Who the Vols should schedule next, OOC

#1

VFL-82-JP

Bleedin' Orange...
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
20,686
Likes
57,556
#1
A thread about teams we've never played (including West Virginia) got me thinking again about which teams from other conferences I'd like most to play.

And some of that has to do with teams I respect, or just like for one reason or another. But part of it is mathematical, and has to do with wins and losses. Here's the system I came up with to prioritize which OOC games I'd love most to see:

Top priority -- Teams we've never played
Also high priority -- Teams we've got a losing record against -- want to even the count, heh
Borderline priority -- Teams we're .500 against
Low but still a priority -- Teams we've only beaten once

Using that ranking system, I can figure out which conferences I'd like to see us against the most. For instance:

I'm dying for us to play the PAC more. A third of that conference, we've never played (Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Washington). Another third, we have a losing record against (Oregon, USCw), or are .500 (Cal, Colorado). So that's eight different teams I'd like to see us schedule in the regular season, or get to a bowl against (the latter is tough, because there are no SEC-PAC tie-in bowls).

After the PAC, I'd like to see more of the B12. Win or lose tomorrow, I'll still want to face West Virginia again; either to avenge a loss, or to reinforce the win. Plus, we have a losing or tied record against half that conference (Baylor, KSU, Oklahoma, Texas, and TT), and have only played two of the remaining four once in history (Iowa State, Okla State). Altogether, a whopping eight of the ten B12 teams we need to schedule, even after tomorrow.

The B10 comes next. We have a really good record against the B10 (esp. before Nebraska joined), but there are stll two teams we've never met (Mich State and Illinois), and another three (including Nebraska) we have a losing record against (others are Purdue and Penn State), and four that we've only ever played a single time (all those were wins, heh--Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota). So that's 9 of the 14 teams, I'd like to play at least once more.

Last place goes to the ACC. We've played most of them a lot; shows how closely bound--in geography and history--our conferences are. Only need to get a few games against Pitt (and we know two of those are coming up) and another with FSU.

Oh, and there's Notre Dame. We're 4-4 versus them, so I suppose we need to whup em once more. Heh.

Last of all, this system can be applied to the SEC. We have losing records against four teams (Bama, Auburn, FL, and Mizzou). Fortunately, we play three of those every year, so have every opportunity to get to the right side of the ledger. But Auburn is the exception. We need 8 victories in a row against them to get ahead. As infrequently as Vols-War Eagle games come around, we really need to take advantage of them when they do. So here's hoping we find a way to score an upset on October 13th!

Here's what it looks like in my head, sort of, haha.

1535739608931.png
Go Vols!
 
Last edited:
#3
#3
Dump a chunk of the SEC slate. 6 games max. 6 OOC. 3 patsies and 3 P5 games. That would be exciting.

Ain't happening, but I can dream.
 
#4
#4
Washington and Stanford home and home. I'm not really interested in any Big 12 matchups.
And I wish we played Notre Dame more often, like every four years or so.
 
#5
#5
OOC is set years in advance. We have a series scheduled with Nebraska in 2025 I think.
 
#6
#6
I would like to see us play some schools where we might make some recruiting inroads, like Michigan State or Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, or maybe Colorado or Utah
 
#9
#9
I want to play Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska more. I think West Virginia and Virginia Tech should be semi-regular since they are so close to us.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VFL-82-JP
#10
#10
Miami, Clemson, TCU, Notre Dame, North Carolina would all be great to play a home and home with. Would be great for recruiting as well.
 
#12
#12
I'd love to see a four or six game series with ND or Oklahoma. I'd also like to see the series with UCLA renewed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ProudVOLfan
#13
#13
Play the "old" SEC teams.....Sewanee, Tulane, and continue Ga Tech;)

I'm not really up for regular games against any triple-option team, so no thanks to Ga Tech.

But since we schedule 3 cupcakes games a year anyway, it would be cool for one of those to be an old Southern Conference team like Tulane.

Don't think we could dip all the way into Division 3 to get to Sewanee, though. We'd probably get an NCAA red card just for thinking it, heh.
 
#15
#15
Straight from the list of teams we've never played, I think a home and home with Washington would be cool.

I also think a "home-and-home" with Maryland would be cool if the Maryland home game was at FedEx Stadium. Of course, they probably wouldn't agree to that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VFL-82-JP
#17
#17
Recruiting exposure is my main objective.

Miami
Southern Cal or San Diego
Michigan St
Notre Dame
UNC
UVA
Texas Tech or TCU in a yr we don't play a&m
BYU
Pitt
 
  • Like
Reactions: RollerVol
#19
#19
I'm not really up for regular games against any triple-option team, so no thanks to Ga Tech.

But since we schedule 3 cupcakes games a year anyway, it would be cool for one of those to be an old Southern Conference team like Tulane.

Don't think we could dip all the way into Division 3 to get to Sewanee, though. We'd probably get an NCAA red card just for thinking it, heh.
I was joking about the Sewanee game, but a game with Tulane and some vintage "throwback" uni's..........like the small block T?
 
  • Like
Reactions: VFL-82-JP
#20
#20
Miami, Clemson, TCU, Notre Dame, North Carolina would all be great to play a home and home with. Would be great for recruiting as well.

It would be great to have the Vols in my current town (Fort Worth). TCU's stadium only holds 44,008, which is less than the size of our spring game crowd.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VFL-82-JP
#21
#21
As of right now this is what our future OOC schedules look like:

2019:
Georgia State
BYU
Chattanooga
UAB

2020:
Charlotte
at Oklahoma
Furman

2021:
Bowling Green
Pittsburgh
South Alabama

2022:
Ball State
at Pittsburgh
Army West Point

2023:
at BYU

2024:
Oklahoma

2026:
Nebraska

2027:
Nebraska

*all games subject to change

Link = Future Non-Conference Schedules
 
#22
#22
Honestly, areas we recruit from heavily (and want to reinforce that) or even are hoping to establish pipelines in would probably be top priority as far as the program’s concerned, would they not?
 
  • Like
Reactions: VFL-82-JP
#23
#23
I really want to see us face more blue blood programs. With our schedule set in stone through 2022 there is ample time for Pruitt to restore this program and get it back to consistently competing and winning against top schools. Thus, I really want to see us try and get a home and home with Notre Dame, Michigan, Clemson, or Ohio State. I was somewhat upset when I saw we scheduled Oklahoma for a repeat home and home. Oklahoma is a blue blood and great program, but we just got done facing them and would like some diversity in our OOC schedule.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VFL-82-JP
#24
#24
I really want to see us face more blue blood programs. With our schedule set in stone through 2022 there is ample time for Pruitt to restore this program and get it back to consistently competing and winning against top schools. Thus, I really want to see us try and get a home and home with Notre Dame, Michigan, Clemson, or Ohio State. I was somewhat upset when I saw we scheduled Oklahoma for a repeat home and home. Oklahoma is a blue blood and great program, but we just got done facing them and would like some diversity in our OOC schedule.

I would blame Currie and his Big12 ties. However, I have not read the contract information, and I'm not sure if he is the one who made the deal.
 
#25
#25
Anyone else tired of this who should we schedule next in OOC?
If I had to go another day with only discussing OOC opponents I wish we would play upteen years from now, I might go bananas. If only there was some real football to discuss starting tomorrow. Hot dog there is. TN vs WV. We are about to handle some business.

I’m glad our 1st game is next month aka tomorrow.
 
Advertisement



Back
Top