Talking CFB: A Simple Way to Improve The Program MSU Needs to Schedule Easier OOC Opponents

Trapper Gus wrote:

kingstonlake wrote:

Ohio St…..
Georgia…..
Penn St….
Utah…..
Tennessee…..
BYU…..
Washington….
Texas A&M…..

Remind me which of those teams won the NCG in the modern play off era.  OSU & ?

Which one of those teams lost in the “preseason”. The answer is none. And they played big time opponents. Their loses (if any) came during conference play. Their legitimate pre season schedule helped their CFP rankings and chances at a title.

kingstonlake wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

Remind me which of those teams won the NCG in the modern play off era.  OSU & ?

Which one of those teams lost in the “preseason”. The answer is none. And they played big time opponents. Their loses (if any) came during conference play. Their legitimate pre season schedule helped their CFP rankings and chances at a title.

So...the big time opponents they played in the "preseason" and who racked up the losses would have hurt their CFP rankings and chances at a title?

NigelUno wrote:

kingstonlake wrote:

Which one of those teams lost in the “preseason”. The answer is none. And they played big time opponents. Their loses (if any) came during conference play. Their legitimate pre season schedule helped their CFP rankings and chances at a title.

So...the big time opponents they played in the "preseason" and who racked up the losses would have hurt their CFP rankings and chances at a title?

I don’t think having multiple L’s is a good strategy when trying to make the CFP..

NigelUno wrote:

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:I disagree, Steve. I’d rather watch them play cool non conference games.

BC isn't exactly a powerhouse, but that might be a fun trip.

And we get ND in 2026 and 2027 (unless conference realignment messes it up).

I'd rather play someone in the South than the West though. For sure.

Georgia Tech. Auburn. LSU. Somebody like that.

A series with TAMU or Virginia Tech would be cool. I would like see Kansas St or Oklahoma St on the schedule, too.

kingstonlake wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

Remind me which of those teams won the NCG in the modern play off era.  OSU & ?

Which one of those teams lost in the “preseason”. The answer is none. And they played big time opponents. Their loses (if any) came during conference play. Their legitimate pre season schedule helped their CFP rankings and chances at a title.

However, and this is not possible to really argue, by playing stronger teams they may not have had "petrol in the tank" to win those later games.

Just saying, football is more demanding game by game, thus for a season there is a finite amount of energy to use, if it is used early it isn't there later.

The schedule is locked in for several years. By the time there is schedule flexibility, there will be a 12 team playoff. Once there’s a 12 team playoff, the point is entirely moot as if you win your conference you’ll be in.

So in other words ‍�

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:The schedule is locked in for several years. By the time there is schedule flexibility, there will be a 12 team playoff. Once there’s a 12 team playoff, the point is entirely moot as if you win your conference you’ll be in.

So in other words ‍�

Michigan somehow seems to find “flexibility” in their non conference schedule for years. But local media can find the time for that story.

But yeah, once they go to 12 it’s all moot.

Turtleneck wrote:

NigelUno wrote:

BC isn't exactly a powerhouse, but that might be a fun trip.

And we get ND in 2026 and 2027 (unless conference realignment messes it up).

I'd rather play someone in the South than the West though. For sure.

Georgia Tech. Auburn. LSU. Somebody like that.

A series with TAMU or Virginia Tech would be cool. I would like see Kansas St or Oklahoma St on the schedule, too.

Winnable game. Cool road trip. Those are my criteria.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:The schedule is locked in for several years. By the time there is schedule flexibility, there will be a 12 team playoff. Once there’s a 12 team playoff, the point is entirely moot as if you win your conference you’ll be in.

So in other words ‍�

Seems like strength of schedule could be more important in a 12 team playoff (to the wild card teams, and for seeding).

NigelUno wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:The schedule is locked in for several years. By the time there is schedule flexibility, there will be a 12 team playoff. Once there’s a 12 team playoff, the point is entirely moot as if you win your conference you’ll be in.

So in other words ‍�

Seems like strength of schedule could be more important in a 12 team playoff (to the wild card teams, and for seeding).    

As long as the team wins all the games.  There is no such thing as a "good loss" unless the losing team is one of the MSM's golden haired favorites

Pervis Muldoon wrote:

NigelUno wrote:And we get ND in 2026 and 2027  

Seeing those years made me think at first that they were a lot further away than they are.  Holy shit we are living past the end times of all the sci-fi books I've read.  I guess they were all bullshit. I'm switching to romance novels. Anyway, what were we talking about?

Time travel.

Trapper Gus wrote:

NigelUno wrote:

Seems like strength of schedule could be more important in a 12 team playoff (to the wild card teams, and for seeding).    

As long as the team wins all the games.  There is no such thing as a "good loss" unless the losing team is one of the MSM's golden haired favorites

Honestly if there are 12 teams in the playoff, and you are trying to sneak your way in by playing only cupcakes, just to get there and get mercilessly slaughtered, then what have you achieved?

We would have been in a 12 team playoff last year with losses against Purdue and Ohio state. So what are we even saying, I guess that it would be better to play eastern instead of miami in case we lost that game and it knocked us to 9-3 and out of the playoff? At a certain point your team just needs to be better and be capable of winning football games.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

As long as the team wins all the games.  There is no such thing as a "good loss" unless the losing team is one of the MSM's golden haired favorites

Honestly if there are 12 teams in the playoff, and you are trying to sneak your way in by playing only cupcakes, just to get there and get mercilessly slaughtered, then what have you achieved?

We would have been in a 12 team playoff last year with losses against Purdue and Ohio state. So what are we even saying, I guess that it would be better to play eastern instead of miami in case we lost that game and it knocked us to 9-3 and out of the playoff? At a certain point your team just needs to be better and be capable of winning football games.

I don't have a horse on this, really.

AISI there is the "we want big name schools for our money" side and the "we want to be in the playoff" side.

Sure, if MSU improves so it can to both then both sides would be happy.

Trapper Gus wrote:

NigelUno wrote:

Seems like strength of schedule could be more important in a 12 team playoff (to the wild card teams, and for seeding).    

As long as the team wins all the games.  There is no such thing as a "good loss" unless the losing team is one of the MSM's golden haired favorites

Bingo.

Also, even with a 12 team playoff I still see it as a smart tactic to schedule a soft schedule.

The 2006 Boise team was considered to have a schedule to soft to qualify for the BCS championship game but finished with 5 ap ranking and 6 coaches ranking. Their strength of schedule was 113th over all.

The 2017 UCF Kinghts finished 13-0 and ended with a 6 ap ranking and a 7 coaches ranking. Their strength of schedule was 103rd over all.

Both teams were punished for the soft schedule at the time but would make it in a 12 team playoff format.

#radiosteve

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Trapper Gus wrote:

As long as the team wins all the games.  There is no such thing as a "good loss" unless the losing team is one of the MSM's golden haired favorites

Honestly if there are 12 teams in the playoff, and you are trying to sneak your way in by playing only cupcakes, just to get there and get mercilessly slaughtered, then what have you achieved?

We would have been in a 12 team playoff last year with losses against Purdue and Ohio state. So what are we even saying, I guess that it would be better to play eastern instead of miami in case we lost that game and it knocked us to 9-3 and out of the playoff? At a certain point your team just needs to be better and be capable of winning football games.

Bragging rights, clout, prestige, building the resume etc.

Jan 1, 2016 Alabama rolled us 38-0 but making the playoffs is still a source of pride for the Dantonio era and it is still viewed as a tremendous season. Making the 12 team playoff won't be as prestigious as the 4 team playoffs but being in the top 12 in CFB is a good thing.

Another POV is the number of games in East Lansing to party at...or from the MSU's AD POV to earn money at...

3 non-B1G games plus 4 or 5 more home games verses 1 or 2, if doing home & home with named teams.

As few as 5 home games verses a minimum of 7 home games.

steveschneider wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Honestly if there are 12 teams in the playoff, and you are trying to sneak your way in by playing only cupcakes, just to get there and get mercilessly slaughtered, then what have you achieved?

We would have been in a 12 team playoff last year with losses against Purdue and Ohio state. So what are we even saying, I guess that it would be better to play eastern instead of miami in case we lost that game and it knocked us to 9-3 and out of the playoff? At a certain point your team just needs to be better and be capable of winning football games.

Bragging rights, clout, prestige, building the resume etc.

Jan 1, 2016 Alabama rolled us 38-0 but making the playoffs is still a source of pride for the Dantonio era and it is still viewed as a tremendous season. Making the 12 team playoff won't be as prestigious as the 4 team playoffs but being in the top 12 in CFB is a good thing.

Did they play a tough opponent in “preseason”?

kingstonlake wrote:

steveschneider wrote:

Bragging rights, clout, prestige, building the resume etc.

Jan 1, 2016 Alabama rolled us 38-0 but making the playoffs is still a source of pride for the Dantonio era and it is still viewed as a tremendous season. Making the 12 team playoff won't be as prestigious as the 4 team playoffs but being in the top 12 in CFB is a good thing.

Did they play a tough opponent in “preseason”?

More to the point, did they play their non-conference games at home where their fans could party down?

kingstonlake wrote:

steveschneider wrote:

Bragging rights, clout, prestige, building the resume etc.

Jan 1, 2016 Alabama rolled us 38-0 but making the playoffs is still a source of pride for the Dantonio era and it is still viewed as a tremendous season. Making the 12 team playoff won't be as prestigious as the 4 team playoffs but being in the top 12 in CFB is a good thing.

Did they play a tough opponent in “preseason”?

I don't know but in 2013 swap out the ND game with a cup cake and I like our chances to finish with a perfect record and a natty.

steveschneider wrote:

kingstonlake wrote:

Did they play a tough opponent in “preseason”?

I don't know but in 2013 swap out the ND game with a cup cake and I like our chances to finish with a perfect record and a natty.

In 2013 we’d have made a CFP with ND on the non conference schedule.
In 2015 we did with Oregon on the non conference schedule

steveschneider wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

Honestly if there are 12 teams in the playoff, and you are trying to sneak your way in by playing only cupcakes, just to get there and get mercilessly slaughtered, then what have you achieved?

We would have been in a 12 team playoff last year with losses against Purdue and Ohio state. So what are we even saying, I guess that it would be better to play eastern instead of miami in case we lost that game and it knocked us to 9-3 and out of the playoff? At a certain point your team just needs to be better and be capable of winning football games.

Bragging rights, clout, prestige, building the resume etc.

Jan 1, 2016 Alabama rolled us 38-0 but making the playoffs is still a source of pride for the Dantonio era and it is still viewed as a tremendous season. Making the 12 team playoff won't be as prestigious as the 4 team playoffs but being in the top 12 in CFB is a good thing.

Eh. Like I said, if the difference between making the 12 team playoff or not is winning a game against one of Miami or Purdue, running scared from that first game is silly. At a certain point you simply aren’t worthy of that clout, you just have to be a good enough football team.

Not to mention, some butterfly effect here, would we have been in the position we were in at the end of the year if we had played Akron instead of Miami? We wouldn’t be ranked 9th or whatever going into Michigan that boosted us to 2 or whatever. That’s for sure. So if we never played anyone worth anything until the end of October, then immediately lost to purdue the following week and got blown out by Ohio state, are we even in the top 12?

I dunno, Miami and Washington are not exactly a gauntlet. We lost to Washington this year because we’re not very good even though we didn’t know it yet. If we were good enough for any of this to matter, we probably would not have lost.