College Football Exhibition Games?
A reporter today asked Mattison if he would be in favor of preseason exhibition games for college football and he quickly said yes and loved the idea.
What say you?
Preseason games against FCS or maybe even local Division II schools like Grand Valley State or Wayne State. Dare I say Slippery Rock?
August 27th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^
Thanks
August 27th, 2013 at 4:08 PM ^
because those two things don't go together
August 27th, 2013 at 4:39 PM ^
Calvin and Hobbes was a brilliant strip that ended all too soon. That picture cheapens what was a hilarious and at times,a thought-provoking comic strip.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:21 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 4:36 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 6:13 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 6:46 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 5:00 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^
Thank you
August 27th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^
Dont. Want.
Most of these week 1 games ARE essentially exhibition games anyway with the level of competition (weeks 1-6 if you're OSU)
August 27th, 2013 at 4:03 PM ^
Do we want to risk injury in a game that doesn't matter? It's not like in the NFL where they have to cut their roster down to 53 before the first game of the season. How would a preseason game be any better than starting the season with a cupcake?
August 27th, 2013 at 4:05 PM ^
Don't players risk injury every time they step on the practice field and scrimmage?
August 28th, 2013 at 3:33 AM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^
I view it the opposite way. Cut back to 11 games + 1 exhibition and then your starters are only in for 2 series, if that. Then, you are actually cutting down on the risk of injury.
I know that cutting back to 12 games will never happen, but I don't think the exhibition game will either.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^
The injury argument is nonexistent if you ask me. You risk injury in every practice so a spring game against another opponent poses no greater threat of injury than a team spring game.. See Jake Ryan, Amarah Darboh, Courtney Avery. You can have a scrimmage against a different team and set contact rules for the QBs.
I personally like the idea of a spring game against another opponent. It gives the coaches and players a chance to watch film, build a gameplan, see how well they execute said gameplan, review the game via film, everything like they would during the regular season.
August 27th, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
Right, because we aren't suffering any injuries this way.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:05 PM ^
If you loved the typical ebbs and flows of Michigan's now-routine schedule of unappealing home games, you'll love it even more when you're paying even more money for a game on said schedule that doesn't even count!
The future: It's being invented as we speak.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^
Tickets would probably be half priced for exys.
So $30 a person to watch Michigan break the scoreboard against Wayne State.
Maybe they can scrimmage the Chicago Maroons like the Yost days when they were rivals. Although the score might look like Georgia Tech-Cumberland 1916-
August 27th, 2013 at 4:18 PM ^
There's no way ADs would leave money on the table by making the tickets half price. They would cost just as much as regular season tickets. Even if they only sell 3/4 of the tickets they would still come out ahead.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:20 PM ^
Like Dave Brandon is going to take a chance on passing up a big payday at Michigan Stadium. This isn't October basketball against Athletes in Action, where you'd only expect a few thousand people to want to show up anyway. Those tickets will never be half-price for season ticket holders, and probably would be bundled into some multi-game ticket package with a game people actually care about to get them to move for single-game buyers. Let's not be naive here.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^
No quarters back then? Looks like fifths or sixths?
August 27th, 2013 at 4:21 PM ^
with the idea of games that "don't count" in college football where there are rankings and not standings to determine post-season fate. Sports in which there are games that actually do not count at all in determining your record where record determines your post-season is one thing. College basketball is also different where you only have to be 1 of 65 instead 1 of 5, in that you can lose a stupid exhibition game to Athletes in Action and still kick enough ass during a 30 game season to erase the memory from the voters minds. But I don't think you could truly have a college football game against another team that truly did not count. It would inevitably count to somebody, and that somebody could determine your fate at the end of the season. Let's be honest, college football has exhibitions. Michigan State has one on Friday night and Michigan has one on Saturday. Lose those games and you have no business in the conversation anyway.
August 27th, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^
While I see your point (and I am against exhibition games), is it better or worse now where preseason rankings are completely arbitrary?
August 27th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 4:10 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 4:13 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 4:13 PM ^
I would maybe be in favor of an exhibition game/scrimmage type thing in the spring against a rival like MSU. I don't really see much need for it in the fall due to many of the same reasons mentioned above.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:17 PM ^
An exhibition game against a rival would not be an exhibition game at all. Especially not against Staee. They'd rip Brian Cleary's head off mid 3rd quarter
August 27th, 2013 at 4:18 PM ^
scheduling format, I see an exhibition home game as the remedy they'll be calling for, if not two of them a year.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:20 PM ^
I am not down voting the OP, rather the idea of preseason games. The lack of preseason games is one of a plethora of reasons why NCAA football is better than the NFL.
August 27th, 2013 at 9:10 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 4:27 PM ^
We've already got 5 preseason quality games this year. They should figure out how to get an opponent worth paying to see next year in the Big House.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^
and improve scheduling. And at the very least teams ought to scrimmage other schools before the season. I think this ought to be limited and rules in place making it more like spring games. And spring games ought to be permitted with other programs.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:29 PM ^
On the positive side, it would give us more football sooner.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:34 PM ^
Because of the spectacle and expense. The spectacle drives the interest, the event drives up the cost.
Here's why the NFL equivalent example is flawed: the owners get paid for NFL preseason games. By that, I mean they get all the proceeds without sharing with the players.
You can imagine whatever excuse you want to deny the scheduling of college preseason games, but oppsition is mostly based on the cost of doing it. It has nothing to do with safety or other factors. Money is the issue.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:37 PM ^
My fear with an exhibition game is that you face the possibility of taking time out from working on fundamentals and player development to actually prepare for a game, at least in the even the exhibition game is in addition to and falls outside the regular season schedule. That seems to be one of the things that would invite injuries, in my estimation.
I know the idea of spring exhibition games has gotten airplay before, but I don't know that they would be a particularly good idea.
August 27th, 2013 at 5:39 PM ^
I think the game experience would be more valuable. That's assuming the team wouldn't put in a full week of game planning for an exhibition game. Game speed is hard to replicate in practice.
August 27th, 2013 at 4:45 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 5:43 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 6:25 PM ^
Ban FBS schools from playing FCS during the regular season and have them be able to play each other in an exhibition. Good practice for 2nd and 3rd teamers.
On the flip side, this is very different than NFL preseason because if you get a guy injured in the preseason in the NFL, you can always go sign a free agent. If we lose a #3 CB or #2 MLB in a preseason game, we're just SOL
August 27th, 2013 at 6:46 PM ^
College football is the only level without pre-season games or scrimmages with another team. You could still protect your QB with no hit rules too. I think it should be done.
August 27th, 2013 at 9:03 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 9:24 PM ^
No. If anything, I think the season should be shortened by a game. There is additional injury risk, and the players are not being paid for what is already a full time job (and not just during the academic year).
August 27th, 2013 at 10:25 PM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 3:37 AM ^