Badgers Look to Schedule Another Non-Conference Cupcake

[old chap]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/46115587.html

Two programs going in the same direction!

 

[grunkiejr]

The same could be said for Notre Dame.

It is a good move for Wisconsin if they get it done.

 

[GoAUpher]

The same could be said for Notre Dame.

It is a good move for Wisconsin if they get it done.

I'm in favor of all B10 teams improving their NC sched. I hope they get this done.

 

[HopHead]

If this happens, does that mean that Notre Dame will play Michigan, Purdue, Michigan St. and Wisconsin all in the same season? Why don't they just make it official and join the conference.

 

[GoAUpher]

If this happens, does that mean that Notre Dame will play Michigan, Purdue, Michigan St. and Wisconsin all in the same season? Why don't they just make it official and join the conference.

What? And give up the fat TV contracts, easier than normal route to a BCS bowl, and the ability to schedule whoever you want? Errrr...tradition. I mean give up tradition and excellence and all that good stuff.

 

[4starrecruit]

Notre Dame is also looking into playing a game at Yankee Stadium. They are approaching the hundredth anniversary of a number of big games and they will probably reschedule some of their biggest historical games just for the tradition. You have lots of options when you are Notre Dame. Notre Dame knows who they are, what they are and they have the attitude that if you don't like them, that's fine. They will let you know that they will be who they are and what they are just because they are who they are. They are academically very sound. They are very selective. They have one hell of a nice campus. They have fierce pride and strong loyalty. They don't really need anyone who doesn't appreciate them. They are an excellent school that loves their football tradition. Because, in so many ways, football helped build them into the fine academic institution and national icon that they are today.

They are very bad in football right now, but, that will change. They know who they are and how they are. A few bad seasons hasn't and will not change anything for Notre Dame. Any University who wouldn't welcome them to their schedule has no sense of Football Tradition and History.

They will always play the Military Acadamies because the Military Acadamies played them when they were fighting to gain exposure and national attention and the Military Acadamies were well respected in the national college football circles AND were noted for academic excellence as well. The Acadamies were probably much more appreciated and respected on many levels. Back when Notre Dame truely was the "fighting Irish" because they had to fight for recognition, acceptance and respect, Army and Navy played them. During War Times, Notre Dame also trained Military Officers and was able to financially stay sound during tough times because of their association with the United States Military. The Good Fathers have never forgotten that. Army...Navy...and more recently: the Air Force Acadamy.

You can hate Notre Dame if you wish, but, when it comes to Football tradition and history, the spirit of Notre Dame will survive, thrive and South Bend will continue to be one of the places that keeps the sport of college football alive and something special. Game Day Saturday on the Notre Dame Campus...OR...when ever Notre Dame comes to play is more than just any other GDS.

I always thought I disliked Notre Dame...that is...until I had visited there a few times. I now must admit that the place is totally different than any college campus setting I have ever visited. And it IS the keeper of the spirit of college football. The immaculate hand-off, First-down Moses...Touchdown Jesus... At first I was disappointed with the new brick facade that surrounds Notre Dame Stadium. And then, I peered through the iorn gates and up the tunnel and saw a glimpse of that playing field. Inside the new facade, the history is still there. Across the QUADS of the campus, it is all about Notre Dame...the academic missions, the traditions, and you can NEVER forget the football.

It really is too bad that Notre Dame would not honor the U of M with an appearance at TCF BANK STADIUM. That would have been really something. Even if neither of the teams were championship teams, it would have been really something to have witnessed.

Appreciate it when Michigan, or Penn State or Ohio State comes into our stadium. You are seeing some of the keepers of the traditions of College Football when those "special" programs from the heart of Big Ten country come calling. To play with them...even in a frustrating loss when we had them on the ropes and let them get away helps to honor the history of the Big Ten Conference. To COMPETE with the beasts of the Big Ten...the historical tradition makers is what makes college football great. Win or lose. The battles within the confines of the Big Ten Conference are all I will ever need!

And, Notre Dame is the Holy Grail...the keeper of the traditions...the one that got away... ; 0 )

 

[JasonBourne21]

Thanks for that analogy 4Star, I just puked in my mouth!

 

[mckerney]

Appreciate it when Michigan, or Penn State or Ohio State comes into our stadium. You are seeing some of the keepers of the traditions of College Football when those "special" programs from the heart of Big Ten country come calling. To play with them...even in a frustrating loss when we had them on the ropes and let them get away helps to honor the history of the Big Ten Conference. To COMPETE with the beasts of the Big Ten...the historical tradition makers is what makes college football great. Win or lose. The battles within the confines of the Big Ten Conference are all I will ever need!

And, Notre Dame is the Holy Grail...the keeper of the traditions...the one that got away... ; 0 )

1. Although a great program, Penn State, heart of Big Ten country?

2. Fuck Notre Dame and their offensive Fighting Irish mascot.

 

[4starrecruit]

1. Although a great program, Penn State, heart of Big Ten country?

2. Fuck Notre Dame and their offensive Fighting Irish mascot.

You poor, poor, pitiful hot-head. Penn State has a GREAT football tradition. They are now in the Big Ten, and the Big Ten is lucky to have PSU as a conference member. You would appear to have no appreciation for the history of college football and the traditions that do exist. IF you are a Gopher Fan, or if you are a U of M student, I can see that too much of the spirit of the nfl has poisioned the University of Minnesota Campus and/or some people who say they are Golden Gopher Fans. Are you part of the brew-generation????? It would seem so. . I don't know if TCF BANK STADIUM will ever be able to establish the kind of spirit and tradition that MEMORIAL STADIUM used to house.

You have no class...you have no style and you don't really deserve Big Ten Football on campus who ever you may be mckerney.

 

[4starrecruit]

Thanks for that analogy 4Star, I just puked in my mouth!

Then swallow hard jasonbourne....swallow very hard.

 

[mckerney]

You poor, poor, pitiful hot-head. Penn State has a GREAT football tradition. They are now in the Big Ten, and the Big Ten is lucky to have PSU as a conference member. You would appear to have no appreciation for the history of college football and the traditions that do exist.

I never said they didn't have great tradition. Never said the Big Ten wasn't lucky to have them. But for more than 85% of Big Ten history Penn State is not included, thus me saying that they are not the heart of Big Ten country.

You have no class...

You're the one who seems to glorify a school that has an offensive mascot that is a bigoted caricature of the Irish people as mindless drunken brawlers. I'll take no class and call it a wash.

you have no style and you don't really deserve Big Ten Football on campus who ever you may be mckerney.

Meh, whatevs.

 

[GoBigGold]

If WI gets ND that will trump our USC get.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

You are correct Wren when you bring Notre Dame to the front and center of CFB history and tradition. Love them or hate them but you can't take that from the Irish. ND is a leader when it comes to honoring traditions as it has long standing rivalries with Navy back to 1927, USC & Purdue 1946 and MSU 1948, Pitt and more recently Michigan. And those rivalries will continue at least through 2016.

Lets not forget about the rich history of Minnesota football which ranks right up there with other schools you mentioned Wren. I know many of the younger fans are unaware or even not interested in that but its there and can never be taken away. I applaud Coach Brewster in his attempts to revisit some of the history and TCF should provide the UM a golden chance to revive the past.

And schools such as Wisconsin are ready to jump at the chance to schedule ND just as UConn, Oklahoma and Arizone State have done in the coming years.

One of my life long goals is to take in a game at ND stadium. The other was Yankee Stadium and I missed that one.

 

[GoAUpher]

If WI gets ND that will trump our USC get.

Um no. USC is a perenial power program now. ND is a wanna-be that thinks its more special then it is. I'm in favor of WI making this happen b/c I think its good when B10 teams improve their NC sched, but ND (even with their special status) is not a better get then USC.

 

[RodentRampage]

Sounds like you'ld be happier as a Notre Dame fan. Might as well be, since you're not a Gopher fan.

 

[alltimetwinsfan]

What I don't get here is that when there was talk about us getting Notre Dame on our schedule, maybe to open the stadium, was that they didn't want to play any more Big Ten teams in a single season, with Michigan, MSU, and Purdue all on their schedule. If this comes to pass, either we weren't trying very hard to really do this, or they were not at all interested in this. (Or a third possibility...the change in AD's signaled a change in philosophy.)

In any case, if Wisconsin can get them on their schedule, we should also be looking at a similar deal with them down the road as well. Since we have also had a change in non-conference scheduling philosophy, they would all the sudden be a good fit on our 1-1-1-1 non-conference schedule. (1 Premier BCS, 1 not-so-premier BCS, 1 mid-range school, 1 FBS school)

 

[Maverick]

Sounds like you'ld be happier as a Notre Dame fan. Might as well be, since you're not a Gopher fan.

Amen! Why don't you just migrate over to Notre Dame board and start writing about "this Weiss" and "that Weiss" and ND's "Prexi", etc, etc, etc..... Their recipe to success is obviously going to be Big 10 wins...right???

 

[2nd Degree Gopher]

Four Big Ten Teams??

If this happens, does that mean that Notre Dame will play Michigan, Purdue, Michigan St. and Wisconsin all in the same season? Why don't they just make it official and join the conference.

According to Alvarez, ND wants to cut Purdue back to every other year so the UW games would probably fit in the opposite years. (I saw this someplace, but don't recall the source, sorry.)

 

[GoAUpher]

What I don't get here is that when there was talk about us getting Notre Dame on our schedule, maybe to open the stadium, was that they didn't want to play any more Big Ten teams in a single season, with Michigan, MSU, and Purdue all on their schedule. If this comes to pass, either we weren't trying very hard to really do this, or they were not at all interested in this. (Or a third possibility...the change in AD's signaled a change in philosophy.)

In any case, if Wisconsin can get them on their schedule, we should also be looking at a similar deal with them down the road as well. Since we have also had a change in non-conference scheduling philosophy, they would all the sudden be a good fit on our 1-1-1-1 non-conference schedule. (1 Premier BCS, 1 not-so-premier BCS, 1 mid-range school, 1 FBS school)

I think your bolded has a lot to do with it. ND fans HATED Kevin White's scheduling style and many were PO'd when he turned the Gophers down.

 

[dpodoll68]

They are academically very sound. They are very selective...They are an excellent school

These are falsehoods that Notre Dame espouses to try to explain away their mediocrity in football over the last 15 years.

The truth is that the latest U.S. News and World Report has them as the #18 national university, tied with Emory and Vanderbilt, beneath Rice and above Cal. They would have you believe they are on par with the Ivies, Stanford, Caltech, MIT, etc., but that simply isn't the case. It is certainly an excellent school, but it is so far below the top schools that it's not even a fair comparison.

As for admission rates - they have hovered somewhere between 25 and 30% the last few years. This is somewhere around 30th nationwide. For comparison, the top Ivy schools are usually in the upper single digits. In other words, they are about 3 times as selective as Notre Dame. But again, this is a stereotype perpetuated by them that they would love to have you believe.

The reality is that to compete at the level they think they can, you need a guy who can recruit, coach players up in practice, coach on gamedays, and be media-friendly. The last coach they had who could do all four well was Holtz. The guys they've had since can do 2, or maybe even 3, of those things on an above-average basis. With the schedule they have, they should never lose more than 3 or 4 games a year - ever. They've been struggling to win 7 or 8 consistently since Holtz left, and that is why they're not as big of a deal as they once were.

They need to stop making excuses, and Weis and his staff need to figure out (quickly) how to coach and not just recruit. There are a lot of similarities between him and Brewster, except that Brewster doesn't pretend to be big-time (yet), while Weis likes to think that he is.

 

[Maximus]

It really is too bad that Notre Dame would not honor the U of M with an appearance at TCF BANK STADIUM. That would have been really something. Even if neither of the teams were championship teams, it would have been really something to have witnessed.

Charlie Weis NEEDS Big Ten wins or else. He better start winning some Big Ten games. Just not enough Big Ten wins. What has he proven without Big Ten wins?!?!

 

[4starrecruit]

wisky has played Notre Dame 16 times. The U of M has played ND 3 times. ND is big on tradition. It HONORS the past...it's past. That is a very good trait.

In the tradition end of things at the U of M, there have been a fair number of game with Pitt, Washington and, of course Nebraska. Our history with Michigan is probably the key in the catipulting of the U of M to a chapter of it's own in college football history. Bierman very seldom played Ohio State, for what ever reasons existed during that era. However, the Nebraska, Washington, Pitt and Michigan, along with iowa, wisky, NU and Illinois teams were frequently Bierman foes. He also played NDSU 3 times and SDSU 2 times during his first stint with the Gophers (prior to WWII). Those were the years of the National Championship runs.

That was the way that Bierman caught the attention of the nation...Michign, Nebraska, Washington and Pitt. Those programs are forever linked with the Bierman Era of Golden Gopher Football.

And no one should EVER doubt my football loyalties. I am a Godlen Gopher Fan. I always have been and I will be one until the day I die. I spent the WILDERNESS years wanting the Gophers back on campus. Now they are there. NOW I want them to COMPETE with the Big Ten Conference members.

However, the nfl is a piece of junk as far as I am concerned. The vikings can go to hell. College football, however, with all of it's history and all of it's traditions is to be appreciated and honored. Minnesota has it's own chapter of the tradition and history. It was a LONG time ago. However, IF we are to even pretend to honor our own chapter of the history of college football we had BETTER pay some respect to the two most storied of the the football programs...Michigan and Notre Dame. There are a hand full of others that also anchor the college football world's rich history and traditions.

It is time for Minnesota Golden Gopher Football to return to campus. It is time to start appreciating the history and traditions of not only Gopher Football, but also Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State from the mid-west. Pitt, Army, Navy, and some of the other Beasts of the East. USC, Washingtn, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas...Alabama, LSU, and too many other colleges to mention here right now.

Even just the history of all the schools in the Big Ten will bring richness and tradition to just how meaningful and important a Big Ten Win is. To me, my experience is that Big Ten Wins are precious and each and every one is to be honored. The University of Minnesota needs to BE a Big Ten Team and it needs to be competetive in the Big Ten Conference.

It is NOT about trash talk. It is NOT about hating wisky or iowa or Michigan. It is all about appreciating the history and traditions of the rival Big Ten Teams. It is about knowing just how special it is to be able to attend a Big Ten Conference Football Game in Minneapolis,MN ON CAMPUS in TCF BANK STADIUM. It is about tradition and history and competing in the Big Ten Conference. In order to respect your own program you need to have respectfor your rivals programs and traditions.

 

[GoBigGold]

From the college football fan perspective - USC is the better opponenet, but if exposure is your priority, ND is a better get.

 

[ColNathanJessup]

. Are you part of the brew-generation????? It would seem so. .

Wren, revealing true colors as usual. Brewster has done more to restore the history and feeling of college football in this town than anyone has in the past 30 years. You'd think someone with such an amazing handle on the history of college football would appreciate that.

 

[GoAUpher]

From the college football fan perspective - USC is the better opponenet, but if exposure is your priority, ND is a better get.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. IMO I think USC is a bigger get for exposure for 2 main reasons.

1) More relevant nationally as a power program in recent years. National titles, weeks as #1, Heisman winners, etc. USC owns ND for exposure when it comes to success and prestige right now. ND gets plenty of hype, but its all preseason hype unless the start winning. Otherwise the story becomes about how they are turning in another bust of a season.

2) ND is sort of "played out" as a storyline vs. the Big 10. The national media isn't going to hype a game versus Wisky up more than the MSU/ND or Mich/ND games unless both are top notch squads that are highly ranked. Think about the last time the Purdue/ND was a high exposure game that people outside of Indiana cared about. Anything coming to mind? Even if we aren't highly ranked all it will take is USC being its perenial Top 5 self for this to be a pretty big game. We'll have to play pretty poor this season to bring down the luster of next year's contest.

 

[4starrecruit]

dopodoll: Notre Dame is in pretty damn good company academically. What's your point????? I have never heard them claim to be the HARVARD or WILLIAMS of the nation. There are a lot of really good colleges that are ranked anywhere from number five to twenty five in their various "fantasy academic star rating" systems that the rankers like to sell to the public so that they can turn a nice profit.

What I did say is that Notre Dame knows WHO they are, HOW and they know WHAT they are. They have now gone to a "common" application process that lumps them in with other similiar academically rated schools that will undoubtedly drastically increase their application numbers, and since they only accept a couple of thousand students each year, it will probably increase their non-acceptance rates. So, big whoop! It has a nice balance of academics and all the rest of the college thing. It does have a mystique, a presence and a spirit all it's own. Not every college or university setting has that.

I have been on a number of college campus settings, and the Notre Dame environment is impressive to say the least. The history and traditions are honored. Students there are aware and do honor their history and traditons.

It would be lot of fun to play Notre Dame at TCF BANK STADIUM. It would be a lot of fun to play Notre Dame in South Bend. It would be a lot of fun to play Notre Dame in a bowl game. It would just be a lot of fun to play Notre Dame, any time, any place or any where. It would add to the University of Minnesota history and sense of tradition.

 

[WanderingGopher]

Another indication that Wisconsin is wrong about everything.

Big Ten teams should not schedule Notre Dame. If Notre Dame is allowed to play a handful of Big Ten teams every year - and yet keep their lucrative TV contract for themselves - what incentive do they have to join the conference? None.

 

[dpodoll68]

From the college football fan perspective - USC is the better opponenet, but if exposure is your priority, ND is a better get.

How do you figure? Because Notre Dame has a game on NBC every Saturday? Big deal. Everywhere else in the college football universe, USC gets way way way way way way WAY more "exposure" than Notre Dame. Seriously, it's not even close. Every USC game is analyzed to death on ESPN, ESPNU, FSN, espn.com, si.com, etc. Notre Dame is no slouch in terms of recognition and "exposure", but USC is head and shoulders above everyone else in college football by any measure.

 

[GoAUpher]

Another indication that Wisconsin is wrong about everything.

Big Ten teams should not schedule Notre Dame. If Notre Dame is allowed to play a handful of Big Ten teams every year - and yet keep their lucrative TV contract for themselves - what incentive do they have to join the conference? None.

Cutting off B10 teams from playing ND hurts the B10 more then it hurts ND. Not playing B10 teams doesn't hurt their lucrative TV contract...they can just pick another BCS school of equal caliber to play. Not scheduling ND kills long standing rivalry games for Mich/MSU and eliminates other B10 schools from scheduling a good regional opponent. Not to mention it makes no sense to flip off ND like this if the B10 ever hopes to woo them.

 

[Maximus]

wisky has played Notre Dame 16 times. The U of M has played ND 3 times. ND is big on tradition. It HONORS the past...it's past. That is a very good trait.

Hmm...I don't remember you praising Brew for this?