Thursday, December 06, 2007

2010 Husker Football Schedule: Yet More Turkeys (and Rearranging the 2008 Turkeys)

Apparantly as one of Steve Pederson's final acts as athletic director, the 2010 non-conference schedule has been announced (even though apparantly the contracts have been signed for some time). Hold your breath; here it comes:
  • September 4th: Western Kentucky
  • September 11th: Idaho
  • September 18th: at Washington
  • September 25th: South Dakota State (1-AA)
Now, who knows what these teams will be like by then, but here is how Sagarin rates those teams in 2007: #121-Western Kentucky, #168-Idaho, #53-Washington, #95-South Dakota State. Maybe the message to season ticketholders should be "bend over, here it comes".

And the previously announced 2008 schedule has been revised as well to start the season Labor Day weekend:
  • August 30th: Western Michigan (Sagarin #103 in 2007)
  • September 6th: San Jose State (Sagarin #113 in 2007)
  • September 13th: New Mexico State (Sagarin #153 in 2007)
  • September 27th: Virginia Tech (Sagarin #5 in 2007)
Wow...I thought the 2009 schedule was horrible, but 2010 is even worse. (2009 featured #86 Florida Atlantic, #139 Louisiana Lafayette, #122 Arkansas State, and #5 Virginia Tech).

Some people will use the excuse that "everybody is doing it"... and yes, Nebraska needs 7 home games a season. But that doesn't excuse playing eight home games in 2008 against that type of competition. Heck, with Western Michigan open to playing Labor Day weekend, you could have scheduled Michigan instead of San Jose State for September 6th and made that a much more acceptable schedule.

The 2010 schedule is completely embarrassing, especially if Washington doesn't start to improve quickly. Ohio State played that type of schedule this season, and I feel that is enough to disqualify the Buckeyes from from playing for the BCS national championship. Hopefully, 2010 is the last season we'll see teams like that filling the Husker schedule. If Nebraska is going to schedule teams like that, might as well schedule Nebraska-Omaha and keep the money in the University system.
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6 comments:

  1. American LibertarianDecember 7, 2007 at 1:16 AM

    This is the stench left over by Pederson.



    All of those 2010 schedule contracts were finalized earlier this fall by Steve Pederson!!

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  2. AndrewDecember 7, 2007 at 9:19 AM

    Just a horrible schedule. Can't really say anything more than that. There were actually guys on the Life In The Red blog deffending it?

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  3. AnonymousDecember 7, 2007 at 12:28 PM

    It's not a stench left over by Pederson. It's a stench rising high above the nation, with it's highest concentrations spewing from Lincoln, Columbus, Ann Arbor, Gainsville, etc. I'm not excusing it, I don't like it at all. But Husker Mike is right, practically every other major player (or teams that want to be a major player) in college football schedules these apparent patsies.

    Sagarin doesn't have anything to do with the NCAA, and I don't know what goes into their ratings. But why not institute a few scheduling rules. 1)1-A teams can't schedule 1-AA teams anymore. And 2)teams must schedule non-conference teams within 60 rankings of their own (30 high and 30 low). 3)Schedules can't be made more than 4 years in advance

    So, whoever ends up #1 at the end of the year, can't sign a scheduling contract with a school lower than #30. Congrats, you're #1. Now play some non-conf teams to prove it.

    It's a never-happen fantasy, but I'd still like to see some restrictions on "easy money" games.

    ~Pat

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  4. cmichenerDecember 8, 2007 at 4:48 PM

    I completely agree with everything you said. We need to prove that we are ready to take on real out-of-conference teams... 2010 sure doesn't prove that. I think an ideal out-of-conference schedule should include two for-sure wins, one game that is a little harder, and one that can go either way.

    http://cmichener.blogspot.com

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2010 at 9:47 AM

    Come on Huskers, how about taking on Boise State in the future instead of non-conference teams like the University of Idaho.

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  6. Well Researched DissertationOctober 14, 2010 at 3:01 AM

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    ReplyDelete