The argument for Michigan to stop scheduling tough OOC games

If Michigan had beaten ND, they'd be in a much better position to make the CFP than if they had beaten a MAC team. 

A stronger non-con schedule cuts both ways. If you schedule to avoid competition, that should count against you. Even if it made it a little more likely we make the playoffs, is that what we want to watch?

I despise all this focus on the playoffs. Stupid suggestions to realign every conference to make playoff selection neater. Changing schedules from games we want to watch to dreck because a team that may not be good enough to get in will increase their chances a little bit. And really, I doubt they're even right. It's just like criticizing a coach for going for two when it doesn't work. Inevitably the commentators point out he'd be better off if he hadn't.

Michigan is a better team for playing ND early. Playing patsies doesn't help your team improve.

A MAC team?  Why not just follow Alabama's lead and schedule The Citadel the week before The Game?

If making the CFP is the only goal, I agree.

But for me, it's not.  Let's beat Notre Dame and win the B1G.  If we do that, we're almost certainly in the CFP and probably good enough to have a chance to win it.  But just getting there is pretty hollow, and if we can't beat Notre Dame and OSU, we probably can't win the CFP.

'Bama's stumbles are a lousy comparison.  In every game but the small handful of hiccups they have they look like they're on another level.  When we start to play like that every year we'll be winning the B1G or losing it with one loss regardless of our schedule, and find ourselves in the CFP any way.

All of these comments are geared toward winning championships and I get why people want to talk about that.

But what about just my Saturday viewing experience?  I don't enjoy watching Michigan beat MAC teams.  The whole reason I sit down to watch a football game is to be taken in by the drama of the event.  I get nothing out of it when the game is a foregone conclusion.  I wish all of the games were filled with bonafide P5 teams.  

GET BETTER..... WIN GAMES!

I really can't stand how part of our fanbase seems to want to avoid rivalry games, tough games, and good coaches in the conference. Why? So Michigan can skate through to the playoff and get demolished against a good team? 

Michigan would be in the playoff if it beat OSU. Simple as that. Quit trying to act like the ND game is what is keeping them out.

Quit being pussies. If we are a good team we beat ND and OSU or at least one.  We beat a bunch of mediocre teams this year.  

If you had presented this argument the day after we lost to ND then I would have agreed; however, Michigan was able to reel off 10 wins in a row which I think was fueled in some part to the ND loss.  We had a really strong team this year and I don't think we should minimize our loss to OSU by blaming a difficult OOC schedule.

We need to beat OSU...  I want the current staff to beat OSU.  That's all.

The bigger problem than a P5 non conference opponent is 9 conference games.

Two conferences have never missed a CFP, ACC and SEC.  Those two are the conferences that only play 8 games.  B1G, PAC12, and Big XII all play 9 conference games. And what do you know they have all missed the CFP at times.

So we really should lobby the B1G to go back to 8 conference games, but until that time I'd say yeah we need to stop scheduling P5 non conference.  Our SOS will be just fine with OSU, PSU, and MSU every year in the east and rotating through Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern, and Nebraska from the west.

That said, just win the damn division and don't give me this BS about a co-championship.  The division winner plays in Indy.

Agreed. The system favors playing cupcakes OOC.

Just stop.  Fans don't want garbage non conference games.

If you are a great team, you beat great teams, whether its in November or September.

Basically you're saying since we are not good enough to make the playoffs, lets game our way into the playoffs.  If we had done that this year we would end our season with an epic ass kicking by Bama.  I dont see how that's good.  Focus on winning the Big 10 championship, the playoffs will take care of themselves.  

The other side of this, is with a quality loss Michigan was still in CFP. If Michigan had lost on a close last second field goal in Columbus, Michigan would still have some CFP buzz.  Unfortunately, getting beat the way they did, Michigan would be out of playoffs either 11-1 or as they are now, 10-2.  I don't want Michigan to go to playoff and get destroyed like OSU and MSU.  After witnessing what OSU did to Michigan, I would be very concerned playing Clemson or Alabama this year which I think are much better than OSU and better coaching staffs.

Playing Notre Dame is so completely pointless. Schedule teams like Iowa State, Tennessee, Boston College, Virginia. P5 teams that we know we can beat and give us a decent challenge and maybe they will slide into the top 25 at the end of the year. Focus our energy on MSU, Penn St and Ohio State, those games matter to win the B1G.

I would rather play ND than not play them and have a slightly better chance at making the playoffs. Sometimes. 

People actually want to watch Michigan play 4 tomato cans in the OOC season? That's just insane. If that's the case, then the CFP is just a cancer and I don't give a rip who wins it.

It's a fair argument given the four-team compromise "playoff" system. The question is whether there's momentum to change the system.

Anyway, Michigan went into Columbus, winner-take-all, and really didn't make a good showing. I'm not sure why we'd want this kind of reward.

It's a terrible system. Let's say Michigan is 11-1 or 12-0 right now, then lost to Northwestern. Is it fair that the conference is penalized by not having a playoff team?

Or let's say the stars align, and Alabama destroys Georgia, Northwestern does its Fitzgeraldy thing to Ohio State, Oklahoma drops one to Texas. Even throw in a Clemson howler for good measure, though it's not necessary.

Now we're trying to compare Michigan to UCF and its schedule strength of tapioca pudding? No thanks. I want a real playoff system where the major conference championship games are part of the round of 16 so that they're not rendered even less useful than they are today.

Yes, but had we played a MAC team instead of ND I would not have flown back for that game. I would not have hung out with old friends that I never get to see anymore. I would have then spent two days on the lakes with my family. So no, this is a bad idea if you enjoy fun events and good times. I understand the stance, but I absolutely disagree. Big games win or lose is what I live for as a fan. 

Michigan still has to go through Ohio State and Urban Meyer regardless who they play. Playing a tough opponent outside the Big Ten which is frankly very weak this year is a bonus for gearing your team up to play OSU and the two playoff opponents. The Notre Dame game this year spoke volumes about how good Michigan really was when placed on the big boy stage. The Irish have been there as the Buckeyes. In both games, Michigan proved that had they faced Bama, Georgia, or Clemson then they would have been embarrassed as they were last Saturday. Like it or not everything depends upon Harbaugh. To become an ELITE coach then he has to shake the nostalgia Bo days/change his leadership style/hire and OC and manage Don Brown which means approving his schemes and back up schemes for each game. BOTH Meyer and Saban change coordinators regularly and they are still the best each and every year. Harbaugh can do the same if he can drop his arrogance. 

No. No. and No.

Dumbest thing ever, and no, we would not be much better off had we beaten a MAC team in terms of the playoffs.

One can make the argument that in fact we would be worse off with a win over a MAC team because people would legitimately ask who the hell we actually beat this year.

Thank you for not saying "loosing."  That is all.