Ole Miss has been a "down on their luck P5" for years, until they hired Kiffin last year and turned it around in a hurry. UAB was a joke of a team barely back to football when we scheduled them.
This schedule was nearly perfect on paper when we inked the deals, but it's hard to predict 6 years out. Next year's schedule is TOO soft, though it might be a good hting considering how we tanked this year as a rebound year.
Softening the schedule will almost certainly hamper our recruiting, especially given the new composition of the AAC. Dannen said we spent four years using the OU game as a recruiting pitch. This year was a very tough schedule, but we expected to be good and had a chance to prove it to the world. We came damn close vs OU, then the wheels fell off.
Non-conference games are scheduled years in advance, so it will always be an inexact science. Cincinnati scheduled this year's Indiana game back in 2014. They scheduled the ND game in the Spring of 2019. Yes, they were turning the corner by then, but let's face it - you play ND when the Irish say they have an opening, not when it's optimum for you. The Bearcats didn't shy away from that schedule and now they have a chance to make history.
As for UCF, had they managed to schedule (and play) a notable P5 in 2017 or 2018, they likely would have had the same opportunity. Not many teams were going to beat them in 2017. Just ask Auburn.
Like you, I'm okay with next year's schedule. But if we embrace it as a formula, we're putting a very visible cap on our potential success, and recruits will see it. Let's schedule smart but continue to challenge ourselveves.
Ole Miss has been a "down on their luck P5" for years, until they hired Kiffin last year and turned it around in a hurry. UAB was a joke of a team barely back to football when we scheduled them.
This schedule was nearly perfect on paper when we inked the deals, but it's hard to predict 6 years out. Next year's schedule is TOO soft, though it might be a good hting considering how we tanked this year as a rebound year.
Softening the schedule will almost certainly hamper our recruiting, especially given the new composition of the AAC. Dannen said we spent four years using the OU game as a recruiting pitch. This year was a very tough schedule, but we expected to be good and had a chance to prove it to the world. We came damn close vs OU, then the wheels fell off.
Non-conference games are scheduled years in advance, so it will always be an inexact science. Cincinnati scheduled this year's Indiana game back in 2014. They scheduled the ND game in the Spring of 2019. Yes, they were turning the corner by then, but let's face it - you play ND when the Irish say they have an opening, not when it's optimum for you. The Bearcats didn't shy away from that schedule and now they have a chance to make history.
As for UCF, had they managed to schedule (and play) a notable P5 in 2017 or 2018, they likely would have had the same opportunity. Not many teams were going to beat them in 2017. Just ask Auburn.
Like you, I'm okay with next year's schedule. But if we embrace it as a formula, we're putting a very visible cap on our potential success, and recruits will see it. Let's schedule smart but continue to challenge ourselveves.
Roll Wave