What is the benefit of scheduling strong OOC?

#1
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saintvol

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#1
Alright guys i am new to this board, and i look forward to taking part in some good Tennessee football discussion. So lets start out with a question that has been bothering me since the BCS came out. Sorry this is long.

Why are we scheduling these tough OOC games? Don't get me wrong, i like that we do it b/c it is more fun watching us play good football teams. But it doesnt seem to benefit us very well. Just look at this year. Out of all the one-loss teams the only schools that have won tough OOC games are USC and Tennessee.
We also sit at 8 and 9 in the polls which is toward the bottom half of the one loss teams.

Then look at the supposedly top one loss team, Texas. They have won OOC games against N. Texas, Sam Houston St., and Rice. Yet they have somehow earned the #4 ranking? The only tough OOC game they played they got defeated handily. They also play in a pretty weak conference this year. What message is this sending? It seems that Tennessee should just schedule cupcakes making it more likely they go undefeated.
 
#2
#2
History is your answer. If UT had not been 5-6 last year we would be higher in the polls. WVU has a weak schedule but they kicked the crap out of UGA last year in the Sugar Bowl. This is why the polls and the BCS suck. It should be about who is the best this year not who has been good for 5 years or 10 years. I am sure this topic has been broached numerous times on this board but WE NEED A PLAYOFF SYSTEM!!!!! The BCS is crap and this year it is going to fail yet again.
 
#3
#3
at this point, our OOC has not hurt us this year. we've won them all. our only L is obviously to a team we'll play every year, regardless of OOC. if we had lost to Cal, i'd be more receptive to your argument. some years it may hurt us; this year even though cal is ahead of us, i think we are ranked higher than where we'd be if we'd played a cupcake instead of cal.

but regardless of polls, the program gets national respect and attention from a tough OOC. yes, sometimes we may lose some of those games, but sure is more enjoyable for the fans. i personally would rather lose to a cal, nebraska, okla, ucla, etc. than beat a cupcake.
 
#4
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saintvol said:
Alright guys i am new to this board, and i look forward to taking part in some good Tennessee football discussion. So lets start out with a question that has been bothering me since the BCS came out. Sorry this is long.

Why are we scheduling these tough OOC games? Don't get me wrong, i like that we do it b/c it is more fun watching us play good football teams. But it doesnt seem to benefit us very well. Just look at this year. Out of all the one-loss teams the only schools that have won tough OOC games are USC and Tennessee.
We also sit at 8 and 9 in the polls which is toward the bottom half of the one loss teams.

Then look at the supposedly top one loss team, Texas. They have won OOC games against N. Texas, Sam Houston St., and Rice. Yet they have somehow earned the #4 ranking? The only tough OOC game they played they got defeated handily. They also play in a pretty weak conference this year. What message is this sending? It seems that Tennessee should just schedule cupcakes making it more likely they go undefeated.
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Are you really trying to argue that our non conference schedule is tougher than the Longhorn's this season? We played Cal. Texas played Tosu. We played Memphis, Marshall, and Air Force. Texas played North Texas, Sam Houston State, and Rice. I would say it is pretty even. The big difference is that our loss has come to another 1 loss team. Their loss came to an undefeated team.
 
#5
#5
I think it's good for us, because it seperates Tennessee from the rest of the SEC.

And if we do win out, it's the kind of thing that can be the difference between a national title game and Auburn 2004: Redux.
 
#6
#6
Our bcs would be worse off had we not played and beaten Cal. Without them, we've only beaten one other team that was ranked at the time we played them, uga, who has since dropped off the rankings.
 
#7
#7
THe unfortunate of it is that a couple of our OOC have wound up being kind of weak this year, which MAY have hurt us with the computers... then again, Florida doesn't seem to be in too bad of shape, and a couple of their OOCs aren't that good either... here's a nice kicker, FSU at the end of the season may actually HURT the UF SOS. :lol:
 
#8
#8
rwemyss said:
THe unfortunate of it is that a couple of our OOC have wound up being kind of weak this year, which MAY have hurt us with the computers... then again, Florida doesn't seem to be in too bad of shape, and a couple of their OOCs aren't that good either... here's a nice kicker, FSU at the end of the season may actually HURT the UF SOS. :lol:
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Yeah, that is a surprise. Ordinarily, FSU would be a nice OOC boost to the strength of schedule, but sure doesn't look like it this year, does it?

As I said last week, though, the FSU game scares me more than any of the last five games on the schedule, including Goergia and South Carolina, because the 'noles may be playing to save Bowden's job, or at least to give him a high point on which to leave.
 
#9
#9
I'll Lay aside the stuff about postseason opportunities.

Fans who are being asked to shell out more and more every year to keep their seats, aren't paying good money for three laughably lopsided afternoons at the stadium...
 
#10
#10
therealUT said:
Are you really trying to argue that our non conference schedule is tougher than the Longhorn's this season? We played Cal. Texas played Tosu. We played Memphis, Marshall, and Air Force. Texas played North Texas, Sam Houston State, and Rice. I would say it is pretty even. The big difference is that our loss has come to another 1 loss team. Their loss came to an undefeated team.
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I said nothing of the sort. I was looking at the OOC games that the teams have won. What good is it scheduling the team if you lose?
 
#12
#12
saintvol said:
I said nothing of the sort. I was looking at the OOC games that the teams have won. What good is it scheduling the team if you lose?
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Can you do me a favor and think about just how much reason and logic is missing from your line of thought?
 
#13
#13
saintvol said:
Alright guys i am new to this board, and i look forward to taking part in some good Tennessee football discussion. So lets start out with a question that has been bothering me since the BCS came out. Sorry this is long.

Why are we scheduling these tough OOC games? Don't get me wrong, i like that we do it b/c it is more fun watching us play good football teams. But it doesnt seem to benefit us very well. Just look at this year. Out of all the one-loss teams the only schools that have won tough OOC games are USC and Tennessee.
We also sit at 8 and 9 in the polls which is toward the bottom half of the one loss teams.

Then look at the supposedly top one loss team, Texas. They have won OOC games against N. Texas, Sam Houston St., and Rice. Yet they have somehow earned the #4 ranking? The only tough OOC game they played they got defeated handily. They also play in a pretty weak conference this year. What message is this sending? It seems that Tennessee should just schedule cupcakes making it more likely they go undefeated.
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There is no benefit. The BCS doesn't consider strength of schedule anymore.

Your better of being in a weaker conference playing only a couple of good teams a year and playing a bunch of cupcakes the rest of the year.

Thats how the BCS works. The only reason Cal has a loss is they decided to step up and play a good SEC team this year. Most likely in the future they will be playing SE Arkanasas, and then they will be in the NC picture the same way Louisville and WV are now.
 
#14
#14
therealUT said:
Can you do me a favor and think about just how much reason and logic is missing from your line of thought?
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What logic? Yeah scheduling tough OOC game is good for your school, but they lost their game while we won. I was just wondering really how the one-loss team with the least impressive resume is the top ranked one-loss team.
 
#15
#15
I personally would rather watch games against strong out of conference opponents, and it probably helps with out of state recruiting.

But, it doesn't really help with top ten rankings or BCS possibilities.

Texas would be in the National Championship hunt if they had played North-West Middle Texas State instead of losing to Ohio State; and Tennessee would have gone to a bowl game last season if we had played FAU instead of Notre Dame.
 
#16
#16
Volmania said:
Texas would be in the National Championship hunt if they had played North-West Middle Texas State instead of losing to Ohio State;
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Bingo. This is why I dislike the BCS.

How long is it before all schools realize this and stop playing anyone noteworthy out of conference?
 
#18
#18
oklavol said:
Bingo. This is why I dislike the BCS.

How long is it before all schools realize this and stop playing anyone noteworthy out of conference?
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Never. The TV networks will demand marquee nonconference games and the schools will deliver them. It's that simple.
 
#19
#19
therealUT said:
Are you really trying to argue that our non conference schedule is tougher than the Longhorn's this season? We played Cal. Texas played Tosu. We played Memphis, Marshall, and Air Force. Texas played North Texas, Sam Houston State, and Rice. I would say it is pretty even. The big difference is that our loss has come to another 1 loss team. Their loss came to an undefeated team.
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Close quarters on an attempted valid point, but no way in the world is UNT, SHS, or Rice on par with Marshall, Memphis, or AF. When I was at ACU we used to play up from DII to play UNT when they were NTS, and BTS out of them. That was in the mid 80's and they suck just as bad now as they did playing DII and DI-AA. Sam Houston State was a decent DII opponent back then, but they have done nothing at the higher level and never will. They are not a formidable OOC for a strong major. Rice is the Hawaii of the mainland.
 
#20
#20
therealUT said:
Are you really trying to argue that our non conference schedule is tougher than the Longhorn's this season? We played Cal. Texas played Tosu. We played Memphis, Marshall, and Air Force. Texas played North Texas, Sam Houston State, and Rice. I would say it is pretty even. The big difference is that our loss has come to another 1 loss team. Their loss came to an undefeated team.
Click to expand...

Cal, Memphis, Marshall, and Air Force is a tad tougher, but not a ton.
 
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