Late-season non-conf games

Submitted by MGoFoam on
Joel Klatt made a point of his disdain for SEC and ACC teams scheduling weak non-conference opponents late in the season (albeit while complaining about the CFP committee holding Wisconsin’s weakass schedule against them). Example this weekend are Alabama/Mercer, Clemson/Citadel and Auburn/Louisiana-Monroe. Is the B1G better because we don’t do this? Or dumber?

The Man Down T…

November 18th, 2017 at 5:16 PM ^

with a pulse.  It gives the team a "rest week" going into what usually is the big game on the schedule.  IMO it's smart for the teams that do it.  Look at Alabama.  Do you play Mercer in week 2?  Or do you wait until you can rest the starters the week before Auburn and get some injured players back?  Smart scheduling.  If you're going to play Mercer, play them when it could help

corundum

November 18th, 2017 at 5:16 PM ^

Dumber, it's a strategic opportunity to get healthy for rivalry and playoff games by playing cupcakes at the end of the season instead of the beginning.

I don't care that Clemson played Citadel this week when they opened with Auburn. Same for Alabama playing Mercer when they opened with FSU.

NYCBlue

November 18th, 2017 at 5:21 PM ^

The difficult conference games are just an opportunity to either lose a game at a critical time or get injured.  The Big Ten teams should immediately insist on changing their scheduling approach.

MichiganMan904

November 18th, 2017 at 5:22 PM ^

It should be done as well as playing cupcakes the first few weeks of the season...No point in playing good teams when you have a tough conference...SEC and ACC teams get away with playing terrible teams we need to do the same ...

maize-blue

November 18th, 2017 at 5:25 PM ^

Clemson should drop to 5 for playing The Citadel. Wisconsin should move to 4. Clemson will still have their shot to prove themselves next week against Miami.

Michigan4Life

November 19th, 2017 at 12:09 AM ^

either unranked Iowa who only showed up in a big game or soon to be unranked Michigan who struggled to beat teams with a pulse or you can make a case for FAU as well. Their schedule is awful.

Their real opportunity is against OSU in the B1G Championship game. Beat OSU and they'll be in. Until then, they're outside looking in. Hornibrook isn't good enough QB to lead his team to the playoff.

1975Blue

November 18th, 2017 at 6:29 PM ^

Do you think Michigan season ticket holders would want to see a high school team like Mercer the week before Ohio State ?  Pathetic scheduling by the SEC and ACC. 

His Dudeness

November 18th, 2017 at 6:36 PM ^

Losing late is far worse than losing early as we know.

Acc and SEC teams have gamed the system with these cupcake tune up games heading into the postseason. It's really fucked up they get every fucking advantage imaginable.

sleeper

November 18th, 2017 at 7:25 PM ^

Sense to schedule the way the ACC and SEC do, good chance our starting QB does not get hurt the week before The Game if we are playing Mercer and not Wisconsin. Add to it, your rival is playing a game when their starters are out at halftime.

GoBlueBill

November 18th, 2017 at 10:16 PM ^

Not to defend $EC but dont they start their conference games a little sooner ?  All power 5 conference teams play cupcakes, doesnt matter if you play them late or early IMO.

RationalBuckeye

November 18th, 2017 at 11:51 PM ^

Personally, I don't think every team is built to play a cupcake right before a rivalry game. It takes considerable discipline to alternate between training and playing with fire and going through the motions