allweatherfan2
Active member
Good NAIA teams can beat the Fort Lewises, etc. of D2 and D3 football. There were years when no way the griz were going to schedule Carroll College.
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2015 schedule and reasonable expectations
- Thread starter eaglesfootball
- Start date
marceagfan5
Active member
clawman said:
I disagree, our conference is tough enough, we don't need to play a brutal nonconference season like we do every year. The last time we had a good nonconference schedule was 2010. Just look at North Dakota State, they routinely schedule one tough game and the remaining games are cupcakes, it has worked out very well for them.
How often does Montana play BCS teams? I know they played Tennessee a few years back, and I remember games against Iowa, Oregon, and Washington State at different points in the last couple decades. But those types of games seem very rare for the Griz, whereas we take those games every year. That doesn't even touch the FBS mid-majors where we've played Nevada, San Diego State, Toledo, Air Force, San Jose State, BYU, Boise State, and Idaho since 2000.
Ok, that last one is a joke. Idaho is just an NAIA team masquerading as an FBS team. You can write that one off...
Still, I agree with Marc. These schedules are bad news. It makes no sense not to have any games where you've got an auto-win lined up to go through your rotation. You've got to get kids some experience, and the only way to get those guys in is garbage time. Not to mention, it's even worse when you play these toss-up games for no real payout.
Ok, that last one is a joke. Idaho is just an NAIA team masquerading as an FBS team. You can write that one off...
Still, I agree with Marc. These schedules are bad news. It makes no sense not to have any games where you've got an auto-win lined up to go through your rotation. You've got to get kids some experience, and the only way to get those guys in is garbage time. Not to mention, it's even worse when you play these toss-up games for no real payout.
LDopaPDX said:
Montana plays FBS games every 3-4 years or so. Wyoming was last year and the next play-up game will be against Washington in 2017. I would have to guess that EWU plays FBS games almost every year because they can use the extra money, whereas Montana doesn't really need to play FBS games due to being able to make that revenue with a home game.
SeattleBobcat
Active member
MTGrizFan said:GoldenEagle said:
Yes, because North Dakota State, Cal Poly, and Liberty are weak non-conference opponents. That's a new one. :lol:
As much as it pains me to say, I agree with MTGrizFan... If you take a look at MSU's schedule for the upcoming season, it maybe the easiest in the BSC. I can guarantee the Bobcats finish no worse than 7-4, with 9-2 to 10-1 much more likely. The 7 guaranteed wins will be won by a spread of likely +35 with the over under coming close to a 100 possibly in a few games. And unfortunately we've been doing this type of scheduling for a while now. So if you were really a fan of watching your team eat creampuffs you'd most likely be a Montana State Bobcats fan.
hno:GoldenEagle
Active member
SeattleBobcat said:MTGrizFan said:GoldenEagle said:
Yes, because North Dakota State, Cal Poly, and Liberty are weak non-conference opponents. That's a new one. :lol:
As much as it pains me to say, I agree with MTGrizFan... If you take a look at MSU's schedule for the upcoming season, it maybe the easiest in the BSC. I can guarantee the Bobcats finish no worse than 7-4, with 9-2 to 10-1 much more likely. The 7 guaranteed wins will be won by a spread of likely +35 with the over under coming close to a 100 possibly in a few games. And unfortunately we've been doing this type of scheduling for a while now. So if you were really a fan of watching your team eat creampuffs you'd most likely be a Montana State Bobcats fan.
SeattleBobcat,
You need to work with me here. We need to throw away any logic regarding scheduling and simply poke fun at the griz fans. Check in on egriz for an update of absurdity. Their coach invented modern football, they recruit at a minimum 3-star athletes, their stadium is "loud and cold" even in September, and Missoula doesn't smell like a pulp mill. They make the NDSU fan base seem rational and mentally well-balanced.
What the Cats do during the regular season is kind of a moot point because we all know how they do in the playoffs :rofl:SeattleBobcat said:MTGrizFan said:GoldenEagle said:
Yes, because North Dakota State, Cal Poly, and Liberty are weak non-conference opponents. That's a new one. :lol:
As much as it pains me to say, I agree with MTGrizFan... If you take a look at MSU's schedule for the upcoming season, it maybe the easiest in the BSC. I can guarantee the Bobcats finish no worse than 7-4, with 9-2 to 10-1 much more likely. The 7 guaranteed wins will be won by a spread of likely +35 with the over under coming close to a 100 possibly in a few games. And unfortunately we've been doing this type of scheduling for a while now. So if you were really a fan of watching your team eat creampuffs you'd most likely be a Montana State Bobcats fan.
SeattleBobcat
Active member
clawman said:What the Cats do during the regular season is kind of a moot point because we all know how they do in the playoffs :rofl:SeattleBobcat said:MTGrizFan said:GoldenEagle said:
Yes, because North Dakota State, Cal Poly, and Liberty are weak non-conference opponents. That's a new one. :lol:
As much as it pains me to say, I agree with MTGrizFan... If you take a look at MSU's schedule for the upcoming season, it maybe the easiest in the BSC. I can guarantee the Bobcats finish no worse than 7-4, with 9-2 to 10-1 much more likely. The 7 guaranteed wins will be won by a spread of likely +35 with the over under coming close to a 100 possibly in a few games. And unfortunately we've been doing this type of scheduling for a while now. So if you were really a fan of watching your team eat creampuffs you'd most likely be a Montana State Bobcats fan.
Yeah its been a rough go of it, but its to be expected when you haven't a D all year.
marceagfan5 said:
Debatable, really. The Big Sky (other than Eastern) hasn't done that well in the playoffs in recent years. An argument can be made that the Big Sky isn't preparing us for the tough Missouri Valley and CAA teams we're inevitably going to see in the playoffs. Also, we're not going to just stop playing Montana State in years where they're not part of the conference schedule. The game just makes too much sense for both schools.
Without trying to defend the schedule, I think people underestimate how difficult it is to get a "cupcake" type FCS team to come play in Cheney when they can take a bigger payday at an FBS. Those type schools also aren't going to pay anything to make it worthwhile to go play at their place, either, so what you end up with is these home and home type arrangements with Sam Houston, Northern Iowa, etc. Yes, it would be nice to have at least one game that's basically an automatic W, but I'm also not a proponent of scheduling DII's (especially in 11 game seasons), so I'm not sure what the other options are.
Perhaps we should work a little harder to get some of those non-scholarship FCS schools like San Diego, but those are probably difficult to get.
EWURanger said:
Cal Poly's opening 6:
@Montana
@Arizona State
UNI
@Montana State
Idaho State
@EWU
They could easily be 0-5 when they roll into Cheney although I'd slightly favor them against UM and ISU.
Speaking of ISU they still have some talent and get us and the Montanas at home.
I think it's a three horse race between us, MSU, and ISU with the cats being the favorite.
ewueagle2010
Active member
kalm said:
:clap: The voice of reason has spoken! I agree 100%. Poly is getting so much hype and don't get me wrong, I like and respect that program but if you wanna talk about our schedule being tough, look at theirs.
This race will come down to EWU, MSU, and UM and ISU will stay in the mix and knock some teams off throughout the year.
ewueagle2010 said:
Just because Cal Poly has a ridiculous schedule, it doesn't make ours palatable. Cal Poly has shown some diversity in scheduling before, recently playing Pioneer and Ivy League schools. They just have a dogshit schedule this year. We seem to schedule shitty year after year.
I don't buy this argument that schedules "prepare" you for the playoffs. Sure, getting some battle-testing helps, but going every week for 4 full quarters is ultimately bad for your health as well as setting yourself up with more risk than necessary. If your team is good enough, you'll succeed in the playoffs.
The SWAC, Pioneer, OVC, etc all need to fill a schedule, but we never look at those teams. Instead, we settle on MVC and Southland teams... and only schedule the cream of the crop from those conference. What about Houston Baptist? Or Western Illinois? If we're going to those conferences, let's load up someone we know we can beat year after year.
GoldenEagle
Active member
LDopaPDX said:
What are the risks of playing competitive OOC, FCS teams? Aside from increasing the probability of losing, is there more risk of injury? I don't think there is. DII teams do not count toward playoff selection. Can weak FCS teams from back east afford to travel for home and home games to Cheney?
Eaglefanatical
Active member
LDopaPDX said:
How much do you think Montana playing a Pioneer team prepared them for playing us for a second time?
marceagfan5
Active member
Why in the world does everyone think scheduling tough OOC is good for us? The one FBS game is an obvious, its great for the team and we need the $$$. Other than that we should play a drop down and a crap FCS or two depending on an 11 or 12 game year. Whats the benefit of having a tough schedule? If we win the big sky, we will be a top 4 seed anyways, so why risk losing a game or two in non conference. The Big Sky is good enough for us to play tough competition, and for those who don't think that, the Big Sky had a team in the final 4 from 2009-2013, 6 straight years, three of those years a team in the chipper, no other conference can make that claim.
Do you think NDSU wants to schedule tough OOC? Look at their 4 national title runs and who they scheduled in OOC
2011 - Lafeyette, St. Francis, Minnesota
2012 - Robert Morris, Prairie View A/M, Colorado State
2013 - Kansas State, Delaware State, Ferris State, they didn't even play their 4th OOC game
2014 - Iowa State, Weber, Incarnate Word, Griz
We need to be smarter about our scheduling, its fun to schedule these teams like NDSU, UNI and others, but when you add in a road PAC 12 game it becomes daunting. I think we'd much rather schedule easier, make the playoffs with a better chance at home games, and take our chances.
What some of us don't understand is that we had tough schedules in 2012 and 2013 as well, but we beat an FBS team in both of those years so there weren't as much complaints about the scheduling. Had we not beaten those FBS schools, we would not have been hosting home playoff games...We don't want to rely on that sort of thing, year in, year out...
Do you think NDSU wants to schedule tough OOC? Look at their 4 national title runs and who they scheduled in OOC
2011 - Lafeyette, St. Francis, Minnesota
2012 - Robert Morris, Prairie View A/M, Colorado State
2013 - Kansas State, Delaware State, Ferris State, they didn't even play their 4th OOC game
2014 - Iowa State, Weber, Incarnate Word, Griz
We need to be smarter about our scheduling, its fun to schedule these teams like NDSU, UNI and others, but when you add in a road PAC 12 game it becomes daunting. I think we'd much rather schedule easier, make the playoffs with a better chance at home games, and take our chances.
What some of us don't understand is that we had tough schedules in 2012 and 2013 as well, but we beat an FBS team in both of those years so there weren't as much complaints about the scheduling. Had we not beaten those FBS schools, we would not have been hosting home playoff games...We don't want to rely on that sort of thing, year in, year out...
GoldenEagle
Active member
What does it take to get weak FCS, OOC games to Cheney. I don't know how this works. I assume for a home and home that each team covers the costs to go on the road. But how about when the EAGS schedule Cream Puff U from back east or the south without a return game? Does EWU have to pay them something to travel to Cheney?
dudeitsaid
Active member
marceagfan5 said:
I think there are probably many sides to this coin, but looking at our most successful years, has it really been bad for us? In 2011, we were done in more by the lack of home games than schedule, and that year had what should have been our weakest FCS OOC game of the last five years, yet we still lost.
The question that has been asked before on this thread is what is more important to the players? Who do they want to play? Are we recruiting players that want to match up against the best, or take the easiest road to the playoffs? Do our players believe they can and should beat any team on the field, or are they intimidated by the power teams out there? What type of player will provide a higher level result for our program consistently? It doesn't appear to me that UNI, NDSU, SHSU are afraid to schedule us. Why should we be afraid to schedule them?
I get the whole goal and desire the make it to the playoffs and win a championship. That is the ultimate desire. But since 2010, I think the scheduling has worked out OK for the most part. It hasn't hurt us, even though we've lost some of those tough games. Losing to SHSU in 2013 didn't keep us from a seed, or a play away from the NC.
And I think there is something to be said about the selection process, if it came down to an at-large bid, and who you've played and beaten. Is Houston Baptist really a quality win? Would we have gotten the seed this last year if that was our win instead of SHSU? Maybe...
If we were marginal, heck, let's get an easy win. Maybe we can make it to the playoffs! But we're not marginal. I think we are recruiting at a level, and coached at a level to continue to be at the top of the Big Sky and make it into the playoffs. I'm OK with proving we belong at the top of the FCS food chain in every game, including our tough OOC games.
Just my take. I like the tough games, but to each their own.
GoldenEagle said:
Home and home, each team covers their own expenses...home team keeps the gate.
For one-off games like we are talking about, basically you need to guarantee the other team enough money to cover travel expenses and maybe a little more...in the case of a Pioneer, etc. Financially the one-off games don't make a ton of sense, which is why we tend to be more in favor of the home and home agreements.
GoldenEagle
Active member
EWURanger said:
Thanks Ranger. So increasing home game attendance is really important to cover the costs of scheduling teams that have to travel from the east or south.
