Predicted SOS - thanks Bucky

[knapplc]

Better games are a two-edged sword. They're more fun to watch, but they increase your chances of losing dramatically. Losses = no chance to play for national championships, so you're taking a big risk scheduling tough opponents all the time.

 

Husker fans have been clamoring for tougher non-con schedules for a while now, and they're about to find out what you get when you schedule tougher teams. This year, with this Husker team, will be rocky. Our OOC this year, and the next several years:

 

2012

Southern Miss

@UCLA

Arkansas State

Idaho State

 

2013

Wyoming

@Southern Miss (most likely in New Orleans in the Superdome)

UCLA

South Dakota State

 

2014

Florida Atlantic

Open Date

@Fresno State

Miami

 

2015

BYU

South Alabama

@Miami

Southern Miss

 

2016

Fresno State

Tennessee

Wyoming

Open Date

 

2015 and 2016 in particular figure to be tough years, since we'll rotate Wisconsin back onto the schedule. Title runs in either year will be difficult.

[The Dude]

BYU and Southern Miss are the types of teams that we should be playing in the non-con. Kind of like Fresno State and Warshington last season. They're good enough that they're actually going to prepare you for the season, but not good enough to likely give you a mark in the Loss column.

[knapplc]

BYU and Southern Miss are the types of teams that we should be playing in the non-con. Kind of like Fresno State and Warshington last season. They're good enough that they're actually going to prepare you for the season, but not good enough to likely give you a mark in the Loss column.

 

That's presuming we're good enough to beat them. North Dakota a couple of years ago and Fresno last year were nailbiter games.

[The Dude]

BYU and Southern Miss are the types of teams that we should be playing in the non-con. Kind of like Fresno State and Warshington last season. They're good enough that they're actually going to prepare you for the season, but not good enough to likely give you a mark in the Loss column.

 

That's presuming we're good enough to beat them. North Dakota a couple of years ago and Fresno last year were nailbiter games.

Even if we're not good enough to beat a BYU/Fresno/Southern Miss type team, at least we've still learned something lol. I've never understood what you learn about your team by curb stomping a (as you would say) Division II team, or a low end Sun Belt squad.

[HuskerInLostWages]

Going with The Dude here. You learn early about what you have and possibly what to expect during the season. The first few games are made to work things out but that 1 non-con team that we play a year should be decent enough to give us a test. I don't think it helps these kids to play pushovers as it seems these kids always get their heads full of they can run over these lesser teams and they don't have to work for conference play. This all leads to a failure or as I call it, the Bo Blow Out, or the one game we should easily win and come out looking like complete dumbarses.

[knapplc]

The "play tougher non-con schedules to learn about your team" idea flies in the face of the last six BCS Champions, all from the SEC, all of whom played predominantly weak non-con schedules.

[EZ-E]

My predictions, one is slightly on the bold side is that Notre Dame will win 9 games this year.

 

The next, Michigan will lose to Bama (duh?), and Notre Dame on the road.

[The Dude]

The "play tougher non-con schedules to learn about your team" idea flies in the face of the last six BCS Champions, all from the SEC, all of whom played predominantly weak non-con schedules.

I'm not advocating a tough schedule, just some teams that will give us a game. Besides, Alabama played Penn State, who's traditionally a lot tougher than any non-con team we've played in quite some time.

[knapplc]

That's one game. We've been scheduling one decent game as well. There was no way to predict Washington would fall off a cliff when we scheduled them. Also, we're dealing with the vestiges of the "Save Bill Callahan's Job By Stocking The Non-Con With Patsies" schedule. As I outlined above, that changes. Heck, it changed this year.

 

Besides - we played the toughest schedule in a decade last year. And this year's is tougher yet. We're doing OK, schedule-wise.

[The Dude]

That's one game. We've been scheduling one decent game as well. There was no way to predict Washington would fall off a cliff when we scheduled them. Also, we're dealing with the vestiges of the "Save Bill Callahan's Job By Stocking The Non-Con With Patsies" schedule. As I outlined above, that changes. Heck, it changed this year.

 

Besides - we played the toughest schedule in a decade last year. And this year's is tougher yet. We're doing OK, schedule-wise.

Yes, we are doing OK, schedule wise. That's why I commented on it.

[Foppa]

Wow...wonder what the team will look like in 2015? Because they'll have to be pretty good to go through that gauntlet unscathed. I think this is the last year NU plays tOSU until 2017 if I'm not mistaken, wonder what they'll look like in 5 years, off of sanctions and under Meyer.

[tschu]

Boise won't be that good this season, they lost nearly everyone

They don't have to be good, they just have to be better than teams like New Mexico State, UNLV, Colorado State, Hawaii, and so on and so forth.

Boise will lose to MSU and will lose probably 2-3 more games after that, mark my words

[NUance]

BYU and Southern Miss are the types of teams that we should be playing in the non-con. Kind of like Fresno State and Warshington last season. They're good enough that they're actually going to prepare you for the season, but not good enough to likely give you a mark in the Loss column.

 

That's presuming we're good enough to beat them. North Dakota a couple of years ago and Fresno last year were nailbiter games.

I think you mean South Dakota State. Craig Bohl coaches at North Dakota. And we haven't played them. At least anytime lately.

[RedDenver]

Wow...wonder what the team will look like in 2015? Because they'll have to be pretty good to go through that gauntlet unscathed. I think this is the last year NU plays tOSU until 2017 if I'm not mistaken, wonder what they'll look like in 5 years, off of sanctions and after Meyer.

Fixed it for ya.

[ladyhawke]

BYU and Southern Miss are the types of teams that we should be playing in the non-con. Kind of like Fresno State and Warshington last season. They're good enough that they're actually going to prepare you for the season, but not good enough to likely give you a mark in the Loss column.

This made me smile. My mom always says, 'Warshington' with an /r/. Gotta love Midwest dialect