Is Indiana 2010 the weakest non-conf schedule ever?

[HFCS]

Towson (2-9 FCS team last year)
Akron (3-9 MAC team last year)
@Western Kentucky (0-12 Sun Belt team last year)
Arkansas State (4-8 Sun Belt team last year)

I think this may be the weakest non-conf slate I ever remember seeing, I'd give some difficulty credit for at least playing a road game if it weren't against an 0-12 team.

Their opponents combined record in the vaunted FCS, Sun Belt, Sun Belt, and MAC last year was 9-38. These 4 teams only won 5 games against FBS teams last year and one of those was Ark State beating Western Kentucky so really 4 wins against FBS teams. ZERO wins against BCS teams.

I'll accept non-conf schedules from other years as well, I don't think Bill Snyder ever even succeeded in getting this big of a cake walk.

Shame on any two Big Ten teams who might lose to Indiana and gift them bowl eligibility if they complete their non-conf cakewalk. I realize it's a building strategy, but at least schedule a team that can win a game here or there in a non-BCS league.

As a quick comparison of how ridiculous this Indiana schedule is, Iowa's non-conf slate won 25 games last year and ISU's won 35 (just to compare to schedules we're more familiar with). Does anyone else not see how silly the bowl system is that a team like Indiana could be "rewarded" for beating 4 of the worst teams in the nation and lucking out to go 2-6 in Big Ten play?

I know we went 6-6 last year and won a bowl. But our '09 6-6 or a possible '10 6-6 is just light years beyond what a 6-6 '10 Indiana team would be.

 

[dualthreat]

bill snyder is offended by such accusations

 

[cayin]

Towson (2-9 FCS team last year)
Akron (3-9 MAC team last year)
@Western Kentucky (0-12 Sun Belt team last year)
Arkansas State (4-8 Sun Belt team last year)

I think this may be the weakest non-conf slate I ever remember seeing, I'd give some difficulty credit for at least playing a road game if it weren't against an 0-12 team.

Their opponents combined record in the vaunted FCS, Sun Belt, Sun Belt, and MAC last year was 9-38. These 4 teams only won 5 games against FBS teams last year and one of those was Ark State beating Western Kentucky so really 4 wins against FBS teams. ZERO wins against BCS teams.

I'll accept non-conf schedules from other years as well, I don't think Bill Snyder ever even succeeded in getting this big of a cake walk.

Shame on any two Big Ten teams who might lose to Indiana and gift them bowl eligibility if they complete their non-conf cakewalk. I realize it's a building strategy, but at least schedule a team that can win a game here or there in a non-BCS league.

As a quick comparison of how ridiculous this Indiana schedule is, Iowa's non-conf slate won 25 games last year and ISU's won 35 (just to compare to schedules we're more familiar with). Does anyone else not see how silly the bowl system is that a team like Indiana could be "rewarded" for beating 4 of the worst teams in the nation and lucking out to go 2-6 in Big Ten play?

I know we went 6-6 last year and won a bowl. But our '09 6-6 or a possible '10 6-6 is just light years beyond what a 6-6 '10 Indiana team would be.

yes, the bowl system has been cheapened. With both the Big 10 and Big 12 going to 9 conference games, it will be harder for teams to get that 6th win.

 

[HandSanitizer]

Towson (2-9 FCS team last year)
Akron (3-9 MAC team last year)
@Western Kentucky (0-12 Sun Belt team last year)
Arkansas State (4-8 Sun Belt team last year)

I think this may be the weakest non-conf slate I ever remember seeing, I'd give some difficulty credit for at least playing a road game if it weren't against an 0-12 team.

Their opponents combined record in the vaunted FCS, Sun Belt, Sun Belt, and MAC last year was 9-38. These 4 teams only won 5 games against FBS teams last year and one of those was Ark State beating Western Kentucky so really 4 wins against FBS teams. ZERO wins against BCS teams.

I'll accept non-conf schedules from other years as well, I don't think Bill Snyder ever even succeeded in getting this big of a cake walk.

Shame on any two Big Ten teams who might lose to Indiana and gift them bowl eligibility if they complete their non-conf cakewalk. I realize it's a building strategy, but at least schedule a team that can win a game here or there in a non-BCS league.

As a quick comparison of how ridiculous this Indiana schedule is, Iowa's non-conf slate won 25 games last year and ISU's won 35 (just to compare to schedules we're more familiar with). Does anyone else not see how silly the bowl system is that a team like Indiana could be "rewarded" for beating 4 of the worst teams in the nation and lucking out to go 2-6 in Big Ten play?

I know we went 6-6 last year and won a bowl. But our '09 6-6 or a possible '10 6-6 is just light years beyond what a 6-6 '10 Indiana team would be.

If they can get 4 wins in the Big10 they will have an 8 win season.

I kind of like this idea for a program that needs a lift.

 

[LindenCy]

yes, the bowl system has been cheapened. With both the Big 10 and Big 12 going to 9 conference games, it will be harder for teams to get that 6th win.

I am looking forward to it.

 

[jahfg]

North Dakota State: 3-8
Iowa: 11-2
Kent State: 5-7
Army: 5-7

That's a record of 24-24. Where are you getting this 35 from?

Northern Illinois, Iowa, Utah, Northern Iowa

 

[RING4CY]

Northern Illinois, Iowa, Utah, Northern Iowa

Yeah, I got that now. When he originally mentioned last year, I thought he was talking about last year's opponents, when he was actually talking about this year's opponents and their records from last year.

 

[Drive4cy]

Seems like a very appropriate schedule for Indiana to play.

 

[Tornado man]

Indiana treats their football fans terribly - they ask them to buy season tix to watch these crap non-conf. teams; then they turn around and "sell" the home game against Penn State to the Nittany Lions just for the big check.
Talk about not caring about your fan base. If I were a Hoosier fan, I'd never buy football season tix again. And they need all they can get...

 

[clone136]

I would rather be 8-4 with a cake schedule than 4-8 trying to make the argument that our schedule was harder than yours.

 

[KCClone1]

Kansas's Orange bowl season in 2007 was pretty weak. They had 4 nonconference home games.

Central Michigan
SE Louisiana
Toledo
FIU

That's about as weak as you can get. Central Michigan may have been decent, but KU slaughtered all four.

 

[jsmith86]

If only we would schedule like this. Instead we have Iowa and Utah.

 

[RandomFan]

I don't blame them one bit. This is what the have-not's of college football should be doing. Whatever it takes to get to a bowl game every year. That includes ISU.

 

[CloneIce]

I don't blame them one bit. This is what the have-not's of college football should be doing. Whatever it takes to get to a bowl game every year. That includes ISU.

And we always have one game against a solid Big 10 team in Iowa, which in itself is more challenging than the non-con schedules of many teams... but then we added Utah, and Uconn, and Air Force in the future... bad scheduling by us.. unless we win of course, then it will be great! At least I like the fact that we have some cajones, not scheduling like Indiana or Texas Tech usually.

 

[HFCS]

And we always have one game against a solid Big 10 team in Iowa, which in itself is more challenging than the non-con schedules of many teams... but then we added Utah, and Uconn, and Air Force in the future... bad scheduling by us.. unless we win of course, then it will be great! At least I like the fact that we have some cajones, not scheduling like Indiana or Texas Tech usually.

If you were to randomly pick a MAC team as opposed to a Sun Belt team, that's almost always a harder game. The Sun Belt really has been a failed experiment if the goal was to be a competitive FBS conference. The WAC, MAC and CUSA are nothing special but they are quite a bit better than the Sun Belt.

Two Sun Belt teams (one that was FCS a couple years ago), an average MAC team and a poor FCS program is pretty ridiculous. I hope ISU never schedules that poorly whether we keep Iowa or not.

 

[cyclones500]

Kansas's Orange bowl season in 2007 was pretty weak. They had 4 nonconference home games.

Central Michigan
SE Louisiana
Toledo
FIU

That's about as weak as you can get. Central Michigan may have been decent, but KU slaughtered all four.

KU also went 12-1/7-1 in the conference that season and at least there were two MAC teams, which at the time those were scheduled, that conference was reasonably competitive.

KU clobbered that weakling schedule, and IU could go 4-0 pretty easily. The Hoosiers won't be winning 12 games. I can cut a team slack for a cupcake non-conference schedule, but unless they win a lot in-conference, it's pointless.

On the other hand, a spin-off topic ... just realized this: in 2007, KU beat 4 teams with winning records (CMU, A&M, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech) and one of those was .500 in regular season. Granted, KU beat Nebraska (5-7) by 37 points ... but KU was a possible BCS title game contender that year.

:sad:

 

[cyclones500]

I would rather be 8-4 with a cake schedule than 4-8 trying to make the argument that our schedule was harder than yours.

But that's a significant gap. If you were making a 5-7/7-5 comparison, it's probably more viable.

Even under the 9-team Big 12 rotation, ISU could schedule 3 pushovers (on paper) and eke out a 3-6 league record, get a minor bowl.

Those cupcakes aren't going to do anything to get to 5-4 in the conference to go 8-4.

 

[deadeyededric]

Even Indiana is smart enough not to schedule powerhouse schools like UNI and Arkansas State.

 

[edr247]

Even Indiana is smart enough not to schedule powerhouse schools like UNI and Arkansas State.

Oh wait. They totally did schedule Arkansas State...

Anyway, Indiana isn't looking to use this schedule to make a run for the BCS championship. This is a great way for a perennial cellar-dweller to make a run for a bowl game. Really any bowl game.

They won one game in Big 10 play in 2009, beating Illinois. However, their 4-8 record last season hides the fact that:
1) They lost to Michigan by 3 points in the Big House after the Wolverines came back late in the 4th quarter
2) Lost to jNW on a last second FG after the Wildcats came back with 25 unanswered points
3) Lost to Iowa after the Hoosiers apparently forgot to show up for the 4th quarter, allowing 28 unanswered points
4) Failed to finish off a comeback against Wisconsin
5) Collapsed against PSU after a pretty decent 1st half

This is not to say that Indiana is some powerhouse team, but they have a pretty good offense and if their defense can put together four good quarters, I think they walk away with a few more wins. Just two wins in the Big 10, coupled with 4 wins in a easy non-con schedule would probably set them up for a shot at a bowl game.

Hell, last year if you imagine that Indiana managed to beat at least Michigan and Northwestern, that's 6 wins right there.

At the same time, there's no guarantee that they will have an easier shot at a bowl game... In 2009, they played Eastern Kentucky, Western Michigan, Akron and Virginia. They beat EKU and WMU by a combined 10 points and had an easier time with Akron. But they were drubbed by a Virginia team that would go on to win a grand total of 3 games the entire 2009 season.

Plus, you could argue that the Big 10 is going to be a tougher conference this year than it was last year. And Indiana gets to play the preseason top 4 teams in Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin and Penn State. Michigan is always a mystery, as I don't think there's really a precedence for this much suckiness, Northwestern seems to be trying to move up to the upper echelon of the conference, and Purdue is pretty close to making a bowl.

 

[CyJack13]

KU also went 12-1/7-1 in the conference that season and at least there were two MAC teams, which at the time those were scheduled, that conference was reasonably competitive.

KU clobbered that weakling schedule, and IU could go 4-0 pretty easily. The Hoosiers won't be winning 12 games. I can cut a team slack for a cupcake non-conference schedule, but unless they win a lot in-conference, it's pointless.

On the other hand, a spin-off topic ... just realized this: in 2007, KU beat 4 teams with winning records (CMU, A&M, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech) and one of those was .500 in regular season. Granted, KU beat Nebraska (5-7) by 37 points ... but KU was a possible BCS title game contender that year.

:sad:

Why do you say this? I think it makes the most sense for a program like Indiana to go this route. If you're a struggling program in a major conference, getting to a bowl game at least gives you some momentum. Going 4-8, 5-7 or 3-9 doesn't get you anywhere. If you can breeze through the non conference schedule, and steal a game or two in conference play, then you're headed to a bowl game and have some positive publicity going into the offseason. When bowl games are a rare thing for your program, you have to do whatever you can to at least get to the point where you're bowl eligible year in and year out, then go from there.