And this is a good thing.
Illinois Football Future Schedules (2017-2026)
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And this is a good thing.
Kams Bathroom
K
Guest
If you want to play a cupcake, spend the money and bring in a cupcake.
Don't play a home and home with a team that is just anonymous enough to sell like a cupcake at the box office, just meaningless enough that it doesn't look like anything on your schedule if you win, and just good enough to beat you.
That's the worst of all worlds.
Don't look now, but one of those schools will be in the Big Ten this year and the top teams in their conference were pretty darn good. We may not be talking the SEC, but we aren't talking the Missouri Valley either.
We'll do that with the 2 other non-conf games that season.
Plus it's a game I can drive to.
they are in the same conference as USF, UCF & Cincinnati.
We have played home & homes with one of those already, and have USF on the agenda already, and now you have a problem with UCONN ?
This is exactly the type of school we should be playing a non-con with. If we get so good that this is a bad game, we can always buy out of it.
Kams Bathroom
K
Guest
You cannot simultaneously hammer RG for scheduling home-and-homes with Fresno State and Southern Miss and credit MT with scheduling home-and-homes with UConn and USF.
2002 CUSA = 2008 Mountain West = 2016 AAC
That's not why RG gets hammered. Scheduling Fresno St is OK. Scheduling them in the same season you play Mizzou and Cincy is not.
Kams Bathroom
K
Guest
Obviously that makes it worse, sure. But I have always considered "Thou Shalt Not Play A Non-BCS School Away From Home" an iron law of scheduling.
I understand your general point, and I make exceptions for this leftover Big East conference.
Playing in Florida is great, although I wish it were later in the season.
Playing UConn doesnt have quite the same appeal as Fla from a recruiting standpoint, but it beats the heck out of playing ASU or Oregon twice. At some point you run out of bigger time schools you have a chance of beating.
My guess is, that this series ends up getting bought out and never happens -- for various reasons. But no harm in setting it up.
Kams Bathroom
K
Guest
It's not the leftover Big East. It's the old Conference USA.
Here is your membership starting next year:
Central Florida
Cincinnati
East Carolina
Houston
Memphis
Navy
South Florida
SMU
Temple
Tulane
Tulsa
That only feels like kinda-quasi a major conference right now in the same way that a slice of pizza that you drop face-down onto a dusty floor feels kinda-quasi edible until you pick it up and turn it over. The reality hasn't sunk in quite yet.
Yeah, I can understand that. UConn and Cincy are a bit different since they are only becoming "non BCS"recently, but you'll likely be correct by 2019. That's my only concern with Thomas' scheduling at this point, we're getting pretty far out into the future. On one hand, it's great to be proactive and not get stuck scrambling (which is how we got Cincy). OTOH, it's really hard to predict what some of these teams will be like. Pretty good bets that UVa, KU and UNC will be similar to their pasts, but USF and UConn?
the bottom line is we need non con wins.
I imagine MT has tried Kentucky and Vandy already, and was denied.
Probably was turned down by Iowa St.
There is no one in the Pac save Colorado that I personally want to play again.
Not crazy about playing Utah out there.
We are playing UNC & UVa, and I will safely assume we tried with others in that conference as well. Thats a safe bet we were turned down
Who's left ?
the other bottom dwellers in the BCS are all chasing the same programs we are. at some point you either step up and schedule Mizzou or Oregon again, or you end up playing just a bunch of MAC and SunBelt teams in Champaign year after year.
I imagine MT has tried Kentucky and Vandy already, and was denied.
Probably was turned down by Iowa St.
There is no one in the Pac save Colorado that I personally want to play again.
Not crazy about playing Utah out there.
We are playing UNC & UVa, and I will safely assume we tried with others in that conference as well. Thats a safe bet we were turned down
Who's left ?
the other bottom dwellers in the BCS are all chasing the same programs we are. at some point you either step up and schedule Mizzou or Oregon again, or you end up playing just a bunch of MAC and SunBelt teams in Champaign year after year.
Kams Bathroom
K
Guest
Splitting the difference is the worst of both worlds, IMO.
PaytonHighstep
- Downers Grove, IL
I wasn't thinking of it that way, but I agree we shouldn't be going to UCONN.
I thought you had more of an issue with the quality of the opponent.
so who do you schedule then?
there are only so many bottom dweller BCS schools or somewhat worthy schools like UCF, USF , Cincy out there.
just because we arent playing Colorado or Kentucky doesnt mean he didnt try
Kams Bathroom
K
Guest
1. Wait
2. If you can't find a dance partner you like, either pay up for a cupcake or schedule a big name that will attract attention. Either one is better than splitting the difference.
I agree with much of what you've argued. But I do think playing UConn is better than playing Oregon, Florida State, Florida, or whatever big name you are thinking about.
I think, that if we were Iowa for example, I'd agree. The loss then is damaging. For us, it's just another loss. I don't like going to UConn. And I'd rather play UVa. But UConn is a similar level to those teams. We shouldn't have to go there, but at the same time, we have no business being on the field with big time programs at this point.
After not playing Nebraska until their third year in the league, we don't play Rutgers until their third year in the league and don't play Maryland until their fifth year in the league. Weird.
TimeToGetIll
T
Guest
i tend to agree that the "splitting the difference" home and home is in general not a good idea
however, the info we are lacking at this point is the buyout. if things go the way it seems between now and then (BIG and other auto playoff conf revenues shooting through the roof, AAC revenues dropping way off)
then buying the away game portion out should not be an issue
depending on the terms, this could end up being a savvy way of buying home games for a reasonable price by locking them in now
Dan
Admin
Eastern Michigan at Illinois in 2019
http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/...nois-football-paying-big-bucks-opponents.html
http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/...nois-football-paying-big-bucks-opponents.html
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
Not official yet, but it looks like the Illini have scheduled Florida Atlantic for a game in Memorial Stadium on September 5, 2020:
http://www.fbschedules.com/2015/04/florida-atlantic-play-at-oklahoma-2018-illinois-2020/
http://www.fbschedules.com/2015/04/florida-atlantic-play-at-oklahoma-2018-illinois-2020/
Is it just me, or does it look like whoever the coach is in 2018 has quite the fortunate slate of games? That year could be a fun one, with at least 8 wins if the team is even decent. I see a 6-0 start being quite possible!
The problem with that line of thinking (and it was Ron Guenther's line of thinking as well) is that we don't have the expectation of guaranteed wins like tOSU has. They still were going to win 10-11 games last regular season. We aren't on their level.
That one marquee game would be great but could also be the difference between a 5-7 season or 6-6. Until we become a consistent bowl team, then a consistent bowl winning team, and recruiting picks up, we shouldn't schedule almost guaranteed losses.
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