Brandon: Aggressively seeking "Big Games" in future football scheduling

Screw these neutral site games. The only neutral site games I want Michigan in are the B1G Championship Game, good bowl games and FBS National Championship Playoff.

Until they let all major conference champions into a bona fide playoff system, scheduling games like this is playoff suicide.  Fans here are already referring to the Big Ten schedule as "brutal," but those same fans want to see matchups like the one this week.  Meanwhile, the teams that scheduled three or four tomato cans are going to get the limited berths currently available.

As long as DB doesn't consider Utah to be "a notch above some of the things we’ve done in the past" I will be pleased.  There must be a way to increase revenue from these big games that is lost by not having them at the Big House.

I would love to go back to the days of UM playing better non-cons.  I can remember days of playing ND and sometimes 2 other teams from big conferences.  Seeing ND and 3 body bag games gets kind of boring.  The only thing that sucks is when you sign a deal with a team so far out in the future, and then 8 years later when the game actually rolls around they stink.  I guess you could stick to playing only truly elite programs, something Ohio has actually done pretty well when you consider their home and homes with USC, Texas, Miami (YTM), and Virginia Tech and Oklahoma in future years.  However, we are all too familiar that even that can go wrong (see Mich 2008-2010, Oklahoma 1994-1999, Texas in 2010, Ohio last year, et al.)

I dont mind Nuetral site games at all.....I kind of wish each year a power conference team could host a huge game remotely close to home.

I mean we have games in Dallas, Atlanta.....why not have a Big 10 team play at Lucas Oil/Ford Field for an opener and a pac 12 team play a huge game in Seattle at their stadium up there.

If anything at least some of the major college teams would be at least willing to play in huge nonconference games.

Home and home with Georgia and home and home with LSU, arguably the biggest name opponent Michigan has never ever played.

The Volunteers are 1up on us I believe and I have lots of buddies whos faces id love to shove a W in

Henceforth, I respectfully propose that non-conference games vs. "snacky cakes" be redubbed "Little Debbies" in honour of Denard's favorite snack food.

I'm all for this, as long as DB doesn't consider the likes of Oregon State or Colorado to be "high-profile." Get Georgia or FSU up here. I'd love to see a game under the lights against them.

would be AWESOME....

Michigan will soon announce a neutral-site game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. The following season the Wolverines will face off against the Irish National Rugby team on the surface of the moon.

Brand name teams without premiere opponents already scheduled in 2017-2019:

USC (Texas in 17/18 but no one in 19/20.  Awesome home-and-home if it could be scheduled to replace ND the first of those years.)

UCLA is also free in all those years.

In the SEC, Arkansas, Georgia, and Tennessee all have 2018-19 openings.

In the ACC, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech, and (maybe) FSU are available.

The two big guns in the Big 12 are full up, but Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and West Virginia have space.

BYU is probably always open to scheduling home-and-homes given the issues with being an independent.  (Idaho would probably be willing to play a 3-1 home-away split given all the issues they're going to have scheduling, but, um, pass.)

In my mind, USC is perfect except the years don't align right for ND, so we'd need a one-off in 2018 (or two premiere games in 2019.)

Any of the SEC schools, Clemson, or FSU would be my preferred if USC doesn't work.  If I were going to bet, I'd say either Tennessee or BYU in 2018-2019.

I love the strategy and hope we see some games in California. U of M has a huge alumni base here, particularly in the SF Bay Area and thebay area has one of the best football high schools in CA (De La Salle High where Amani Toomer went). In CA I'd like to see games against Stanford and USC.

Elsewhere Tennessee, Florida State, and Texas are on my wish list. Excellent recruting states after we fill up with the best that the midwest has to offer.

I have a long running dispute with my college roommate/best man with Tennessee football so they're probably my #1 ooc game followed by

LSU

Arizona State

Georgia

WVU

1.  Michigan has a two-year break in the Notre Dame series in 2018/19.  UM tried to get Oklahoma for those seasons in a home-and-home series, but OU already has LSU those two seasons.

2.  If Brandon is talking about releasing schedules out to 2018, consider the possibility of another neutral site game sometime in that time frame.  Stephen Ross (major UM contributor and owner of the Dolphins) has indicated he'd like to see Michigan play a game in Miami.  With ND on the schedule thru 2017, there is a possibility that neutral site game could be in 2018.  Michigan also has two open dates in 2016 (home game with Colorado and road game with ND is already on schedule).

3.  The Michigan-Notre Dame series agreement allows either school to cancel or modify the series with a four-year advance notice.  Right now, Michigan's home/away schedule is uneven in that the Wolverines play ND, Nebraska and Ohio State all at home or all on the road at least thru 2016.  In 2015/6, Wisconsin replaces Penn State and UW goes on the same rotation as those three other teams. UM plays them all four of them at home in 2015 and all on the road in 2016.

This leaves open the possibility that the ND series will be cancelled starting in 2017 with another major home-and-home opponent replacing them that year.  This opponent would be one that Michigan would play on the road in 2017 (Nebraska and Ohio State are home games that year) and in Ann Arbor in 2018 (when UN-L and OSU are on the road) in order to "balance" the overall home/away schedule.

4.  The Big Ten schedules for 2017/8 haven't been released, so we don't know if the scheduling imbalance is going to continue those seasons.  Notre Dame doesn't seem to be willing to move the timing of the games because ND wants to play USC and UM one home/one away each season.  

5.  The Big Ten has opted not to play nine conference games and I assume Brandon is working on that assumption in putting together the non-conference schedule.

6.  Based on the future published schedules, Michigan will only play seven home game each season from 2013 thru 2016.  In past year, UM has played alternating season of seven and eight games, so this might be a trend.

Keep in mind that Bill Martin was reponsible for scheduling the home-and-home with UConn in 2013.  Brandon is responsible for the home-and-home with Utah which ensure the 2015 season will have only seven home games.  UM plays ND on the road in 2014 and 2016.  Will Brandon be willing to cap Michigan at seven home games in order to bring in better opponents?  Keep in mind that UM was one of the B10 teams supporting a nine-game conference schedule (which would have also capped UM at seven home games per year), so it's certainly possible.

If Notre Dame is dropped in 2017 (that would have been a home game for Michigan) and replaced by another major program (with that game on the road to balance the schedule), then UM would have seven home games that year and probably in 2018.

7.  Despite not being part of the national conversation at season's end for almost 20 years, Notre Dame is still the #1 brand in college football and if there's anything Brandon knows, it's marketing.  He has to know that ESPN will hype ND in the pre-season and any UM-ND game is going to get big ratings and will be heavily promoted by that network and ABC (plus NBC).  As the Under the Lights game shows last year, you also attract the crowds (attendance 114,804--and yes, I know it was also a big deal because it was played at night, Desmond Howard was honored, etc.)

So cancelling out on the Notre Dame series might be a difficult proposition.  But if he does do it, Brandon will have to secure a program with a similar amount of "buzz" for the networks, the lease holders on the stadium boxes, people who buy PSLs, etc.  That's especially vital if Michigan is capped at seven home games per season because it means the relative "value per game" has to be better than when there are eight home games.

Why do I fear we'll soon be pining for the good ol' days when tix for top games were only $95?

Until I see a home and home set up with Georgia (who has open dates in 2016 just like we do) or LSU, USC, OK or other programs on that level, it's all smoke and hoohah. When DB says "that will be a notch above some of the things we’ve done in the past" he's leaving a hole big enough that BWC and Ondre could fit through after Thanksgiving dinner. DB's intentionally leading us to think "Ooooo goody, finally a home-and-home against LSU" when in reality he means single home games against Tulsa or Memphis or Colorado St.

Michigan get U Conn to play at Ford Field. Work on it Mr. Noid. Beer and MEEECCCHHHEEEGAN. That would work.

For me, the ideal 4 game nonconference schedule would be as follows:

1: Tune up game against in-state MAC school.

2: Notre Dame

3: Big Name prestige program (USC, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas or new rich such as Oregon.

4: Mid-level BCS opponent or solid mid-major program (think Virginia/UCLA or SDSU/Air Force). 

Brandon can talk all he wants about aggressive schedule making but scheduling that game is completely indefensible.

RichRod'CATS

this year's schedule is probably the toughest we should have....

no need to go all out on marketing. Look at what happened to ND...their talent level dropped as the SEC started becoming dominant on recruiting while ND's schedule remained tough year in and year out. 

In my opinion we need atleast 2 gimme games in a year.

Brandon showed a lot of faith and vision when he scheduled Bama, even before the Hoke resurgence at UM.  DB can be a little maddening sometimes with his marketing, uniform innovations, etc., but you gotta love his faith and vision.