What Would Your Out Of Conference Schedule Be?

1. B: Harvard/Yale

2. C: Army/Navy

3. M: Notre Dame

Play the games at Ferry Field and charge 50 cents for admission.

C, M, ND.  But major opponent doesn't mean one of the five teams that are consistantly better than we are.  Usually it should be a major conference opponent but not necessarily a team at the top of their conference: ie. Cal, Arizona, Virginia, VT, something like that.

Followed by two of the top teams from a mid major conference, like Southern Mississippi, SDSU type teams, or mid to lower level BCS teams like Vandy or Cincinnati. Then I'd do home-and-homes with a major team like Texas or USC or Alabama, with the ND game taking two years off and then coming back on for two years.

Start with Bowling Green,

then go with a bad Cal team,

followed by Domers.

Kansas until Charlie Weis is fired. Rock chalk!

What do you consider teams like ND, Oregon State, UConn, etc?

Those teams are not quite cupcakes, but definitely aren't traditionally strong (except for ND of course). 

Those are the kind of teams I think are good for the non-con schedule. Assuming we move to 9 conference game, which would be my preference, here is what I would want. 

1. MAC team

2. Mid-level BCS conference team (Vanderbilt, UCLA, Iowa State, etc) or ND

3. MAC

Then, replace #2 with a major opponent once every 3-4 years. 

C

ND

C

M

ND second since the other major opponent is likely to be stronger. If we go to 9 conference games, then I would want to see C-C-M/ND.

Cupcakes of all variety.... That's what other teams with BCS hopes do

it's no fun winning if you're padding the schedule

Open with a MAC team, not an FCS squad

Then schedule a lower-level but respectable major conference team (such as Baylor, Texas Tech, Mississippi, North Carolina, or Oregon State) and try to avoid a home-and-home if possible

Then Notre Dame obviously (but in the 2 year hiatus schedule Texas, Georgia, Florida State, Oregon, or maybe Oklahoma for a home-and-home)

Then close out the nonconference with an average Mountain West team (SDSU, UNLV, Air Force, etc.)

But thats a dream, not a reality

1. Michigan Directional

2. 2nd tier major conf team ex Vandy, Kentucky, UNC, UCONN, Maryland

3. ND

4. Baby seal that is D1

C

ND

M

No reason for FBS schools playing non-FBS programs.  Would be nice if the new playoff system and sometime in the future, an expanded playoff system, rewarded strength of schedule to the point that cupcakes won't be scheduled at all.  

I get more excited about big games than clobbering MAC or FCS, getting beat up by Alabama is not fun, but it puts things into perspective and much like Hoke stated in the presser, you want to test yourself against a strong and seasoned team.  So for me it would be M C M

I'm tired of them and its but like its a easy win either ... I want 4 terrible teams preferably some with N,S,E or W in front of their teams name North Texas,.Eastern Idaho,.Western Kentucky

Alabama, LSU, Goergia, and Auburn. The only way to shut the SEC up is to beat them. Besides playing in the B10 doesn't prepare you for the big boys.

Assuming 4 OOC games:

Game 1 should be a nice comfy Cupckake just to shake off the rust that is almost always present.

Game 2 should be a bad to mediocre BCS team (e.g. Wake Forest, Colorado, Kentucky, Iowa State on the bad end with teams like Missouri, UNC, Miss State, Cal on the mediocre end).

Game 3 should be another Cupcake to rest up and prepare for game 4.

Game 4 should be a good but not great BCS team (e.g. Auburn, Clemson, Stanford, WVU).

Games 2 and 4 would be home-and-homes with one game in AA and the other on the road.

Net result: 3 OOC home games with all three being likely wins. In the years when the bad/mediocre game was on the road there would be a good chance of a win there as well. The media (read: AP pollsters) would give you credit for wins over 2 BCS teams OOC which would only help your standings in the polls and improve your position in whatever formula is decided for the newest champion-deciding mechanism.

1. M

2. C

3. M

4. C

Got to play the best to be the best

I'd always start the year with a home game against a prestigous pushover...then I'd play a major opponent. Game 3 would be a name opponent that may or may not be great in that particular year (Cal, Ole Miss, UNC, Washington, etc.). The last non-conference game before the B1G season would be against ND, a team who should be in the B1G.

1. vs. Harvard/Yale/Princeton
2. @ Texas
3. vs. Cal
4. vs. Notre Dame

I think we just saw why...give yourself a chance to get a rhythm, to play against someone other than yourself. As long as there is no preseason or scrimmage, you need a warm-up.

1- emu

2- notre dame

3- bowling green

4- cincinnati

1. Eastern/Western/Central

2. Memphis/Tulane/Tulsa type team

3. Notre Dame

4. Ohio/Toledo/Buffalo

I want teams that will likely make a bowl game, like we've been doing. (just not like last night) Big 12, pac 12, ACC, SEC. Doesnt matter really. RIght now I'd love to play Florida, or Tennessee,  or Mississippi State. Schedule me Washington, Miami, and ND too.

1. Eastern

2. Western

3. Northern

4. Southern (Utah)

/s 

1) Troy



2) Texas tech



3) Wyoming



4) Oklahoma

put florida on our schedule. i think we would have played them pretty well. they have zero offense and their defense is not as good as bama's.

i think that would have been a nail-biting, low scoring affair.

I'd dump ND, go to a 9 game conference schedule, play one quality team each year and two also rans. As an alternative to the 9 game conference schedule, I wouldn't mind doing what didn't work with the PAC 12 with another conference.

I really have a hard time justifying a Delaware State. I like good quality football, not that last night would exactly qualify.

1. M - This game isn't indicative of playing strong FBS opponents, but more an issue of bad timing and selection of the strongest FBS opponents.

2. C - I like playing the MAC schools because many of the players knwo each other and it's a way to get local schools more air time. 

3. B - I hate this option. No one is happy about it and your reputation can only diminish from playing them.

1. Eastern, Western, or Central

2. Air Force, Navy, or Army

3. Perennial championship contender from the PAC 10, Big 12, or SEC.

I spent some time looking at OOC schedules going back for about 25 years for some inspiration actually, and we had some decent ones back in the day. There's no really good way to average these together except using admittedly subjective criteria, but perhaps something like:

1) MAC opponent of some quality, relatively speaking (e.g., the Bobcats)

2) Often middling major conference opponent, perhaps ACC or Pac-12. Maryland, Boston College, Washington and UCLA were popular choices in the past, so maybe something like that (not necessarily the current literal versions of these teams, although UCLA would be interesting maybe). 

3) Notre Dame

4) Another major conference opponent, but something along the lines of an Oklahoma State or Oregon. Depending on availability, it could maybe even be a Big East opponent and we would get a crack at Boise State or Louisville. 

Assuming an 8 game conference schedule, I'd want each graduating class to play:
Home and home with ND
H@H with traditional power, on ND off years
H@H with Pac12 team
Each directional team-WMU/EMU/CMU
One more MAC team
One Revenge game against teams we have historically lost against
One Service academy-Army, Navy, Air Force
One Ivy league team

template:
Eastern, Notre Dame, @PAC, IVY
Western, @Notre Dame, PAC, SERVICE
Central, POWER, ??, REVENGE
MAC, @POWER, ??, ??

In too many words, ?? would be a one-off against a middling team from a traditional BCS conference.

Air force, Navy, Army, Virginia, Cal, BC, Vanderbilt, Duke, Stanford, but not Texas unless we play them in December. And forget ND. We gain nothing from playing them.

C - MTSU or Troy 

C - Vanderbilt or Kentucky

C - Notre Dame LOL 

C - Boston College or Colorado 

I don't understand why everyone thinks we need a warm up game to get a little practice.  If we play a cupcake before a more difficult team they also get a warm up game the first week.  So were both on the same footing no matter what.  This isn't directed at anyone in particular.  I've read several posts recently that express this opinion, and it doesn't make sense to me.  If you think i'm dead wrong i'd like to hear why/how.

My wishes --- Play the best to beat the best.  I refuse to believe that hard work by our players will never pay off.  Michigan will be champions again.

1) MAC

2)Alabama, Texas, Oaklahoma, etc.   (not neutral sites)

3)ND'

4) 2nd tier Big East

1. Top Ten from a major conference (Alabama)

2. Top 11-25 from a major conference (ND)

3. Below Average Team from a major conference (ASU, WSU, BC, CO)

4. Average team from a major conference. (Washington)

I would be completely happy abandoning all non major conference teams.  We will win some and we will lose some, but the important part is that I will have a heluva time watching the games.