Non-Conference games you are most excited about in 2019
I was listening to ESPNU Radio this morning and they were talking about the non conference games they were most excited about.
Here is my list:
Army @ Michigan
LSU @ Texas
ND @ UGA
Oregon vs Auburn
Miami vs Florida - mainly because it is on “week 0”
Cincy @ OSU
Boise vs FSU
Nebraska @ Colorado- just to see if Nebraska is ready for the hype
Texas A&M @ Clemson - might be Clemson’s toughest test of the year in the reg season
Im sure I am missing some but wanted to see what everyone else is excited for before conference play begins.
Only and only Michigan's non-conference games.
While not Non-Conference, I've been racking my brain trying settle on who I want to win the Nebraska-OSU game this year.
It'll look really bad for OSU and Day but might be too good of a win for Frosty.
Easy answer. I think Frost is going to get Nebraska back to being a legit team eventually, so the negative hit on Day is well worth whatever hype (and recruting bounce) Frost gets from beating OSU early in his career.
If OSU loses two or more regular-season games this year, the pressure on Day and Fields will be huge, and the consternation in Buckeye-land will be priceless. For that reason, I'm pulling for Nebraska.
Not to mention Day's currently amazing recruiting dropping back to Earth on the fear that he's not going to be able to sustain OSU's previous success.
Really, I can't think of any team I wouldn't want to beat Day this year. A loss to Michigan, PSU, MSU, Nebraska,... anyone would be terrible for him. It would be way worse for him than it would be good for anyone else, possibly with the exception of Harbaugh/Michigan.
Is this REAL?
How is this even debatable....anyone vs. OSU...I'm going with 'anyone' every time.
The more they lose the better life gets for UM. Especially this year with a new HC (and a traitorous DC). So much gas to let out of that over inflated balloon.
Ohio State vs Miami(NTM)
Alabama vs Western Carolina
Alabama vs New Mexico St
/s
Good to see "playoff teams" scheduling some real challengers
Michigan vs Middle Tennessee State...
I'm good with MTSU, we play two potential top 25 teams in Army and ND. OSU plays 2-3 creampuffs depending on if you consider Cincy one or not.
Nick Saban agrees with you. He wants to play 9 conf games and 3 P5 OOC games. No one good is lining up to play Alabama though for their OOC games.
Toledo @ Kentucky - can they pull the upset?
BYU @ Toledo - last year Toledo hosted Miami and in future years they are bringing in San Diego State and Colorado State. Shoutout to Toledo Rockets football scheduling guy (probably AD) these are good teams they are bringing in for games considering they are a MAC team.
Any particular reason you're looking forward to OSU/Cincy? That sounds like a bloodbath to me.
I didn't know ND goes to Georgia. I hope they (ND) gets destroyed. Although, I hope for that every week.
OSU/Cincy is the bookend bowl. Fickle v Day for the hearts and minds of cooler poopers.
Maybe I’m not looking forward to it, but I do think this will be OSU’s first decent test of the season and I am hoping Cincy who is supposed to be pretty good can at least hang with them.
A part of me wants to see this, but unfortunately it's probably one of the most important non-conf schedule games for Michigan and any school not in the SEC hoping to make the playoff. For me, outside of ND @ Michigan, it's:
1. ND @ Georgia (Should probably root for...errr…. not be annoyed if... ND wins)
2. LSU @ Texas (Could argue to root for LSU here.)
3. Miami @ Florida (at Camping World Stadium?! Personally, rooting for Miami (YTM))
Michigan vs. Alabama...should happen late December/early January
I don’t know about that... you really think Bama will get past Clemson in the Semis?!
I’d like to see ASU come out of East Landfill with a victory.
One thing is for sure, Army is not going to sneak up on us. They almost beat Oaklahoma, that triple option is a beautiful thing to watch.
Im (almost) torn with ND and the SEC Dawgs, im sure at game time ill want to see the Domers get smashed
Well I certainly hope they don't sneak up on us.
Like it or not, there is historical precedent before Harbaugh and during the Harbaugh era for our team being poorly prepared to face opponents with non-traditional offenses. Our defense tends to dominate traditional "pro" style teams and then almost looks a bit lost against spread teams, triple option teams, etc. This is where I think the Gattis hire and switch over to spread ball will really help our defense prepare because they will have been seeing that type of offense every day in practice rather than once or twice a season.
It's not concern because Army is "just so good", but more that we all hope our defense is beyond prepared to defend their quirky offense.
Where do you guys cook this stuff up?
First, define "non-traditional offenses".
Second, the only triple-option team Harbaugh faced was Air Force in 2017. And we had to read all the same paranoid nonsense. Air Force was coming off of a 10-3 season and they were oh-so-deadly, and everybody was going to blow out their knees, and then Harbaugh's worst Michigan team by a mile took the triple option and stuffed it in a locker. Michigan won 29-13, allowing just 168 yards rushing and one 64-yard pass completion - AF's only completion of the day.
If you recall (and you obviously don't), Don Brown broke out a completely new formation defensively - a weird 3-3-5, bubble-looking thing with the Viper playing center field like a single-high safety - something we never saw before or since. He knew exactly how to shut down an option attack and, outside of one pass D bust, did so emphatically. That's the only experience a Harbaugh/Brown Michigan team has had and they passed with flying colors defensively.
Sorry, you were saying something about historical precedent during the Harbaugh era? Please continue...
This ^^^ !!!
I logged downvoted mitch “the bitch” ewr for his “fake news” revisionist history bullshit — anything to promote a meme, right mitch? — and upvote you, Reg!
You're totally right. It's not that Michigan won't be prepared, it's that preparing for a one-off offense is a waste of time that could have been spent on more general skill building.
It’s not a waste of time, it’s football. I could make the counter that preparing for the triple option, because it requires such intense eye discipline and team defensive cohesion, will actually hasten the defense to a higher level. Nothing they’re preparing for is going to hurt them. Other teams won’t run the same scheme, but the skills that make a team a great option stopper are the universal.
That's not my opinion. Don Brown was quoted saying approximately that when he was spending spring preparing for Navy. Feel free to make whatever "counter" you want.
Middling Temeculah Seminary University.
What a waste of a game.
I would love to see Adam Sandler and his bearcats knock off osu..... that would be fuckin' Gold.
And I'm suddenly excited for the look a like threads!
What's the driving force behind the interest in Cincy vs OSU? Won't that be just another cupcake that OSU mops the floor with? *I'm assuming Cincy is a cupcake but don't actually know much about their program*
They were actually 11-2 only losses were Temple and UCF (defending national champions)
I think its a stretch, but everyone is loving the thought of the fanbase freaking out and calls for day's head on a platter in September of his first season.
Oh wow. Okay, I can kinda see it. Though I still doubt it will be much of a game knowing OSU's uncanny luck in every possible situation ;(
of course the Bearcats are coached by Adam Sandler, former osu player, assistant coach and one time interm head coach...... I imagine he really wants to coach osu again and knocking off day in week 2 of his first season would be a pretty big deal
I'll be at the UC vs Ohio State game --- rooting for the Bearcats and will be with several Bearcats fans.
From the Cincinnati fan perspective --- if they won, they'd be content for the next 30 years. A football win over Ohio State is literally their "holy grail." They could also then refuse to ever play the Buckeyes again, unless OSU was willing to come down to the Queen City to try to "take the Buckeye State Belt" back.
I really really really really really hope the upset happens. We'll see. I was there in 2014 also when Cincinnati was only down 33-28 midway through the 3rd. The spark of hope was there. But OSU pulled away (and never lost a single game the rest of the year).
Does Cincinnati have a mascot that is willing to attack Brutus?
YES! The Bearcat Mascot has a proven history of misconduct! Throwing "objects" at the Pittsburgh Panthers back in 2010, then mixing it up with a security guard who tried to stop him, and thus getting subsequently arrested!
(I was at this game w/ my then 5-year old nephew, 1 section away. It was pretty surreal, seeing it then having to explain to my nephew why his favorite team's mascot wasn't hanging around any more)
Of course, there's probably not going to be snow on the ground in Columbus on September 7th. I suppose the Bearcat will have to resort to throwing batteries or something. :-)
I never feel a lot of passion at the beginning of the season because it's only as the season develops and you see who really is living up to the hype that you begin to see matchups as exciting. Mostly, I am excited about each and every Michigan game.
Having said that, I do want to see ND get roughed up early and often, looking like pureed turnips when they come to Ann Arbor. And I will be taking a peek at how MSU and OSU are doing. OSU plays Nebraska in Lincoln on 9/28, which should be a pretty good barometer.
Michigan-Notre Dame?
Michigan v. Notre Dame - do you really even have to ask why?
Miami v. Florida - don't care much for the game itself, but its the first game of the year. I'll be watching for sure.
Oregon v. Auburn - probably the best week 1 matchup. If Auburn loses this game, Malzahn's seat probably gets quite a bit hotter.
LSU v. Texas - I want Texas to win this if for no other reason than the fact that I'm going to the OU-Texas game in October and should Texas win this, there's a very good chance both they and Oklahoma come into the Red River Shootout undefeated. Possible top-5 matchup
ND v. Georgia - outside of UM vs. ND, this is easily the one I'm most looking forward to this year. The wife loves UGa, so by default they're now my second team. Could easily be the biggest non-con home game in Georgia history, and as much as I don't care for the SEC, I'd love to see Georgia wipe ND off the face of the earth. I do think, though, that it'll be a great game.
Texas A&M v. Clemson - probably Clemson's stiffest test before the playoffs, lot of talent in College Station. But there's also a good chance Trevor Lawrence runs A&M out of the stadium by himself. Calling it now: before the playoffs, no one will come within 2 TDs of Clemson all season. If A&M wasn't on the schedule, I'd say no one comes within 3-4 TDs.
I don't know if the Colorado game will show if Nebraska is for real.
I guess ND @ UGA just because ND should lose by a couple TDs.
Georgia isn't that good. It's probably going to be a tough fight, Georgia winning by like 4 to 9.
LSU v Texas. My daughter will be a freshman at LSU this year. She has a friend going to Texas and I just agreed to back her $30 bet with her friend that LSU beats Texas. Have to get the gambling started early so she understands the dynamic.
Rutger at home ;-)
Obviously. They are U of M biggest rival. It should be one for the ages.
I thought our biggest rival was Illinois?
I can't believe no one has said it yet....
BALL STATE VS EVERYONE!
I'm on upset alert for Texas A&M over Clemson.
And come on, Oklahoma had the 108th ranked defense last year. Army beat them. No surprise, right?
I'm not going to say that I'm not concerned at all about Army, but keep in mind that we still have a decent defense, and Brown is no idiot when it comes to assignment football.
Nobody interested in Slippery Rock's schedule???