So the guys on one of the badger boards have been grousing the last few months over Wisconsin's upcoming non-conference schedule. To fill the new 12th game, they added Buffalo -- sure, it's D-1, but, people wanted to see a BCS conference (the other opponents are BGSU, W. IL and San Diego State)

To make matters worse, it came on the heels of the annoucement that Wis. was pulling out a its deal with VaTech to play a series. -- the reason given was that the Big Ten schedule that year was too daunting and the AD wanted more of a gimme game.

So, one guy took it upon himself to compare Big Ten NC home schedules in 2006 with those of 1966 (when he graduated), recalling that they used to be tougher back then. He was right -- other than the Notre Dame games (and OSU's visit to TX) -- I guess the Big Ten is aping the SEC!:

Illinois
Eastern Michigan
Syracuse
Ohio

Indiana
Western Michigan
Southern Illinois
Connecticut

Iowa
Montana
Iowa State
Northern Illinois

Michigan
Vanderbilt
Central Michigan
Ball State

Michigan State
Idaho
Eastern Michigan
Notre Dame

Minnesota
Temple
North Dakota State

Northwestern
New Hampshire
Eastern Michigan

An Ohio State University
Northern Illinois
Cincinnati
Bowling Green

Penn State
Akron
Youngstown State
Temple

Purdue
Indiana State
Miami of Ohio
Ball State

Wisconsin
Western Illinois
San Diego State
Buffalo

1966
Illinois
SMU
Missouri
Stanford

Indiana
Miami of Ohio
Texas
Miami of Florida

Iowa
Arizona
Oregon State
Miami of Florida

Michigan
Oregon State
California
North Carolina

Michigan State
North Carolina State
Penn State
Notre Dame

Minnesota
USC
Washington State
Missouri

Northwestern
Florida
Notre Dame
Oregon State

d'OSU
TCU
Washington

Purdue
Ohio
Notre Dame
SMU

Wisconsin
Iowa State
USC
Nebraska

*Yawn*
maybe I'm having a hard time waking up today...but the point of this eludes me. Just a listing of a bunch of NC games from 40 years ago with no context of any other criteria seems practically pointless.
So, what IS the point? What are you trying to prove???

It is interesting how these schools have gone all soft with the NC games. Buffalo? Temple? Youngstown State? While it's fun when one of these schools throws a scare into one of the big boys, it just doesn't happen like it does in college hoops.

No Michigan-Notre Dame game this year though? Maybe they need to do something like the basketball Big Ten-ACC Challenge, maybe with the Big 12 or Pac 10 or ACC or, dare I say, SEC?

actually I'd like see more inter-conference series like the Big 10/11-ACC challenge

Don't expect to see a continuation of that trend in the SEC over the next few years. Fans from Baton Rouge (LSU), to Gainesville (Florida) have been bitching long and loud to the ADs over the current rent-a-win philosophy, and, some have even threaten a boycott if the NC schedules are not upgraded. I don't blame them one bit. I hate one-sided football. It's boring as hell.

[ July 02, 2006, 06:14 PM: Message edited by: Thomas ]

It gets tougher and tougher to schedule NC games. When Colorado and Missouri pulled out of the contract with Miami it was ridiculous. My boss does the schedules she sent emails to every D1 school in the country asking if they were available. She did not get a single response. She called every school in the Big 10, SEC, Big 12, Big East and Pac 10, most did not even return her calls. When she offerred a home and away there were only 4 schools in the country who were willing: FIU, FAMU, Troy and Southern Miss. We chose the Florida schools for recruiting.

that's why we need to see this done on a conference level

Part of the problem is $$$. At Penn State, the athletic department is 100% self supporting, and we have I think 29 varsity sports now. When we do an out of conference series with, say, Notre Dame, it's a home and away agreement. However, to bring in enough revenue, we need the extra home game, so we usually sign a 2 home, 1 away agreement with smaller programs. Staggered properly, we get an extra home game every year over what would happen if we did 1 and 1 scheduling with major programs. I can't recall the exact figures, but that extra home game with over 100,000 people translates into big bucks.

Youngstown State is on the schedule this year because Alabama pulled out (or, I guess I should say, postponed) their home and away series with us. I believe it was because of their situation with reduced scholarships, and they didn't want to play the series until later in the decade when they are at full squad. I know it was really difficult to find anyone who had an opening on their schedule on a Saturday we were open, and Youngstown State was it.

Yeah they do play in South Bend -- the list above are all Big Ten home games. PSU will also visit ND.

Huh? -- if you can't see there's a difference between, say, Wisconsin playing Western Illinois, San Diego State and Buffalo this season, as compared to playing Iowa State, USC and Nebraska back in 1966 ... or ... Meechigan hosting Vandy, Central Michigan, and Ball State at home this year -- versus Oregon State, California and North Carolina back then ... well, I don't know what to tell you.

[ July 10, 2006, 12:55 PM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]

Wait a minute?

Since when is Buffalo a weak non conference opponent???

So what if they went 1-10 last year and have won 9 games in 7 D1A seasons.....what gives:))!

uh oh collegefootballnews has Buffalo at #117 in their preseason rankings -- yep, better than Temple and Florida Atlantic!

btw blue raider, if you're looking for a fun road trip, head to Madison for the game in November. There are a few tickets yet available for the Buffalo game (they just went on sale yesterday)