1) i don't know that it would make it the hardest, i think it would make it more comparable to OSU's
2) i don't know why it would be absurd to do even if it was the hardest
The mighty, fighting Minutemen of UMass prepped for PSU by losing
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2) i don't know why it would be absurd to do even if it was the hardest
If WVU is our "big game" then we need a second game of that level to replace Delaware.
Obviously, the OP wants to see only marquee games. He should give up his season tickets and only buy those marquee games. He will then be on this board bitching about how much those tickets cost him.
well i think if we played someone like Oregon or USC, WVU would by definition not be the big game.
1999 ooc schedule, back when we used to actually care about trying to win national titles, was Arizona, Pitt, Miami (we won all of them). Arizona and Miami were top 10 teams. Pitt would have been like WVU this year. it was not remotely the big game on the calendar. we have really fallen far with our scheduling
Right--this I agree with. WVU as our third game or potentially our second game is fine of the three but we need a real opponent. like Texas-Ohio State next year.
Michigan is the one who plays Texas next year.
Ohio State pathetically doesn’t play any P5 teams next season. Though to their credit they do have some marquee games in the seasons after that.
I don’t think there’s much we could say about our chances for an at large bid at 11-1 (side note: if we are 12-1 conference champs we would virtually certainly be in) because there’s far too many games to be played including a ton of conference matchups that will shake up records a bunch.
In many years, us going 11-1 with our 2023 schedule would give us a decent shot as an at large team. I’m a little leery this season and all 5 power conferences seem to have decent contenders. It’s easier to get in as an at large if some of the conferences look particularly weak and especially if some conference champs have 2 or more losses.
On the topic of this thread, I’d like our chances of being chosen over a non champion Oklahoma if both of us ended with 1 loss - because of how weak their non conference schedule is. Same would go with Michigan in general except head to head would probably determine that if we were both 11-1 as opposed to SOS.
I have him on ignore, but apparently he’s still trying to claim WVU is a bad opponent…sitting at 4-1 when he said they’d win three games all year. Even when he’s wrong he’s convinced he’s right, that’s why I ignore him.
Unless we end up as the first place team in the division and we win the conference, then we’re going. We’re not automatically replaced in the playoffs by the tram that beats us.
My bad--they play Texas in 2025/2026
Notice how both Michigan and Ohio State have real opponents in the future while we don't?
I commend tOSU and Michigan for some high quality games they have scheduled- but it doesn’t excuse them for terrible non conference schedules for UM in 2022/23 or tOSU in 2025.
I don't expect any of this to change, especially with the SEC and B10 adding powerhouse programs. Why would a program risk playing an OOC powerhouse when they can reasonably expect to play 4 or more top twenty in conference play? Even with expanded playoffs, all bets are going to be off if you lose more than 2 games. It's not that a 3 loss team won't get in, it's just that many don't. One can see that looking at the week 15 rankings (the last ones before the playoff/bowl selections) for the past several years - 2 loss P5 teams are in the top 12 and 3 loss P5 are hit and miss. I just don't see coaches and ADs in the SEC and B10 risking another loss until they see 3 loss teams from their conferences getting the nod over 2 loss teams from the ACC and B12.
I'd care less about the occasional soft year if we followed it up with Texas or Bama
Go root got them then. Michigans schedule is awful this year and Ohio states really isn’t any better then ours.
Pretending Ohio State's schedule isn't better is laughable
Being a fan doesn't mean you have to agree with every decision made. Stop defending a bad schedule. I'm not defending Michigan or Oklahoma or anyone else that avoids competition
Ohio state schedule is not better. Notre Dame is paper tiger living on the past. They got rolled this week and will again next week. Three teams on Penn State schedule would be undefeated if they didn’t play Penn State.
West Virginia and Iowa haven't beat anyone decent. If either played Duke (with their QB) or Louisville they'd have a loss. The inability of you and others to just give Ohio State credit is scary. If nothing else, like us with Auburn, they get credit for scheduling them and we don't for scheduling garbage like WVU.
I do actually tend to agree. Right now, Notre Dame is ostensibly looking like a bigger win but it wouldn’t surprise me if they are considered relatively similar in quality as WVU by the end of the season (essentially being an unremarkable but decent middle of the pack P5 team)
Well, I said "decent," which is far from "sure." I mean, there's still a half of the season to go after all.
The point is, our OOC schedule doesn't change the calculation at this point. If we lose to either Michigan or Ohio State and beat the other of those two, we still need things to break our way.
Meanwhile, as things stand, Michigan's OOC slate is worse than ours, and they haven't been penalized in the least in terms of polls.
yes just because it’s notre dame doesn’t mean it’s a great win. All you can look at is three teams PSU beat only have one loss and that’s Penn State. It will be settled on field in two weeks
they also look like they are going to lose zero games. so that might be why they aren't getting a hit in the polls
SOS is an excuse that pollsters bring up when they need a reason to say a team is better than another that has a similar or identical record. That they often don't consistently follow that reasoning is why I consider it an excuse. UM is where they are because the pollsters thought that's where they belonged before the season started and they haven't given the voters a reason to change their minds. It's the way college football has always been, and it won't matter a bit until the last poll comes out after the conference championship games.
right. such as when they want to find an excuse to pass us over for the playoff later this year
Never said Michigan doesn’t deserve to be ranked where they are. Merely pointed out to the poster complaining about PSU playing Mass and Delaware that Michigan’s out of conference schedule was ranked as the softest and Georgia’s was second. Two different concepts.
And aren't both of them criticized as well for their schedules?
The difference is future schedules
Georgia: Louisville, UCLA, FSU, Clemson, Ohio State
Michigan: Texas, Oklahoma, ND
Penn State: West Virginia, Nevada, Temple, Syracuse
Tell me which one of those isn't acceptable moving forward. Let me know if you need a hint
you are exactly right. It's not just about this year, we have been putting together lame OOC schedules for 20 years and it seems to be worse than ever.
I would imagine this game will consist of a fair amount of people who would not attend a game otherwise. Got to think a bunch of regulars are giving their tickets up. Then again, it's homecoming, so who knows.
Also, it's very much a long shot, but the unthinkable might happen. See App St vs Michigan, 2007. It's probably a 1/1000 or greater chance, but it's still a number greater than zero. That's on Franklin to make sure the team is ready and doesn't sleep walk into the game.
Also, it's very much a long shot, but the unthinkable might happen. See App St vs Michigan, 2007. It's probably a 1/1000 or greater chance, but it's still a number greater than zero. That's on Franklin to make sure the team is ready and doesn't sleep walk into the game.
We’re currently 43 point favorites…biggest spread upset in FBS history was Stanford-USC at 41, but Howard knocked off UNLV as 45 point dogs a few years ago. I’d put it at something like 500-1 this weekend.
How will it benefit PSU by playing all blue bloods out of conference? Have you seen Georgia's or Michigan's schedule?
True, but no one is really focused on playoff spots yet. Wait for about a month when there are 6 or so teams still with a reasonable shot at a playoff spot and the debates will start.
Have you seen their future schedules and our future schedules?
And no one is asking for 3 elite non-conference games
Yes. You get money and increase the experience for backups. Which is very important to the football program and other sports at PSU.
Beating OSU and Mich gets you into the playoffs. Beating a WVU instead of Delaware does not. Backups getting valuable playing time is extremely important to winning with injuries and reloading vs rebuilding. A couple of games like these lessens the pounding your players get which increases performance. I have zero clue what you are talking about
Actually with the portal playing time for backups is far less relevant though it's good to have 1 (not 3) weak non conference.
Haven't our backups played in everg game this year?
Competitively, absolutely it was a joke. But the game did what it was intended. An easy win and no injuries.
