Football schedule: Michigan State road games two years in a row again?
I've checked it once, twice, three times. We are at MSU this year, as expected, because I vaguely remember viewing perhaps the shittiest Michigan football game of my life last fall in a feckless, lifeless, empty Big House wherein Michigan lost to an MSU team that sucked almost as much as we did.
But I looked at 2022 and lo and behold we are again on the road at MSU next season. So, back to both rivalry games on the road in the same season. How? When did this happen?
Am I missing something. It's early and no coffee yet.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
They just haven't changed it yet on the webpage. If you noticed, this year's schedule got changed around this summer after the MSU-Indiana games flipped home/away.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:26 AM ^
They need to change the webpage already because I feel we get one of these panic posts every month or two.
August 18th, 2021 at 1:48 PM ^
Perhaps you should drink coffee before creating threads, then.
Over/Under on this subject being re-posted in the next month: 4
August 18th, 2021 at 3:02 PM ^
Yeah I got negged to (almost) Bolivia a few months ago for this exact same panic post.
I mean, to be fair to OP (and myself), it's Michigan Football -- we're conditioned to expect the worst (esp. when msu is the beneficiary).
August 18th, 2021 at 3:14 PM ^
If you don't get negged into oblivion once in a while, you're not trying hard enough.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
I really, really, REALLY hope that's all it is. Although to my cynical brain it seems pretty odd that nobody would notice/fix something like this given that it's been wrong (hopefully) for quite a while now.
This is at least the 2nd time we've had this on the board, maybe third, and it's not like it was just discussed last week.
Why arent they fixing it? And more importantly, why is it displayed incorrectly (allegedly) on the Michigan State website? Seems more than a bit odd that both IT departments are making the same mistake.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:40 AM ^
I think the big ten is going to have to rework a lot of scheduled games to get this corrected. It won't be as simple as flipping MSU and Indiana for Michigan. If they were to do that we would have 4 straight home games in October and none in November for 2022.
Part of me thinks it's possible the Big Ten looks at that as too big of an undertaking and just says screw it.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:45 AM ^
One of the main virtues of websites is that they're easy to update. I'm skeptical that the people in charge of maintaining the sites at Michigan and MSU are just too gosh-darn busy to take the five minutes it would take to update the information.
Until such time as both the U-M and MSU websites list the 2022 game as being played in Ann Arbor, the only logical assumption is that it's being played in EL. If somebody has conclusive well-sourced information to the contrary, I'd love to see it.
Agreeing to this scheduling atrocity in the first place is on Brandon, but allowing it to remain is on Hackett and Manuel.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:56 AM ^
That's exactly where I'm at too Don. I think the fact that it's "wrong" on two separately maintained independent websites is a pretty damn strong indication it's correct.
August 18th, 2021 at 11:15 AM ^
MSU’s AD: “I know there has been a lot of attention given to our scheduled game against the University of Michigan being flipped from Spartan Stadium to Ann Arbor,” Michigan State athletic director Bill Beekman said in a released statement. “This is one of six games which were flipped in location throughout the conference, including our game against Indiana. The Big Ten has indicated that the rotation of these games in future seasons will be reset based on this year’s location, meaning we will host Michigan in 2021 at Spartan Stadium, while playing on the road at Indiana. Playing this year’s game at Michigan provides us with a drivable road game on our schedule, which will provide some cost containment.”
B1G released statement at time of switch: “Six Division games — three East and three West — had the location changed for the 2020 schedule,” the statement said according to Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press. “Given the unique circumstances that went into this year’s scheduling process, flexibility in the schedule was prioritized. In order to create that flexibility while balancing out the five home and five away games for each institution, flipping the location of these six games proved particularly helpful, The rotation of these games in future seasons will be reset based on this year’s location.”
With the B1G making the switch, other adjustments are being looked at to balance out the schedule for all teams (so one team doesn’t have four straight road games for example) and the B1G hasn’t officially released the new schedules, meaning the schools can’t (accurately) update their listed future schedules.
August 18th, 2021 at 11:36 AM ^
"The rotation of these games in future seasons will be reset based on this year’s location.”
It's not clear what this will mean.
August 18th, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Reads to me that where the game this year is, it'll be will be the other place next and then so on and so on.
August 18th, 2021 at 11:54 AM ^
Was about to make same comment. I read Beekman's really nice word salad three times and never did fully understand what he was saying.
Seems like it would've been a whole lot easier to just say "a lot of attention has been placed on our 2022 schedule. The Michigan game will be played in Ann Arbor, not East Lansing, but until the B1G resets other games it will remain on our schedule as it does today."
I mean it may have been what he meant and it's definitely how Seth and others interpret things but his statement is anything but clear.
August 18th, 2021 at 8:42 PM ^
It’s pretty clear.
The rotation of these games: games are rotated in a home/away alternation year to year. Home one year, away the next, back home the next.
in future seasons will be reset based on this year’s (2020) location: home game in 2020 = away in 2021, home in 2022 and so on. Away game in 2020 = home in 2021 and away in 2022. Whatever the location of your 2020 game was starts the new cycle of rotation.
I really don’t know how it can be made any more clear than they’ve already made it.
August 18th, 2021 at 12:44 PM ^
Have you considered that the two sites haven't flipped it yet because the league hasn't officially done it yet?
August 18th, 2021 at 12:47 PM ^
This. People need to stop overrating how much Michigan cares about updating their website.
August 18th, 2021 at 11:30 AM ^
I can't say I have a lot of faith in the folks managing the website. Looking at the men's basketball season ticket page the other day the picture they have still has Iggy, Colin Castleton, and Beilein in the image so...not sure attention to detail is their strong suit.
https://mgoblue.com/sports/2017/6/16/tickets-bkm-season-html.aspx
August 18th, 2021 at 3:00 PM ^
Although this has been discussed before here, this is just too friggen awesome not to upvote!
Well done.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
Michigan State's website also lists Michigan playing in the parking structure in 2021 & 2022
August 18th, 2021 at 11:39 AM ^
+1. Because it is a parking structure. With a odd brick building thrown thrown on the side for reasons.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:51 AM ^
On the other hand, Harbaugh has a better record at MSU so maybe we should keep it this way.
August 18th, 2021 at 10:56 AM ^
2-0 vs. 1-3 ?
August 18th, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
Good - lets stand at midfield and tear up their emblem 2 years in a row.
August 18th, 2021 at 11:24 AM ^
Well, Harbaugh is 2-0 in EL.... so... maybe a blessing...
August 18th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
We will be screwed over - FOR SURE.
It's retribution for them having to witness - - "welcome to the school you didn't get into." sign.
Rivals, refs, the Big Ten, media. (our own "fans") - Everybody HATES Michigan.
Go Blue.
PS - name one other school that's had to play it's rival on the road back-to-back once, let alone twice in a decade? .
PSS - imagine you are 20 years old, a crazy football fan and a heading into junior year at UM? Your last two games against staee are AWAY. That's real nice for a student experience.
I feel bad for students and young people trying to be fans of Michigan.
Nobody will convince me things are "fair" when it comes to scheduling.
August 18th, 2021 at 6:43 PM ^
name one other school that's had to play it's rival on the road back-to-back once
OSU has to play its rival on the road in back-to-back matchups.
August 19th, 2021 at 12:58 AM ^
Clemson and Alabama?
August 19th, 2021 at 2:54 AM ^
Too soon, Chuck.
August 18th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
All schedules are going to be reset in two years once the BigPacAmericanEast conference gets going and we're playing USC/Washington/Clemson/Baylor/MSU/SDst/UPhoenix on the road every season.
August 18th, 2021 at 12:39 PM ^
We played better in the trash tornado against them anyway, so I have no issues with it!
August 18th, 2021 at 2:09 PM ^
Let's just play all the games in a corn field between Ann Arbor and East Lansing.
August 18th, 2021 at 2:16 PM ^
WARDE!!!!!!
August 19th, 2021 at 9:43 AM ^
What is the overall series split in games played in AA vs. EL?