Cowards!

[Gator]

It's the off-season so let's vent a little spleen. What coach or what schools do you think are cowardly schedulers. You know the ones that are over-rated and get too much credit for beating nobodies. For contrast what coaches or schools do you respect because they schedule "big-boy" style?

I'll start things off by saying that I am NOT a fan of Chris Petersen (in fact I'm not a fan of Bill Snyder either). I think both scheduled wussy style and kept getting credit for an occasional win over a ranked team. They played so soft a schedule that it was hard to tell the difference between a "solid" win and an "upset" like when 6-7 VT beat the eventual NC OSU in Columbus. That one victory over OSU did not mean that VT was worthy of being ranked.

 

[jwolt92]

Ahem....

Florida's upcoming non-conference opponents (non-FSU)
Utah
McNeese
Charlotte
Miami x 2
Samford
UCF
USF
Florida A&M
NC State
Campbell
Cal x 2
Colorado x 2
Arizona State


Then in 2030 it picks up quite a bit, new AD start making that schedule? Because that's not exactly a murders row of opponents.

 

[Ojb81]

Ahem....

Florida's upcoming non-conference opponents (non-FSU)
Utah
McNeese
Charlotte
Miami x 2
Samford
UCF
USF
Florida A&M
NC State
Campbell
Cal x 2
Colorado x 2
Arizona State


Then in 2030 it picks up quite a bit, new AD start making that schedule? Because that's not exactly a murders row of opponents.

 

[Gator]

Ahem....

Florida's upcoming non-conference opponents (non-FSU)
Utah
McNeese
Charlotte
Miami x 2
Samford
UCF
USF
Florida A&M
NC State
Campbell
Cal x 2
Colorado x 2
Arizona State


Then in 2030 it picks up quite a bit, new AD start making that schedule? Because that's not exactly a murders row of opponents.

So, you're point your finger at Florida for "cowardly scheduling"?

 

[jwolt92]

So, you're point your finger at Florida for "cowardly scheduling"?

That's what it would look like, would you agree or disagree that those non-conference games come across as "cowardly"?

I also said that in 2030 it picks up quite a bit and looks respectable

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

That's what it would look like, would you agree or disagree that those non-conference games come across as "cowardly"?

I also said that in 2030 it picks up quite a bit and looks respectable

Hey, anybody willing to take on the Campbell Camels has got a brass set, man

 

[jwolt92]

Hey, anybody willing to take on the Campbell Camels has got a brass set, man

The Camels have an elite color scheme, logo and their locker room is top notch. All of that landed them in the top 100 of 247 Sports Football recruiting rankings for 2023, somehow.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

The Camels have an elite color scheme, logo and their locker room is top notch. All of that landed them in the top 100 of 247 Sports Football recruiting rankings for 2023, somehow.

Man, those rankings are all political, man

 

[Wamu]

I'm disappointed in Ohio State's OOC schedule.

Youngstown State (FCS) & W. Kentucky. Don't mind the WKU game, at least they're FBS. Don't like the YSU game.

Only good thing is at least they get some games in before playing N.D. in South Bend.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I'm disappointed in Ohio State's OOC schedule.

Youngstown State (FCS) & W. Kentucky. Don't mind the WKU game, at least they're FBS. Don't like the YSU game.

Only good thing is at least they get some games in before playing N.D. in South Bend.

Look at it as a way to help out a smaller school in-state with a big payout.

 

[Wamu]

Look at it as a way to help out a smaller school in-state with a big payout.

That's what it is but they should have given the money to Akron U instead. Yeah I'm biased.

 

[navamind]

That's what it is but they should have given the money to Akron U instead. Yeah I'm biased.

They should face a powerhouse like Campbell or Samford instead.

 

[Gator]

That's what it would look like, would you agree or disagree that those non-conference games come across as "cowardly"?

I also said that in 2030 it picks up quite a bit and looks respectable

It's a matter of prospective. Compared to FSU's OOC it does come up short. Compared to the majority of P5 teams the answer is it's above average! I've looked st games going back to 1990 and FSU has played more ranked teams OOC than anybody in College Football with 52 ranked opponents. The nearest teams are Pitt and Miami with 40. UF ranks 6th with 31. Point for FSU. But for in-conference ranked opponents FSU ranks 58th out of 64 teams with 66 ranked opponents (Pitt and Miami are again tied but this time it for 59th place with 61 ranked opponents)! UF is 6th with 112 ranked opponents (behind Auburn, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and LSU). In all regular season games UF is 1st with 143 ranked opponents. (FSU is 13th with 118 ranked opponents). OSU is 44th with 102 ranked opponents (18 OOC, tied for 28th and 84 In-conference, 39th).

 

[Gator]

Ahem....

Florida's upcoming non-conference opponents (non-FSU)
Utah
McNeese
Charlotte
Miami x 2
Samford
UCF
USF
Florida A&M
NC State
Campbell
Cal x 2
Colorado x 2
Arizona State


Then in 2030 it picks up quite a bit, new AD start making that schedule? Because that's not exactly a murders row of opponents.

Here's what I am talking about....

Chris Petersen Coached at Boise State from 2006 through 2013 (8 seasons).

BSU under Petersen played in a bowl games every year (5-3). Of the eight opponents only 3 were ranked (2-1). None were in the AP Top 5 at end of year.
In the 8 seasons under Petersen BSU played 34 OOC games. Only 6 were ranked at EOY. Again none were AP Top 5.
Under Petersen, BSU played 63 in-conference games. Only 2 were ranked EOY and none were AP top 5.

So in summary BSU played 105 games under Petersen but only 11 were AP ranked EOY and ZERO were Top 5! 11 ranked teams in 8 seasons or 1.375 AP ranked teams per year and ZERO Top 5 per year.

For comparison, UF from 2006 through 2013 played 41 ranked teams or 5.125 per year (compared to 11 for BSU) with 13 of those in the top 5 (compared to ZERO for BSU). UF won 2 NC but BSU ended up ranked MORE TIMES than UF!!!

Now for Petersen at Washington...

From 1990 through 2013 (24 seasons) Washington played 29 ranked teams in the regular season out of 76 OOC games. They played at least one every year except 1999 and 2013 (2 out of 24 seasons).

Now Chris Petersen was coach of UW from 2014 through 2019 (6 seasons). How many ranked teams did UW play OOC over that span??? ZERO out of 19 OOC games. How many ranked teams IN-conference did UW play??? 15 in 6 seasons and ZERO OOC. That's 2.5 per year for a P5 school??

In 2020 UW played no OOC games as did most of FBS. In 2021 UW played #3 Michigan and in 2022 UW didn't play any ranked OOC opponents. 1 ranked out of 6 OOC games.

UW played ranked opponents OOC before AND after Petersen but not during!!!

 

[jwolt92]

It's a matter of prospective. Compared to FSU's OOC it does come up short. Compared to the majority of P5 teams the answer is it's above average! I've looked st games going back to 1990 and FSU has played more ranked teams OOC than anybody in College Football with 52 ranked opponents. The nearest teams are Pitt and Miami with 40. UF ranks 6th with 31. Point for FSU. But for in-conference ranked opponents FSU ranks 58th out of 64 teams with 66 ranked opponents (Pitt and Miami are again tied but this time it for 59th place with 61 ranked opponents)! UF is 6th with 112 ranked opponents (behind Auburn, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and LSU). In all regular season games UF is 1st with 143 ranked opponents. (FSU is 13th with 118 ranked opponents). OSU is 44th with 102 ranked opponents (18 OOC, tied for 28th and 84 In-conference, 39th).

Well if we added conference games, which aren't scheduled by the school, then yes I'd venture a guess that the entire SEC is in the top 20, but I figured we were looking at only OOC games. I also wasn't using any metric and was going based purely off of are they good/meh/bad in my rankings of the schedule.

 

[jwolt92]

Here's what I am talking about....

Chris Petersen Coached at Boise State from 2006 through 2013 (8 seasons).

BSU under Petersen played in a bowl games every year (5-3). Of the eight opponents only 3 were ranked (2-1). None were in the AP Top 5 at end of year.
In the 8 seasons under Petersen BSU played 34 OOC games. Only 6 were ranked at EOY. Again none were AP Top 5.
Under Petersen, BSU played 63 in-conference games. Only 2 were ranked EOY and none were AP top 5.

So in summary BSU played 105 games under Petersen but only 11 were AP ranked EOY and ZERO were Top 5! 11 ranked teams in 8 seasons or 1.375 AP ranked teams per year and ZERO Top 5 per year.

For comparison, UF from 2006 through 2013 played 41 ranked teams or 5.125 per year (compared to 11 for BSU) with 13 of those in the top 5 (compared to ZERO for BSU). UF won 2 NC but BSU ended up ranked MORE TIMES than UF!!!

Now for Petersen at Washington...

From 1990 through 2013 (24 seasons) Washington played 29 ranked teams in the regular season out of 76 OOC games. They played at least one every year except 1999 and 2013 (2 out of 24 seasons).

Now Chris Petersen was coach of UW from 2014 through 2019 (6 seasons). How many ranked teams did UW play OOC over that span??? ZERO out of 19 OOC games. How many ranked teams IN-conference did UW play??? 15 in 6 seasons and ZERO OOC. That's 2.5 per year for a P5 school??

In 2020 UW played no OOC games as did most of FBS. In 2021 UW played #3 Michigan and in 2022 UW didn't play any ranked OOC opponents. 1 ranked out of 6 OOC games.

UW played ranked opponents OOC before AND after Petersen but not during!!!

Using the EOY ranking to base an OOC opponent isn't always the best way though. Injuries, underperforming when you expect a team to be good, etc. skew the way the schedule looks at the end of the year vs. the beginning of the year. Look at anybody that had FSU scheduled for an OOC from 2017-2021, they probably expected to have an EOY ranked team, but they had the furthest thing from it.

When he was at Boise, how many of the big boys would be willing to play them?

His charmin soft schedule at Washington doesn't make sense and I would agree that maybe it was him, but again, was that more of the AD than it was him or was it Peterson pressuring him to make his OOC weak?

 

[Gator]

Using the EOY ranking to base an OOC opponent isn't always the best way though. Injuries, underperforming when you expect a team to be good, etc. skew the way the schedule looks at the end of the year vs. the beginning of the year. Look at anybody that had FSU scheduled for an OOC from 2017-2021, they probably expected to have an EOY ranked team, but they had the furthest thing from it.

Yes, but it works BOTH ways. Every time a "big boy" falls a "little boy" takes his place. When FSU falls it opens up a spot for Coastal Carolina or Vanderbilt in the polls. When UF schedules Southern Miss it isn't expecting a top 25 team yet it has happened to UF.

 

[jwolt92]

Yes, but it works BOTH ways. Every time a "big boy" falls a "little boy" takes his place. When FSU falls it opens up a spot for Coastal Carolina or Vanderbilt in the polls. When UF schedules Southern Miss it isn't expecting a top 25 team yet it has happened to UF.

I agree with that. I guess that proves my EOY rankings theory to have some holes in it, but you can't anticipate that when you make the schedule 10 years before they even play the game. I'm sure Alabama was pissed they still had FSU on the schedule in 2025 and 2026 up until this year. It was about to be a waste of a series

 

[Gator]

When he was at Boise, how many of the big boys would be willing to play them?

I am tired of hearing that lame excuse. He coached a team that played TWO in-conference ranked opponents in EIGHT seasons (one away and one at home and he lost the away game). In eight seasons, how many times has FSU traveled to play a ranked opponent?

From 1990 through 2022, FSU has traveled 119 times to play in-conference teams and 33 were ranked. That works out to slightly over once PER SEASON. BSU traveled ONCE in EIGHT seasons to play a ranked in-conference team. Over the same span FSU traveled 40 times to play OOC games with 34 of those were P5 teams (FSU hasn't traveled to a NON P5 in over 20 years). Of those 40 games 26 were against ranked teams. That's 59 times that FSU has traveled to play a ranked opponent (19 of those were Top 5 teams). Petersen traveled THREE times in eight seasons to play a ranked opponent and NONE were top 5 teams. The G5 teams need to get off their collective asses and TRAVEL to play ranked teams OOC since they can't do it IN-conference. The P5 teams DON'T need the games - the G5 do need the games. I'm pretty sure OSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, and Clemson would welcome a one way home game vs BSU, Cincinnati, UCF, etc. They just aren't going to travel to play them.

 

[jwolt92]

I am tired of hearing that lame excuse. He coached a team that played TWO in-conference ranked opponents in EIGHT seasons (one away and one at home and he lost the away game). In eight seasons, how many times has FSU traveled to play a ranked opponent?

From 1990 through 2022, FSU has traveled 119 times to play in-conference teams and 33 were ranked. That works out to slightly over once PER SEASON. BSU traveled ONCE in EIGHT seasons to play a ranked in-conference team. Over the same span FSU traveled 40 times to play OOC games with 34 of those were P5 teams (FSU hasn't traveled to a NON P5 in over 20 years). Of those 40 games 26 were against ranked teams. That's 59 times that FSU has traveled to play a ranked opponent (19 of those were Top 5 teams). Petersen traveled THREE times in eight seasons to play a ranked opponent and NONE were top 5 teams. The G5 teams need to get off their collective asses and TRAVEL to play ranked teams OOC since they can't do it IN-conference. The P5 teams DON'T need the games - the G5 do need the games. I'm pretty sure OSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, and Clemson would welcome a one way home game vs BSU, Cincinnati, UCF, etc. They just aren't going to travel to play them.

I'm not seeing the connection between being a coward with scheduling and the amount of conference away games they played against ranked opponents. It's one thing to avoid tough OOC competition, but Boise was still Boise in that time and why would they agree to play a 1 and done against a powerhouse? If they lost, they were immediately dismissed as not being worthy of playing against the big boys and if they won, everyone called it a fluke.

Take their 2011 season for example. They traveled to Georgia, played the then ranked 19 Bulldogs, beat them and only moved up from #5 to #4. They lost to TCU that year by one point, and then got put in the goddamn Las Vegas Bowl despite their #9 ranking. They had no benefit to playing those games but they still played: @ Washington, @ Oregon, "Neutral" games vs. Georgia and VaTech, @ Michigan State. Plus multiple games against other power 5 regional opponents.