MSU Red Cedar Message Board

I'm good with playing 1 really good opponent in addition to ND each non-conference season. The losses don't affect us within the conference & chances are we won't be competing for a National Championship anyways. An extra loss won't be the death of us as long as we are winning around 8 games every year.

I'd prefer the home and home series. I'm sure others are going to say that the B1G schedule is tough enough and there is no reason to play a game early in the season that big, but at the same time pollsters seem to be a bit more forgiving on an early season loss than a late season loss. UM not playing outside of the big hole means they are going to pad their schedule with cupcakes, and have an inflated record. Playing a tougher team early on may prepare the team for later dates.

That being said, I think a lot of our home and home schedules are in the years that we don't play ND, so the only difference is that we replaced ND but still have 3 cupcakes. I'd prefer instead of the FCS opponent or whatever D2 is, play another big conference team. Would love to see a B1G, Pac 12 challenge like we have in BBall with the ACC.

Yeah, I know it's a long way away, but I can't wait to play Miami again!

Better schedule. No question about it. Worst case scenarios are it knocks you out of the MNC game, which I'm not too worried about, or turns a 6-6 team into a 5-7 team. In that case I guess it stinks, but you probably had a more interesting game at MSU as opposed to the Pizza Bowl against some MAC or Sun Belt team.

I see the point, but how much national exposure did our games vs. Nebraska in the mid-90s get us? How's Minnesota's series with USC going? No one's paying attention to those games.

MSU needs Ws, period. The Big 10 is going to be very tough every year. Even in our "light" years we still have Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska to deal with, not to mention Notre Dame. In the harder years, we'll have tOSU, PSU, ND, UM, Nebraska, Iowa and ND. I love our program and have a ton of confidence in coach D, but we haven't won 8+ games back to back in over 20 years.

Right now, 3 weaker opponents + ND + Big 10 schedule = a tough schedule.

Look at our 2011 schedule: @ND, @tOSU, @Nebraska, @Iowa. Anyone want to add LSU to that mix?

We need to recruit better if we're going to be able to handle multiple non-conf games against good opponents. In order to recruit better, we need to win more. Look at Wisky; they built their team on a bunch of cupcakes to build confidence, and started riding the momentum. Eventually, they became known as a winning program. I'm not proposing we go solely cupcakes, but, at the end of the year, Ws count just about the same. If we're not in the NC hunt, then why not position yourself for a better bowl game?? Do you think a bowl is going to choose a 7-5 MSU team over a 8-4 Iowa on the basis that MSU played a tougher schedule?

David Brandon runs his program with a business perspective. In the business of college football, the way it is currently set up, it does not make sense to add extra tough non-con games especially away from home. Home games generate revenue. Bowls generate revenue. A non-con away game against a premier opponent takes away money from a home game and possibly a win towards a bowl game. Bowl game payouts differ as well depending on the reputation of the bowl so even with a good team, a loss that knocks you out of a better bowl costs the school money. As a fan I would love to see these premier non-con matchups but from a business perspective it doesnt make sense.

Dave Brandon is smart to do that. Why should BCS schools schedule tough in non-conference play when schools like Boise State only have to play 1 BCS opponent a year and be included in the national title discussion should they win over their easy non-bcs schedule?

MSU should schedule as light as possible in their non-conference. The scheduler is doing a disservice to this team otherwise.

The 9 game conference schedule is also stupid. That 9th game basically guarantees that 2-3 teams will not be bowl eligible and creates unnecessary risk for the top rated conference teams.

MSU does play big time teams...MSU is in the Big Ten and it's one of the top 3 conferences in the nation year in and year out filled with big time teams.

Real MSU fans pay to see MSU play, not the opponents. Your statement is founded in a mis-guided sense of entitlement.

I don't care about non-conference losses. If a tough road game prepares the team better for the B1G, go for it, even if it's an auto-loss. Does anyone really think we are in danger of missing a bowl anytime soon, anyway? So we go to the Outback Bowl instead of the Cap One. Who cares?

Last time I checked, we were talking non conference. If MSU or UM or any other school wants to schedule cupcakes for every non conference game, then stop charging me $50 for a preseason game. Why do you think they only drew 25K for the FAU game last year at Ford Field?

4 non con games.
I like the idea of 1 MAC, 1 Cupcake, ND and a home and home with a tougher major power - every year.

I think part of the reason that some games dont bring more attention are that the underdog doesnt win.
Appy State blew up b/c of their win.
So I think we need to schedule tougher games, and win them. and then win them the next year, and then win them the year after that.

Then we get national attention because we are preseason #6, and looking at 5 star recruits, and we have more 5 star posters.