07-15-2021, 11:59 AM
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If you schedule a difficult schedule and don't win enough, you can miss out on bowls altogether, or at least better bowls. If you schedule an easier schedule and go undefeated, the weaker schedule means you're left out of the playoff picture.
In general, I'm a big fan of only scheduling Power 5 teams, and I thought it was reasonable to have teams like K State and Vandy on there. We ought to beat teams like that, and we'll get a heck of a lot more credit for beating them than we'd get for beating, say, UC Davis. And I'm certainly not going to complain about Notre Dame ever being on the schedule.
In retrospect, a slightly easier schedule in 2019 might have gotten us to 6-6, but as long as the scheduling goal appears to be "middling to respectable but not great Power 5" teams outside of Notre Dame, I'm on board with that. UCF in 2019 was a far tougher draw than expected when we scheduled them, so I can't be too mad about that, either.
In general, I'm a big fan of only scheduling Power 5 teams, and I thought it was reasonable to have teams like K State and Vandy on there. We ought to beat teams like that, and we'll get a heck of a lot more credit for beating them than we'd get for beating, say, UC Davis. And I'm certainly not going to complain about Notre Dame ever being on the schedule.
In retrospect, a slightly easier schedule in 2019 might have gotten us to 6-6, but as long as the scheduling goal appears to be "middling to respectable but not great Power 5" teams outside of Notre Dame, I'm on board with that. UCF in 2019 was a far tougher draw than expected when we scheduled them, so I can't be too mad about that, either.