My post about Pitt and some of the responses got me thinking about rivalries and then on to who I’d like to see Penn State play in the future. The top teams are scheduling games against each other and I think it makes the season ay lot more exciting. For example, Bama v. Florida State to start the upcoming season, wow! I would not have advocated this prior to now because of where we were coming from but now that our roster is finally at full capacity and because I think we can play with anyone, I’d like to see tougher OOC games on our schedule. So, who would folks like to see Penn State play and why.
There are a number of schools in areas throughout the Country I’d like to see us try to schedule games against and the reason for each of them is pretty much the same, I’d like us to establish a presence, if you will, in certain areas for future recruiting purposes. So with that in mind, here’s my list, starting with regions:
Teams from Florida-- FSU, Florida, Miami, etc.. The more often we appear in Florida, the greater chance we might catch some Florida kid’s attention;
Teams from North Carolina-- could be NC State, Wake Forrest or Duke. Same reason as above;
Teams from Texas- would love to play Baylor with Ruhle there, but I get that the media would have a field day with the matchup for reasons I don’t think either school would want. Also TAMU, Texas, etc.;
California—USC and UCLA, would love to play them, great east/west matchup;
Now, here’s who I’d love to play, specific teams, just because I’d love the matchups. In my lifetime, I can’t remember Penn State playing UCLA so that’s a game I’d like to see. Penn State/Florida State during the regular season would be cool to me, too. I already mentioned Baylor but that won’t happen for the reasons I already stated. Duke only because it would be two academically inclined schools and I can’t remember ever playing them. Clemson because it would be another great matchup, imo, assuming both teams continue to be near or at the top and finally, I’d kind of like to play one of the Mississippi teams, I can’t remember playing either Ole Miss or Mississippi State in my lifetime. I recall playing Southern Mississippi years ago but not the others.
Those are just a few. I get the downside of playing a tough opponent, Washington proved that you don’t have to play a great OOC schedule in order to make the playoff but I still think it’s better for college football to have marquis matchups and I, like many others, can’t get all that excited about Toledo, UMass, Akron, Georgia State, Kent State or any other mid-level conference school. What say the rest of you?
There are a number of schools in areas throughout the Country I’d like to see us try to schedule games against and the reason for each of them is pretty much the same, I’d like us to establish a presence, if you will, in certain areas for future recruiting purposes. So with that in mind, here’s my list, starting with regions:
Teams from Florida-- FSU, Florida, Miami, etc.. The more often we appear in Florida, the greater chance we might catch some Florida kid’s attention;
Teams from North Carolina-- could be NC State, Wake Forrest or Duke. Same reason as above;
Teams from Texas- would love to play Baylor with Ruhle there, but I get that the media would have a field day with the matchup for reasons I don’t think either school would want. Also TAMU, Texas, etc.;
California—USC and UCLA, would love to play them, great east/west matchup;
Now, here’s who I’d love to play, specific teams, just because I’d love the matchups. In my lifetime, I can’t remember Penn State playing UCLA so that’s a game I’d like to see. Penn State/Florida State during the regular season would be cool to me, too. I already mentioned Baylor but that won’t happen for the reasons I already stated. Duke only because it would be two academically inclined schools and I can’t remember ever playing them. Clemson because it would be another great matchup, imo, assuming both teams continue to be near or at the top and finally, I’d kind of like to play one of the Mississippi teams, I can’t remember playing either Ole Miss or Mississippi State in my lifetime. I recall playing Southern Mississippi years ago but not the others.
Those are just a few. I get the downside of playing a tough opponent, Washington proved that you don’t have to play a great OOC schedule in order to make the playoff but I still think it’s better for college football to have marquis matchups and I, like many others, can’t get all that excited about Toledo, UMass, Akron, Georgia State, Kent State or any other mid-level conference school. What say the rest of you?
