Our football schedules???

[1truevol]

I have a hard time understanding why we are so set on maintaining one of the hardest schedules in the country. Take this year for example...wow! I mean did our AD think we would actually be competitive against Oregon...and Oklahoma next year? (Not to mention we already play in the toughest conference in America). I know these schedules are made out several years in advance and some people want to point to "good exposure", but it doesn't make good sense to me. You don't see LSU,AU,SC,Bama, etc... going out of their way to schedule this way. Some of you may take pride in the statement "we play the toughest schedule in America"....well I don't. How many people do you think care? At the end of the day...a losing record is a losing record. It simply doesn't make sense to me to schedule this way when we're at such a low right now. This has bothered me for a while...just had to vent a little.

 

[mocfan]

To be the best, you have to .....

Nevermind

 

[PEPPERJAX]

LSU has played TCU & Oregon recently, BAMA played Michigan & VA Tech in the past couple of seasons , and SCAR plays Clemson every year.

 

[utvolpj]

Just in the past couple years

LSU - Oregon, Wash, WV
AU - Clemson, Wash St, (USC a few years back)
SC - Clemson every year
bama - Penn St, Mich, VT

yes, other teams do schedule big name teams. Even UGA decided to finally leave the south a few years ago

 

[jps2194]

I have a hard time understanding why we are so set on maintaining one of the hardest schedules in the country. Take this year for example...wow! I mean did our AD think we would actually be competitive against Oregon...and Oklahoma next year? (Not to mention we already play in the toughest conference in America). I know these schedules are made out several years in advance and some people want to point to "good exposure", but it doesn't make good sense to me. You don't see LSU,AU,SC,Bama, etc... going out of their way to schedule this way. Some of you may take pride in the statement "we play the toughest schedule in America"....well I don't. How many people do you think care? At the end of the day...a losing record is a losing record. It simply doesn't make sense to me to schedule this way when we're at such a low right now. This has bothered me for a while...just had to vent a little.

It's all about the money:good!:

Seriously though, I agree with you. We've played very tough out of conference opponents for as long as I can remember.

 

[1truevol]

Just in the past couple years

LSU - Oregon, Wash, WV
AU - Clemson, Wash St, (USC a few years back)
SC - Clemson every year
bama - Penn St, Mich, VT

yes, other teams do schedule big name teams. Even UGA decided to finally leave the south a few years ago

I'm not saying those teams haven't played good out of conference opponents over a 3-4 yr span....of us it seems to be year in and year out. You seem to be all for it! Not me. If ever there were a time for "tactful" scheduling...it's now!

 

[oregonvol]

Just in the past couple years

LSU - Oregon, Wash, WV
AU - Clemson, Wash St, (USC a few years back)
SC - Clemson every year
bama - Penn St, Mich, VT

yes, other teams do schedule big name teams. Even UGA decided to finally leave the south a few years ago

Also, Florida plays FSU every year.

 

[utvolpj]

I'm not saying those teams haven't played good out of conference opponents over a 3-4 yr span....of us it seems to be year in and year out. You seem to be all for it! Not me. If ever there were a time for "tactful" scheduling...it's now!

actually that's exactly what you said

You don't see LSU,AU,SC,Bama, etc... going out of their way to schedule this way.

so, what time frame should we work with?

 

[KBVol]

I have a hard time understanding why we are so set on maintaining one of the hardest schedules in the country. Take this year for example...wow! I mean did our AD think we would actually be competitive against Oregon...and Oklahoma next year? (Not to mention we already play in the toughest conference in America). I know these schedules are made out several years in advance and some people want to point to "good exposure", but it doesn't make good sense to me. You don't see LSU,AU,SC,Bama, etc... going out of their way to schedule this way. Some of you may take pride in the statement "we play the toughest schedule in America"....well I don't. How many people do you think care? At the end of the day...a losing record is a losing record. It simply doesn't make sense to me to schedule this way when we're at such a low right now. This has bothered me for a while...just had to vent a little.

Agree. Bama's SOS was in the 50s, AU played nobody out of conference. We need Ws right now, not blowout OOC losses....we're gonna get plenty of those in conference next year.

 

[oregonvol]

On the other hand, given the way we struggled to beat South Alabama and the fact that we got beat at home by Vanderbilt, scheduling a decent mid major could have led to a more embarrassing loss than a simple beat down by a top ranked team.

 

[#16s Dad]

If I remember right (I'm sure I'll be corrected if not) uga skipped lsu and bammer in 2012 when they went to the dome and lost to bammer.

Yes Tennessee has had a hard row to hoe for a long time and that don't help when a team is down.

Look for a big shift next year it's Tennessee's time.




GO VOLS

 

[Vol in]

3 "cupcakes" and 1 tough out of conference opponent seems to be the standard across the nation. With the new playoff system, I think more and more teams are going to start scheduling more meaningful games because it appears the committee who will decide who is in the top 4 is really going to hold strength of schedule as one of their main criteria.

 

[1truevol]

actually that's exactly what you said



so, what time frame should we work with?

I'm not going to get in a tick/tack argument with you. I've made my point. You seem to like this type of scheduling. I don't. We're not where we need to be talent wise...so why continue to showcase this fact on a national stage? Do you like seeing that??? We'll get there and have opportunities to show it, but now is not the time.

 

[Defaultuser]

I'm not going to get in a tick/tack argument with you. I've made my point. You seem to like this type of scheduling. I don't. We're not where we need to be talent wise...so why continue to showcase this fact on a national stage? Do you like seeing that??? We'll get there and have opportunities to show it, but now is not the time.

You are right, its not the time. It is foolish to keep playing top 5 schedules when you are trying to rebuild a football program. People say Bama, Lsu, etc. yeah they are in national title contention, it makes sense for those teams, not UT.

 

[Volfan2012]

If we played Arkansas State, Southern Alabama, Western Kentucky, and Tennessee State our schedule would still be plenty hard to rate in the top twenty schedules. You just add Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina and your there. Were just cheating ourselves out of bowl games by playing a hard OOC. Were bowling if we replace Oregon with Memphis State or Arkansas State. A lot of teams worse than our team are cashing in on bowls this year because of their scheduling.

 

[utvolpj]

I'm not going to get in a tick/tack argument with you. I've made my point. You seem to like this type of scheduling. I don't. We're not where we need to be talent wise...so why continue to showcase this fact on a national stage? Do you like seeing that??? We'll get there and have opportunities to show it, but now is not the time.

I don't believe I've offered an opinion either way in this thread. I've simply pointed out that your "no one else does this" argument is incorrect. The only difference is UT is not winning those games. You also seem to not understand when these games are scheduled

Now, if you want to change the discussion to something like "should UT replace all BCS conf opponents with FCS teams?" then we could do that.

 

[dovervolz]

On the other hand, given the way we struggled to beat South Alabama and the fact that we got beat at home by Vanderbilt, scheduling a decent mid major could have led to a more embarrassing loss than a simple beat down by a top ranked team.

Vandy play's one of the easier OOC schedules. 4 cupcake teams

 

[ManningBerry#1]

I agree in that we should take our foot off the gas a little in the OOC scheduling.

 

[Aerie Vol]

3 "cupcakes" and 1 tough out of conference opponent seems to be the standard across the nation. With the new playoff system, I think more and more teams are going to start scheduling more meaningful games because it appears the committee who will decide who is in the top 4 is really going to hold strength of schedule as one of their main criteria.

You are right…or so it would seem. In fact, sadly, you're not.

Pretend this season was actually next year and there's a four team playoff to fill. Assume Ohio St. doesn't lose to MSU in the championship game (for whatever reason - champ game canceled, another opponent, OSU actually wins.) Does there exist a chance on earth that an undefeated OSU doesn't make the playoff?

Exactly. And that's why strength of schedule doesn't matter. OSU is NOT a top 5 team, possibly not even a top 10, but they were "sheltered" all season long by a schedule full of chumps. It nearly landed them in the BCSCG and would certainly get them to the playoff next season.

Thank you, MSU.

AV

PS. Wanna dream with me? Assume our Vols lose only to Mizzou (and don't play for SEC crown.) We lose at Autzen to the #2 ranked team in the nation by 1 point, as a desperation 57 yard field goal clanks off the upright. Does a 2 loss UT team make the 4 team playoff? …… Nope. Forget scheduling tough teams. We need wins.

 

[VolFan4Life87]

I honestly only see 3 "gimme's" on next year's schedule, based on this past year's play. Unless we have some serious turn around in the off season or some freshmen come in and immediately contribute @ key positions, the below seems probable

Utah State - toss up
Arkansas State - win
@ Oklahoma - loss
@ UGA - loss
Florida - loss (could be toss up, but c'mon - they always beat us)
Chattanooga - win
@ Ole Miss - toss up
Alabama - loss
@ South Carolina - loss
Kentucky - win
Mizzou - loss
@ Vanderbilt - toss up

So if we win all of our "toss ups" and/or pull some upset wins, we could go 6-6 and make it to a bowl game for a 7-6 season. I feel like a realistic spread for us next year is at worst, 4-8 & at best 8-5. At this stage I would be very happy with 7-6 or 8-5. Anything less than this is a failure of a season.

JMHO based on the previous years and unanswered Q's @ QB - flame away :hi:

 

[1truevol]

I don't believe I've offered an opinion either way in this thread. I've simply pointed out that your "no one else does this" argument is incorrect. The only difference is UT is not winning those games. You also seem to not understand when these games are scheduled

Now, if you want to change the discussion to something like "should UT replace all BCS conf opponents with FCS teams?" then we could do that.

As I stated in my original post..."I know these games are scheduled years in advance". So yes..I do understand scheduling. Still it's not hard to forecast the need for reasonable opponents when rebuilding a program.

 

[oregonvol]

Vandy play's one of the easier OOC schedules. 4 cupcake teams

You didn't actually read what I wrote did you?

Yeah, Vandy plays an easy schedule. So does South Alabama. And Western Kentucky. And Utah State. Et cetera, et cetera. They all also play in sub-40,000 seat stadiums and have tiny AD budgets compared to ours. What does any of that matter? It's still unacceptable to lose to any of those teams.

 

[GAVol]

Just in the past couple years

LSU - Oregon, Wash, WV
AU - Clemson, Wash St, (USC a few years back)
SC - Clemson every year
bama - Penn St, Mich, VT

yes, other teams do schedule big name teams. Even UGA decided to finally leave the south a few years ago

UGA has done an about face on that little experiment.

 

[GAVol]

As I stated in my original post..."I know these games are scheduled years in advance". So yes..I do understand scheduling. Still it's not hard to forecast reasonable opponents when rebuilding a program.

I've never understood why we don't just get Ga Tech, The North Carolina/Virginia schools, Clemson etc on the schedule. You know . . . actual places where the average Tennessee fan might be able to get to without spending an arm and a leg.

I know the argument about exposure and needing to recruit nationally, but we're about to be in an environment where every game is on a nationally televised network.

 

[1truevol]

I've never understood why we don't just get Ga Tech, The North Carolina/Virginia schools, Clemson etc on the schedule. You know . . . actual places where the average Tennessee fan might be able to get to without spending an arm and a leg.

I know the argument about exposure and needing to recruit nationally, but we're about to be in an environment where every game is on a nationally televised network.

I agree. I think regional games would be very attractive to a lot of fans. I mean how realistic is it to expect a fan base to travel across the country to watch us play Oregon for example. I mean as if the opponent wasn't tough enough, we only had a handful of fans there. (Not even the band) lol. I actually felt sorry for the guys...and it was a little embarrassing too.