Normally I could be more sympathetic about the idea that the Wisconsin game is the most important game every season, but being sympathetic with others feeling that way and agreeing with them are not the same. Every season there are, imho, different games that I feel are the most important games of the year, but this year, with a new coach and no idea who the quarterback will be, a part of me thinks that there are just too many questions and maybe the idea that the Buffalo game, for now, is the most important is a legitimate idea. But going 3-0 to start and then 2-2 isn't better than going 2-1 to start and then 3-1. Too many times during the Mason years the team would go 3-0 or 4-0 to start, and no one seemed to care or take notice, the only games that really matter in the long run, to locals, are the conference games. If we can beat Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin, those games will get people's interest and attention and more than make up for losing to an Oregon St. Same if we beat Mich St and especially Michigan. But even the Maryland, Purdue and Illinois games are not givens. Nothing is a given this season, at least not at this point.
I could lay out a whole bunch of IFs, like IF we beat Buffalo, then the Oreg St game is the most important, or IF we go undefeated in the ooc, then the Maryland game, is the most important, or if we go 5-0 to start, then the MSU game is the most important, or if we go 7-0 to start, then the Iowa game would be the most important, and so on and so on, but how many times I've seen us win some big games, only to let one of the supposed easy games be lost, are so many, that I'm going back to just saying the most important game ALL season, will be the NEXT game.
Looking at that schedule, the only thing I can differentiate at this point, is that the conference games are more important than the non-conference games.
Should be a very interesting season.