BleedGopher
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per ESPN:
The arrival of the College Football Playoff was viewed as a boon to all fans, not just because the playoff itself would help decide a truer champion but because teams would have to beef up their nonconference schedules to impress the selection committee.
The Big Ten has gone all-in on the philosophy that better competition means better chances for its teams to make the four-team field. The conference has urged its teams to add marquee nonconference games in the future, and that's why you see schools like Wisconsin playing LSU and Alabama, Ohio State scheduling Oklahoma and Oregon, etc. The Big Ten is also going to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016 and wants to eliminate FCS opponents.
"What we've tried to do is structure our scheduling to deliver an opportunity for our teams if they're successful," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in July.
Of course, in the first two weeks of the selection committee's poll, Mississippi State has been ranked No. 1. Here is who the Bulldogs have played outside of their conference: Southern Miss, UAB and South Alabama. Sure, that sounds soft, but they have one more nonconference game remaining.
They play Tennessee-Martin this Saturday.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/110444/does-b1g-scheduling-strategy-still-make-sense
Go Gophers!!
The arrival of the College Football Playoff was viewed as a boon to all fans, not just because the playoff itself would help decide a truer champion but because teams would have to beef up their nonconference schedules to impress the selection committee.
The Big Ten has gone all-in on the philosophy that better competition means better chances for its teams to make the four-team field. The conference has urged its teams to add marquee nonconference games in the future, and that's why you see schools like Wisconsin playing LSU and Alabama, Ohio State scheduling Oklahoma and Oregon, etc. The Big Ten is also going to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016 and wants to eliminate FCS opponents.
"What we've tried to do is structure our scheduling to deliver an opportunity for our teams if they're successful," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in July.
Of course, in the first two weeks of the selection committee's poll, Mississippi State has been ranked No. 1. Here is who the Bulldogs have played outside of their conference: Southern Miss, UAB and South Alabama. Sure, that sounds soft, but they have one more nonconference game remaining.
They play Tennessee-Martin this Saturday.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/110444/does-b1g-scheduling-strategy-still-make-sense
Go Gophers!!
