Quote:
Originally Posted by CU Tiger
The problem with that line of thinking is how far in advance schedules are made. Earlier this week, for example, Clemson finished off their non conference schedule for 2030 and 2031. If you go back in time 12 years ago Alabama was a 6-7 team who hadnt played for a national Championship in 14 years. Clemson was an 8-5 team that hadn't won a conference championship in 15 years and a national championship in 25 years.
Meanwhile Pitt was 2 years removed from being a conference champ
I get that not all deals are done 12 years out, but it can be tough to predict. To your other point Neither Clemson nor Alabama wouldnt do a 3 for 1 with UCF. No juice in that squeeze
|
Yeah, schedules are done way in advance. And with that delay you inevitably will have some programs that unexpectedly decline. I fully cop to the reality that it's a tough deal. With that said, if a program
really wanted to prove they are big-time, they'd schedule big-time programs, even if it means taking a road trip every time. Schedule a road trip to USC on the assumption that they'll rise again. Schedule a road trip to Alabama because, well, chances are Alabama will be really good.
Outside of someone like Pat Hill when he was at Fresno State, I just don't see mid-major programs aggressively pursuing this kind of difficult out of conference schedule model to prove themselves, and probably for good reason - while it's fun for UCF to claim a national championship for last season, they are most likely better off financially by winning as many games as they can and positioning themselves as the latest mid-major "it school" like Boise State was under Petersen. And to Petersen and Boise State's credit, in time they did end up getting some very good teams on their schedules.