Stewart Mandel

[mmmtodd]

i just think we know less about both of our schedules at this oint than we did 3 weeks ago. The argument could go either way, but va tech has looked like crap. Who knows where theyll end up. Who knows where our big 12 opponents will end up. But im putting my money on the teams from the 12 against anything boises foes will muster up throughout the rest of the year.

[TMagic]

This year will make the strongest case for a playoff ever.

[cHUSKERis]

Just an interesting article that the Nebraska Cornhusker's page on Facebook posted. HERE is the actual link.

At a 2009 congressional hearing about the BCS, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, whose home-state Utes had finished the previous season 13-0 but had no shot at playing for a national title, asked Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman (then chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee) what more Utah could have done to prove its merits.

"They could have played the schedule Nebraska played," Perlman replied.

 

Condescending as the comment was, few could have disputed the notion that a team from the lesser-regarded Mountain West didn't play the same level of competition as a team from the Big 12 like Perlman's Huskers. Certainly not in that 2008 season, in which the Big 12 produced five teams that finished in the top 20.

But is that still the case in 2010?

 

With debate raging over Boise State's schedule and merits of playing in the BCS championship game, it's worth revisiting Perlman's statement. Would the Broncos -- or TCU or Utah, for that matter -- really prove that much more by playing Nebraska's 2010 schedule?

 

So far, No. 3 Boise State has beaten two ranked foes (Virginia Tech and Oregon State). If No. 25 Nevada continues its torrid play over the next two months, the Broncos could well face a third ranked team on Nov. 26. Meanwhile, the sixth-ranked Huskers could feasibly end up playing ... none.

 

Having opened the season with wins over heavyweights Western Kentucky (0-4), Idaho (2-2), Washington (1-2) and FCS member South Dakota State, the Huskers open Big 12 play next Thursday at 4-0 Kansas State, which is currently listed among the "others receiving votes" in both major polls. Nebraska's marquee game figured to come the following week against Texas, but the Longhorns' disastrous 34-12 loss to UCLA last week may have ruined that possibility. Texas plummeted from seventh to 21st in the AP poll, and it's fair to assume the 'Horns will drop out completely if they fall to No. 8 Oklahoma this weekend.

 

The Sooners, mind you, do not appear on Nebraska's regular-season schedule. Nor does any other team currently ranked in the AP Top 25. Missouri (which visits Nebraska on Oct. 30) and Oklahoma State (which the Huskers visit the week before) check in at Nos. 23 and 24, respectively, in the coaches' poll. If the Huskers run the table, they'd almost certainly face a ranked foe in the Big 12 title game. Beyond that, however, there are no guarantees.

 

Boise State's strength of schedule currently ranks 30th according to Jerry Palm's formula on CollegeBCS.com. Nebraska's ranks 96th. Obviously, that will change dramatically over the coming months when the Broncos face six WAC teams currently ranked lower than any of the Huskers' remaining foes. In terms of "body of work," there's little chance Boise will finish with a higher SOS than nearly any BCS-conference team, which is precisely the point Perlman was making and which so many fans of power-conference teams are using to discredit the Broncos' title merits.

 

But let's not kid ourselves. Nebraska, which most would assume a shoe-in for Glendale should it finish 13-0, is hardly staring down the same gauntlet as a team like Alabama, which has faced two ranked foes already (then-No. 18 Penn State and then-No. 10 Arkansas) and will face at least four more presently ranked teams (No. 7 Florida, No. 20 South Carolina, No. 12 LSU and No. 10 Auburn) by season's end; or Ohio State, which previously beat then-No. 12 Miami and has No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 22 Penn State, No. 17 Iowa and No. 19 Michigan still ahead. Boise State would have no realistic argument over either team if all three finished undefeated.

 

A popular argument among Boise detractors is that while the Broncos may be capable of beating any given team on any given week, they wouldn't survive the eight-week grind of a major-conference schedule. That may be true, but it's entirely hypothetical. The only thing we can say with reasonable certainty is that Boise would be at least a touchdown favorite against every team on Nebraska's schedule, save Texas.

 

Fortunately for Nebraska, this may be the last year it ever has to worry about detractors of its schedule. Upon joining the Big Ten next season, the Huskers will be assured of at least two to three (if not more) games against ranked opponents, particularly if they reach the league title game. In future years they have home-and-homes with UCLA, Miami and Tennessee.

 

In the meantime, Boise will deal with the unavoidable reality that, despite what Perlman said, it doesn't have the option to play Nebraska's schedule. This year, at least, it really shouldn't need to.

[Apathy]

Steward Mandal forgot about the part where Virginia Tech lost to James Madision

 

SERIOUSLY if Boise State goes undefeated they should not play in the BCS National Championship game. If Texas was in Boise States position everybody would be upset if they went undefeated with that schedule and then play in the MNC over teams like Michigan, tOSU, OU, USC, Oregon who play tougher schedules.

[sd'sker]

Steward Mandal forgot about the part where Virginia Tech lost to James Madision

 

SERIOUSLY if Boise State goes undefeated they should not play in the BCS National Championship game. If Texas was in Boise States position everybody would be upset if they went undefeated with that schedule and then play in the MNC over teams like Michigan, tOSU, OU, USC, Oregon who play tougher schedules.

the issue for me me is that there are probably 3 big 12 teams that could go through bsu's schedule undefeated. so are they good enough to be in the championship game?

[Apathy]

Steward Mandal forgot about the part where Virginia Tech lost to James Madision

 

SERIOUSLY if Boise State goes undefeated they should not play in the BCS National Championship game. If Texas was in Boise States position everybody would be upset if they went undefeated with that schedule and then play in the MNC over teams like Michigan, tOSU, OU, USC, Oregon who play tougher schedules.

the issue for me me is that there are probably 3 big 12 teams that could go through bsu's schedule undefeated. so are they good enough to be in the championship game?

I agree. Why should Universities like Nebraska, OU, Michigan, tOSU work their arses off and play tougher schedules when they should pull a Boise State and play weaker schedules if it meant an easier road to the BCS MNC.

[irafreak]

Sigh.....The wac has 2 undefeated teams. The big12 has 4.

Wac also has 3 teams with only one win and one winless team....the worst we have are two loss teams. Across the board right now we are better overall. Not going to believe the WAC is a stronger conference than the big 12. We have 3 ranked teams they have 2.

 

The Big 12 ranks 48th in points scored per game....the WAC 60th.

The big 12 ranks 39th in points allowed per game....the WAC 80th (their best team is ranked 38th)

 

Now as to the argument that the season may end with us not playing any ranked teams....possible but unlikely and it's simply the way the schedule was laid out. OSU could lose tonight and play us unranked and by the time we face AM they may be unranked. It's bogus. VT is no longer ranked. Cal is no longer ranked. Texas may not be ranked by the time we face them. OU may slip up before the title game. The media becomes way too obsessed with wins over ranked (at the moment) teams. VT beats boise they may have beaten james madison the next week and be a top 5 team. They may finish strong in the top 10 who knows. I realize writers have to make stories and talk about new things but this one seems silly to me.

[Army Husker]

If tonight's game between Okie Lite and aTm is good and the winner looks impressive, they might be ranked next week. So suck on that you smurf turf punks

oklahoma state is ranked 24 in the Usa today poll I'm going to root for Okie state I guess

Well, aTm looked good in the first half, now Okie Lite is looking good...

[UGAHusker]

Let Boise or TCU go to the Nat'l Championship game this year. Let them get stomped. Never worry about "BCS Busters" again.

[JTrain]

Don't let the local media fool you... Nebraska had a chance to play Boise in Lincoln next year scot-free and didn't want anything to do with a Senior Kellen Moore. Osborne thought the schedule was tough enough as is, and that's fine.

 

Now, Boise's schedule will probably end up in the 50-60 range, while Nebraska's should be in the 40-50 range. Of course, a lot of unpredictable outcomes can occur to change that over the next two months, but that's about how it's looking right now. The important thing to remember though, is that doesn't matter. With everyone being computer-rankings-phopic a couple years back, the BCS changed the formula so that the computers only account for 1/3 of the total ranking. Which means if one team leads another in both polls, it's going to take a huge difference in the computers to change that. So if Nebraska and Boise were both undefeated and competing for that #2 spot in early December, Nebraska would need to jump Boise in the human polls. Beating a top 10 OU team in the CCG would likely be enough.

[corncraze]

And he singles us out because?

[commando]

Don't let the local media fool you... Nebraska had a chance to play Boise in Lincoln next year scot-free and didn't want anything to do with a Senior Kellen Moore. Osborne thought the schedule was tough enough as is, and that's fine.

 

 

 

really? i thought boise wanted $1mil and we only would pay $800k so they declined.

[JTrain]

The money was never the issue. You're fooling yourself if you think Nebraska cares about the difference between 800K and 1M. They make over $5M per home game. Heck, ESPN supposedly even offered to pay the difference in return for being able to carry the game in the time slot of their choosing. The real issue was Nebraska not wanting to add a game of this caliber with decent OOC games against Washington and Fresno already set, especially with the Nebraska QB situation being a big mystery (at the time of the initial talks, Lee was the expected starter for '10, leaving the '11 picture a crapshoot) and Boise returning one of the nation's top players for his senior season (Moore).

 

Not wanting to look bad, Nebraska made a PR stunt by offering Boise a 2 and 1 series (with no money exchanged) they knew Boise would turn down (the deal would be worth about $10M for Nebraska vs. $2M for Boise). Then someone in the media (Shatel) falls for the ploy and hundreds of thousands of OWH readers follow suit.

[mnhusker]

1) Tell Boise to stop wussing out, and sign the contract to play Nebraska. We have offered, they keep saying no....

2) 70 (Boise's SOS) - 58 (NU's SOS) = 12 Divided By 120 1-A Teams = NU's schedule is 10% better than Boise. While that is nothing to write home about, I would feel very comfortable stating that Boise would definitely not go undefeated with a schedule that was 10% stronger.

3) Who cares...it is waaay to early in the season to start worrying. Too many upsets on their way....

4) :throwdabones1:

 

 

I may be wrong but I think that the difference between a 58 and 70 is pretty big. Consider the diffence between the top 5 and the teams rated 15-20. Oh and 58 is not much to brag about. They do need to try and get more Wyoming, Colorado State and these types of teams to sure up the schedule.

[papersun87]

Mandel is an unapologetic Bronco supporter. I love the guy but he blatantly pulls for them.

 

If Texas upsets Oklahoma we'll play a ranked Texas and a ranked Oklahoma State. Kind of surprised Kansas State hasn't slipped into the rankings yet, either, even though they're pathetic. I doubt the Big 12 South Champion will be unranked at the end of the season, either, whoever it turns out to be.