Minnesota to pay $800k to not play football powerhouse UNC
- Thread starter JugadorHawk
- Start date
MNHawkeyeFreak
Well-Known Member
That's just sad.
Wonder how much it costs to just play them? Did I miss that in the article?
Wonder how much it costs to just play them? Did I miss that in the article?
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
This looks bad but I cannot blame the coach for wanting to do this. Coaches and ADs lose their jobs over football records and bowl games. You have to be able to walk before you can run and just getting to bowl eligibility is a step in the right direction. Once you are consistently bowl eligible then you start scheduling tougher opponents.
Iowa has done the same thing over the years, when Ferentz became coach Iowa was playing Nebraska and Kansas State in non conference, by 2002 Iowa was playing Utah State and 2 MAC schools along with Iowa State. When Hayden Fry first got to Iowa they were playing the likes of Nebraska, Oklahoma, and UCLA but by the middle 80s they were playing UTEP, Northern Illinois, and Drake. As the team got better so did the non conference opponents. I am sure it was no accident that Iowa was not playing a Pitt or Arizona this season.
Iowa has done the same thing over the years, when Ferentz became coach Iowa was playing Nebraska and Kansas State in non conference, by 2002 Iowa was playing Utah State and 2 MAC schools along with Iowa State. When Hayden Fry first got to Iowa they were playing the likes of Nebraska, Oklahoma, and UCLA but by the middle 80s they were playing UTEP, Northern Illinois, and Drake. As the team got better so did the non conference opponents. I am sure it was no accident that Iowa was not playing a Pitt or Arizona this season.
INTIMIDATORHawk
Well-Known Member
That is the Bill Synder method of building a program. He got KState back to bowl games by scheduling 3 or 4 cupcakes in the non-conference each year. Eventually, they stepped up the strength of schedule, but for many, many years they kept it as soft as possible.
GhostofBTT
Banned
He should drop it. Minnesota is North Carolina's Sooper Bole. They have nothing to gain from playing that game.
I see it both ways.
1) Sure now you can schedule a true cupcake rather than a program that feasibly can compete with you...and a bowl appearance has brand value. That's the pro.
2) The con...it sends a questionable message to your players. Hard to instill the on-field warrior, we-fear-no-one mentality when the coach and AD are publicly backing down from a "challenge".
1) Sure now you can schedule a true cupcake rather than a program that feasibly can compete with you...and a bowl appearance has brand value. That's the pro.
2) The con...it sends a questionable message to your players. Hard to instill the on-field warrior, we-fear-no-one mentality when the coach and AD are publicly backing down from a "challenge".
