college footballs hardest schedules...

[JRob2282]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=2923693&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1

[JRob2282]

hey ballaman, all 5 of your overrated teams are on that list.

[bk1998]

Glad they've got U-dub #1... Any preseason toughest schedule list without them at the top this year is crap.

Brutal Schedule for the Huskies this year.

[Gtrght77]

Glad they've got U-dub #1... Any preseason toughest schedule list without them at the top this year is crap.

Brutal Schedule for the Huskies this year.

Just means they will not win a game.

[bk1998]

Just means they will not win a game.

They might not... You never know.

The Boise State game is shaping up to possibly turn into a home game for the Broncos too... Hearing that 20,000 Bronco fans are making the trip to Seattle.

I really like Husky stadium... Had a lot of fun tailgating there last year on my college football roadtrip.

[Gtrght77]

They might not... You never know.

The Boise State game is shaping up to possibly turn into a home game for the Broncos too... Hearing that 20,000 Bronco fans are making the trip to Seattle.

I really like Husky stadium... Had a lot of fun tailgating there last year on my college football roadtrip.


The Boise fans are filling up my Hotel. Boise is just around the corner basically, That could make for a good rivalry.

[bk1998]

The Boise fans are filling up my Hotel. Boise is just around the corner basically, That could make for a good rivalry.

If by around the corner, you mean a 9 hour drive. lol

Last time I was there, I stayed at the University Inn.

Your hotel in the University area?

[ballaman]

hey ballaman, all 5 of your overrated teams are on that list.
I saw this on ESPN a day ago. LMAO at Notre Dame being Top 10 hardest. This is what I mean by overrated. USC and Michigan are tough yes but the other 4 teams he said were good are middle-of-the-road. I knew you or bk would be the ones to post this just to set me off.

[JRob2282]

I saw this on ESPN a day ago. LMAO at Notre Dame being Top 10 hardest. This is what I mean by overrated. USC and Michigan are tough yes but the other 4 teams he said were good are middle-of-the-road. I knew you or bk would be the ones to post this just to set me off.


so you are saying that playing penn state and michigan back to back ROAD games is easy??? and also playing Purdue and UCLA back to back ROAD games would be easy too??? not to mention Boston College and USC at home. yeah i can see where that should be easy.

[ballaman]

so you are saying that playing penn state and michigan back to back ROAD games is easy??? and also playing Purdue and UCLA back to back ROAD games would be easy too??? not to mention Boston College and USC at home. yeah i can see where that should be easy.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

Penn State is middle-of-the-road. Michigan is not. Purdue and UCLA are middle-of-the-road, Boston College is middle-of-the-road and USC is not.

The only tough game you guys play on the road is Michigan and at home is USC. Trust me I know how good Penn State is and how good Purdue is. Penn State is not as good as the year when they won the Big 10. Purdue just plain sucks.

Its funny that Notre Dame plays both these teams on the road and SO DOES OHIO STATE! UCLA is middle-of-the-road. I am not saying they are bad but they are not good either. Boston College at Notre Dame you guys should win easy.

When you guys decide to play Ohio State again come talk to me or when you decide to join a powerhouse conference come talk to me. Ill take any of the other SEC school's schedules over this.

Oh and lets not forget about how half your games are cupcake teams. Let's see, Army, Navy, Air Force, Duke and Stanford.

BTW, you will lose to Michigan and USC and probably 2 other of those middle-of-the-road teams. Oh and Ohio State plays Michigan on the road as well.

[bk1998]

Ballaman -

If being a knowledgeable college football fan required a license, yours would have been revoked long ago.

Give me a breakdown here... how many teams of the 119 in D1a are "middle of the road?" Give me a number here.

Furthermore, how many are "good" and "bad?"

Thanks.

[bk1998]

Athlon preseason rankings used...

--------------------------
NOTRE DAME 2007 SCHEDULE

Georgia Tech
#14 in the nation

@ Penn St.
#17 in the nation

@ Michigan
#8 in the nation

Michigan St.
#74 in the nation

@ Purdue
#42 in the nation

@ UCLA
#15 in the nation

Fredo (BC)
#27 in the nation

USC
#1 in the nation

Navy
#48 in the nation

Air Force
#87 in the nation

Duke
#98 in the nation

@Stanford
#100 in the nation
--------------------------

--------------------------
OHIO STATE 2007 SCHEDULE

Youngstown State
(not ranked, as they are a D1-AA CUPCAKE)

Akron
Ranked #101

@ Washington
Ranked #64

Nw'ern
Ranked #66

@ Minnesota
Ranked #78

@ Purdue
Ranked #42

Kent State
Ranked #88

Michigan State
Ranked #74

@ Penn State
Ranked #17

Wisconsin
Ranked #4

Illinois
Ranked #67

Michigan
Ranked #8
--------------------------

Take the common opponents out of the schedules and compare head to head, opponents listed according to ranking.

ND's opponent.............or........Ohio State's opponent
USC #1....................................Wisconsin #4
Georgia Tech #14......................Washington #64
UCLA #15.................................Northwestern #66
Boston College #27....................Illinois #67
Navy #48..................................Minnesota #78
Air Force #87.............................Kent St. #88
Duke #98..................................Akron #101
Stanford #100............................YT St (D1-AA Cupcake)

Go down the list, compare the rankings... Head to head, every single one of ND's opponents is ranked better than their counterpart on Ohio State's schedule.



When you guys decide to play Ohio State again come talk to me or when you decide to join a powerhouse conference come talk to me.


Yeah, because joining a conference like the Big Ten really makes your schedule improve. lol

[ballaman]

bk, preseason rankings mean NOTHING! I understand your point but they mean nothing. There are plenty of teams that drop out of the Top 25 after 2 weeks into the season.

I didn't say Ohio State had a tough schedule, I just said Notre Dame's isn't as hard as it is made out to be.

Look at where some of these teams are ranked. Georgia Tech is ranked there because of how they did last season.

They lost their top 3 of their Top 4 WR's, starting QB, their Top 2 TE's, and their starting RT on offense.

On defense they lost 1 starting DT, a starting OLB, a backup safety and a starting CB.

They lost a lot. Not as much as Ohio State but a lot on offense especially.

UCLA on offense lost 4 WR's with 1 being their starting FL, their #1 TE, and their starting center.

On defense they lost their starting RE, and their starting ROLB. Not a lot but we shall see how they do.

Navy is in the Top 50 and who did they play that was good last year in the regular season except for Notre Dame. Rutgers. They were destroyed in both of those games.

Here is their schedule and results from 06:

vs. East Carolina W 28-23

vs. Massachusetts W 21-20

at Stanford W 37-9

vs. Tulsa L 23-24(OT)

at Connecticut W 41-7

at Air Force W 24-17

vs. Rutgers L 0-34

vs. Notre Dame(played in Baltimore Maryland) L 14-38

at Duke W 38-13

at Eastern Michigan(in Detroit) W 49-21

vs. Temple W 42-6

vs. Army(in Philadelphia Pennsylvania) W 26-14

Bowl Game(Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte North Carolina)

vs. Boston College L 24-25

Overall Record: 9-4

Pretty pathetic when you are decent and have that kind of schedule.

I have plenty more to say but I will address it in the next post.

[ballaman]

OK got that out of the way. Now lets look at who Penn State lost.

On offense they lost their starting FB, starting RB, starting 2 LT's, starting RG, and both starting TE's.

On defense they lost 3 of their Top 4 DT's, a starting OLB, a starting MLB, a starting SS and their Top 2 FS's.

They lost a pretty good amount and Anthony Morelli is their QB and is a senior. He hasn't stepped up yet so maybe he will this year.

Now for Boston College. Lets see who they lost.

On offense they lost their starting RB, Top 2 LT's, starting LG, starting C, and starting RT. Almost their whole offensive line.

On defense they lost their starting NG, their #1 MLB, their #1 CB, their #1 starting SS, and their starting FS. They lost a lot here as well.

And now for Purdue. Lets see who they lost.

On offense they lost 2 of their Top 6 Wr's, their starting LT, and their starting LG.

On defense they lost a starting DE, #2 OLB, and #2 MLB.

They didn't lose a lot but their entire left side of their offensive line left.

I did all this to prove that these teams won't be as good as advertised. Some might but others won't. Now we could do this all day but my point is that teams like these don't reload like powerhouses, they rebuild.

USC and Michigan are good but none of these other teams are as good as their preseason rankings suggest.

Notre Dame needs to join the Big East. The Big East needs a boost and plus Notre Dame's other sports are in the Big East conference. Football is the only one that isn't.

[bk1998]

My point was that joining a BCS conference isn't going to make Notre Dame's schedule any better... frankly, it's quite tough as is.

And for illustrative purposes, I showed you Ohio State's schedule.

You want Notre Dame to join the Big Ten? ha. Their schedule will be worse off.

And I used Ohio State because you felt the need to reference them three times in a conversation that they hadn't even been mentioned in before.

Shall I quote?



Its funny that Notre Dame plays both these teams on the road and SO DOES OHIO STATE! UCLA is middle-of-the-road. I am not saying they are bad but they are not good either. Boston College at Notre Dame you guys should win easy.

When you guys decide to play Ohio State again come talk to me or when you decide to join a powerhouse conference come talk to me. Ill take any of the other SEC school's schedules over this.

Oh and lets not forget about how half your games are cupcake teams. Let's see, Army, Navy, Air Force, Duke and Stanford.

BTW, you will lose to Michigan and USC and probably 2 other of those middle-of-the-road teams. Oh and Ohio State plays Michigan on the road as well.

[ballaman]

True but as a Boise State fan you should know that preseason Top 25 polls mean nothing. Here are the preseason Top 25 polls since 04 and the final Top 25 polls since 04.

Preseason 2004 Top 25 Poll

#1: USC Trojans
#2: Oklahoma Sooners
#3: LSU Tigers
#4: Georgia Bulldogs
#5: Miami(FL) Hurricanes
#6: Florida State Seminoles
#7: Michigan Wolverines
#8: Texas Longhorns
#9: Ohio State Buckeyes
#10: Florida Gators
#11: West Virginia Mountaineers
#12: Iowa Hawkeyes
#13: Kansas State Wildcats
#14: Tennessee Volunteers
#15: California Golden Bears
#16: Clemson Tigers
#17: Missouri Tigers
#18: Auburn Tigers
#19: Virginia Cavaliers
#20: Maryland Terrapins
#21: Utah Utes
#22: Wisconsin Badgers
#23a: Minnesota Golden Gophers
#23b: Purdue Boilermakers
#25: Oregon Ducks

Final 2004 Top 25 polls(after bowl games had been completed)

#1: USC Trojans(preseason #1)
#2: Auburn Tigers(preseason #18)
#3: Oklahoma Sooners(preseason #2)
#4: Texas Longhorns(preseason #8)
#5: Utah Utes(preseason #21)
#6: Georgia Bulldogs(preseason #4)
#7: Louisville Cardinals(preseason unranked)
#8: Iowa Hawkeyes(preseason #12)
#9: California Golden Bears(preseason #15)
#10: Virginia Tech Hokies(preseason unranked)
#11: Miami(FL) Hurricanes(preseason #5)
#12: Michigan Wolverines(preseason #7)
#13: Boise State Broncos(preseason unranked)
#14: Florida State Seminoles(preseason #6)
#15: Tennessee Volunteers(preseason #14)
#16: LSU Tigers(preseason #3)
#17: Texas Tech Red Raiders(preseason unranked)
#18: Wisconsin Badgers(preseason #22)
#19: Ohio State Buckeyes(preseason #9)
#20: Arizona State Sun Devils(preseason unranked)
#21: Boston College Eagles(preseason unranked)
#22: Fresno State Bulldogs(preseason unranked)
#23: Virginia Cavaliers(preseason #19)
#24: Navy Midshipmen(preseason unranked)
#25: Florida Gators(preseason #10)

2005 Preseason Top 25 Poll

#1: USC Trojans
#2: Texas Longhorns
#3: Tennessee Volunteers
#4: Michigan Wolverines
#5: Oklahoma Sooners
#6: LSU Tigers
#7: Virginia Tech Hokies
#8: Miami(FL) Hurricanes
#9: Ohio State Buckeyes
#10: Iowa Hawkeyes
#11: Florida Gators
#12: Florida State Seminoles
#13: Georgia Bulldogs
#14: Louisville Cardinals
#15: Auburn Tigers
#16: Purdue Boilermakers
#17: Texas A&M Aggies
#18: Arizona State Sun Devils
#19: Boise State Broncos
#20: California Golden Bears
#21: Texas Tech Red Raiders
#22: Boston College Eagles
#23: Virginia Cavaliers
#24: Alabama Crimson Tide
#25: Pittsburgh Panthers

Final 2005 Top 25 Poll

#1: Texas Longhorns(preseason #2)
#2: USC Trojans(preseason #1)
#3: Penn State Nittany Lions(preseason unranked)
#4: Ohio State Buckeyes(preseason #9)
#5: LSU Tigers(preseason #6)
#6: West Virginia Mountaineers(preseason unranked)
#7: Virginia Tech Hokies(preseason #7)
#8: Alabama Crimson Tide(preseason #24)
#9: TCU Horned Frogs(preseason unranked)
#10: Georgia Bulldogs(preseason #13)
#11: Notre Dame Fighting Irish(preseason unranked)
#12: Oregon Ducks(preseason unranked)
#13: UCLA Bruins(preseason unranked)
#14: Auburn Tigers(preseason #15)
#15: Wisconsin Badgers(preseason unranked)
#16: Florida Gators(preseason #11)
#17: Boston College Eagles(preseason #22)
#18: Miami(FL) Hurricanes(preseason #8)
#19: Texas Tech Red Raiders(preseason #21)
#20: Louisville Cardinals(preseason #14)
#21: Clemson Tigers(preseason unranked)
#22: Oklahoma Sooners(preseason #5)
#23: Florida State Seminoles(preseason #12)
#24: Nebraska Cornhuskers(preseason unranked)
#25: California Golden Bears(preseason #20)

Preseason 2006 Top 25 Poll

#1: Ohio State Buckeyes
#2: Texas Longhorns
#3a: USC Trojans
#3b: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
#5: Oklahoma Sooners
#6: Auburn Tigers
#7: West Virginia Mountaineers
#8: Florida Gators
#9: LSU Tigers
#10: Florida State Seminoles
#11: Miami(FL) Hurricanes
#12: California Golden Bears
#13: Louisville Cardinals
#14: Georgia Bulldogs
#15: Michigan Wolverines
#16: Virginia Tech Hokies
#17: Iowa Hawkeyes
#18: Clemson Tigers
#19: Penn State Nittany Lions
#20: Oregon Ducks
#21: TCU Horned Frogs
#22: Nebraska Cornhuskers
#23: Tennessee Volunteers
#24: Alabama Crimson Tide
#25: Texas Tech Red Raiders

Final 2006 Top 25 Poll

#1: Florida Gators(preseason #8)
#2: Ohio State Buckeyes(preseason #1)
#3: LSU Tigers(preseason #9)
#4: USC Trojans(preseason #3a)
#5: Wisconsin Badgers(preseason unranked)
#6: Boise State Broncos(preseason unranked)
#7: Louisville Cardinals(preseason #13)
#8: Auburn Tigers(preseason #6)
#9: Michigan Wolverines(preseason #15)
#10: West Virginia Mountaineers(preseason #7)
#11: Oklahoma Sooners(preseason #5)
#12: Rutgers Scarlet Knights(preseason unranked)
#13: Texas Longhorns(preseason #2)
#14: California Golden Bears(preseason #12)
#15: BYU Cougars(preseason unranked)
#16: Arkansas Razorbacks(preseason unranked)
#17: Wake Forest Demon Deacons(preseason unranked)
#18: Virginia Tech Hokies(preseason #16)
#19: Notre Dame Fighting Irish(preseason #3b)
#20: Boston College Eagles(preseason unranked)
#21: TCU Horned Frogs(preseason #21)
#22: Oregon State Beavers(preseason unranked)
#23: Tennessee Volunteers(preseason #23)
#24: Hawaii Warriors(preseason unranked)
#25: Penn State Nittany Lions(preseason #19)

I rest my case about the preseason polls meaning absolutely NOTHING!

[JRob2282]

I rest my case about the preseason polls meaning absolutely NOTHING!


yet you have said nothing about how joining the big ten would do nothing for Notre Dames schedule.

[bk1998]

yet you have said nothing about how joining the big ten would do nothing for Notre Dames schedule.

Or backed up his assertion that Notre Dame's schedule is overrated.

He wants us to believe that he knows which teams are going to be overrated this year (99% of them, apparently), yet he says things like "the Pac-10 sucks," and "Colorado won the Big 12 North last year."

Give me a reason to believe!