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Future non-conference opponents

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NUCat320

Well-Known Member
Dec 4, 2005
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According to FBSSchedules.com, NU has locked down exactly two of its six non-conference slots for 2019 and 2020, a 2019 road game at Stanford, and a 2020 home date with CMU. This seems late in the game to me, but perhaps the calculus around the CFP has changed the timetable.

Are there any teams you'd like to see?

Things to consider:
Can NU win?
Will people notice a win?
Does it matter for recruiting purposes?
Would it help Bowl stature / CFP placement?
Would it be a fun trip?

Here are some ideas. Note that I haven't looked at any future opponent schedules.

Bowl rematches, recruiting territory, major conference, but minor notice:
UCLA
Texas Tech

Good trips, winnable to very winnable:
Vanderbilt, again
Tulane

Good trips, less winnable:
Texas
Washington

Winnable games in fertile recruiting area that nobody will notice
FAU / FIU / UCF / Rice / SMU*
Houston (let's see where they're headed)
Georgia State or Kennesaw State (not sure if they're headed to FBS but I assume they are) but not Georgia Southern
*SMU is also a metaphysical peer, as the remaining Fighting Methodists.

Fun pseudo rivalry:
Northern Illinois

Great metro areas
Maryland
Rutgers

Let's beat the rapists:
Baylor

Southern academic peer that isn't Duke or
Vanderbilt:
Wake Forest

No way in hell:
Army
Georgia Tech
Navy
Any other g-d option team

Don't go there in September because the dome named for an air conditioning company isn't air conditioned:
Syracuse
 
Last edited:
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NUCat320 said:
According to FBSSchedules.com, NU has locked down exactly two of its six non-conference slots for 2019 and 2020, a 2019 road game at Stanford, and a 2020 home date with CMU. This seems late in the game to me, but perhaps the calculus around the CFP has changed the timetable.

Are there any teams you'd like to see?

Things to consider:
Can NU win?
Will people notice a win?
Does it matter for recruiting purposes?
Would it help Bowl stature / CFP placement?
Would it be a fun trip?

Here are some ideas. Note that I haven't looked at any future opponent schedules.

Bowl rematches, recruiting territory, major conference, but minor notice:
UCLA
Texas Tech

Good trips, winnable to very winnable:
Vanderbilt, again
Tulane

Good trips, less winnable:
Texas
Washington

Winnable games in fertile recruiting area that nobody will notice
FAU / FIU / UCF / Rice / SMU*
Houston (let's see where they're headed)
Georgia State or Kennesaw State (not sure if they're headed to FBS but I assume they are) but not Georgia Southern
*SMU is also a metaphysical peer, as the remaining Fighting Methodists.

Fun pseudo rivalry:
Northern Illinois

Great metro areas
Maryland
Rutgers

Let's beat the rapists:
Baylor

Southern academic peer that isn't Duke or
Vanderbilt:
Wake Forest

No way in hell:
Army
Georgia Tech
Navy
Any other g-d option team

Don't go there in September because the dome named for an air conditioning company isn't air conditioned:
Syracuse
Click to expand...

Bring on Alabama or Clemson.

You realize Rutgers and Maryland are in the Big 10 now?
 
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I don't mind playing cup cakes for the sake of coming up to speed with full contact but that didn't work out too well for us this year.
 
I'd like for us to achieve two goals with OOC scheduling - get us into Week 1 games of "national interest," (i.e. a game that gets us on the ESPN graphic of "games to watch today") and get us to "destination cities" - Bay Area, Vegas, New Orleans, Nashville, Boston, Denver, SLC, LA, etc. - plenty of evidence to indicate NU fans will actually travel to destination games.
 
OOC -- Army, Navy, Air Force plus major Div 1 private schools, e.g. Stanford .....

.02

and, Go Cats !!
 
No more ISUs or crap MAC teams. Very little to gain in these games.

I'd like us to play a power academic peer each year: Duke, Vandy, Stanford, Cal, BC. These are schools we recruit against. Let's slobberknock them across the field while recruits mull their options.

Also play schools in key recruiting geographies, like Ohio, Texas, Georgia, California, New England, etc. This overlaps with the above, but I think a road game in week 1 while NU student are still out, is not a bad idea.

Other schools I'd like to see on the schedule: Mizzou, Colorado, Baylor, Virginia.
 
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NUCat320 said:
According to FBSSchedules.com, NU has locked down exactly two of its six non-conference slots for 2019 and 2020, a 2019 road game at Stanford, and a 2020 home date with CMU. This seems late in the game to me, but perhaps the calculus around the CFP has changed the timetable.

Are there any teams you'd like to see?

I'd love to see us play a home-away series with the University of Virginia.
Click to expand...
 
Hungry Jack said:
No more ISUs or crap MAC teams. Very little to gain in these games.

I'd like us to play a power academic peer each year: Duke, Vandy, Stanford, Cal, BC. These are schools we recruit against. Let's slobberknock them across the field while recruits mull their options.

Also play schools in key recruiting geographies, like Ohio, Texas, Georgia, California, New England, etc. This overlaps with the above, but I think a road game in week 1 while NU student are still out, is not a bad idea.

Other schools I'd like to see on the schedule: Mizzou, Colorado, Baylor, Virginia.
Click to expand...

I get all that but what I don't see is many of the successful programs doing that. I don't want to parody the successful programs but I want to be like them. Why do they schedule cupcake opponents?
 
Fitz51 said:
Florida Atlantic
North Texas
UL-Monroe
Old Dominion
Click to expand...
Great list!

FAU would mean we get to see Lane Kiffen in person. Exciting.

North Texas would mean a homecoming for two our of 2017 commits (Brown and Jackson) who are from Denton.

I have a cousin who attended UL-Monroe (formerly known as Northeast Louisiana), but I've never been there. Great opportunity.

Old Dominion....I've got nothing. o_O
 
Fitz51 said:
Florida Atlantic
North Texas
UL-Monroe
Old Dominion
Click to expand...
Not a bad list but would rather Miami over Fla Atlantic, SMU instead of North Texas and Tulane rather UL. Road trip! Purple Party! Old Dominion, why Fitz why?
 
willycat said:
Not a bad list but would rather Miami over Fla Atlantic, SMU instead of North Texas and Tulane rather UL. Road trip! Purple Party! Old Dominion, why Fitz why?
Click to expand...


You know that we really want Tulane and Purple Party jambalaya
 
phatcat said:
We were only marginally better than MD this year
Click to expand...
Records may have been nearly the same but Maryland only won three conference games and the week after we nearly beat Ohio State, they lost 62-3 to the Buckeyes AT HOME. Then they lost their bowl game to BC, which won only two games in the ACC.
 
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Stanford and Cal are teams I'd love to play all the time in Week 1 (though I hated the Cal fans). They're peer schools (yes, I know Cal's academics are thrown out the window when it comes to football recruiting), Bay Area in September is nice (or they can come to Evanston and wake up at 2:00 a.m.), and they're good enough that the country notices. Beating Stanford in 2016 was a great start to the year. If it's not going to be Bay Area, then at least have a home-and-home with a team in a power conference in a city that people will want to visit on a long weekend.

I don't mind the MAC game every year, but they should be the *worst* team on the non-conference schedule. The problem is none of them stay good year after year, so you never know how great a team will be when they get on the schedule. No one thought WMU would be so good when they were scheduled. Might as well just be NIU every year.

Preferably the other game should be against someone in the south that will help with recruiting. I'm tired of Duke, but they're appealing in which they're not terrible, but NU can beat them. Vanderbilt, if they're not afraid, or something in Florida, Georgia, etc. Georgia Tech may be an offense we don't want to face, but bring 'em on!
 
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Houston, no upside and very tough to beat.

OTOH, would love a home and home with Boulder. One of the better academic state schools. Barnett connection. Good brand, but very winnable.
 
Tulane
Texas State
UT San Antonio
Louisiana Lafayette (now THAT is Cajun Country!)
Georgia State
FAU and FIU
Kansas State Wildcats Purple vs Purple.
UMass
Buffalo

I like the OOC nice and cupcakey.
 
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NUCat320 said:
According to FBSSchedules.com, NU has locked down exactly two of its six non-conference slots for 2019 and 2020, a 2019 road game at Stanford, and a 2020 home date with CMU. This seems late in the game to me, but perhaps the calculus around the CFP has changed the timetable.

Are there any teams you'd like to see?

Things to consider:
Can NU win?
Will people notice a win?
Does it matter for recruiting purposes?
Would it help Bowl stature / CFP placement?
Would it be a fun trip?

Here are some ideas. Note that I haven't looked at any future opponent schedules.

Bowl rematches, recruiting territory, major conference, but minor notice:
UCLA
Texas Tech

Good trips, winnable to very winnable:
Vanderbilt, again
Tulane

Good trips, less winnable:
Texas
Washington

Winnable games in fertile recruiting area that nobody will notice
FAU / FIU / UCF / Rice / SMU*
Houston (let's see where they're headed)
Georgia State or Kennesaw State (not sure if they're headed to FBS but I assume they are) but not Georgia Southern
*SMU is also a metaphysical peer, as the remaining Fighting Methodists.

Fun pseudo rivalry:
Northern Illinois

Great metro areas
Maryland
Rutgers

Let's beat the rapists:
Baylor

Southern academic peer that isn't Duke or
Vanderbilt:
Wake Forest

No way in hell:
Army
Georgia Tech
Navy
Any other g-d option team

Don't go there in September because the dome named for an air conditioning company isn't air conditioned:
Syracuse
Click to expand...
We need to stick with softees until at least the training wheels come off.
 
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