by the athletic dept to get another home game on the schedule. It sure as hell doesn;t help in my opinion. Last year, NU had to hang half a hundred on a overmatched Nichols st. for what? To learn how to defend the triple option attack that the Trojans were going to bring the following week? Of all the bad things that could have happened (injuries, poor showing, etc) all it really does is add fodder for the ESPN bloviates to mock NU's schedule.

 

In addition, God forbid that there is an extra week to get healthy and charge the batteries. Nope, instead let's fulfill the stereotype that NU can only run it up on creampuffs and fail to show up for the showcase games. Brilliant.

[gamecocks]

I don't think there is a single team in Division 1 that does not play all of the alloted 12 games. You are right that it is about money, but one cream puff is not that bad of an idea. Next year's schedule could be the toughest in the nation and Ball State is no pushover either. I agree that we could of did better than Nicholas State but we got quite a few players some much needed gametime experience in that game in which they would most likely not get if we scheduled another powerhouse team.

 

What I would love to see happen is to have the bye week moved up into the middle of October. I don't see the need for us to have a bye before the Colorado game all that much. Sure it is played on a Friday, but one less day of practice that week is not that big of a deal.

[farmerscarlet]

I don't think we have been mocked lately, because we played 4 top ten teams this year(if you count the bowl game) and one of them was in the non-con. scedule. And they defenitally will not mock us this upcoming season because we play both Wake Forest and USC. Believe it or not you are not going to find a much tougher non-conf. scedule, if there is one any tougher. So chill out, I swear people are looking for reasons to get pissed off these days.

[HuskerBob4]

There is plenty to learn from playing Nichols St....like basic tackling!!!

 

(See: Andrew Shanle, oh wait, he never learned!)

 

I think the 12th game being so weak for everyone was due to time constraints, availability of quality opponents and ease of negotiating with I-AA teams. The 12th game is going to become crucial in strength of schedule equations and many conferences will soon play 9 or 10 conference games, which will be awesome!

[strigori]

No one will say anything about our non conference opponents. Only Ball state didnt go to a bowl game. ANd Wake Forest and USC won thier conferences.

 

A lot of teams run with the 12 games in a row. The bye could be usefull a little earlier, but it is more or less par for the course in the big 12.

[Always a husker]

No one will say anything about our non conference opponents. Only Ball state didnt go to a bowl game. ANd Wake Forest and USC won thier conferences.

 

A lot of teams run with the 12 games in a row. The bye could be usefull a little earlier, but it is more or less par for the course in the big 12.

Didnt ball state go to a bowl game against Troy and got dominated? jw

[Always a husker]

No one will say anything about our non conference opponents. Only Ball state didnt go to a bowl game. ANd Wake Forest and USC won thier conferences.

 

A lot of teams run with the 12 games in a row. The bye could be usefull a little earlier, but it is more or less par for the course in the big 12.

Didnt ball state go to a bowl game against Troy and got dominated? jw

[admo]

A bye week during season is good for players & coaches. For fans, it's week in and week out baby!

There's a lot of money to be made for that extra home game I guess. It also gives an extra win like this past season, which can help camoflauge the success.

[strigori]

No one will say anything about our non conference opponents. Only Ball state didnt go to a bowl game. ANd Wake Forest and USC won thier conferences.

 

A lot of teams run with the 12 games in a row. The bye could be usefull a little earlier, but it is more or less par for the course in the big 12.

Didnt ball state go to a bowl game against Troy and got dominated? jw

Troy beat Rice in the bowl game. Ball State finnished 5-7(5-3MAC)

[Sugalean]

Just stay away from the the Div 1-AA games. No need to play em. Let the KSUs of the world handle those teams like Nichols St.

 

Now we had a chance to play Houston in a great opportunity to showcase our program in the heart of recruiting dreamland. We turned it down. But it was a great opportunity when we played in Dallas this yr and the staff said the same thing I thought about the Houston game. Sometimes I'm baffled by our thinking.

[NUpolo8]

I don't think we have been mocked lately, because we played 4 top ten teams this year(if you count the bowl game) and one of them was in the non-con. scedule. And they defenitally will not mock us this upcoming season because we play both Wake Forest and USC. Believe it or not you are not going to find a much tougher non-conf. scedule, if there is one any tougher. So chill out, I swear people are looking for reasons to get pissed off these days.

 

We haven't been mocked lately because "we" don't matter. An unranked team, never does. "We" do not need to further the stereotype of only being able to win against the likes of Ball st. And yes, they suck. Alot

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

I have no problem with playing Ball St. or other "cupcakes". It's good for two things: One, you can use games like these to fine tune somethings that have probably been giving us some problems. Two, younger players get a chance to get in the game and the coaches can see what they can do, possibly earning a chance to play more during the rest of the season. But thats just my opinion. No, Nicholls St was probably not an ideal opponent to face the weak before the USC game this last year. But it did give our guys a chance to work on fundamentals during game situations.

[WarTeddy]

Didn't Ball State almost upset highly overrated Michigan last season? And no one gave any grief to Michigan for playing them. Because Michigan was sooooooooo good because they beat a highly talented Notre Dame team. lol Well we saw how they fell in the Bowls. lol I have yet to see a Michigan fan on any forums complaining they should have been playing Ohio St now. lol But I bet Ohio St wishes they did play Michigan again. lol What comes around goes around. lol

 

You guys will be fine and I think you'll at the very least be better than you were last season. Beat USC in Lincoln and you'd made your statement. Texas and Oklahoma are beatable. WaKe Forrest played in a conference with no defense. Your defense will stop them. You guys do have a tough schedule and if you're winning, you'll get your respect. Not to mention Texas A&M and Oklahoma St can sneak up on anyone. Texas Tech as well. Tough tough tough schedule.

 

On the other hand, most of Auburn's tough SEC games are on the road. At LSU, Florida, Georgia ect. We have our work cut out for us. We just have a hard time finding tough out of conference opponents that want to play us. Thats why it sucks we have to settle for the lesser schools to fill our schedule. Doesn't help our strength of schedule. All we have to lean on is our tough conference. Thank God Florida smashed Ohio St to hopefully keep the respect on how tough the SEC conference really is with all the speed in the south and great defenses. Would Troy Smith been a Heisman winner if he had to go against the SEC defenses week in and week out? Our pitiful QB Brandon Cox put up better numbers against Florida than Troy Smith. Sure makes you wonder if the Media is comparing apples to apples when they select candidates for the Heisman. That QB from Hawaii had amazing stats. Surpassed every Div 1 QB by miles. Not even close to being a candidate for Heisman.

 

Even though we had two losses. We were the only team to defeat Florida and we defeated LSU holding them to only 3 pts. However we have no excuse for losing to Arkansas and Georgia at home mind you. Yet Notre Dame gets in the BCS having beaten nobody.

 

I stand by my opinion that the SEC and the Big 12 are the two toughest conferences in the land. I think it's hard to dispute it. Maybe the Big East is third. Notice how close the games were between the Big 12 and SEC and when we played other conferences they were blow outs. Including LSU's stomping of Notre Dame. Texas Tech had to come from 31 points down to beat MInnesota.

 

The Big 10 darlings and Notre Dame Stunk it up embarassing the Media and ESPN. I loved it. Wisconsin did beat Arkansas. Maybe Wisconsin was the better Big 10 team going unnoticed under the radar. Penn St beat Tennesse. Go figure. lol

 

Sorry guys, its a Sunday morning , its near zero degrees and I am just rambling from cabin fever. lol

 

 

Go gettem HUSKERS and WARRRRRRR EAGLE!!!!!

[Hunter94]

there is no doubt, in my mnd......the SEC is the toughest conference in college football.....period