Topic: Football Scheduling news, questions . . .

[elginherd]

i don't recall SEC schools being accused of having a schedule full of HS teams & sisters of the poor, either

i believe that charge is lobbed our way A LOT!

https://collegefootballnetwork.com/why-does-the-sec-play-fcs-teams/

[miltonherdfan]

my point isn't that SEC never plays terrible teams, they do, as that link illustrates.  my point is the REST of their schedule isn't full of 'em, as well.

SEC schools play the toughest conference schedule in America that accounts for 8-9 of their games, a lot of 'em play a fellow P4 rival OOC (UK-UL, GA-GT, FL-FL St/MIA, etc.).  their schedule isn't chock full of patsies & no-names, that's my point.  everyone gives them a pass if they wanna play 1 HS team during the season.

MU, OTOH, our ENTIRE schedule is full of teams that SEC schools play for that "extra bye" you mentioned.

[Flat Tire 2]

my point isn't that SEC never plays terrible teams, they do, as that link illustrates.  my point is the REST of their schedule isn't full of 'em, as well.

SEC schools play the toughest conference schedule in America that accounts for 8-9 of their games, a lot of 'em play a fellow P4 rival OOC (UK-UL, GA-GT, FL-FL St/MIA, etc.).  their schedule isn't chock full of patsies & no-names, that's my point.  everyone gives them a pass if they wanna play 1 HS team during the season.

MU, OTOH, our ENTIRE schedule is full of teams that SEC schools play for that "extra bye" you mentioned.

Well, a quick look at last year's SEC football scheduled surprised me. Per ESPN I found some of the out of conference teams the SEC played last season.

 UGA played Tenn Tech and UMASS; Missouri played Murry State and Buffalo; UT played UTC; UTEP and Kent; UK played Murray State and Ohio; UF played Samford; South Carolina played ODU and Wofford. Vanderbilt played Alcorn State and Ball State. Bama played WKU and Mercer. Ole Miss played Furman; MTSU and GA Southern. LSU played Nicholls. TX A&M played McNeese; BGSU and NMSU. Auburn played Alabama A&M; UL Monroe and UNM. Miss State played EKU; Toledo and UMASS. AK played AK-Pine Bluff; UAB and LA Tech.

[chris88]

Well, a quick look at last year's SEC football scheduled surprised me. Per ESPN I found some of the out of conference teams the SEC played last season.

 UGA played Tenn Tech and UMASS; Missouri played Murry State and Buffalo; UT played UTC; UTEP and Kent; UK played Murray State and Ohio; UF played Samford; South Carolina played ODU and Wofford. Vanderbilt played Alcorn State and Ball State. Bama played WKU and Mercer. Ole Miss played Furman; MTSU and GA Southern. LSU played Nicholls. TX A&M played McNeese; BGSU and NMSU. Auburn played Alabama A&M; UL Monroe and UNM. Miss State played EKU; Toledo and UMASS. AK played AK-Pine Bluff; UAB and LA Tech.

These are just buy games at home.  The payout is a pittance of what they make and save by not going on road. In end it could hurt their SOS when they are vying for a playoff spot. That's about the only risk to them playing multiple non p4s, but also notice many of those games are with in state teams.

[Flat Tire 2]

These are just buy games at home.  The payout is a pittance of what they make and save by not going on road. In end it could hurt their SOS when they are vying for a playoff spot. That's about the only risk to them playing multiple non p4s, but also notice many of those games are with in state teams.

I know that. Maybe you need to read the post that I was responding to?

[Always THE HERD]

Wel in an H-D Media article today (Gazette), AD Spears was quoted as saying that MU was in line for a "special" out-of-conference game in 2025 and the game/opponent should be released/announced fairly shortly!

I predict it is WVU (Spears is friends with Wren, they want a G5 opponent that year, Gee & Smith have become fairly good friends, the state & both schools need the money, especially Marshall).

[MUfan08]

I predict it is WVU (Spears is friends with Wren, they want a G5 opponent that year, Gee & Smith have become fairly good friends, the state & both schools need the money, especially Marshall).

It is Georgia

Their game with UCLA is canceled because of UCLA going to the BIG.

Start 2025 season in Athens

[MUther]

I know that. Maybe you need to read the post that I was responding to?

Maybe you should quit avoiding the point.  SEC schools can play a trash OOC because their conference schedule is the toughest in college football as was explained in that post you were responding to and that was conveniently ignored.  Marshall cannot afford to do that because most of our schedule is trash every year.  We can't rely on a conference schedule to carry our SoS like the SEC does and must schedule as strong as we can OOC.  We should not be playing FCS teams, especially bad ones, unless all other options are exhausted.  1-2 P4 and 2-3 G5 should be our OOC, to make sure we never get overlooked in a good season for a playoff spot.  SoS should never be a consideration. 

Case in point 2014.  Lost one game in OT and scored 60+ points doing it.  Got taken out of access bowl contention by a 2-loss Boise because they played (and lost to) a better schedule.  Louisville got moved so not completely our fault but Louisville was still a glorified G5 team on it's way to the ACC at that time.  Not exactly a schedule maker.  Our best team in the last 20 years played no one of consequence.  Perhaps that is why it was our best team?  The voters seemed to think so.  If our FCS game that year had been Ole Miss or someone like that, likw Boise played, we're having a very different conversation.

[MUfan08]

It is Georgia

Their game with UCLA is canceled because of UCLA going to the BIG.

Start 2025 season in Athens

https://herdzone.com/news/2024/7/10/marshall-football-meets-georgia-in-2025-season

This was finalized like 2 months ago, not sure why it is just now getting announced.