Michigan trying to cancel Washington series in 2020-21
Buzz going around on Twitter right now.
Michigan was set to travel to Husky Stadium to open the 2020 season with a return game in what would be the 3rd game of the 2021 season against the old Rose Bowl rival.
Michigan is scheduled to play Virginia Tech at home on 9/19/2020 and on the road on 9/11/2021.
UM has been asking out for a while. Big $ penalty if they pull out. Nothing has changed at this point. Still on. https://t.co/G7znqTEbxD
— Dave Softy Mahler (@Softykjr) April 25, 2017
First, if you don't see the glory in making the playoffs....then I just can't help you. Alabama fans are not complaining about making the playoff with a easy OOC schedule. Washtington fans were not complainting last year about making the playoffs with an easy OOC schedule.
Second, and more importanlty, even without the U of W game, the schedule for Michigan will not at all be easy. If Michigan makes the playiffs those years it will absolutley NOT be "some cheap path." It will be with a challenging schedule. The Big Ten East is not the Big 12. It is the hardest division in CFB. And the OOC line up will include good opponents. So what are you talking about?
April 26th, 2017 at 10:10 AM ^
That might have been what Bo cared about, but I can assure you that the vast majority of us Michigan fans during that era cared very much about contending for a national championship, and a large portion of the players on the team then did too.
An early-season non-conference loss was just as damaging to NC hopes then as it is now.
April 26th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^
But the thing that prevented Bo from actually winning a NC (came close several times) was not a tough OOC schedule. It was always losing some random Big Ten game even though M was heavily favored or losing in the Rose Bowl.
Plus, for much of the Bo era, how tough was the OOC schedule anyway?
For example, in 1976 Michigan played Navy, Stanford and Wake Forest. All three were terrible teams in that era.
Results: Michigan 51 v Stanford 0; Michigan 70 v. Navy 14; Michigan 31 v. Wake Forest 0.
That is pretty much how the OOC games went for most of Bo's career. The fact is the opponents usually were not very good. Sort of changed when they started scheduling ND.
Why didn't Michigan win a NC in '76? Lost to lowly Purdue, 14-16, in a huge upset and then lost the USC in the Rose Bowl 14-6. Still ended #3.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:34 PM ^
And we lost to Washington the following week in Harbaugh's second start.
I think it would be OK if it were a one year exception like 2012. But Michigan will have to do this in back-to-back years which is a lot.
This is a bad look for Warde.
The complaining about Warde is getting old. People complained about the hockey coaching situation, and it has turned out fine. People complained about the basketball team playing off the bus in DC, and it turns out that's what they wanted. People complain about night games, and it turns out that it's network choice from here forward and we could wind up with two.
People complain about Warde based on what they imagine to be the situation and then never seem to admit that things weren't as bad as they thought. For all the people griping that Warde was going to mishandle the Red situation, there haven't been any mea culpas on this board now that Red is retired and Michigan has the good if unspectacular Mel hire that makes sense to everybody.
It's getting old.
Going back on you word is never cool. Especially when there's $$$ at stake.
I agree with the money part.
This is getting costly. I believe we threw $2M down the drain by cancelling the Arkansas series.
Are you paying for it? If Michigan can afford it then who cares
April 25th, 2017 at 10:01 PM ^
In a way, yes. I'm about to become a season ticket holder once the offers come next week.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:26 PM ^
You are getting the tickets you want, now they can do anything with the money they want. Who cares how they spend the money as long as it is not huring people or illegal activities? This athletic department has things working out just fine financially.
April 26th, 2017 at 12:48 AM ^
Listening to the way you complain, I'm convinced that you're 60 years old and impersonating a 21 year old.
Well try for sections 24/25 to liven up those sections that are DEAD! we need those sections to wake up!
Really? So if UM were to get out of a game against a directional in-state school to make room to play Washington, that wouldn't be cool?
Don't forget about the complaining about the timing of the Notre Dame series, which is completely incorrect but seems to have been accepted as conventional wisdom among a certain contingent here.
Notice what Michigan is doing here: 5 home games against P5 teams, 5 road games against P5 teams, and 2 (presumably) home games against G5 teams. Seven home, 5 road. Every season.
If the ND series were reversed, that would give Michigan only 4 home games against P5 teams in 2019. But Michigan arranged it correctly, so the home game is in 2019 and the road game is in 2018, when they already have 5 home games against P5 teams.
April 25th, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^
Well said. Warde's two biggest priorities at Michigan thus far have been to keep Harbaugh happy and hire Red's replacement. He's passed both with flying colors thus far. People's expectations are so far out of line with reality on certain things it's hilarious. Warde is doing this because it's clear Harbaugh doesn't want to play 11 Power 5 teams in one year and I don't blame him. The people complaining about the schedule, which is already outstanding considering the strength of the B1G, are the same people who will be the first to bitch if Michigan isn't in the CFP every year. Look at Washington's OOC schedule this past year and tell me what the incentive is for these games. We don't need to make our schedule more difficult than it already is. We'll have our one marquee OOC game every year and that will be that. There will come a time when Warde will have to make a move on some non revenue sports coaches like lacrosse and soccer, but right now he's doing more than fine. And BTW, thanks to Warde and Jim, construction on the new $21 million dollar weight room starts next month. People need to back off.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:26 PM ^
April 26th, 2017 at 12:16 AM ^
Sounding a lot like Gordon Gee "I hope he doesn't fire me"
Granted it's more pathetic for a college president to say that, but who is supposed to be the boss here? And it's definitely ok to criticize Harbaugh when he's wrong. He can take the team halfway across the world for a week but not to Seattle for a day?
They are building a winner. What else do people want. I think he is doing a great job. I like the fact that he is open to requests and suggestions from his coaches.
Um poor analogies. The network fixing his mistake over night games is not to his credit and canceling UW can't possibly lead to anything except a paycheck game you'll forget 5 minutes into your walk back to the car in the 3rd quarter
I don't think he's a bad AD but I don't think he is always connected to what Michigan fans want. He sounded pissed off in the article about the night games but most Michigan actually want one a year. He scheduled Notre Dame when it probably wasn't worth it to cancel Arkansas to play a 4-8 team we have played every year for decades. He's not as good as Hackett was but it's hard to follow getting Harbaugh, giving him a blank check for assistants/satellite camps, getting the best Nike deal in the country at the time.
As a fan, absolutely yes. Bring on the best. As an AD, I understand it.
Even if you drop one of those games, the CFP committee loves SOS (and annoying seems to rate quality losses over wins sometimes).
While UW & VT are on an upward trajectory, they could also be different teams in 3 years.
I agree, but almost no one else does this, and it would put the team at a competitive disadvantage.
'No i'd respect them for trying
A phony 5-0 team *always* collapses badly. A playoff contender will have a shot regardless who is scheduled week one.
And why do you think Alabama never schedules home and home. Hmm. Beating yourself up at the beginning of the season is just plain stupid. Everyone plays one p5 team and some don't play any. I don't care who you are if you make your schedule as hard as it can be you will have more injuries and more loses. You will handicap the team the whole year. These are college kids who have classes to attend. I am going to look at Washington's non-conference schedules for those years and see if they have Michigan, Alabama and FSU scheduled. I am guessing they are playing us and someone like eastern washington and San diego state or weaker. We have VT. I had just recently looked at this schedule and thought what the freak. Who plays two p5 non-conference games?.
Looked it up 2020 Sac state andUtah State 2012 San Diego State and Portland State. Whoever made Washington's schedule knew what they were doing. Who ever made Michigans schedule was a frickin moron and probably nevered played a sport in his life except maybe tennis or golf.
So you'll be thrilled if we 'man up' and miss the CFP rather than play an easy team or two and win the national title? Really?
we need to be scheduling yearly home and homes with Bama, Clemson, and USC for our noncon for the foreseeable future. We'll probably never make the CFP, but dammit we'll feel proud of ourselves and our 9-3 records
The fact that they picked Washington over a team like PSU last year suggests that they do not care about SOS that much.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:00 PM ^
Yeah, but their argument for putting in OSU over a PSU team that beat them was their win on the road at Oklahoma OOC.
So I retract my statement, I have no idea what they value. They seem to change it weekly.
They don't want 2 teams from the same conference is all. Plus PSU got destroyed in one of their losses, had a *2nd loss*, and actually by the end, UW's schedule wasn't that awful
As a fan, I agree that I'd like to see competitive and exciting games against nationally recognized opponents.
Yet, I think most, if not all, posts here miss the point.
It is easy to view this as chickening out or gaming the schedule for a playoff run, but I really think it comes down to dollars and cents. I suspect the primary motivation here is $$$$. By scheduling a home and home series with ANYBODY, that means the off year has one fewer home game. That amounts to a significant loss of revenue.
With rare exception, Michigan football subsidizes the remainder of the athletic department's programs. I think this is nothing more than a business decision. If so, then if the break-up penalty is far less than the revenue gained from an additional home game, I expect it to occur.
April 26th, 2017 at 12:17 AM ^
Maybe. Also, depends in part on what the B1G West teams are in given years. I would assume the B1G at least has a non-public draft schedule for the period after 2019. A year with Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin plus....~Hawaii isn't necessarily easier than playing Washington, Illinois, Purdue, and Minnesota. As always it is a guessing game about where programs will be 4 years from now but thats true of all scheduling. Anyway, I don't think you can just sum up the number of Power5 teams and say 11 is harder than 10 without a little more discussion of the relative quality of the teams.
April 26th, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^
isn't attempting to cancel the Washington series without the blessing of Harbaugh.
One option that jumps off the page is Clemson.
They have an opening for both 2020 and 2021 in those dates.
Clemson is one of 3 Power 5 teams (LSU & Louisville the others) Michigan has not played/scheduled.