Why would we not want to drop ND from the schedule more often?

Submitted by iawolve on

I am not too worried about whatever contract is or is not in place since anything is negotiable. However this is just a broader question of substituting a team that makes more sense given our recruiting base now that talk of a team like Alabama is swirling again. Yes, UM/ND will get national attention, but why not swap that for FSU/Miami (that Miami) considering our extensive recruiting push into Florida? I would be fine with 4 or 6 out of 10 years to play ND as I feel that game can be bit limiting in regards to allowing other scheduling options. Not sure what the rest of the board thinks, but I would much rather have Bama in Dallas instead of ND on the road in 2012 (assuming there would be an actual choice). 

WestCBlue

September 24th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^

the contract is up in 2012 or something.  we are only going to play sparingly after that.

the conference realignment is making things challenging to do scheduling.

Trepps

September 24th, 2010 at 3:12 PM ^

nuliffies the first two right?  The contract was never signed so we really aren't scheduled to play ND until 2017.  That may have been the plan but it seems as though that plan may change.

michgoblue

September 24th, 2010 at 3:56 PM ^

It does not seam as if that plan will change.  Brandon said late this Spring that he and his counterpart at ND will be sitting down to work out the details of the extension, but that we will be playing ND for the foreseeable future.  Also, we are schedule with them through 2020, with the exception of the 2 year break. 

Zone Left

September 24th, 2010 at 2:39 PM ^

I think the nine game Big 10 schedule might hurt Notre Dame pretty badly.  Michigan, Purdue, MSU, PSU, Indiana, and Illinois all play ND with varying degrees of regularity.  Problem is, ND needs home and home series and the Big 10 teams need home games for revenue and tomato cans for bowl eligibility.  Something is going to give, and its going to be ND's strength of schedule.

mgomistercheezle

September 24th, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^

I'd love to see the entire B10/11/12 stop scheduling ND...  For years they've played B10 teams yet kept their "independence."  Since they didn't join the B10 (and it looks like they won't), I'd love for the conference, as a whole, to tell ND to go pound sand...

GoBlueInNYC

September 24th, 2010 at 3:46 PM ^

I with you on this one.  Even though I consider ND to be UM's second rival (behind OSU, obivously, and ahead of MSU, if you even want to call that a rivalry), I'm pretty sick of their nonsense.  I say leave them to swing in the breeze, playing schedules made up of MAC and MWC teams until they suck it up and join a conference.

mgomistercheezle

September 24th, 2010 at 4:31 PM ^

Ditto--ND is, without a question, M's second biggest rival.  I grew up in Chicago, and ND gets a lot of love around there--so much so, that I would often find myself wondering whether I hate ND more than tOSU.  I love the rivalry (I've been to 5 M/ND games, and M has won 4 of them), the history, and everything about UM vs. ND.  That said, it makes me sick how ND flaunts their "independence" and "heritage," when all of it is enabled by playing 5-6 games a year against teams from the B10 and Pac10.  Like I said previously, if they didn't want to make the jump and play with the big boys year in and year out, they can go back to playing the service academies, BC, BYU, and Northwest Directional State Tech University for all I care...eff them.

GoBlueInNYC

September 24th, 2010 at 10:06 PM ^

I definitely consider it rivalry, personally.  My thoughts on MSU are this: it sucks to lose to them more than a regular loss, but it isn't any better to beat them than a regular win.  The past couple of seasons (and Dantonio) have kind of changed that last part for me.  But I can certainly see how some people don't care any more about them than they do any other random team.

jmscher

September 24th, 2010 at 3:54 PM ^

Do the ND games do good numbers.  For whatever reason I assume that at this point they do more or less the same ratings as any decent college football game and NBC could bid on whatever conference and show there games prob for less money than they pay ND.  Does ND still get a ratings bump?

BlockM

September 24th, 2010 at 2:43 PM ^

Tradition probably plays a big factor in this as well. It's not nearly as big a tradition as OSU, and I can't say I'd hate to see us not play them EVERY year, but there's a lot of history in that game that I don't think we should just throw away and there are probably a lot of fans that would be really angry if we dropped them from our schedule on a consistent basis.

michgoblue

September 24th, 2010 at 2:44 PM ^

Mich-ND is a great rivalry - probably our second strongest (sorry, Sparty, 2 wins does not make you a rival).  I love watching the two winningest programs in college fb square off.  It is also a great recruiting game. 

If ND turns their program around (and assuming that we continue to do so, as well), then this is a top notch game.  If not, then it is an early season tune up with a hell of a lot more excitement than playing EMU or Bowling Green.

That does not mean that we cannot play other good out of conference games.  We are playing Alabama in 2012.  Why not schedule a home and home with FSU or Miami (that Miami) in 2013/14?  How about looking to the west coast for a series with USC or Oregon?  These would all be exciting options.  But, they can be done in addition to ND, not instead of ND.

I personally hate how crappy the out of conference schedules have become (not just for us, but across all of college FB).  I understand opening against a warm-up team, but after that get on with the season and play real teams. 

michgoblue

September 24th, 2010 at 2:51 PM ^

I think that the divide is between in-state and out-of-state Michigan fans.  In-state fans tend to view MSU as our second most important rivalry.  Makes sense, since you have to live amongst Sparty fans and hear their crap.  Out-of-state fans rarely encounter MSU fans, so this is not an issue and we view ND as a larger rival.  Obviously, as an out-of-state fan, I still consider MSU to be our third biggest rival.

Perhaps I am over-generalizing, but this is what I have found.

dr eng1ish

September 24th, 2010 at 2:58 PM ^

In state fans tend to give more weight to the Sparty rivalry. Understandable, since we all know how annoying they are and you guys hear it from them constantly. At the same time, I find that out of students and fans don't care as much about this rivalry, and often rate ND above it. Especially in Chicago it definitely matters more.

energyblue1

September 24th, 2010 at 5:19 PM ^

I like the series with notre dame....I also like the fact that every yr this game is on abc or nbc....

You have to play games nationally televised when you can.  Yes michigan is on the bigten network and nationally anyone with it can see michigan.  But you also need more then espn/ as well...

ABC does regional coverage and rarely national unless it is a night game.  Nbc for nd is just national...so a game with nd is national.....how many recruits got to see a great game against nd that could flip back and forth and see that game if they weren't seeing something else.....

Plus I still say the vast majority of fans that want to drop nd from the schedule havent' been to the game at the bighouse.  These programs bring so much to the table, it is an awesome game! 

twohooks

September 24th, 2010 at 2:45 PM ^

That schools who would drop Notre Dame on their traditional schedules would hurt them almost as much as a loss would at those respected schools We dont know what the NCAA landscape is going to look like in ten years but ND cant be following in the correct direction.

Michigan Arrogance

September 24th, 2010 at 2:49 PM ^

play ND every other year:

2010: @ ND

2011: ND

2012: BAMA

2013: @ ND

2013: USC

2014: ND

2015: @USC

2016: @ ND

2017: Tennessee

2018: ND

 

---OR---

play them 2 of every 3 years:

2010: ND

2011: @ ND

2012: BAMA

2013: ND

2014: @ ND

2015: USC

2016: ND

2017: @ ND

2018: @USC

michgoblue

September 24th, 2010 at 2:55 PM ^

Looking at your second scenario, you do know that the 2010 ND game already occured - in ND Stadium. 

Just being nit-picky, but I like your second scenario - 2 out of 3 would be cool - would keep the rivalry going, and the year off ever three years would make us that much more psyched to play them.

profitgoblue

September 24th, 2010 at 3:26 PM ^

Why would we play FSU or Miami instead of trying to play Florida?  It seems to me that if the main consideration is for recruiting in Florida purposes then a win over Florida would be much more valuable than a win over the other two.  No?

(I'm still smarting over the last time Michigan played FSU and Deion Sanders returned an INT for a touchdown on like the first play of the game).

Tha Stunna

September 24th, 2010 at 3:28 PM ^

Order of preference:

1. ND + occasional home and home or neutral site game

2. ND OR very occasional replacement neutral site or home and home against a historical power (Florida, Georgia, USC, etc)

3. ND only

I'd rather just play ND all the time if they would ever return to glory, but that's still up in the air at this point.

I realize that strength of schedule can hurt title chances, but a one-loss Michigan team that played ND + good OOC opponent + conference title game + eight conference games should leapfrog any other one loss team, even the SEC.  The SEC route of getting a one loss team into the title game with schedule strength seems to have worked well for them.

yahwrite

September 24th, 2010 at 3:28 PM ^

I enjoy difficult ooc schedules. They used to be better when I started watching as a kid in the 80's. Mid 90's they went downhill.

For example 1988

Game 1 - lost to ND 19-17. ND finished #1 as undefeated NC.

Game 2 - lost to Miami 31-30. Miami finished #2 with only loss in regular season to #1 ND, also by a 31-30 score.

Game 3 was a victory over "cupcake" Wake Forest before the 8 game conference schedule, blemished only by a 17-17 tie with Iowa.

Despite the 0-2 start, Rose Bowl champion Michigan finished 9-2-1, and #4 in the final polls.

Old man remembering the good old days moment is now over.

funkywolve

September 24th, 2010 at 4:26 PM ^

I wouldn't necessarily say UM's non-conference schedule got that much weaker in the mid to late 90's.  They played Colorado in 96 and 97 when Colorado was still a real good program.  They played Syracuse in 98 and 99.  Virginia one year.  Boston College a couple of years.  UCLA one year.  Now, most of these teams weren't in the top 10 but they were solid programs.