Big Ten Releases (Tentative) Football Schedule
The Big Ten now has a schedule should football happen this fall.
After putting this announcement off at least once, the conference released a full slate of ten games per team, starting "as early as" the weekend of September 5th.
The football schedule starts as early as the weekend of Sept. 5 with final games slated for Nov. 21 to align with academic calendars. The Big Ten Football Championship Game remains scheduled for Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium, though it could be moved as late as Dec. 19. pic.twitter.com/vWp3OSifBc
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) August 5, 2020
So you don't have to squint, here's your extremely tentative Michigan schedule:
Sep. 5: Purdue
Sep. 12: at Minnesota
Sep. 19: Penn State
Sep. 26: at Rutgers
Oct. 3: Michigan State
Oct. 10: Bye
Oct. 17: at Indiana
Oct. 24: at Ohio State
Oct. 31: Wisconsin
Nov. 7: Maryland
Nov. 14: Bye
Nov. 21: at Northwestern
It's hard to say "plan accordingly" when those dates are quite fluid. A couple notes, though I'm honestly not going to spend a ton of time breaking down a schedule I'm very skeptical will be played:
- Michigan does not play: Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. Ohio State gets to avoid both Minnesota and Wisconsin, which must be nice.
- Hypothetically, the Big Ten finally fixed the issue where Michigan plays both Michigan State and Ohio State on the road every year by flipping this season's MSU game to Michigan Stadium. An altered or lost season would be the ideal time to get this right, so hopefully they keep the new order in future schedules whether or not this one is played.
- Yes, they moved The Game up to the week before Halloween. You're going to have a hard time convincing me that's for any reason other than "we'd like to play this game before the pandemic halts the season." A number of traditional rivalry games (Minnesota-Wisconsin, Iowa-Nebraska, Iowa-Minnesota, Illinois-Northwestern, MSU-Rutgers) are scheduled prior to November.
- Going to Indiana the week before heading to Columbus is the trappiest of trap games.
- Ending this absurd season with a potential M00N II is all too fitting.
Stay tuned to see if, uh, any of this actually happens.
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That is actually quite a brutal schedule for us. Per usual.
Good. Good teams don't think about how difficult a schedule is. They just play.
I know that is going to cause a lot of eye-rolling but its true. When you're a good football team and you know it, you should have the confidence in yourself to play anyone, anywhere, any time. No questions asked.
I think back to the 2014 World Cup where Germany was in the "group of death" with Portugal, USA, and Ghana. All they did was win the group handily (4-0 Portugal, 2-2 Ghana, 1-0 USA) then go on to win the whole damn thing. I remember the general sentiment from German fans and players alike was, "We're in the group of death?... K."
One should always have confidence in one's abilities. Fake it till you make it, if you must.
I mean sure. I doubt that the players are complaining. As a fan, I definitely think about how hard the schedule is. We could feasibly go 5-5.
That is, if they finish the season, which is imo about a 0% chance of happening. I'm not even convinced the season will start at all.
The men's soccer world cup is a pretty poor analogy, though. The world soccer federation (FIFA) makes a half-hearted attempt to seed the teams, and then conducts a public, random drawing to determine the groups based on those seeds.
Was either effort made here (seeding, public randomization)? Clearly not.
I like your 2014 World Cup analogy. The problem is that Ohio State is Germany—tons of recent success, loaded roster, constantly gets a favorable whistle, long history of being assholes to the rest of the world.
UM's the United States.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:59 AM ^
Except that we're a lot better historically (and recently) than the U.S. soccer team. If this were FIFA we'd be getting a better draw.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
Ha! You're right, UM's more in the England/Argentina/Portugal/Netherlands range--traditional powerhouses always good enough to break you heart.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
I agree with this. OSU is the Germany of the Big Ten. Poor analogy, granted. I still stand by my original statement. I think it's pretty clear that OSU has gotten in the heads of the players a bit. The mental errors on the defensive side of the ball last year feel like evidence of it. I hope our team can have more confidence when/if they play this year.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
The difficulty of a schedule has nothing to do with confidence. Having all the confidence in the world doesn't change how good your opponents are. Germany won because they were better than those other teams. I think we can all remember confident Michigan teams who got blasted by better opponents.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
I think back to the 2014 World Cup where Germany was in the "group of death" with Portugal, USA, and Ghana
I don't think too many people in Germany regarded that as a group of death. They were clearly the best team. The "death" part was more for the other three teams, which were roughly comparable.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:17 AM ^
It's not a confidence issue; it's a practical one. I'm sure OSU is really confident they're a "good football team"; they also get to skip playing the two best teams in the West while UM gets both of them. ND made the playoffs two years ago in part because they were good and part because they played 6 teams with winning records (and only two on the road); Michigan played 8 (including 4 on the road). The who, what, where, when, and how of scheduling is immensely important, and can oftentimes matter quite a bit.
Yes, Michigan might not be all that great this year regardless of scheduling. But on the off chance some version of a season happens this year they're facing down a pretty rough looking slate.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:42 AM ^
To be fair, OSU seems to have more problems with Purdue and Iowa than they do Wisconsin.
Yup. Since 2012, vs. OSU & PSU...
UM: 4-11
Wisconsin: 0-12
Ladies & gentlemen, the B1G West!
August 5th, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
Ah, bull shit. Take one look at Bama’s schedule the last ten years and the OOC body bag games timed just right and tell me there isn’t schedule management in there to keep the team healthy.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:36 AM ^
As has been noted by others in the board thread...THIS IS THE EXACT SAME B1G SCHEDULE AS PRE-COVID with NW added. It is difficult but many pundits suspected that Iowa would be our 10th B1G game.
Yes, OSU and PSU have an easier crossover schedule -- but it seems rational that when the schedule was made years ago that IA/NU would be considered near equivalent to UW/UMinn. Even if it was decided post Frost/Fleck, it is still understandable given the Frost hype and skepticism by many re: Fleck's ceiling and longevity at Minny.
As for the Schedule itself -- Nice to get MSU/OSU separated (as noted by others) for season ticket reasons if nothing else. Nice to get the early season B1G gauntlet spread out a bit. Nice to see NW as the added game and not Iowa. Even nicer to see Bateman sitting out at Minnesota -- (Parsons would be a loss for PSU but I had that chalked up as a win before the rumors) -- hopefully Fields and some of the other first rounders at OSU sit out as well. I think the only risk on the M side is Nico and I feel this season is his chance to prove he is a day one or two pick and thus he is likely to stay.
August 6th, 2020 at 11:58 PM ^
Is Parsons an official opt-out or rumored?
One month from today....Please happen football, please!!!
I'm just sitting over here laughing to myself because after YEARS of wanting to invite my Purdue grad friend to the big house but Michigan not, you know... playing Purdue in the big house...
We're now playing Purdue in the Big House (maybe), during a pandemic (certainly), with minimal fans (probably).
August 5th, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
*zero fans
I'm pretty sure Michigan plays Indiana the week before OSU in most seasons. They just did last year.
And UM never loses to IU. It's sometimes closer than it should be, but UM always wins.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
Games the week before OSU under Harbaugh
2015 @ Penn State
2016 Indiana
2017 @ Wisconsin
2018 Indiana
2019 @ Indiana
2020 @ Indiana
Granted, OSU hasn't had it a ton better, but they've gotten games against Illinois and Maryland in previous years before playing us
I think we literally have the worst schedule possible playing the top 2 west foes and all the east foes. PSU missed Wiscy & Minney. OSU the same. Which in turn means Wiscy & Minney also don't have to play PSU or OSU. :/.
Oh well, it will never all happen.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
Only thing that could've been worse is us having to play at Iowa instead of northwestern
Still far and away the hardest in the conference, yet again
August 5th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
But don't forget that Peyton Ramsey grad transferred to NW, so they will be better than they were last year.
under 'normal' circumstances, I see 9 UM wins in this schedule... hell, I might as well say 10 wins!... since its a pipe dream anyway
If it takes losing a season to get MSU and OSU off the same Home/Away schedule then it will have been worth it.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:00 AM ^
I'm tired of hearing about this. MSU played both OSU and UM on the road last year. They don't bitch about it like UM fans do. It's an overused excuse. Plus MSU sucks now so who cares were UM plays them.
Nice that I will be over the OSU loss before Thanksgiving this year.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
They don't bitch about it because by that point in the season, they've already lost to Illinois and Nebraska and are just mentally checked out
Makes infinitely more sense to stagger your top two rivals in terms of ticket sales and interest
Once Wisconsin is off the schedule, basically the only interesting home game is Penn State or OSU. This at least gives us two games worth getting up for in non OSU years
August 5th, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
Funnily enough my State fan friends are just as excited about this for the exact same reasons, no more PSU being the best game on the home slate every other year.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
I rarely see people here using it as an "excuse", just that it's a stupid thing to have to deal with ticketing wise for both UM and MSU.
For us, OSU is always going to be the most popular game on the schedule, while MSU is always going to be the 2nd or 3rd most popular game on the schedule.
For MSU, UM is always going to be the most popular game on the schedule, while OSU is always going to be the 2nd most popular game on the schedule.
Having both game be 100% one way or the other just creates a feast or famine situation for season ticket holders of both schools.
Having them double up on trips to Ann Arbor is good since it fixes an issue that both schools were having with almost no downside.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^
The people that complain the most are season ticket holders and since I live in Sparty-land I can tell you that they DO complain about the fact that every other year is a terrible schedule.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:47 AM ^
Oh, MSU fans do bitch about this. Flipping the UM/MSU game resolves the issue for both teams.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:23 AM ^
When MSU was good they absolutely complained about having to play both UM and OSU on the road in alternating years. The notion that UM fans are overly sensitive to shitty scheduling is weird; every fanbase complains about it when they think it hurts them.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
I just don't understand this in any way. This mattered when Dantonio had an excellent program 5 years ago. It does not at all matter today.
MSU is bad, and they are going to get much worse. Tucker has a terrible recruiting class, he's going to get murdered all year, which will lead to another awful recruiting class next year. Depleted roster plus two bad recruiting classes means at least several years of bad. Can you be awful 3 years in a row in today's college football and survive? I don't think so.
MSU is not a team that needs to be accommodated in the schedule in any way. PSU does, and is.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:49 AM ^
It's not about how good they are. MSU is a rivalry game, regardless of their record. Our home schedule should include a rivalry game every year. (I can guarantee you our ticket office shares this sentiment.) That's how it was for decades before 2014 when the league screwed it up.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
I recognize that, but the primary angst around these parts for years has been the "brutal" nature of playing both on the road in even years.
And even in terms of rivalry, PSU will be bigger over the next 5 years than MSU. It's basically the game for the right to face OSU. It's a huge national game. MSU on the other hand, not even Sparty fans really care about the program right now. If Tucker does something they'll all flock back, but I don't expect he'll be able to. So even in-state the PSU game is going to be a bigger rivalry. Yes I know in terms of tradition it's still MSU, but in practice it's PSU all the way. This applies to season ticket attractiveness as well - I'd much rather have OSU/PSU as the anchors in alternating seasons than OSU/MSU.
The truest example of fantasy football. Most of these games are not going to happen. Heck, I would not be surprised if not a single game is played this year.
Why not just make OSU Michigan go first if they're so worried about playing it in November?
August 5th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
I'm guessing it doesn't matter and the whole season is canceled.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:21 AM ^
I would be down for that if we went to an intra-division only schedule. Playing The Game to start and finish the season would have been fun.
Otherwise, play some games so both teams know more about themselves.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
This is probably cynical of me but I assume they did the math and figured the largest COVID spikes would likely occur early in the season (and hence guys might need to be quarantined and miss games), so they're waiting it out a bit. I'm sure their thinking is when we're forced to cancel some early games because 1/3 of a team tested positive, there's still a chance if the season keeps going that there will be less volatility around late October.
I actually agree with this take. It would also nullify the preparation advantage OSU has been willing to leverage against Michigan since Harbaugh was hired.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:08 PM ^
both teams always have the same amount of time to prepare?
No they don't. OSU has better players and only one rival it needs to be ready for. Hence, it can get away with overemphasizing The Game while getting through the conference with at most one loss (to a non-rival). Michigan has 2 rivals (3 if you count Notre Dame), and is playing with a talent disadvantage. For Michigan to spend the same time preparing for OSU would mean risking losses to 2+ B1G teams that Michigan should otherwise beat. At best, Michigan would be reducing itself down to OSU spoiler rather than contender for the division. Penn State would be sending yearly fruit baskets to the athletic department.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
So we draw both Minnesota and Wisconsin, while OSU and PSU get neither. Yup, it's a Big 10 schedule!
Granted, there's about a 10% chance this entire thing gets played, so this is mostly theoretical griping.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
Are fall camps underway? How do you expect games to be played in 31 days?
August 5th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
It would have to start next week to get the full 3 weeks in before game week.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
Camps start Friday.
August 5th, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
I'm certainly ok with getting OSU and MSU off the same rotation. That said, I can't shake the feeling that the fans are getting jobbed. If there is a season this year, odds are high that games will be played without fans in the stadium. If there is a semblance of normalcy in 2021, MSU could have a home game with fans while Michigan will be going on back to back years without a true home game.
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