Out of Conference Scheduling in the Play-off Era

#27
#27
We want UCF!

We seem to do pretty well against B1G teams. Not so well vs P12 or B12.

I would like Colorado and Air Force. We owe Kansas State for that bowl whippin too!

Baylor or TCU for recruiting.
 
#28
#28
The OOC games are all about recruiting! Playing non regional cupcakes ONLY gives the team a respite from the SEC grind.

The neutral site games enhance and expand the fan base which offers a bowl game type experience at a more affordable and attendable time of the year.

As long as the playoff stays at 4 or goes to 6 games we should ONLY play OOC games that are in markets where we want AND can sign top players. If the playoff moves to 8 or more games, we should move to regional only OOC games against lesser opponents because an SEC schedule will ALWAYS get you there with 1 loss and probably 2 if the SEC loss is to a highly ranked opponent
 
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#29
#29
Pepe said:
...After the arena was paid for it was supposed to go away. Wonder why it didn't.
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There aren't many, if any. It is few and far between that a tax goes away or is rescinded after the money it's supposed to raise is raised. Government can't stand to stop getting the peoples money for whatever reason.
 
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#32
#32
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Tennessee can always be questioned though, if you haven't learned that from the national media the last several decades then you haven't been paying attention. Even when we were good. If Mickey can screw us, they will. Florida and Georgia are playing two OOC power 5's this year. I think we need to import a little, "anybody, anywhere" mentality to recapture some swagger with the young kids who never remember us as anything but cellar dwellers.
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The conspiracy theories you all come up with.....

When has Tennessee's football program been screwed by some national body?

In 1998, Tennessee won the conference, they played for a national title. In 1997, they won the conference, were ranked #3 and played against #1 in the Orange Bowl.

Win some games first before worrying about how some selection committee is going to screw Tennessee in some magical hypothetical scenario.

As other posters have said, you are in the SEC. If you win, you'll be fine.
 
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#34
#34
99gator said:
The conspiracy theories you all come up with...

Win some games first before worrying about how some selection committee is going to screw Tennessee in some magical hypothetical scenario.
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Look man, I acknowledged we have not been taking care of business. Y'all play FSU every year, you are playing Miami this year. Carolina plays Clemson and frequently plays a North Carolina or NC State also. Georgia is playing GT and ND this year. They played Clemson a few years ago and are playing them again in a few years. I just read where they have UCLA and Florida State scheduled. So yeah, I'd like to see us bulk up for a lot of reasons, for the fans, for recruiting and yes I think it'll help securing an at large in an expanded play-off.
 
#35
#35
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Look man, I acknowledged we have not been taking care of business. Y'all play FSU every year, you are playing Miami this year. Carolina plays Clemson and frequently plays a North Carolina or NC State also. Georgia is playing GT and ND this year. They played Clemson a few years ago and are playing them again in a few years. I just read where they have UCLA and Florida State scheduled. So yeah, I'd like to see us bulk up for a lot of reasons, for the fans, for recruiting and yes I think it'll help securing an at large in an expanded play-off.
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If you want to see better games as a fan, I get that. That's a different topic.

But, and I may have misinterpreted, but I took the post I quoted to have an outlook that was basically......"should we beef up our OOC schedule because I don't want Tennessee to get screwed out of an invite to the playoff because whatever entity that exists that determines such things will screw Tennessee because of it".

That's how I took it.

And I don't get where that mentality comes from because I can't honestly remember when Tennessee got screwed (officiating is a separate issue). Tennessee doesn't have an "Auburn 2004" on its resume. At least, not that I am aware of.

But, I would like to know where these situations occurred where the NCAA or whoever screwed a deserving Tennessee team out of something.
 
#36
#36
99gator said:
I took the post I quoted to have an outlook that was basically......"should we beef up our OOC schedule because I don't want Tennessee to get screwed out of an invite to the playoff because whatever entity that exists that determines such things will screw Tennessee because of it".
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Speaking for myself only, where I am coming from is that I don't think we are one of those teams, at least not in this century, who would automatically get the benefit of the doubt. Now granted, we probably don't deserve the benefit of the doubt either. Certainly Alabama has squirreled away quite a bit of brand credibility in recent years and they have done that by winning. So when I say we should play 2 OOC power fives per year, I am saying I don't think we can rely on "we're SEC" and certainly not "we are Tennessee" to get an at-large play-off bid. Now, if we are conference champs, different story.

Consider a situation though where UT, UF, and UGA all finish with identical 10-2 records with each being 1-1 against the other 2 (that's happened a time or two), and we are all vying for the last at large in an 8 team play-off. Based on this year's schedule, we'd probably be bringing up the caboose in terms of committee consideration, at least unless we routed Bama to give them their only loss. If not we'd probably be last in, considering the other 2 will have played 2 more power 5's and we played BYU and three little sisters of the poor. I think we might need to fix that, and as mentioned, there are other good reasons to do so as well (recruiting, value to the fans, etc.). That's where I'm coming from, I don't think we can rely on name or even conference, not anymore.
 
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#37
#37
All that matters is a W. A bad win is better than a good close loss. Don't listen to talking heads tell you anything else.

Look at the rankings, beating UT Chatt. is looked at as better than a 1 point loss to Bama or Clemson.
 
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#38
#38
jonnon111 said:
All that matters is a W. A bad win is better than a good close loss. Don't listen to talking heads tell you anything else.

Look at the rankings, beating UT Chatt. is looked at as better than a 1 point loss to Bama or Clemson.
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Any win is better than any loss. OP was thinking thru the the chance of being left out due to playing patsies.

With an expanded playoff that could happen.

Playing patsies have lost the draw of typical fans of football.

I’d rather beat a UTC than to lose to a OK, but I’d rather take a crack at a OK than a sleep walk of a game against a UTC.
 
#39
#39
This is the downside of the 12 game schedule. The 12th game is a cupcake that no one really cares about but the visiting team's athletic dept. as they receive a huge check.

Typically, if you run the table in the SEC, that's enough to get you a seat at the head table. In case where you have some 1-loss teams, SOS could come into play. With BYU being UT's marquis game this season, that wouldn't hold much water compared to UF, USC, or UGA.
 
#40
#40
Hyperion said:
I'd say it had more to do with our lack of quality at the time. We played Miami when they were coming off a very strong run and beat them in the Orange Bowl. There is no reason to back away from potentially strong competition. The benefits from winning those games can be huge.

If it wasn't for Butch's awful in game coaching, then we probably beat Oklahoma.
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The way we ran the hurry up with a lead late in the 4th quarter makes me ill to this day. That was the best Neyland atmosphere I've ever heard and Butch ruined it
 
#42
#42
leave the schedule like it is. we aren't one of the SEC schools that has to apologize for it's OOC scheduling. we regularly schedule good OOC games....and aren't afraid to do home and homes like some have been...until VERY recently...or only doing neutral site games as one offs.

in fact, i'd say we could lighten the load a tad until we get a feet under us again...lol. i like this year's schedule for instance. hopefully by the time we make the trip to Norman OK, we'll be closer to being able to compete with programs of that ilk...GA, Bama, LSU, Auburn, FL included in that.
 
#43
#43
unfrozencvmanvol said:
For many years (going back to 2004) the Vols have played one OOC power 5 team per season and on a very few occasions played none. In 2003 we played both Miami and Duke. I get that we play Alabama every year from the West, and since 2008 that has been a bad draw, however we all know the Play-off will eventually expand to at least 6 or 8, maybe 12 or even 16. Should we consider bumping back up to 2 OOC power fives to give our team the best shot at a berth (assuming we don't win the conference) when we finally DO put it back together? We've got some more games with OU scheduled, Nebraska and Pitt also I think. Who else would you like to see us play?
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To go to the playoffs with a good seed we have to beat Bama twice. Thats sufficient.
 
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#45
#45
82_VOL_83 said:
To go to the playoffs with a good seed we have to beat Bama twice. Thats sufficient.
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Currently. I'm talking about an expanded play-off up to 16. I'd posit with that few teams, seeding doesn't really matter, you just need to get in.
 
#46
#46
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Currently. I'm talking about an expanded play-off up to 16. I'd posit with that few teams, seeding doesn't really matter, you just need to get in.
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I doubt that will happen. If it does, the conferences will shrink, you will play every team in the conference and the SEC CG will be gone. You are talking a 17 game season with the current schedules and I firmly believe that won't happen. I think we go back to 12 teams, play 11 conference games and one OOC or 10 teams, play 9 conference with 3 OOC. That will leave a clear champ, have OOC fodder, and shorten the season a game to 16. I don't think anyone in their right mind that runs the show believes that the coaches, players or schools will increase the schedule from 15 to 17 games. Granted, that's only for those teams making it all the way but a 17 game schedule is a bear.
 
#47
#47
Seeing what schools like UGA have done in the past few weeks with scheduling, makes me wonder when Fulmer is gonna start on scheduling out of conference opponents, and if he is gonna schedule anyone major. Our 2020 OOC schedule isn’t even done yet. I wonder if he’ll do what was done the past 10 years and go heavy with Oklahoma’s, Oregon’s and VTs, or he’ll take the Bama approach and not schedule anyone outside of smaller schools unless it’s a neutral site, given that Pruitt is here now and that’s how it was for him at Bama.

IMO we should schedule home & homes with 2-3 of the Carolina schools (for recruiting purposes) and add the yearly series with Memphis again. Some other teams that would interesting matchups would be Washington, FSU, and Michigan.
 
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