Scheduling

[OrangeByBirth]

I'm disappointed in what I see in upcoming schedules.

The "Battle of Bristol" was set to be a great kickoff game in 2016. It would be fever pitch in college football. It still will be a big game but now the schedule is to follow a gridiron classic featuring Applachian State at Neyland a week earlier. YUCK!

The rest of the 2016 non-conference schedule will include Ohio (not "State") and Tennessee Tech. More YUCK.

2017 will see traditional powerhouses Southern Miss (a decent team), Indiana State, and U Mass. 2018 already includes games that will bring ETSU down to Knoxville and Charlotte (whatever that means ... probably UNCC). Also in 2018, the Vols will face West Va in a game AT Charlotte.

Ga State is already featured for 2019.

The only power conference games scheduled are not in Neyland! Bristol Motor Speedway and B o A Stadium will host the only 2 real games scheduled.

I know the SEC is a conference of survival. I also recognize that the playoff system values strength of schedule. As a ticket holder, I also value the games I pay to attend!

END OF RANT
Go Big Orange!

 

[YankeeVol]

App St. isn't a terrible opponent. Plus with the SEC we aren't going to play a Oklahoma every year as an OOC game (who btw plays in Neyland this year). Other power 5 conference teams are doing the same thing. Until the playoff expands its not gonna change.

Easy fix, don't buy season tickets.

 

[Volsfaninva917]

The battle of Bristol can't be the opening game, they need more than a week following the race to prepare the speedway. As far as the rest of the schedule goes its not that bad, play one premier OOC game then 3 slack asses.

 

[tri_vol]

My guess is if we're winning 10-11 games/year, you wont be complaining about who we play in Neyland

 

[GAVol]

Unfortunately, it's not 1987 anymore with 6 conference games and 2-3 interesting OOC match ups. Times have changed.

 

[vols 30]

So, they should schedule USC, Ohio St., and Florida St every year? One tough OOC opponent and the SEC schedule is plenty.

 

[gunner]

I'm disappointed in what I see in upcoming schedules.

The "Battle of Bristol" was set to be a great kickoff game in 2016. It would be fever pitch in college football. It still will be a big game but now the schedule is to follow a gridiron classic featuring Applachian State at Neyland a week earlier. YUCK!

The rest of the 2016 non-conference schedule will include Ohio (not "State") and Tennessee Tech. More YUCK.

2017 will see traditional powerhouses Southern Miss (a decent team), Indiana State, and U Mass. 2018 already includes games that will bring ETSU down to Knoxville and Charlotte (whatever that means ... probably UNCC). Also in 2018, the Vols will face West Va in a game AT Charlotte.

Ga State is already featured for 2019.

The only power conference games scheduled are not in Neyland! Bristol Motor Speedway and B o A Stadium will host the only 2 real games scheduled.

I know the SEC is a conference of survival. I also recognize that the playoff system values strength of schedule. As a ticket holder, I also value the games I pay to attend!

END OF RANT
Go Big Orange!

The Vols will play one team from the power 5 conferences each year. Hart prefers it to be a neutral sight rather than a home and away like the recent series with Oregon and Oklahoma. Hart makes the schedule so look for neutral sight game and then 3 "money" home games per year from him in the future.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I like the current schedule structure:

• 9 Power 5 games (8 SEC, 1 from one of the other conferences)
• 2 Group of 5 games
• 1 "Charity benefit" to a nearby FCS school (Chattanooga, West Carolina, etc.)

Plenty of good football in there, with a couple of breathers, and one game that financially benefits a smaller school in the area. Seems about perfect to me.

 

[Nocleats]

You don't need to kill yourself in ooc games. The SEC provides the strength of schedule needed. It is the way the playoff system works and that is the ultimate goal. Don't make it tougher than is needed. Path of least resistance

 

[gunner]

I like the current schedule structure:

• 9 Power 5 games (8 SEC, 1 from one of the other conferences)
• 2 Group of 5 games
• 1 "Charity benefit" to a nearby FCS school (Chattanooga, West Carolina, etc.)

Plenty of good football in there, with a couple of breathers, and one game that financially benefits a smaller school in the area. Seems about perfect to me.

JP,

I like it. My preference would be to play Memphis and MTSU every season even if we have to play Memphis in Nashville, and MTSU in Knoxville each year. Neither are power 5 members, but are decent in-state programs.

After that play a power 5 team from the ACC or Big 12, and rotate UTC, UTM, Tennessee Tech, and ETSU on to the sechedule.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

JP,

I like it. My preference would be to play Memphis and MTSU every season even if we have to play Memphis in Nashville, and MTSU in Knoxville each year. Neither are power 5 members, but are decent in-state programs.

After that play a power 5 team from the ACC or Big 12, and rotate UTC, UTM, Tennessee Tech, and ETSU on to the sechedule.

Yeah, Gunner, I love when we play in-state teams. Gives them a huge $$ infusion for their programs. And playing at least one or two Group of 5 teams each year is important (not just for Tennessee, but college football in general) to keep the Power 5 and Group of 5 from becoming completely divorced. The opportunity those games give the Northern Illinois and Boise States of the world (or the Memphis and MTSUs) to prove their worth against top-tier competition is priceless for keeping the FBS united.

 

[MasterShake Vol8]

nothing wrong with the scheduling at all...OP is whacky...no Oregon in 2013=Bowl Game and we have had many years close to that where we were 1 win away from bowl...I would much rather get my 3 weeks of extra practice and go to a bowl game and play a decent team than play a team we can not beat in the regular season that also cost us a bowl

 

[CAVPUT]

App St. isn't a terrible opponent. Plus with the SEC we aren't going to play a Oklahoma every year as an OOC game (who btw plays in Neyland this year). Other power 5 conference teams are doing the same thing. Until the playoff expands its not gonna change.

Easy fix, don't buy season tickets.

Exactly. SEC is tough enough. One tough OOC game is plenty.

 

[gunner]

Unfortunately, it's not 1987 anymore......Times have changed.

I keep telling myself this everyday! I loved the 80's!

 

[Boca Vol]

nothing wrong with the scheduling at all...OP is whacky...no Oregon in 2013=Bowl Game and we have had many years close to that where we were 1 win away from bowl...I would much rather get my 3 weeks of extra practice and go to a bowl game and play a decent team than play a team we can not beat in the regular season that also cost us a bowl

Or beat Vandy and go to a bowl game...big deal!

Scheduling 4 cupcakes just to make it easier to get to 6 wins doesn't mean the program is getting better. Personally, I like to see where we stand. You can't tell me that you won't have a bit more pride when beating OU vs. UT-Martin.

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

I'd rather play one neutral site game in a recruiting hotbed such as Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis, etc than a home and home series. Our fans travel better than 95% of the teams. Plus we get face twice as many Power 5 opponents with a one game rotation.

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

Next up we need to play a Big10 team in the regular season. It has been a while. Maybe a revenge game against Maryland/Penn St/Nebraska, Rutgers, or Michigan.

I guess Nebraska is already scheduled for 26/27 and UConn is still being rescheduled too.

 

[99gator]

It's a dilemma everyone faces.

For us, Georgia is never a home game which complicates things because normally that would be the biggest ticket draw of the season (assuming Florida State was on the road).

It's good for the program (the way things are scheduled now), but while another poster said it's not 1987 anymore, a lot of schools are not selling out like 1987 either.

Florida's home schedule last season was three cupcakes, Ky, Mizzou, LSU and SC. This season it's three cupcakes, Vandy, TN, FSU, and Ole Miss.

When you pay for seven home games and only two of them get you excited, it doesn't make sense to shell out the kind of money the school is asking for today.

At the same time, I hate the fact that my school plays Florida State and the SEC every year....and an SEC title game to get into a national title scenario, while another school may face two ranked opponents all season. And then, folks have the nerve to still try to pick on Florida's schedule because they don't travel out of state for out of conference games.

Personally, in a perfect world, there'd be no more cupcakes and everyone would have schedules of equal strength. I don't want to set up murderer's row for my school while another school skates. But as a paying customer, it sucks that more than half of what I am asked to pay for every year is Vandy and three cupcakes or Kentucky and three cupcakes.

 

[Titan&Volfan4life]

Fair is fair and as long as other top teams play cupcake games we should too.

We play in the SEC so our schedule every single year is already a lot tougher than other teams have to play that aren't in the SEC.

Besides having to Win the SEC East we then have to go Win the SEC Championship game in order to Win a playoff spot and a shot at a National Championship.

Despite what SEC haters will say, it's much harder to get into the NC playoffs being in the SEC than it is in any other conference.

We certainly don't need to make it any harder than it already is.

#BrickbyBrick...VFL...GBO!!!

 

[VFL-82-JP]

It's funny how in this one thread, we have three very different perspectives sharing their views:

1. What's good for our team's chance of reaching major goals (SEC championship game and beyond)
2. What's good for fans as consumers, exciting games to justify cost of tickets
3. What's good for college football in general, health of the current FBS (Power 5 + Group of 5) / FCS model, revenue sharing with lesser programs, etc.

None of those perspectives are "wrong"; they all have value. But they are different, and will come to very different conclusions. It's just something to stay aware of, in discussions like these.

 

[K-town Vol Fan]

We play a couple of cupcakes every year, this is nothing new. Every team in the conference does. We play in the toughest conference in the country. As long as we take care of business in conference, we will be in the playoff.

 

[99gator]

The other thing that has changed is television. Way back when, at Florida, cupcakes were played at 1pm. A 1pm start meant no hotel for most of the fan base.

Now, if you play Arkansas State, it's a 7pm start on ESPNU or the SEC Network and people are having to shell out money for a hotel in order to see that awe inspiring match-up.

It would be a lot less painful if you were doing that to play a legit team, but for a cupcake......not cool.

 

[golf437]

I'm disappointed in what I see in upcoming schedules.

The "Battle of Bristol" was set to be a great kickoff game in 2016. It would be fever pitch in college football. It still will be a big game but now the schedule is to follow a gridiron classic featuring Applachian State at Neyland a week earlier. YUCK!

The rest of the 2016 non-conference schedule will include Ohio (not "State") and Tennessee Tech. More YUCK.

2017 will see traditional powerhouses Southern Miss (a decent team), Indiana State, and U Mass. 2018 already includes games that will bring ETSU down to Knoxville and Charlotte (whatever that means ... probably UNCC). Also in 2018, the Vols will face West Va in a game AT Charlotte.

Ga State is already featured for 2019.

The only power conference games scheduled are not in Neyland! Bristol Motor Speedway and B o A Stadium will host the only 2 real games scheduled.

I know the SEC is a conference of survival. I also recognize that the playoff system values strength of schedule. As a ticket holder, I also value the games I pay to attend!

END OF RANT
Go Big Orange!

If you value the team. Why would you want us to lose more games. We play enough hard games.

 

[Catbone]

So, they should schedule USC, Ohio St., and Florida St every year? One tough OOC opponent and the SEC schedule is plenty.

100% correct

 

[chargervol]

Or beat Vandy and go to a bowl game...big deal!

Scheduling 4 cupcakes just to make it easier to get to 6 wins doesn't mean the program is getting better. Personally, I like to see where we stand. You can't tell me that you won't have a bit more pride when beating OU vs. UT-Martin.

If we play a few "cupcake" games, we will be exactly where other top teams are?

Why does everyone keep saying "Look at Xs record" but want us to play much tougher ooc games?

I'm ok with the toughest schedule OR not being expected to have a record equal with team X but pick one.