Future Scheduling

I mentioned earlier that I felt the future conference TV money could off set the loss in revenue at the gate. Emphasis on the word could because I don't have the numbers in front of me so I'll concede that I could be wrong. But no, that is not a point I was missing and one that I had addressed.
 
And the whole Iowa State being an impossible obstacle in the way of flexible future scheduling doesn't sit well with me. I mean, imagine if Georgia used Georgia Tech as a reason they won't play another P5 team. Or the same with Florida with Florida State and Clemson with South Carolina. All of those schools are scheduling additional P5 games. In some cases those teams are scheduling powerful names like Notre Dame, Michigan, and Auburn. In other cases you're seeing solid but not spectacular P5 teams being scheduled like North Carolina and NC State. But they are seeking out variety.

They all play 8 conference games. Heck we did the same playing Pitt, Arizona, etc on top of ISU. There is a reason nobody plays 11 P5 teams in the regular season schedule that they can control, because it just doesn't make any sense. The SEC schools play 9 P5 teams a year, there is nothing to be gained by playing 11.
 
Going back to the question I asked earlier, are all P5 teams created equal? So with the Iowa State game, we will be playing 10 P5 games a year before scheduling anybody else. But Iowa State isn't even an average P5 school. Now I know they've had a pretty solid amount of success in the Ferentz era against Iowa so talking down could look foolish, but nobody can objectively say it's anything better than a below average program. With that said, I believe you could add another P5 team and not make the schedule too much more difficult but at the same time make it much more interesting.
Now I do understand the point that coaches love to have a couple of easy weeks on the schedule. I also understand there is money lost in having less home games. So I get why the reasoning why the schedules are the way they are. But I personally believe adding another P5 team to the schedule wouldn't be an annual poison pill when it comes to the win loss record and what there is to be gained is worth the risk if Iowa wants to take the step to be a national program.
 
They all play 8 conference games. Heck we did the same playing Pitt, Arizona, etc on top of ISU. There is a reason nobody plays 11 P5 teams in the regular season schedule that they can control, because it just doesn't make any sense. The SEC schools play 9 P5 teams a year, there is nothing to be gained by playing 11.

it took me 2 seconds to find 2 teams that will play 11 P5 teams this year.

USC and Oregon.

The reason i could find this so easily is because I know USC always does this almost every year. USC should be our role models when it comes to scheduling. USC is playing Bama and Notre Dame this year plus their usual 9 conference games.
 
And the whole Iowa State being an impossible obstacle in the way of flexible future scheduling doesn't sit well with me. I mean, imagine if Georgia used Georgia Tech as a reason they won't play another P5 team. Or the same with Florida with Florida State and Clemson with South Carolina. All of those schools are scheduling additional P5 games. In some cases those teams are scheduling powerful names like Notre Dame, Michigan, and Auburn. In other cases you're seeing solid but not spectacular P5 teams being scheduled like North Carolina and NC State. But they are seeking out variety.
Compare Iowa State with all of those schools and you'll see why. It's a no-win situation for us. Unless they pull a rabbit out of their hat and make a bowl game, we either beat a bad team or lose to a bad team. All the teams you mentioned are above-average college football programs on the regular. Iowa State is not. Plus the game has no importance outside of the state, while Florida-FSU, Georgia-GTech, Clemson-SC and other rivalry games have a lot more national appeal.

The other part of it is the Big Ten and the 9-game conference schedule. Now you have 2 non-conference home games to fill, with one spot locked up by ISU every other year, and the other likely going to a MACrifice. That makes it tough to schedule high-profile home and home series when you only ever can get an away game. We get the occasional series like Pitt or Arizona, but we often don't have a lot of options.
 
Last edited:
it took me 2 seconds to find 2 teams that will play 11 P5 teams this year.

USC and Oregon.

The reason i could find this so easily is because I know USC always does this almost every year. USC should be our role models when it comes to scheduling. USC is playing Bama and Notre Dame this year plus their usual 9 conference games.

So you found 2 of 64 teams that do it. So that means 97% of teams don't do it. Sorry, I was off 3%, accept my apologies.
 
So you found 2 of 64 teams that do it. So that means 97% of teams don't do it. Sorry, I was off 3%, accept my apologies.

Stanford and Texas are doing it too this year. So don't say nobody does it. Honorable mentions should go to Mich St and Oklahoma who each scheduled 2 tough OOC opponents and are playing 9 conference games.
 
Stanford and Texas are doing it too this year. So don't say nobody does it. Honorable mentions should go to Mich St and Oklahoma who each scheduled 2 tough OOC opponents and are playing 9 conference games.

Ok, we are at 94% of teams don't play 11 games vs P5 teams. You can always find a few exceptions to any rule. What is your point again, the math (90% +) says I'm right. Teams don't schedule 11 P5 teams in one year. Heck Iowa played 12 of 14 games vs P5 teams last year, and still you got people bitching and moaning about playing 2 "cupcakes".
 
Ok, we are at 94% of teams don't play 11 games vs P5 teams. You can always find a few exceptions to any rule. What is your point again, the math (90% +) says I'm right. Teams don't schedule 11 P5 teams in one year. Heck Iowa played 12 of 14 games vs P5 teams last year, and still you got people bitching and moaning about playing 2 "cupcakes".

My point is it should not be accepted as a given that you can't play 11 P5 schools in a 12 game schedule, because there are multiple examples of teams that do it. Your original argument was that nobody does it, which I proved was wrong. So we can take that argument off the table. It can be done. Other teams do it, so don't insist it can't be done.
 
it took me 2 seconds to find 2 teams that will play 11 P5 teams this year.

USC and Oregon.

The reason i could find this so easily is because I know USC always does this almost every year. USC should be our role models when it comes to scheduling. USC is playing Bama and Notre Dame this year plus their usual 9 conference games.

If we scheduled like that we would never even stand a chance at the 4 team playoff.
 
My point is it should not be accepted as a given that you can't play 11 P5 schools in a 12 game schedule, because there are multiple examples of teams that do it. Your original argument was that nobody does it, which I proved was wrong. So we can take that argument off the table. It can be done. Other teams do it, so don't insist it can't be done.

Don't be that guy......mr. literal that is. Nobody does do it, and by that you know I mean the vast majority of teams simply don't do that.

Nobody has made any kind of intelligent arguement in how it helps Iowa to play an 11th P5 team, so I say that Iowa continue to do what everyone (and by everyone I mean 90%+ of the P5 football teams) does and that is play 9 or 10 P5 teams each year.

Oh and playing Northwestern last year in the non con as the 11th P5 opponent for Stanford kept them out of the playoffs. That is the only thing playing an 11th P5 team is gonna get you.....out of the playoffs. I would bet you a lot that Stanford, Texas, USC, and Oregon don't make the playoffs this year. I would also bet a Bama team that plays 9 P5 teams does. I would also bet that a Tennessee team that plays 9 P5 teams also has a greater chance. Heck all of the SEC plays 9 P5 teams (Don't take this literally as I have not looked at every schedule). That is one of the reasons they always have so many top 20/10 teams. They play 1 decent/good non con team, 3 total cupcakes in the non conference schedule.
 
Last edited:
My point is it should not be accepted as a given that you can't play 11 P5 schools in a 12 game schedule, because there are multiple examples of teams that do it. Your original argument was that nobody does it, which I proved was wrong. So we can take that argument off the table. It can be done. Other teams do it, so don't insist it can't be done.

The Hawks never play good the first couple games of the season. & those games are against the Miami (OH) / Eastern Michigans of the world. Our series a couple years ago against NIU (soldier field) was fun to see but we were 1-1. That was a close win. What good would come out of playing USC in September? 1 win every 5 years?
 
Or if you want to add even more schedule flexibility, make the Iowa-Iowa State series a 2 games in 3 years format.

That shouldn't be too hard.
Iowa State vs. Minnesota home-at-home once a decade.
Iowa State vs. Nebraska or Northwestern or Wisconsin home-at-home once a decade.

That opens up four games a decade for Iowa, and develops a little scheduling flexibility for Iowa State.
 
Last edited:
I know this has nothing to do with today, but in 10-15 years the last bit of expansion will be done and I think we'll see a college football landscape where the Power 5 (or Power 4) break away from the group of 5 and exclusively play each other. Scheduling complications will be a thing of the past and compelling out of conference games will be common place. It'll be great for college football assuming football as we know it is still a thing.
 
Iowa also gets the benefit of playing in what will probably be he historically weaker division in the Big 10 as well. That to me is another reason why you could stomach adding another P5 team to the out of conference schedule along with Iowa State.
 
If we scheduled like that we would never even stand a chance at the 4 team playoff.

Sure we would. Let's say last year Iowa scheduled USC instead of North Texas and lost that game. Iowa making the playoffs would still come down to the BigTen CCG. If Iowa beats MSU, they still go to playoffs.

The question is which team does Iowa want to be. Do you want to be Stanford who scheduled NW and lost, and missed the playoffs. Or do you want to be Baylor or TCU in 2014. Who were co-champions of the Big 12, and both went 11-1 but missed the playoffs that year. Baylor missed because they played nobody in ooc. Heck TCU even played and beat a decent Minnesota team and that still was not good enough.

You simply don't want to run away from tough competition and expect to make the playoffs.

And to be honest with you, I don't want Iowa to make the playoffs unless they honestly earn it. They really need to prove to the committee, and college football fans in general, that Iowa truly is 1 of the 4 best teams in the country. Otherwise they don't deserve it.

These weak schedule type of arguments are the same type of arguments the Big 12 tried to use to avoid adding a CCG. They said, oh we might lose, It can hurt our chances of making the playoffs, etc. Well you saw how that worked out. Stop being a bunch of cowards. Man up and play some real competition to prove you really deserve that playoff spot.
 
Last edited:
Going to 9 conference games, plus Iowa State, that leaves 2 non-conference games.
Barta would rather play 2 tomato cans at Kinnick every fall.

Plus, what Power 5, routine top 25 teams, would do a home-and-away agreement with Iowa?
TCU, Baylor then, then, then.....??????
Wisconsin was going to 3 straight Rose Bowls when those games against Alabama, last season, and LSU, this season, were set.
Ohio State can always get a solid home-and-away, because of the fan base, alumni and TV viewers they bring in.
Michigan, to some extent.
Sparty was fortunate to get a home-and-away with Oregon, when they did.

With the addition of the B1G championship and another conference game, the emphasis on a home-and-away with a top 25 Power 5, isn't as emphasized, as it once was.
 
That shouldn't be too hard.
Iowa State vs. Minnesota home-at-home once a decade.
Iowa State vs. Nebraska or Northwestern or Wisconsin home-at-home once a decade.

That opens up four games a decade for Iowa, and develops a little scheduling flexibility for Iowa State.


- I agree with your idea, but this will never happen.
 
Sure we would. Let's say last year Iowa scheduled USC instead of North Texas and lost that game. Iowa making the playoffs would still come down to the BigTen CCG. If Iowa beats MSU, they still go to playoffs.

The question is which team does Iowa want to be. Do you want to be Stanford who scheduled NW and lost, and missed the playoffs. Or do you want to be Baylor or TCU in 2014. Who were co-champions of the Big 12, and both went 11-1 but missed the playoffs that year. Baylor missed because they played nobody in ooc. Heck TCU even played and beat a decent Minnesota team and that still was not good enough.

You simply don't want to run away from tough competition and expect to make the playoffs.

And to be honest with you, I don't want Iowa to make the playoffs unless they honestly earn it. They really need to prove to the committee, and college football fans in general, that Iowa truly is 1 of the 4 best teams in the country. Otherwise they don't deserve it.

These weak schedule type of arguments are the same type of arguments the Big 12 tried to use to avoid adding a CCG. They said, oh we might lose, It can hurt our chances of making the playoffs, etc. Well you saw how that worked out. Stop being a bunch of cowards. Man up and play some real competition to prove you really deserve that playoff spot.

When Stanford scheduled Northwestern, no way did they anticipate losing to them, let along the loss keeping them out of the playoffs. These games are scheduled years in advances, you can't possibly know how good the opponent is going to be then.

If you don't think Iowa "deserves" to be in the playoffs because they played Ill. St and N. Texas as non con cupcakes, then how does Bama, or Clemson "deserve" to be in the playoffs, playing the likes of Mid. Tennessee, UL Monroe, Charleston So., Wofford, & Appalachian St.?

The vast, vast majority of P5 teams schedule 9 or 10 P5 teams, there is no reason to schedule an 11th. There is absolutely no reason, and nothing good that would come of playing 11 P5 teams in the regular season.
 
Top