Michigan completes 2022 schedule, adds UConn
Non-conf schedule for 2022
vs Colorado State
vs Hawaii
vs Connecticut
January 30th, 2020 at 1:04 PM ^
Hmmm UConn... why not just keep UCLA on the schedule?
January 30th, 2020 at 1:08 PM ^
No reason to schedule those games anymore. Zero fucks given about strength of schedule by the committee
January 30th, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^
So we pretend we're good until we're not?
January 30th, 2020 at 1:23 PM ^
We have been doing that for quite awhile now, why not keep doing it ?
January 30th, 2020 at 1:26 PM ^
Maybe Year 8 will be different?
Fingers Crossed!
January 30th, 2020 at 9:25 PM ^
LOL dude. I wasn't expecting to get such a good laugh after work. :-)
January 30th, 2020 at 2:10 PM ^
So if we improve throughout the season we don't have an early blemish on our resume.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:35 PM ^
Agree. Just makes for a losey home schedule for the money. I will still go but trying to sell my extras at $70 to 75 a pop for theses game won't happen. Eat the money and support the program and all other teams the money funds.
January 30th, 2020 at 5:05 PM ^
Personally, I have had enough. Been a loyal, and in my youth a rabid, Michigan fan for 47 years, but I can no longer justify paying the ridiculous price for season tickets. This past season was a test for me and I found that I really did not enjoy attending home games like I had in the past. Hence, I am giving up my season tickets this year.
Will still watch the Wolverines play in the Big House, but it shall be from the comfort of my living room. Go Blue!
January 30th, 2020 at 3:00 PM ^
We really need to stop worrying about the committee since we're not even close to making the playoffs. What we should focus on is increasing fan interest and expanding our recruiting to the west coast. A home and home with UCLA does that. Playing fucking UConn is a lose dog move.
January 30th, 2020 at 3:11 PM ^
We've literally almost made the playoffs twice in the last four years
January 30th, 2020 at 4:03 PM ^
"Almost" would be ranked 5th or 6th at the time of selection. What two years did that happen?
January 30th, 2020 at 9:08 PM ^
Had UM beat OSU in either 2016 or 2018, they would've gone to the CFP.
Who debates that?
January 30th, 2020 at 9:30 PM ^
2016 was very very close. 2018 wasn't as close as Michigan fans would have liked it.
January 30th, 2020 at 5:08 PM ^
The only year we were close (2016), our non-conference schedule included three bowl teams, including Pac-12 South winner Colorado. Maybe, just maybe, playing real teams OOC prepared us for the B1G schedule rather than cupcakes that give us an inflated sense of confidence.
January 30th, 2020 at 10:10 PM ^
Alabama is 5-2 in National Championship games in the last 10 years. Their confidence from playing cupcakes has been doing just fine.
January 30th, 2020 at 3:25 PM ^
I guess I’m in the minority a bit but I hate this take. I guess I judge the schedule by games I want to watch/attend. I am damn well not flying to AA for this game and will most likely watch the 1st quarter and then just keep an eye on the rest for the most part. The argument that there is no reason to play good non con games is bullshit. I love that people think UM is going to beat OSU, Wisconsin, PSU, MSU, but they can’t play UCLA? I like to watch good football games more than bad ones. If UM loses, it I never think, “man, if they wouldn’t have played that game, it would be better”. It’s bizarre to me.
January 30th, 2020 at 4:29 PM ^
I remember losing to ND, Colorado, Washington, UCLA and even App St. Though it sucked losing, I remember it. I do not remember any of the games against UCONN, Middle Tennessee State, UCF or whatever other tune-up games we played. I'd rather see great games* than beat lousy teams.
*we need to win more great games.
January 30th, 2020 at 5:18 PM ^
Completely agree
January 30th, 2020 at 10:07 PM ^
“man, if they wouldn’t have played that game, it would be better”.
Alabama is 5-2 in National Championship games in the last 10 years. They play at least one cupcake game a year. There's the argument that wins. Schedule more cupcakes.
12-0 some day would look mighty nice.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:46 PM ^
Yeah baby, undefeated in 2022.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
In September that is.
January 30th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
Because they’re losers that will complain that they don’t understand why they can’t fill the seats.
California or Connecticut. Hmm
January 30th, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
The big ten gives us plenty hard enough schedule. Our 3 non con need to be easy wins. I love a nice easy nerve free win. This is the correct move.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:05 PM ^
Finally, we learn that there is no need to play tough OOC games. If we can get through an early season trip to Iowa, very likely we are undefeated heading into OSU.
January 30th, 2020 at 2:43 PM ^
Our conference schedules have always been much harder than most B1G teams (that aren't Rutgers, because obviously). There's literally no upside to making that worse with tough OOC games. I'd rather play nobodies and have a chance to go 11-1 like Penn State than keep playing tough teams and go 9-3 which kills any chance at the CFP or a better bowl draw before we even take the annual Ohio whooping into account.
Keep playing cupcakes until 12-0 is becomes commonplace. THEN, you can start to make the schedule harder. Also, easier OOC should theoretically allow more practice time to be spent scheming for the Ohio game (they figured this out a long time ago). NO MORE SERVICE ACADEMIES and practice time wasted on the triple option.
January 30th, 2020 at 4:20 PM ^
We dropped fucking UCLA for this. In case everyone forgot, UCLA was 4-8 this year. Why are there multiple people in this thread acting like playing shitty P5 teams will cause us to lose two games all the time? We also dropped Arkansas (2-10) and Virginia Tech (a bad 8-5). It's not like we're out here daring Clemson to a fight. People want to see interesting games.
January 30th, 2020 at 4:42 PM ^
Although UCLA typically underachieves, it will likely not always be a 4-win team and could well be a good one by 2020. The team vastly improved as this seasone evolved. UCLA is a far more compelling opponent just because it's UCLA and plays in the Rose Bowl. The game would command a large TV audience and excite fans.Therefore, perception-wise, a win over Brian Kelly's UCLA on national TV would mean more than a win over UConn.
January 30th, 2020 at 9:58 PM ^
You can trust that UCLA has far more potential to become a tough team (like they used to be) than U Conn.
January 30th, 2020 at 2:55 PM ^
Only downside is that it's gonna be tough to sell season tickets in 2022. Current home slate is Colorado State, Hawaii, UConn, Maryland, PSU, Nebraska, Illinois, and Indiana. Not worth the money
January 30th, 2020 at 3:13 PM ^
Are season ticket lists not always wait listed? You might not get sell outs, but there will always be fans if the team is good.
January 30th, 2020 at 3:32 PM ^
Maybe they will have to *gasp* drop the price....
January 30th, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^
Michigan's B1G rotation is weird - the 2 most attractive/in-demand conference opponents visit in years where Michigan has only 4 conference home games.
Everyone knows the long-term fix: swap the U-M/MSU home-and-home (MSU/PSU, PSU/Indiana and Indiana/U-M also get swapped). I doubt that ever happens though.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
Steve Addazio, Todd Graham, and Randy Edsall. Murderers' Row.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:16 PM ^
Warde finally made a good decision with the schedule. I hope he learned his lesson from scheduling any Military Academies.
January 30th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^
If you cannot beat Army or AF you don't deserve the CFP anyway.
January 30th, 2020 at 2:48 PM ^
Playing the service academies is a waste of time and a lose-lose situation (no offense to the men and women who attend those institutions). Practice time better spent scouting our main rival is lost prepping for the triple option. Linemen and their knees are put at risk thanks to shitty cut blocking techniques. Low time of possession games versus run-based teams make even the worst of them an opportunity for embarassment. And if you win (like we barely did vs Army), it does nothing to boost your strength of schedule or give you valuable experience that transfers to the rest of the schedule.
It's literally the dumbest thing you can do as an AD. Support the troops by letting them play and spoil other team's seasons
January 30th, 2020 at 3:27 PM ^
Bullshit.
That's the loser mentality of this fanbase.... awww booo hooo the option is too hard, I need my mommy.
Practice time better spent scouting our main rival is lost prepping for the triple option
More bullshit.
1. It's one game; 1 week.
2. It's usually at the beginning of the season so there are multiple opportunities in camp to work on it.
3. Getting blown out by ohio by 52 points the last to years is not because of a "lost" week of practice.
vs Army), it does nothing to boost your strength of schedule
Neither does playing MAC, or UConn, or Tomato Can U.
Linemen and their knees are put at risk thanks to shitty cut blocking techniques
Not any dirtier than games against Staee, Minny, or Winconsin have been lately.
Low time of possession games versus run-based teams
How is that any different than playing say, Wisconsin? Hint: it isn't. All that is, is another one of your excuses.
It's literally the dumbest thing you can do as an AD.
Literally the dumbest thing is your post.
Moreover, go look at Army's record when the game was scheduled versus how they finished in 2018. Make no mistake, that game was scheduled to be clubbing baby seals.
Support the troops by letting them play and spoil other team's seasons
Ummm, it's a football game, not a political statement. Service academy players hate this take. They're there to play football... they aren't there as soldiers, sailors, airmen, or Marines.
January 30th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
Who shit in your Wheaties today? You disagree, fine, but no reason to blow up. And as one of the few people here who think Harbaugh should be on the hot seat if he doesn't beat Ohio, you can't reasonably call what I say a loser mentality. I want to beat Ohio, and believe that wasting time on making OOC games tougher is just one more thing that takes away focus from beating them. Disagree if you want, but in my mind, there's only 2 ways to think about every decision in regards to the team: Does it help beat Ohio, or does it hurt? IMO a tough OOC game instead of a cupcake hurts.
If we're gonna lose to Ohio, let's at least go 11-1 like Penn State than 9-3 but with an exciting non-conference game. At the end of day, wins and losses are just numbers, and it doesn't matter whether the game was exciting or close or a P5 v P5 matchup. On the recruiting trail, 11-1 is an easier sell to a recruit than 9-3 and winning football games starts with recruiting.
January 30th, 2020 at 6:09 PM ^
I think the difference between me and you is when I was growing up, I threw my participation trophies in the trash. I only kept the league champion and tournament champion trophies.
An undefeated record means absolutely NOTHING when M gives up 50-60 points against ohio.
That 11-1 you speak of doesn't apply because recruiting is hurt just as bad because ohio v M is one of the most hyped games of the year, every recruit in the land sees it, it's one of the last games of the year (so the law of recency in recruits minds matter)... the last image in their mind is Michigan getting anal raped by ohio. Again.
...recruits give two shits that Michigan is 11-0 or 9-2 going into the ohio game. Recruits care that Michigan shits the bed annually against ohio... and playing Army or AFA has *nothing* to do with that; it's not that I'm disagreeing with you rather just accept you're wrong and move on.
January 30th, 2020 at 2:58 PM ^
While that's true, it doesn't really say anything about the benefit, or lack thereof, for playing them. You face an offense and defense that you won't see again until the next time you play a service academy. So any time you spend preparing for them is only beneficial against that team. Most of the concepts and schemes you'll use on defense you won't utilize much in the future. Whereas any other midmajor is probably playing a system similar to someone else you will face in the near future.
Work smarter, not harder.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:17 PM ^
And Warde expects the fans to shell out how much for these games?
What a joke.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:34 PM ^
Mad if they schedule a nobody, mad if they schedule a quality opponent and a key player gets hurt and/or we lose. You can’t win so you might as well take the free W.
January 30th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
I'm on the opinion that scheduling better teams early helps your team in the long run. Michigan will most likely plow through these teams with ease, but questions of how good they truly are wont be answered until later in the schedule.
How does blowing out three OOC teams help you when you're at Madison and it's tied in the fourth quarter? Growth and experience are nowhere to be found. That's what I don't like about it. Sure, take the easy wins, but they really don't help you.
January 30th, 2020 at 2:38 PM ^
I’d note that you never know, especially years down the line. The 2016 OOC schedule looked bad. It turned out to have three bowl teams, including the PAC-12 South champion. CSU has high upside as a program. I think they made a bad hire, but they might be a decent G5 team
January 30th, 2020 at 2:55 PM ^
I'm of the opinion that I'd rather get more practice time vs a cupcake than gametime experience in a losing effort. Look at 2018, if we schedule a soft body instead of Notre Dame, we're 11-0 heading into Columbus. Was whatever real time experience we gained in South Bend, exposing our bad pass protection and Shea's inexperience with the system and our secondary's propensity to bust at the absolute worst time all that valuable versus grabbing an extra W and ending the year as Harbaugh's first 11 regular win season? I think no. Cupcakes also let you try more things in a low pressure environment, and assuming it's a blowout, get vital experience for your backups who will very likely be needed later in the year or the next.
If we had an easier conference (like Clemson or the Pac-12) then sure. But our schedules are always hard as it is (away games vs Sparty & Ohio in the same season, the White Out game at Penn State every other year, surprisingly tough games like Indiana in 2015 or Minnesota in 2015 or the Wisconsin games in Camp Randell or Northwestern in 2018). An easier schedule means more wins and more time to dedicate towards beating our main rival. Give me that every day vs an extra loss in a more meaningful game.
January 30th, 2020 at 3:04 PM ^
Who cares if we were 11-0 and then gave up 62 to OSU? Do you think we make the playoffs at 11-1 after getting shellacked?
Our problems over the past 20 years aren't because of OOC schedules. Its because OSU owns us. Playing more cupcakes doesn't solve the problem, it just makes the season more boring.
January 30th, 2020 at 3:10 PM ^
So Michigan gets slammed by OSU, finishes 11-1, no conference title, and you think Michigan gets into the Playoff still? I doubt that. They couldn't contend with a pretty good Florida team.
So what if ND exposed our weaknesses. That's actually a good thing so you can fix it during the week. How do you know if your DB's aren't up to par on hail mary passes if your DLine is eating up an inferior OL and getting to the QB nearly every play? (Yes, I would rather have had the win though.)
Michigan hardly ever uses cupcake games as valuable time for the back-ups. Why do you think DCaff and Milton are such unknowns. We piss the cupcake games away, or we get back up's in to hand the ball off. I don't know what the QB's have to learn from that experience.
If Michigan is trying to compete with the best you have to play the best. UConn, Hawaii and Colorado St do not get us there.
January 30th, 2020 at 3:31 PM ^
"If Michigan is trying to compete with the best you have to play the best."
Our schedule has nothing to do with us being the best.....we are so far outside of the top 4 teams it literally doesn't matter who we play so may as well play games that give us the best chance at a high W-L record year in and year out.
The best don't play tough OOC schedules for a reason, there's zero upside to doing it. Why risk taking an OOC loss when our schedule is already one of the toughest in the country?
January 30th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
So we'll just have an empty suit of a resume every single year.
Sounds familiar.