Non conference game = exhibition game?

[hokiehead]

Message boards of another team that I follow have been aflame for a few weeks over a comment their aging head coach made, following a loss to a non-P5 school:

They’re exhibition games, they’re preseason games. Now it’s on to conference games. Now it’s down to being really important

fan responses on those boards have varied from "that is horrible, can't believe he said it" to "I agree, conference play is what matters" to "I don't GAF -- it's just coach speak".

Given that I now spend more time on CU boards than the other team's, I found myself speculating how CU fans see this, especially in light of the Pac-12 losing streak.

What think you Buffs -- for teams with little to no playoff chances, should conference play be the sole focus with OOC games treated as exhibitions? Clearly, for teams in the playoff hunt, OOC means as much as conference games.

• Does your opinion change if the OOC schedule inculdes "Nicholls and UMass" vs "Nebraska and Michigan"?
• Does your opinion change if you just paid $60+ for the ticket or made a substantial donation to the AD or Buff Club?
• Does your opinion change if your team hasn't won a conference game in recent memory?

stop reading here if my typical drivel bores you.

For fans of that other school, this is nothing really new. That coach has previously made similar comments about bowl games. Under his tenure, fans have seen the team lose at home to an FCS school then go on to win a conference championship. They've seen the AD consistently schedule uber-difficult OOC games (typically at neutral sites) before conference play -- the implication being "take the loss to LSU/USC/OSU/etc to open the year and learn for conference play". This 'exhibition' comment just stated what many thought to be the case.

For me personally, I'd be thrilled any year that one of my teams wins their conference, regardless of OOC performance. I've always said that I believed your performance against other schools with comparable academics, recruiting territories, athletic budgets, etc... means more than anything else. I also acknowledge that some OOC losses are really painful (e.g. VT's 2010 championship was tainted by the JMU loss). But I do feel that treating OOC games as exhibitions takes it too far -- the schools are getting premium TV dollars and charging premium ticket prices for these games and they should put a premium product on the field.

Tangent: this would be a really ironic comment if that coach's school was trying to break the record for college football attendance next year with a premium non-conference game.

 

[The Monk]

Ive considered the last 12 years exhibition.

 

[Daaah]

I love non-conference games and would do nothing to diminish their importance. Sure performing well in conference is great, but beating Ohio State in the horseshoe a few years ago would have been freaking awesome. Too bad there's currently no chance of either thing happening.

 

[ahoelsken]

Message boards of another team that I follow have been aflame for a few weeks over a comment their aging head coach made, following a loss to a non-P5 school:


fan responses on those boards have varied from "that is horrible, can't believe he said it" to "I agree, conference play is what matters" to "I don't GAF -- it's just coach speak".

Given that I now spend more time on CU boards than the other team's, I found myself speculating how CU fans see this, especially in light of the Pac-12 losing streak.

What think you Buffs -- for teams with little to no playoff chances, should conference play be the sole focus with OOC games treated as exhibitions? Clearly, for teams in the playoff hunt, OOC means as much as conference games.

• Does your opinion change if the OOC schedule inculdes "Nicholls and UMass" vs "****braska and Michigan"?
• Does your opinion change if you just paid $60+ for the ticket or made a substantial donation to the AD or Buff Club?
• Does your opinion change if your team hasn't won a conference game in recent memory?

stop reading here if my typical drivel bores you.

For fans of that other school, this is nothing really new. That coach has previously made similar comments about bowl games. Under his tenure, fans have seen the team lose at home to an FCS school then go on to win a conference championship. They've seen the AD consistently schedule uber-difficult OOC games (typically at neutral sites) before conference play -- the implication being "take the loss to LSU/USC/OSU/etc to open the year and learn for conference play". This 'exhibition' comment just stated what many thought to be the case.

For me personally, I'd be thrilled any year that one of my teams wins their conference, regardless of OOC performance. I've always said that I believed your performance against other schools with comparable academics, recruiting territories, athletic budgets, etc... means more than anything else. I also acknowledge that some OOC losses are really painful (e.g. VT's 2010 championship was tainted by the JMU loss). But I do feel that treating OOC games as exhibitions takes it too far -- the schools are getting premium TV dollars and charging premium ticket prices for these games and they should put a premium product on the field.

Tangent: this would be a really ironic comment if that coach's school was trying to break the record for college football attendance next year with a premium non-conference game.

I get why we're playing primarily cupcakes OOC right now-We made fun of Snyder before the conference change because he'd do it year after year, but I always knew why.....Part of building is teaching kids how to win. To me, the first step in that is disposing with ease of somebody you know you're better than at home, and beating those types of teams consistently on neutral fields or on the road. Looking at the OOC's under MM:

2013
beat CSU soundly
2 TD win over Central Arkansas
blowout of Charleston Southern

2014
loss to CSU
eeking out a win over UMass at Gillette
beating an incompetent Hawaii offense at home

This year
Blowouts over Nicholls and UMass at home
Beating a CSU team we probably shouldn't have
Losing to Hawaii at Hawaii

We're not clear of that first step-only 4-3 against out of conference FBS opponents under this regime.

 

[Deleted member 807]

I'm selfish. I love game day and I love to explore new campus stadiums. The more storied the setting, the better.

I'd be in football heaven if CU traded home and away games with schools with the best campus environments in the country.

A partial list includes:
Army @ Westpoint (not NYC)
Alabama
Air Force (Thanks, RG!)
Duke
Iowa
LSU
Michigan (thanks Bohn)
Notre Dame
Old Miss
Penn State
Tennessee
Wisconsin
Virginia

After 15 years of losing, I don't put a premium on playing cupcakes any more. From purely the perspective of a traveling football fan, Saturday on campus is as good and better in many ways than attending a bowl game. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to attend a Rose, Sugar, Orange, or Fiesta. But I'd prefer seeing any of the campuses above over any scruffy secondary bowl locations like Shrieveport, Houston, DFW, El Paso, New Mexico, and so on.

Playing the likes of CSU, Fresno, Sac State, Montana State, Charleston Southern, Eastern Washington, Toledo, Massachusetts, Miami of Ohio and others of this ilk was a mistake. None of the creampuff scheduling helped facilitate a faster rebuild. The losses against FCS teams worked against the brand more than getting stomped by tOSU at Columbus.

Give me the marquee teams and let the wins and losses fall where they may.

 

[hokiehead]

...I'd be in football heaven if CU traded home and away games with schools with the best campus environments in the country.

A partial list includes:
...
Duke
...

Duke? yes, Wallace Wade has some history, but doesn't need to be on your bucket list.

...
From purely the perspective of a traveling football fan, Saturday on campus is as good and better in many ways than attending a bowl game. Don't get me wrong. I'd love to attend a Rose, Sugar, Orange, or Fiesta. But I'd prefer seeing any of the campuses above over any scruffy secondary bowl locations like Shrieveport, Houston, DFW, El Paso, New Mexico, and so on.
...

Give me the marquee teams and let the wins and losses fall where they may.

preach on brother!

 

[GoBuffs08]

Back when we were good it was awesome having the early season marquee road trip. I went to Florida State, Miami, Georgia, UCLA when we were still Big12 among others. There is zero excitement about playing Nichols, Umass and many of the other crap teams we seem to schedule.

The 9 conference game schedule changes some things but there is nothing exciting about a win over Nichols State and it does nothing to convince me that we are an improved team.

 

[CUBUFF80]

At this point, I would take a non-con schedule where CSU is the lone juggernaut. I could give a **** about getting crushed by teams that play in iconic stadiums rich with tradition, unless they happen to be bottom feeders. **** bucket lists, we need wins.

 

[BuffUp]

according to the definition of the word exhibition, all games are exhibition games.

 

[Alfred91]

Playing P5 OOC competition provide a lot of fun for the fans, and can provide valuable experience and confidence for your team if things go right. However, the risk to a program like CU is getting our asses kicked, missing a better chance for a bowl invite (should we ever get to that point) due to a poor OOC record, increased chance of injuries, decreased chances to evaluate talent, and perhaps negative hits on recruiting if we're getting drilled at LSU or Ohio State.

Obviously the flip side on the creampuff OOC is that you get the chance to turn the above negatives around into positives, decreased chance of injuries, a chance to pile up some wins and make a bowl game more achievable sooner, increased chance to evaluate talent when you're playing reserves in the second half, and a chance to look good to potential recruits. The downside of a creampuff OOC is less fun for the fans, potentially less tickets sold, potentially less TV exposure, potentially less excitement for recruits, and the worst of all is a disastrous loss to a team that's supposed to be a creampuff. (Montana St and Sacramento St, anyone?).

Personally though, given that CSU will be a very tough game for the foreseeable future, as long as they're on the schedule, I prefer creampuffs for the other games. As long as we don't lose them.