But what I am thinking is....Vandy is at least in the SEC. All be it at the bottom, but that alone gets them more respectability than an also ran in the Big East. I'm not saying that UConn isn't a decent schedule ad. I;m also not saying I think Vandy is where the AD should go. IMHO, the 2010 opener should be something "special" and UConn just isn't the team to make it that.
If Vanderbilt played a Big East schedule instead of an SEC one it would be bowl bound more often as well.
This is what I love.
I say "Vanderbilt is bad because they didn't have a single winning season in 26 years, have made 3 bowls in the history of their program, and failed to beat their primary rival for more than a generation. UCONN, in their time in Division I (about 62 years less) already has as much if not more success in these regards." In other words, I made a statement, and provided evidence to support it.
THEN, someone comes in and says "Well, if this thing that isn't true was true in the gum-drop land of the fantasies of my mind, then this would happen." How can I possibly refute that? Yes, Kblow. Possibly, if Vanderbilt didn't play any of the teams that they've played for the past 75 years and you replaced them with different teams, their record would be different. Thank you for that.
That doesn't change the fact the Vanderbilt's "tradition" that the previous poster preferred, is one of consistent, overbearing, failure.
if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle
If the goal was a couple safe,easy wins against a respectable opponent that I think we've met that goal. But at a time when our biggest rival has scheduled home and homes w/ USC, Virginia Tech, Texas and Tennessee this looks pretty pathetic. I personally would have liked to have seen a bigger opponent in this slot. Oklahoma State would have been fun.
While UConn is not the sexiest choice (perhaps RR elevated expectations too high with the "BCS opponent, home and home" comment), is it really that big a deal? They're not lame. And in the end, if we take care of business during that return visit (I am still not convinced there isn't a way to wiggle out of that) when RR is in firm control of the juggernaut, the athletic department won't go broke and we'll certainly have a better schedule than...oh, Penn State's non-conference on any given year (let me try and not mess this cut and paste up):
Sept. 5, 2009 Akron
Sept. 12, 2009 Syracuse
Sept. 19, 2009 Temple
Oct. 10, 2009 Eastern Illinois
OMG BUT TEMPLE WAS LIKE A LOT BETTER THIS YEAR I MEAN COME ON THAT GAME WAS NOT A CUPCAKE
In 2010, Penn State travels to Alabama to play Nick Saban. The return game is the year afterwards.
Is that big enough of an opponent for you?
Except 2010. Or 2002. 2003. Hell, I am bailing on this thread as I have made a fool of myself twice.
is probably mgoblog.com
Exactly what I was thinking.
Same. Lets hope thats what happened.
I was excited about Cal or Pitt.
Uconn. Nothing to get excited about.
Not that I am too worried, but wouldn't it be best to avoid a team RR has squared off against in the Big East, even if it was only for 3 seasons?
if the deal with UCONN included basketball games at Crisler for both men's and women's teams? A poster on rivals is suggesting that is the deal.
Do you think their basketball fans would meltdown like some of our football fans at the prospect?
They are coming to Crisler soon for last year's return game. It's apples and Oranges, we're a pretty historic basketball program compared to UConn's football program. Plus they play many more games in b-ball so one away game shouldn't be a huge deal. (I'm not ecstatic about traveling to play Utah this year).
With the basketball tie in it makes sense that they would work out a football deal.
Not a big fan of the choice. If they were going to make a splash, Uconn isn't it.
Perhaps we could get the return game with UConn at a neutral site like Giant Stadium. That might be more enticing and it would allow for a lot more tickets to be sold than at UConn = more $$$.
I wonder if Duke fans threw complete hissy like this when they schedules themselves to play a home-and-home with our hoops team. Or...uh...did UCONN throw a hissy when their hoops team scheduled a home-and-home with us?
Also - we scheduled a home-and-home with an up-and-coming Oregon team at their 50,000 seat stadium. This isn't an earth-shattering proposal.
Texas is playing AT Wyoming - smaller, non-BCS schools are becoming less and less willing to offer themselves up as sacrificial lambs to larger schools. Is UCONN AWESOME? No. But it's perfectly fine. They're better than most OOC games we schedule. I understand not being pumped by this, but I don't get the outrage either.
Yeah not that the game is official but Uconn is definitely pointed in the upward direction.
In 2010 they will have sr/jrs at nearly all the skill positions their oline will be more of a mixture but the Dline will all be veterans. And the secondary shouldn't be too shabby either, it is not a push over
Anyone who follows college football knows UCONN is an up and coming program. They just don't have traditional big name sexiness. In that way, they're kind of the opposite of ND. Zing!
Apparently, many, many people on this thread don't follow college football.
Both losses, too.
I will reserve judgment until I see when and where the return game is scheduled.
People need to remember that ND was supposed to be the major non-con matchup for UM when that deal was signed. UConn isn't an insulting matchup and I actually think they've got a lot of pieces in place to build a good program over time.
But again, I will reserve judgment until the entire layout of the series is announce.
I actually like the idea of playing UConn and getting our team playing a game in a new region. So I won't complain about the choice.
However, why would Duke complain about money by playing UofM in basketball, because UofM can offer a pay check as big as most schools. The same goes with UConn playing UofM in basketball.
If there is a home-and-home, I'd be willing to bet money that UConn's "home game" is at either Yankee Stadium or Gillette Stadium.
We win, and the whole world says, "big fuckin' deal, you're supposed to beat them." And if we lose, which nobody can say is out of the realm of possibility at this point, we become the laughingstock of the football world for the third year in a row.
What I don't get is that BM has known for at least two and maybe three years that this game would have to be arranged. Why is it coming down to the last minute?
Oh well.
Kind of funny how everyone is freaking out over something that at this point is nothing more than some person's speculation. In the next week when there is an official announcement made and we know the real situation then let us open this board back up and we will have this discussion then. Until then we all need to practice this excercise, "Breathe in, breathe out, now repeat."
3,2,1....1,2,3
What the heck is bothering me?
Ahh, I feel better.
A. I hate Beano.......
B. Are we jocking ESPN? Playing in Bristol's Backyard?
to the earlier post asking if Gameday would come to any M games besides "THE" game
If UM is going to play a home-and-home, it should be against a team in Florida or Texas to help recruiting there. Also, a trip to Florida during the regular season is a pretty nice perk, even if the weather is a little warm. FSU or USF would be a nice opponent, as would Texas A&M. I don't want to see a game against Florida or Texas, because they might not be quite ready to beat either of those teams yet.
UGA or Auburn would be pretty cool, too, because it is closer to where they are trying to recruit. There just isn't any real benefit to playing UConn right now.
All-in-all, I would rather see them play FSU so I can imagine they are getting revenge for what I still call "the evil Terrell Buckley game." I had the best seats I ever had at the Big House for that game, and was extremely disappointed at the outcome.
I will vote for USF only because I live in Tampa but I would make the trip to any city in FL.
yea a team from the south would be better but i personally would like to see them play USC. i doubt they have that date open but it would still be nice to open against them
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
this is not a big time opponent!
that doesn't mean it will happen. Alot of fans seem to think that it is easy to arrange big time matchups. It isn't.OSU can schedule those top teams because they will play three cupcakes to go with that. ONE tough OCC game a year.
UM's mistake was signing that deal with ND. People want variety, not the same ND team year after year.
most of you sound like a kid on christmas who didn't get a fucking M1A1 Abrams Tank like you asked for or something.
We play ND. That's our big OOC series. Deal with it. There won't be another big name on the schedule along with that.
The "UCONN SUCKS" stuff is patently absurd. They are a decent program and this horseshit (Vandy is better! App State would beat them! No upside!) is ridiculous arrogant.
Martin said that it would be a big name opponent, didn't he?
i think it was BCS opponent
USC plays Notre Dame too. Dosen't stop them from scheduling games like Arkansas and Auburn.
wut?
Beano Cook also predicted that Ron Powlus would win 3 or 4 Heisman trophies.
and he also loses his shit when people can't hear him (2:10).
If MGoBlog was a TV channel, this thread would be Real World what with all the petty bitching and whining.
but didn't UConn win a lot more games than we did last year? And, I wouldn't be shocked if they win more games than Michigan does this year. Chill, guys. It's not the be all and end all of games, but there's nothing wrong with scheduling a winning team from a BCS conference.
He supported UM b-ball scheduling games against top opponents even when the basketball team was in the dumps. Even though the football team had a down year, it's still in a lot better shape than the basketball team was.
Whether it's UCONN or not, can't do a damn thing about it. No point in bitching.
If the complete tease issued by RR, coupled with a few reports of who it's NOT, is leading up to a less-than-stellar matchup, then those folks who are spouting out the ambiguity are dicks and should have kept their mouths shut.
Beano Cook is still alive??? Huh.