Our Non-Conference SOS Keeps Improving
Improving ever so slightly at least. UConn has now inexplicably won two straight, covering on the road in a blowout road win @ FIU 33-12. Meanwhile, Colorado State won today on a walkoff FG over Nevada 17-14. They actually originally missed, forcing OT, but Nevada ran into the kicker, giving CSU one more untimed down to re-kick with 0:00 on the clock. Insane way to end a football game.
Currently Hawai’i and SDSU are scoreless in the 2nd quarter. The Rainbow Warriors have actually moved the ball a bit while the Aztecs have been stuck in the mud so far. Regardless of how that game ends, our pitiful non-conference opponents are getting the tiniest bit less pitiful. Yay SOS gains!
October 8th, 2022 at 11:52 PM ^
The CSU/Nevada game was nearly unwatchable, but good for them to get the W.
October 9th, 2022 at 11:24 AM ^
Which means you actually watched it? May God have mercy on your soul.
October 8th, 2022 at 11:54 PM ^
The Hokes are starting a converted safety at QB. So that game is a mess.
October 8th, 2022 at 11:55 PM ^
Well with this news I say we schedule teams like East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green next year…..Go Blue!
October 9th, 2022 at 12:01 AM ^
Hey, if we take on all cupcakes, the chances of one of them having a 2021 NIU season and ending up 9-5 and winning their conference is increases 3-fold!
October 9th, 2022 at 10:04 AM ^
Can’t believe how much people bitch about our OOC foes. When Alabama Clemson and OSU do the same thing every year and win NC’s. You can’t loose games and expect to be contending for an NC. I know it’s not exciting but that’s the reality of college football
October 9th, 2022 at 12:17 AM ^
Connecticut may actually become Bowl eligible. They are 3-4 now with UMass, Ball State and Army still left on the schedule. Also BC and Liberty which are less winnable but possible.
Not that Connecticut is good —- they probably are around, when all is said and done, 100th best of the 131 in FBS — but they’re not bottom 10 any more.
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San Diego State, I am sorry but if they lose to Hawaii, that arguably should be an immediate fireable offense for Hoke. It’s really a mess at SDSU this year, very disappointing year.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:50 AM ^
Hoke can't Iowa without Matt Araiza.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:09 PM ^
Boy, Araiza is sure in whole heap of trouble. Cut by the Bills when this accusation came out.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-09/sdsu-conflicting-accounts-gang-rape-allegation
https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-accusing-buffalo-bills-punter-matt-araiza-rape/story?id=89105090
Football coach Brady Hoke said at a recent news conference that he was unaware the star punter was connected to the allegations until he was named in the lawsuit in August. Hoke, Bramer and Rentto have not responded to requests from The Times for comment.
October 9th, 2022 at 1:21 AM ^
Half watching this game. SDSU would be up much more if they had an actual QB playing QB
October 9th, 2022 at 12:29 AM ^
Here's the deal though, this is football not basketball. In basketball you get formulas and computer polls all weighting and crunching the data. It's formulaic. In football SOS is about public opinion/perception much more than it's about a formula or solving for X. And the public/pundits have already decided that Michigan did not play anyone in the preseason (which we didn't).
If we're in a conversation where SOS is involved and it's going to determine our future... I don't have optimism in a positive outcome.
October 9th, 2022 at 1:39 AM ^
You’re not wrong —- and “Michigan was the ones who cancelled the UCLA series” is also a narrative that may take hold if Michigan is a non-division winning 11-1 team looking for a CFB bid in early December.
UCLA would have been a damn near perfect OOC foe for the resume, as well.
I doubt 2022 UCLA will be as good as 2016 Oklahoma (the OOC foe that put Ohio State over the top for a CFB bid as a non-division winning 11-1 team that year), but they probably go 8-4 or 9-3 even WITH Michigan on their schedule this year. Definitely a win that Michigan could point to.
October 9th, 2022 at 4:29 AM ^
Unless we lost to them...
October 9th, 2022 at 9:00 AM ^
Boo hoo... Don't be scared of playing good OOC teams!
The chance of losing is present every time you take the field. I'd rather see OOC games against good teams than against the dregs that accumulate at the bottom of the barrel. Even if we might lose... The cancelling of the Arkansas, Texas, and UCLA series' is sad, pathetic, and decidedly unlike 'Michigan' tradition that we all crow about.
October 9th, 2022 at 11:01 AM ^
Arkansas was traded for ND, and Texas is still on the schedule. UCLA is the only one truly canceled, but that was because before the Big Ten “fixed” the MSU/OSU scheduling issue, mIchigan was slated to play 6 home games this year and the AD wanted a minimum of 7. When they toggled the schedule, we ended up getting MSU back at home to move to 8 games.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:18 PM ^
That’s not really true though. At the time Michigan cancelled UCLA, they replaced them with Hawaii and UConn wasn’t scheduled. Michigan only had 11 games scheduled then with 7 already at home (can’t link because I’m on my phone but multiple articles support this).
It wasn’t a MSU/Big Ten issue because the Michigan vs Indiana game sites also got flipped - Michigan didn’t lose or gain a home game there.
I am not trying to be overly critical, but depending on how things go —- missing UCLA was a missed opportunity.
October 9th, 2022 at 8:53 AM ^
OSU bias put them in that horribly undeserved playoff.
Penn State should have went, they literally couldn't have done worse because you can't score negative points.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:22 PM ^
OSU —- their resume was honestly as good as possible for a 11-1 non division winning team.
Washington was always the issue for me. Sure they won the PAC-12: but Rutgers (the 78-0 version of a Rutgers, not even a 2022 version of a Rutgers which at least has some heart beat), Idaho and Portland State out of conference. Yikes!
October 9th, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^
Agreed. Because of the ooc schedule and the relative down year the big ten is having, Michigan probably misses the playoff at 11-1 with an OSU loss. Most likely there will be at least one Big XII, PAC12, or ACC champ with only one loss who will boot Michigan out.
October 9th, 2022 at 1:47 AM ^
When the CFP committee first came out they said SOS would be a part of the calculation. Competition would be rewarded over tomato cans and baby seals. That's gone by the way side over the past couple of years.
The playoff is still a beauty contest just as much as the BCS became one at the end. Sigh.
... and here's one beauty contest that doesn't bode well for Michigan thus far.
Yes, Michigan has the ESPN Bottom 10 for the OOC slate.
Not helping matters either is the B1G is trash this year. I wouldn't even qualify the West division as MAC or Mountain West level competition -- Air Force would kick this shit out of all those losers.
Don't look now but Nebraska is tied for 1st in the West. SMDH.
Bowl season is gonna be a bitch for the conference this year; there are 4 teams worth a damn in the B1G this year.
BUT...
Are any of those writers actually watching Clemson games this year?!?! For as much as the B1G is weak, the ACC is worse if Clemson is their powerhouse.
Clemson's back 4 makes Staee's secondary look like a backfield of Deion Sanders, Charles Woodson, Darrell Green, and Champ Bailey.
Clemson's QB is essentially a serviceable Joe Milton.
There's no excuse for writers being that inept either -- the last 3 Clemson games have been on national TV.
Tom VH, I know you cannot come across as a Michigan homer but by what measure is Clemson a playoff team at this point over Michigan?!
Clemson got lucky with Wake when WF pulled a same 'ol Lions and stole defeat from the jaws of victory.
Clemson didn't look much better than an Iowa-like team against NC State.
Clemson shit the bed for 3 quarters against BC tonite.
October 9th, 2022 at 7:40 AM ^
SOS has only went to the wayside because they’d have to penalize Bama. If we’re 11-1 we won’t get the same consideration an 11-1 SEC team would get. Apparently Vandy and Missouri would beat any team not named Georgia or Bama
October 9th, 2022 at 7:56 AM ^
How many SEC teams are "worth a shit" this year?
October 9th, 2022 at 9:45 AM ^
Four: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss
October 9th, 2022 at 1:05 PM ^
I'm talking about Clemson potentially getting a nod over Michigan.
...and quite realistically, the SEC is going to get a pass until other conferences start winning the national title.
This century, the SEC alone has won 59.09% of national titles.
Bama has won 46.15% of those and been in the title game a couple of more times.
October 9th, 2022 at 1:55 AM ^
UM scheduled horrible teams ranked 112th while other schools played teams ranked 87th. Now we are stuck with the number 4 ranking.
On a side note we couldve beat #7, #8 and #9 in the non conference and we would still be ranked 4th.
You want entertainment go watch the NFL. Give me .01% chance of losing games every non conference. When we move out of the East and no longer play OSU Psu MSU and somehow the best team in the west 90% of the time then we can talk.
Games in Columbus, Madison, East Lansing, Iowa City, Beaver Stadium, Nebraska in just two seasons is a hell of a road schedule let alone our home games.
October 9th, 2022 at 7:59 AM ^
Perfectly said
October 9th, 2022 at 10:19 AM ^
You forgot to mention having to play the only West team with a consistent heartbeat in Wisconsin 6 years in a row.
October 9th, 2022 at 5:58 AM ^
We don't have a non-con SoS. We have a non-con WoS.
October 9th, 2022 at 9:14 AM ^
I'm never going to be one that calls for an OOC slate like the one we had this year - I find it morally disgusting that we've cancelled games against Arkansas, Texas, and UCLA for the likes of CSU, UCONN, Hawaii, and whatever other dregs we had last year and will have next year. Were we scared to play the better teams? Sure looks like it...
The way some people are talking, these games all would have been in the same season! Playing one decent-good team in the OOC is not a hard thing to figure out. And no, the rise to the playoffs has nothing to do with playing a shitty OOC with guaranteed wins. It has to do with better coaching, recruiting, player development, and scheme (especially offense scheme). Harbaugh '21-22 is more like the '15-17 version of himself than the '18-20 flavor (which actually started in '17).
EDIT: As pointed out below, the Texas series has not been cancelled.
October 9th, 2022 at 9:19 AM ^
I don't recall Michigan cancelling the games vs Texas. Please provide a link showing that.
October 9th, 2022 at 9:29 AM ^
Nope, you're right - the games haven't been cancelled yet. Good call on that! But remove Texas from my comments above, and the rest of it still stands.
Unfortunately, based on the way Warde has managed scheduling so far, I do expect he'll end that series at some point. Probably replace them with E Carolina, or some such shit.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:55 PM ^
> I find it morally disgusting
What's immoral about a football schedule? He didn't schedule any chinese communist opponents!
The only argument that makes any sense is that it sucks for the fans who pay money to go to these blowout games but as a season ticket holder im perfectly happy to sit through those games and leave in the third quarter if that's what Coach Harbaugh believes gives us the best chance to win the conference.
October 9th, 2022 at 1:10 PM ^
Were we scared to play the better teams? Sure looks like it...
I think it's dollars and cents quite honestly. That 8th home game is huge for the department's bottom line. If Michigan schedules anyone with a pulse, they'd have to give up home game revenue every other year.
October 9th, 2022 at 10:22 AM ^
I have to wonder whether those teams have simply improved over the season, opposed to they were better than we originally thought.
October 9th, 2022 at 12:05 PM ^
It is not, alas, improving in my memory of enjoying football. What an embarrassment to not play a single Power 5 team. Not sure I remember a year with so few meaningful games in the first 6 weeks. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a weaker schedule for UM.