Strength of Schedule - reason?

[tango]

I don't understand some folks' (and UT's) thought about scheduling a "quality" non-conference opponent "for the purposes of recruiting"...

It's known that UT recruits all over the country..
It's said we get some of the best talent from all over the country (and we've got the recruiting class rankings over the years to prove it!)... and maybe we get that from scheduling decent schools that get national media attention..

We have had some "traditionally quality teams" on the schedule in the past --- Miami, Notre Dame... UCLA is on a slide right now, maybe Cal is not so great... but these teams are not Troy, Baylor, Kent State, LA-Monroe, etc.

So follow me on this ---

We schedule Oklahoma -- why? Because it most likely gets us on national TV? Fair enough.
This is important, why? So kids from all over the country can see UT football...or can actually go to the game.

But what good does it do to have your team on the national stage only to get your ass kicked by a "quality team"?

However Fulmer and crew spin such things to recruits ("Next year, YOU will be the one to help us beat Oklahoma!" or whatever) to get them to Tennessee, what does it matter?

What does it matter if you get the best recruits in the nation, but can't manage to beat next year's "quality non-conference team," effectively taking yourself out of the NC picture from the get-go?

Sample Season Openers:
1. Oklahoma
2. Bob's Beauty School
3. Florida

or

1. Notre Dame
2. Bob's Beauty School
3. Florida

or

1. Miami
2. Bob's Beauty School
3. Florida

I would MUCH rather see a couple of warm-up games to work out kinks and get everybody on the same page leading up to the Florida game.

At best, we start the season 3-0.
At worst, we start the season 2-1.

Why take a chance at putting ourselves in the hole at 1-2 to start the season? Now... we made it to the SECCG this year, by pure luck IMO, but if the goal is to make it to the National Championship, we're not gonna do that by starting 1-2.

 

[tango]

..and please, don't ride me about Notre Dame in light of the season they just put together.
I think you guys get my point.

 

[utvolpj]

I would quote the famous Billy Madison line for your post Tango but it just seems too tame. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

 

[VolsZealot]

strength of schedule has to matter somewhat.. Otherwise Hawaii would be playing in the National Championship game.
Strength of schedule is difficult to determine year in and year out though. Some of the teams in the top 10 this year may not be next year. The same thing for teams like michigan and ND .. ND sucks this year but maybe they are better next year.

 

[tim]

I heard somewhere that Ohio passed legislation that Ohio State had to play all in state schools. Wondering if I heard right. This would explain their weak sos playing the likes of Kent state.

 

[VolinArizona]

The CBS SOS is extremely flawed. In that model, FAU is viewed as a tougher game than Louisville.

 

[VolinArizona]

People forget that Cal lost their starting QB and went into a slide just like Oregon.

Still not a great team, but not a sure win.

They lost Longshore for one game. He came back with an ankle injury, but Longshore was already the least mobile QB in the conference.

 

[Sudden Impact]

News Flash: They're still not any good.

Us or Cal?????

 

[TNBV]

I know some are asking why play good OOC teams when it does nothing to help your rankings. They have a real good point. My opinion is who cares. Not really, but what I mean is, yes, a NC is the ultimate goal, but maning up and playing great teams is what makes UT who we are. We played home and away with ND, Cal, UCLA and others, and we get respect for it. There is something to be said for slidding in to a NC (OSU this year), but watching GREAT football year in and year out is what keeps us popular. The exposure of big games is what gets us the Cali and NJ and Oregon kids that we have counted on due to the over recruited south. In some ways we are carrying the tourch for some of these other SEC schools that don't play a tough schedule, well so be it. I personaly would rather us go 10-2 with a top 25 SOS, then go undefeated with SOS of 117. Nothing pisses me off more than to see unproven team like Kansas and the Big Ten last year get so much hype without proving it on the field(just imagine the BS we would still be hearing about OSU if the had gotten a rematch with Mich last year for the NC). Lets keep playing the tough teams, watch great football and continue to be the most unafrais team in the conference.

 

[allvol]

SOS does matter. Just not this crazy year.

Anyone remember Auburn in 2004? The only reason they couldn't cry foul, was because their OOC schedule was made up the likes of UL Monroe, Citadel, and LA Tech.

Remember last season? One of the main reasons Florida jumped Michigan for the #2 spot was because of their SOS.

I really think that SOS did matter this year.

#1 Ohio State (11-1) had the best record of all the big-time conference champions.

Out of the other conference champions with 2 losses, #3 Virginia Tech was 9th and #2 LSU was 10th. However, LSU crushed Virginia Tech in their head-to-head matchup.

#4 Oklahoma 29th
#7 USC 63rd
#9 West Virginia* 40th

#5 Georgia (non-conf champion) 34th
#6 Missouri* (non-conf champion) 15th
#8 Kansas* (non-conf champion) 78th

*lost their final game played

 

[tango]

I would quote the famous Billy Madison line for your post Tango but it just seems too tame. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Ok, let me try this again.

We schedule "big name OOC schools"... so we can get good out of state recruits... so we can have more talent, so we can win more games, so we can have a shot at a NC...

except that... when we schedule "big name OOC schools" and get our asses kicked, we typically don't have a chance of getting in the NC game... especially after we drop at least one more game against UGA, UF, or Bama.

Unless your name is LSU, you don't get to the NC game with 2 losses.

Does this not make any sense?

So... why not schedule the patsies and take your chances on winning those OOC games. Then go undefeated (or maybe only one loss) in conference to help boost your chances to get to the NC?

It works for Ohio State, right?

Is this making any sense yet?

 

[tango]

I know some are asking why play good OOC teams when it does nothing to help your rankings. They have a real good point. My opinion is who cares. Not really, but what I mean is, yes, a NC is the ultimate goal, but maning up and playing great teams is what makes UT who we are. We played home and away with ND, Cal, UCLA and others, and we get respect for it. There is something to be said for slidding in to a NC (OSU this year), but watching GREAT football year in and year out is what keeps us popular. The exposure of big games is what gets us the Cali and NJ and Oregon kids that we have counted on due to the over recruited south. In some ways we are carrying the tourch for some of these other SEC schools that don't play a tough schedule, well so be it. I personaly would rather us go 10-2 with a top 25 SOS, then go undefeated with SOS of 117. Nothing pisses me off more than to see unproven team like Kansas and the Big Ten last year get so much hype without proving it on the field(just imagine the BS we would still be hearing about OSU if the had gotten a rematch with Mich last year for the NC). Lets keep playing the tough teams, watch great football and continue to be the most unafrais team in the conference.

There is some truth to this.
But I'd rather "slide" into the NC rather than not even be in it.

...and I don't hear anybody complain how we essentially slid into the SECCG either (yeah, we beat UGA, but we had to wait for another UF loss to help us.. and of course, we had to win out).

 

[utvolpj]

except that... when we schedule "big name OOC schools" and get our asses kicked, we typically don't have a chance of getting in the NC game... especially after we drop at least one more game against UGA, UF, or Bama.

So... why not schedule the patsies and take your chances on winning those OOC games. Then go undefeated (or maybe only one loss) in conference to help boost your chances to get to the NC?

So UT should shy away from good OOC competition because we can't beat them? I see you have a very high opinion of the UT football program. Good thing our guys enjoy competition more than you do.

 

[Ohio Vol]

Ohio State benefits from playing in an extremely weak conference with a historical tradition, plus no conference championship game.

I heard someone comparing them to Bammer in the 1970s, which is a valid one to me.

 

[tango]

So UT should shy away from good OOC competition because we can't beat them? I see you have a very high opinion of the UT football program. Good thing our guys enjoy competition more than you do.

I'm not saying we can't beat good OOC competition, I'm just saying I don't understand what good it does to schedule good OOC that we might not be able to beat without question.
If i didn't say it exactly like that beforehand, then that's my mistake.

Maybe TNBV said it best with, "that's just who we [UT] are"...[scheduling quality OOC opponents]

By scheduling REAL opponents for OOC games, maybe that gets UT some respect.... but respect counts for jack if you lose to those teams. We just get further away from a NC.

SOS really only comes into play when you WIN games.
WINS over "quality opponents" gives you a better BCS grade. Wins over "non-quality opponents" doesn't really help (you don't get much positive), but it obviously doesn't hurt you either (you don't get negative points).

The only common factor is that LOSSES to either "quality opponents" or "cupcakes" hurts real, real bad when you get to the end of the season.

So again, my opinion --- let's take a sure victories with OOC games. SEC competition is good/strong enough to get you to the NC game (just ask UGA, who damn near got into the thing, even without an SECCG appearance!).