2015's final non-conference opponent

[BGSU33]

Because this first week of 2014 has been.....well....more or less a train wreck thus far, I thought I'd get away from 2014 for a minute and ask if anyone has heard anything about who our final non-conference game might be next year. We've got a pair of road games at Big Ten teams lined up at Maryland and at Purdue, and we host Memphis. I'm guessing we'll have a home game vs an FCS team. Just wondering if anyone heard anything more.

2015
Sept. 12 at Maryland
Sept. 19 MEMPHIS
Sept. 26 at Purdue

[Falconfreak90]

Think I'll make the trip to W.L. again for Purdue. We usually do ok there. LOL. Haven't heard about the 4th opponent yet.

[Flipper]

I would assume its an FCS game at home

[Beaker]

I would assume its an FCS game at home

I'm sure It probably will be, but I wish we would get away from that. I know there are arguments for playing 1-AA teams (yes, old habits die hard), I just don't see that it puts us ahead, on balance. Yes, it can help iron out some issues with schemes, execution, ect., and that may be of some benefit, but I don't see it outweighing the negatives. Granted, given our current situation and having this opponent in Knapke's first start is certainly a good thing for us right now, rather than having him thrown into the fire against a top tier team, this is not a typical scenario. At least, I hope it never becomes typical.

Those games do nothing for bowl eligibility, unless there was a rule change that I'm not aware of, nor do they do anything to gain us any kind of notariety on a national level. I doubt they do much to impress potential recruits when showcasing programs they will get to compete against.

There's no big pay day involved, players can blow out a knee in one of those games just as easily as playing any other opponent and if we win by 40, then people say, so what, we were supposed to, and if we would happen to slip up and lose............well, no one wants that embarrassment.

The games with the Big Can't Count Conference are a good thing and we should continue playing those types of teams, but round out the schedule with other D-1 teams from the Sun Belt, Conference USA, ect.. Those typically make for good, competive games that give us a good chance for wins that mean more than beating up on the Rhode Islands and Libertys of the world.

And yes, it is nice to talk about ANYTHING besides the disaster that this last week has been

[Schadenfreude]

I would assume its an FCS game at home

I'm sure It probably will be, but I wish we would get away from that. I know there are arguments for playing 1-AA teams (yes, old habits die hard), I just don't see that it puts us ahead, on balance. Yes, it can help iron out some issues with schemes, execution, ect., and that may be of some benefit, but I don't see it outweighing the negatives.

The reason we do it is because it allows us to have six home games while allowing us to do road trips to major powerhouses and the kind of two-for-one deals that bring schools like Indiana and Maryland to our campus. I don't love these games, but I think only playing five home games some seasons would be worse.

[BGSU33]

I would assume its an FCS game at home

I'm sure It probably will be, but I wish we would get away from that. I know there are arguments for playing 1-AA teams (yes, old habits die hard), I just don't see that it puts us ahead, on balance. Yes, it can help iron out some issues with schemes, execution, ect., and that may be of some benefit, but I don't see it outweighing the negatives.

The reason we do it is because it allows us to have six home games while allowing us to do road trips to major powerhouses and the kind of two-for-one deals that bring schools like Indiana and Maryland to our campus. I don't love these games, but I think only playing five home games some seasons would be worse.

I like it for that reason as well. And also, from a question above, you can count one FCS game towards bowl eligibility now. It changed several years ago from when you could only count one every several years. I don't have a problem with one because nearly every team does it now and most do it when schedules were permitted to moving to 12 games.

[Beaker]

I wasn't aware of the rule change, so I guess that makes the idea a little more palatable to me. I do acknowlege that there are some positive aspects to scheduling these opponents. It's just unfortunate that we have to do it to get 6 home games. I guess that's the uphill battle you have to fight when you don't carry the financial power of an Ohio State.