Sure, cherry-pick the last game of the season between two teams basically going nowhere. Suppose the extra B1G game is Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State etc. Changes the picture a little, doesn't it?
Not Coach Speak
- Thread starter GlideCat
- Start date
Sure, cherry-pick the last game of the season between two teams basically going nowhere. Suppose the extra B1G game is Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State etc. Changes the picture a little, doesn't it?
You're right. The extra game will be from the East, and while some years it will be Rutgers others will be OSU or MSU.
The last game of the season, against our supposed rivals, with the winner going to a bowl game and the loser going home? How much more "meaningful" do you want?
And yes, it changes the picture if we play a team that brings thousands of its own fans along, but that doesn't really have anything to do with how "attractive" the game is. NIU falls into that category and nobody would call NIU-NU a must-see game.
To be fair, playing a game the Saturday after Thanksgiving when the students are away and the weather is cold isn't a recipe for a big crowd.....
It got about the same crowd that we get for every game that isn't against a team with a massive traveling fan base, somewhere from 30-35k. My point is that attendance doesn't crater when we play FCS teams and the only way we'd benefit more from an extra Big Ten game in terms of attendance would be if that game was against Ohio State or Michigan.
C'mon, it was Thanksgiving Week, and the Illini, rival or not, have been horrible the last few years. They've barely outdrawn us at home, despite a huge enrollment advantage. And they wouldn't be the added B1G game. We'd play them every year in the present setup. You're really saying we'd get more attendance on average playing an FCS school than another B1G team? On average, even the more poorly attended B1G games draw more than an FCS game, and attendance with marquee opponents is 10,000-15,000 higher. If we play only two games a year versus the eastern division, we'll play those marquee opponents far less often.
I'm a Northwestern fan on a Northwestern message board. You're a Cal fan on a Northwestern board for no particular reason than to try to piss people off.
Obviously can't speak for Willy's intentions when he mentioned these schools, but Memphis and Boulder at least yield games in "destination cities." I'm happy to travel to almost any away game if it's in a fun metro area - this seems to actually be one strength of the NU fan base. To your point, I'd also be fine with Wake Forest regularly showing up in the rotation as it is certainly an academic peer.
Scheduling NIU regularly makes a lot of sense if they would go for a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 home to road ratio. The game creates some good buzz in the Chicago area as opposed to any other MAC matchup.
So you are saying that you prefer a nationally or regionally televised game which shows a higher percentage of opposing colors in our stadium to our colors because it brings in a bigger payday. Therefore, you would be in favor of annual multiple one-off away games against Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, etc. because they are bigger games and also bring in a bigger payday?
What does say about our program?
You only play MAC teams on a 1 for 0 basis and cut them a check. Only exception is if we can play 2 for 1 and put their 1 in a pro stadium like we did at ford field many years ago
I don't see why wanting to play the other teams in our conference more often because they'd be better games means one also must want to us play teams from outside it. These are not both apples.
Explain how you turned my support of an extra B1G game into being in favor of one-off away games against major non-conference powers. I went to Northwestern, so I might be a little slow.
I think I could find better destination cities than Memphis and Boulder...like San Diego, Las Vegas, and Reno. Playing in Boulder, Ft. Collins, or Colorado Springs is asking for trouble with the thin air there.
Same logic. Your reasoning was the added 10 - 15K fans that we get for a major opponent such as OSU or UM. This fills up our stadium with opposing colors which is then broadcast on national or regional television. Your purpose appeared to be to be in a higher profile game with a bigger payday. This is exactly the same reasoning used by lower level schools that schedule one-off away games against major national players.
The logic tie seems clear.
And that's why you're universally hated around here and nobody here welcomes your input.
Yes but that is not the extra game. We have that regardless. The key is the potential extra practices that will happen less frequently. Those are a huge advantage for the teams that get them, especially for the underclassmen. It will make no difference to the top teams but will hurt our performance over the years, potentially hurt recruiting as well if we do not make the cut.
Whew for a minute there I was worried you wouldn't find something to split hairs about.
Most prophets were not accepted right away. Many were shunned for their beliefs. I get it. Your story is as old as time itself.
One is at our stadium. The other is not. That is a significant difference. And the scheduling is within our conference. Apparently you'd rather we play opponents who don't "fill up our stadium with opposing colors" and make less money.
Make less money on the regular season, have one less televised home game where the opposing fans outnumber ours, increase our overall winning percentage, and increase our possibility of going to more bowls (lower tier or not).
Yes. I would.
If we have a good team we'll go to a bowl. If we don't, we won't. Even with nine conference games you'll usually have a couple of games a year against lesser opponents. If you can win all three OOC games, you only need to go 3-6 in the B1G to make a bowl. Go 2-1, and you still only have to go 4-5. If our team can't manage that, we don't deserve to be a bowl, lower tier or not. As bad as NU was at times last year, a win against suck Michigan or Illinois teams would have put us in a bowl. Sorry, but I didn't grow up in the everybody gets a trophy for participating generation.
I wonder how much benefit the extra practices truly have. Do we know cases where redshirts emerged at the end of their season in a way that set them up for contributions that they wouldn't have made regardless? We talk about the extra practices... Obviously there's not a great test to see if the results match the assumption.
Can the teams do nothing if not in a bowl game? Or can offseason lifting and conditioning start in December? I assume the players continue to work out in December in non-bowl seasons, which certainly also results in a better team.
As I wrote earlier, I'm in this for the entertainment factor, and I'm happy to have the entertaining games start earlier in the season.
Like in 2004, when we went 5-3 in conference and finished alone in 4th place and went home for the winter. Or in 2007, when we went 6-6 and were passed over for a bowl berth. Were you pleased that we didn't get postseason games in those years, since we didn't deserve participation trophies?
pawildcat,
Let's suppose we had beaten either Michigan or Illinois last year to finish at 6-6. Are you suggesting that in a year in which we defeated Wisconsin, Penn State and Notre Dame we should have been denied a bowl game. Frankly, that would seem to me to be slightly ridiculous.
The number of bowl games has increased. What are the chances now that we wouldn't get a bowl bid with a 6-6 team? And in what world is a 6-6 team that great a team? Not in mine.
I said as bad as we were last year a victory over Michigan or Illinois would have put us into a bowl game. I'm not sure how you arrived at the conclusion that this meant I thought we should have been denied a bowl game. It doesn't read that way to me.
Who cares if they're "great" or "good" or "average" or "bad"? You have a bunch of great kids that (seemingly) like playing football. Why not give them a nationally televised game, a few practices, and a trip from the 1st week of December to the 2nd week of January. Did they "earn" it? Yes, I don't care if we go 1-11 of 13-0. The team tried, put in the effort, risked their bodies... In my mind, put every team in the country in a bowl game. Make the low tier games regional like Big Ten 9 vs MAC 7 in Indianapolis.
Sorry, but they've already had 12 games. They've gotten a chance to go to a great university for what soon will be full cost. That's a pretty decent reward. We'll agree to disagree big-time on this.
It's not a matter of whether I'm "pleased" or not. It's a matter of getting it done on the field so you don't run the danger of being left out. We could have made a bowl in 2007, but on the other hand we lost 58-7 to Ohio State that year in one of the worst games I've seen NU play in the past 20 years and also were a horrible Duke team's only win of the season.
Well obviously we all want the team to go 10-2 (or better!) and go to a major bowl game. But when we do go 6-6 I still want us to go to a bowl game because it's good for the program. I don't get on my high horse and say "Well you didn't deserve it anyway, maybe you should have played better" if we get left out. I'll gladly take a bowl at 6-6 after two losing seasons.
So will I. But sometimes life isn't fair. You're the mediocre 6-6 team that gets left out. Thing is, you don't have to be that great these days to make a bowl game. I'm sure it would be good for all the programs who don't make a bowl game to make one, and it's never been easier to make one. Hell, Illinois made one last year. Do you think by any definition they were remotely a good team? It's not a matter of getting on a "high horse." Last time I looked, 68 teams qualify bowl games. If you get left out of THAT, yeah, maybe you should have played better. Going to the nine-game schedule, you can likely qualify for a bowl game by going 3-0 OOC and 3-6 in the B1G or 2-1 OOC and 4-5 in the B1G. That doesn't seem like setting the bar too high to me.
But you're the one saying you'd rather play an extra Big Ten game and lose it than go to a bowl game!
I agree that it's not much of an achievement these days to go bowling, but I'd still rather see NU in a bowl than see an extra game against Indiana or whatever.
