Question about our Non-Conference Schedule for 2009...

I don't see what all the fuss is about. Sure it is unusual to have three teams from one conference, especially from one that is considered "lower tier". But keep in mind that all three of these teams where bowl eligible last season, which means every one of NU's OC opponents went to a bowl game. No other team in the country can say that!

FAU has an experienced QB returning Dusty Smith, who averaged 248 yards a game last year. A stat that would be scarier if their D didn't allow 220 passsing yards per game. They also have a legendary coach in Howard Schnelinberger. Who, if I know my Husker fans, will get a standing ovation when his team takes the field.

ASU should be the best of the three, and was surprisingly adept at running the football last year. (203.3 yd/gm) Given their coach was only in his first year, I imagine they will only improve.

 
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If you want to be National Champions, you better make a statement with your non-conference schedule. You can't just schedule patsies anymore and run up the score, not good enough. We have to have a tougher non-conference schedule. Period.

 
HuskerTrucker said:
If you want to be National Champions, you better make a statement with your non-conference schedule. You can't just schedule patsies anymore and run up the score, not good enough. We have to have a tougher non-conference schedule. Period.
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Absolutely you can have a super cupcake schedule and win the national title, IF your conference is good enough.

The B12 and the SEC teams can schedule anyone OOC right now and win the national title if they go undefeated. Now USC in the Pac 10 have to schedule up a bit in the OOC as do the ACC/Big East teams. The B10 do a bit but not as much as the other three.

Florida plays Charleston Southern, Troy, Florida International and Florida State in the OOC, all at home. If they go undefeated they will be #1 and playing for the national title.

Oklahoma plays Brigham Young (in Jerry world), Idaho State, Tulsa and @ Miami. If they go undefeated they will be #1or#2 (depending on Florida) and playing for the national title.

Texas plays Louisiana Monroe, @ Wyoming, Texas El Paso and Central Florida. If they go undefeated they will be #1or#2 (depending on Florida) and playing for the national title.

On the other hand

USC plays San Jose State, @ Ohio State, and @ Notre Dame in the OOC but needs both the SEC and B12 champ to lose at least one game to play for a National Title because of how weak the Pac 10 is perceived to be.

Whereas a team from the Sun Belt could play @ USC, @ OU, @ Florida and @ Texas, win all four, go undefeated and STILL not have a guaranteed shot at a National Championship.

It won't happen but it doesn't matter if we play 3 sunbelt teams or not, if we go undefeated we'd be in the title game. Therefore it's all about how much money the university can make off those non conference games, not necessarily who gives us a great schedule rating.

 
Maybe if the ones crying about the OOC schedule can make up the difference in revenue they will play a tougher schedule (Higher Tier Team = Bigger Payout) . You can cry all you want but IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY - PERIOD

 
SouthBayHusker said:
SOCALHUSKER said:
strigori said:
SOCALHUSKER said:
SouthBayHusker said:
I'm for non-conference schedule that brings in the most money - The lower tier team the less you have to pay them to come to Lincoln.
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...and the less likely the game will be on TV. The good games with prime-time slots always pay more. By the way, how is the TV revenue sharing split up in the Big 12?
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tv revenue is split up kind of odd. Half of all the tv money gets split evenly to all 12 teams. The other half gets handed out based on tv appearances. an ABC game is the most money for the school, then ESPN, FSN and whatever the later options are these days.
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Thanks, do you know how much they brought in last year? Or compared to OU, Texas or anyone in the North?
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In recent years, Nebraska’s television revenue has held steady at about $4 million annually. NU officials are counting on that to continue.
The fact Western Michigan vs. Nebraska was bypassed by TV isn’t necessarily bad news financially for dear old NU. The game has a good chance to be a pay-per-view telecast, according to NU officials.

The Huskers’ appearances on pay-per-view in recent years have generated as much as $400,000 in revenue per game for the school. By comparison, the payout to the school for a Fox Sports Net appearance has been in the $150,000-per-game range.

Nebraska brought in 2 million from PPV last year so a better opponent is not a bigger money maker.
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But the exposure from a nationally televised game is worth much more. Texas, USC or Florida could care less, but we need all the exposure we can get to help with recruiting as we have to recruit nationally to compete. Lets face it, the 90s were a long time ago and those teams dont mean spit to most of today's recruits, we need to be on TV to make up for the lack of D1 prospects in Nebraska.

 
strigori said:
But the exposure from a nationally televised game is worth much more. Texas, USC or Florida could care less, but we need all the exposure we can get to help with recruiting as we have to recruit nationally to compete. Lets face it, the 90s were a long time ago and those teams dont mean spit to most of today's recruits, we need to be on TV to make up for the lack of D1 prospects in Nebraska.
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Ah but did getting blown out by USC help recruiting? <_<

 
Ohio Pete said:
strigori said:
But the exposure from a nationally televised game is worth much more. Texas, USC or Florida could care less, but we need all the exposure we can get to help with recruiting as we have to recruit nationally to compete. Lets face it, the 90s were a long time ago and those teams dont mean spit to most of today's recruits, we need to be on TV to make up for the lack of D1 prospects in Nebraska.
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Ah but did getting blown out by USC help recruiting? <_<
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Nebraska on West Coast TV isn't really a big deal. Since most people are from somwhere else out here most people are done watching FB by 3:00PM (I personally like 9:00am or 11:00AM games) and then when the usc or ucla games come on they are the only games on that anyone watches in the evening. I'm guessing there will be at least 5 PPV games this year (fla, arks, lal, isu, and ksu) + 4 National games (vtu,mizzou,ou, and cu) and the other 3 (tt, baylor and ku) will get picked up on game-plan. There is still a good presence on TV + the PPV's will bring in 2 million.
 
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Blackshirt316 said:
HuskerTrucker said:
If you want to be National Champions, you better make a statement with your non-conference schedule. You can't just schedule patsies anymore and run up the score, not good enough. We have to have a tougher non-conference schedule. Period.
Click to expand...
Absolutely you can have a super cupcake schedule and win the national title, IF your conference is good enough.

The B12 and the SEC teams can schedule anyone OOC right now and win the national title if they go undefeated. Now USC in the Pac 10 have to schedule up a bit in the OOC as do the ACC/Big East teams. The B10 do a bit but not as much as the other three.

Florida plays Charleston Southern, Troy, Florida International and Florida State in the OOC, all at home. If they go undefeated they will be #1 and playing for the national title.

Oklahoma plays Brigham Young (in Jerry world), Idaho State, Tulsa and @ Miami. If they go undefeated they will be #1or#2 (depending on Florida) and playing for the national title.

Texas plays Louisiana Monroe, @ Wyoming, Texas El Paso and Central Florida. If they go undefeated they will be #1or#2 (depending on Florida) and playing for the national title.

On the other hand

USC plays San Jose State, @ Ohio State, and @ Notre Dame in the OOC but needs both the SEC and B12 champ to lose at least one game to play for a National Title because of how weak the Pac 10 is perceived to be.

Whereas a team from the Sun Belt could play @ USC, @ OU, @ Florida and @ Texas, win all four, go undefeated and STILL not have a guaranteed shot at a National Championship.

It won't happen but it doesn't matter if we play 3 sunbelt teams or not, if we go undefeated we'd be in the title game. Therefore it's all about how much money the university can make off those non conference games, not necessarily who gives us a great schedule rating.
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The bottom line is if you WIN all your games in the BIG 12 or the sec - there's a good chance you play for the title.
 
IMHO you have to do more than just schedule cupcakes, even if you are in a competitive conference. Big games get big TV exposure, and those are what will get the attention of the polls. SOS is important in the realm of things. When it comes down to a season where everyone has at least one loss, they are going to look at who you played, who you lost to.

You have to ask yourself, will you be satisfied to just win your conference, or do you want to have an argument for why you should be playing in the NC game? I guarantee that if you schedule cupcakes, run up the score on them, lose a tough conference game against a ranked opponent, you will not be in the NC game...and you have no room to whine about it. Where if you win at least at least two non-conference games against ranked opponents and blow out a cupcake, then lose that tough conference game against a ranked team, win the conference championship, you still have an argument for being in that NC game.

Perfect seasons will be far and few between from now on under the current scholarship limits. If you have one, you may still be looking in from the outside if your non-conference schedule was weak.

 
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HuskerTrucker said:
IMHO you have to do more than just schedule cupcakes, even if you are in a competitive conference. Big games get big TV exposure, and those are what will get the attention of the polls. SOS is important in the realm of things. When it comes down to a season where everyone has at least one loss, they are going to look at who you played, who you lost to.

You have to ask yourself, will you be satisfied to just win your conference, or do you want to have an argument for why you should be playing in the NC game? I guarantee that if you schedule cupcakes, run up the score on them, lose a tough conference game against a ranked opponent, you will not be in the NC game...and you have no room to whine about it. Where if you win at least at least two non-conference games against ranked opponents and blow out a cupcake, then lose that tough conference game against a ranked team, win the conference championship, you still have an argument for being in that NC game.

Perfect seasons will be far and few between from now on under the current scholarship limits. If you have one, you may still be looking in from the outside if your non-conference schedule was weak.
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Can everyone say "Bill Snyder"? Remember all the howling by the mild kittens that they got less respect than Rodney Dangerfield and couldn't understand why? They would have more cupcakes scheduled than Mangino has before breakfast.

 
huzkerbob said:
I don't see what all the fuss is about. Sure it is unusual to have three teams from one conference, especially from one that is considered "lower tier". But keep in mind that all three of these teams where bowl eligible last season, which means every one of NU's OC opponents went to a bowl game. No other team in the country can say that!

FAU has an experienced QB returning Dusty Smith, who averaged 248 yards a game last year. A stat that would be scarier if their D didn't allow 220 passsing yards per game. They also have a legendary coach in Howard Schnelinberger. Who, if I know my Husker fans, will get a standing ovation when his team takes the field.

ASU should be the best of the three, and was surprisingly adept at running the football last year. (203.3 yd/gm) Given their coach was only in his first year, I imagine they will only improve.
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Correction - QB is Rusty Smith.

 
SouthBayHusker said:
Nebraska on West Coast TV isn't really a big deal. Since most people are from somwhere else out here most people are done watching FB by 3:00PM (I personally like 9:00am or 11:00AM games) and then when the usc or ucla games come on they are the only games on that anyone watches in the evening. I'm guessing there will be at least 5 PPV games this year (fla, arks, lal, isu, and ksu) + 4 National games (vtu,mizzou,ou, and cu) and the other 3 (tt, baylor and ku) will get picked up on game-plan. There is still a good presence on TV + the PPV's will bring in 2 million.
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Where do you get this from? Nebraska Football is most definitely big on the west coast. If it wasn't there wouldn't be 2 to 3 watch sites in every major city and at least one in many of the smaller markets in between. Just because you don't watch football all day on Sat. doesn't mean other people don't. Visit any sports bar or pub during football season and there will be fans watching football all day!! You may be correct about the TV scheduling this year, but I hope a few of those PPV games are picked up. Exposure, especially with a win, is worth much more to the team and the university then a few hundred thousand that the PPV's bring in.

 
SOCALHUSKER said:
SouthBayHusker said:
Nebraska on West Coast TV isn't really a big deal. Since most people are from somwhere else out here most people are done watching FB by 3:00PM (I personally like 9:00am or 11:00AM games) and then when the usc or ucla games come on they are the only games on that anyone watches in the evening. I'm guessing there will be at least 5 PPV games this year (fla, arks, lal, isu, and ksu) + 4 National games (vtu,mizzou,ou, and cu) and the other 3 (tt, baylor and ku) will get picked up on game-plan. There is still a good presence on TV + the PPV's will bring in 2 million.
Click to expand...
Where do you get this from? Nebraska Football is most definitely big on the west coast. If it wasn't there wouldn't be 2 to 3 watch sites in every major city and at least one in many of the smaller markets in between. Just because you don't watch football all day on Sat. doesn't mean other people don't. Visit any sports bar or pub during football season and there will be fans watching football all day!! You may be correct about the TV scheduling this year, but I hope a few of those PPV games are picked up. Exposure, especially with a win, is worth much more to the team and the university then a few hundred thousand that the PPV's bring in.
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Seems to me that I remember there being a fairly large fanbase of NU fans on the west coast as well.

 
I did a breakdown of the non-conference schedules of every BCS school. That's every team from the ACC, SEC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII and Pac-10 - 65 total schools. I used Jeff Sagarin's end of season final rankings from 2008, where he ranked all 245 teams in Div I and Div II, then used those rankings to extrapolate a "strength of schedule" for each team's non-conference opponents.

Nebraska's non-conference schedule ranks 23rd among the 65 BCS schools, or firmly in the middle. We have a "tougher" non-conference schedule than any other Big XII North opponent, and we are third overall in the Big XII behind Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. We have a tougher OOC schedule than these notable teams: Georgia, Missouri, Colorado, Baylor, Florida, Texas Tech, Kansas, Iowa State, Texas, Tennessee, LSU, Kansas State and Alabama.

If you look at our schedule in a vacuum and see three Sun Belt conference opponents it doesn't look so pretty. Looking at it in the context of our fellow BCS teams, it's average.

 
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