November 6th, 2012 at 2:56 PM ^
*Yawn* Neither BYU nor Arkansas interest me at all, and I actually have family in Arkansas. (Yes, they each have all of their teeth and, no, they do not fly the Rebel flag off their front porch.)
November 6th, 2012 at 4:15 PM ^
November 6th, 2012 at 4:49 PM ^
I do know one thing that is a lock....
November 6th, 2012 at 5:11 PM ^
November 6th, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^
replacing ND with teams of equal reputation or attractiveness. Oregon State is a decent program right now, but they can't come close to the star power of ND, and Colorado has become a sad joke. Utah? Zzzzzz
I'm fine with Arkansas; I've got family down there so it could be an excuse to go visit them.
According to a Georgia football blog I've just been on, they still have open dates in 2014, 2015, and 2016, but I guess we didn't want any part of them.
November 6th, 2012 at 6:06 PM ^
November 7th, 2012 at 11:00 AM ^
Were on the schedule before Notre Dame ended the series, right?
November 6th, 2012 at 7:52 PM ^
Some Mahon with a nice tempranillo would be great, thanks.
November 7th, 2012 at 11:29 AM ^
Michigan's current schedule rotation has UM playing Nebraska and Ohio State both at home during the odd number years and on the road in the even numbered years.
The scheduling agreement with Arkansas will even out the relative schedule strength because that game will be in Ann Arbor in 2018 when the UN-L and OSU games are on the road. UM then plays in Fayetteville in 2019 when the Nebraska and Ohio State games being played at Michigan Stadium.
Keep that aspect of this in mind when you're critiquing the decision Brandon made for this home-and-home contest beause evening up the strength of schedule between home and road sites was a problem Michigan had dealing with Notre Dame. Arkansas may have been the best option available and since their AD Jeff Long has ties to Michigan, he may also have been the best person to deal with on getting a ND replacement.
Also of interest is that the two games with Arkansas will be season openers played on Saturdays -- 1 September 2018 in Ann Arbor and 31 August 2019 in Fayetteville. See http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=6100&ATCLI…;
Given the stature of the two programs, that game will probably be one that is highlighted in the preseason and might also be one that is moved to a prime time viewing slot--"Under the Lights with the Arkansas Razorbacks" could be the 2018 season opener.
Assuming the scheduling rotation holds, the 2018 season will mean Michigan has home games with Arkansas, Michigan State, Northwestern and Iowa and road games at Minnesota, at Nebraska and at Ohio State (and vice versa in 2019). Michigan plays Wisconsin and Illinois in the 2015/6 rotation, so it's likely we'll see some sort of combination of Penn State, Purdue and Indiana in the 2017/8 seasons.