You thought Indiana's schedule this year was bad? Let's take a gander at 2028

I think its just sorted (kind of) alphabetically home and away but that is a crap schedule

Wasn't Curt a vocal opponent of scheduling cupcakes?

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Only the first 3 weeks have a set date and they are all at home

Austin Peay
Eastern Michigan
Miami of Ohio

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Why play anyone else? The CFP committee has told everyone (by their actions) strength of schedule is irrelevant and that 10-2 in the Big 10 likely gets you into the CFP. So why risk a non-conf. loss when you know you have a two game margin for error in the Big 10?

Indiana played a crap schedule in 2024. They literally played one team who was ranked at the time of the game (No. 2 OSU) and lost by 23 points. Yet, that 11-1 was seen as more important than the fact it game against relatively weak competition. Last year Texas went on the road and lost to OSU. That ultimately brought their record from 10-2 to 9-3 and allowed both an Oklahoma team who they beat soundly and a JMU team who played no major conference opponents to get into the CFP ahead of them.

Don't blame Indiana. Blame the CFP who is essentially encouraging teams to play bad schedules.

Yes, we know, that is why i said I don't blame them, they have figured it out

No good team should every play anyone of note until the CFP changes

quote:

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quote:
Only the first 3 weeks have a set date and they are all at home

Austin Peay
Eastern Michigan
Miami of Ohio


Why play anyone else? The CFP committee has told everyone (by their actions) strength of schedule is irrelevant and that 10-2 in the Big 10 likely gets you into the CFP. So why risk a non-conf. loss when you know you have a two game margin for error in the Big 10?

Indiana played a crap schedule in 2024. They literally played one team who was ranked at the time of the game (No. 2 OSU) and lost by 23 points. Yet, that 11-1 was seen as more important than the fact it game against relatively weak competition. Last year Texas went on the road and lost to OSU. That ultimately brought their record from 10-2 to 9-3 and allowed both an Oklahoma team who they beat soundly and a JMU team who played no major conference opponents to get into the CFP ahead of them.

Don't blame Indiana. Blame the CFP who is essentially encouraging teams to play bad schedules.

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Eh, I wouldn't say that.

The weak OOC schedule is going to break against them just as often as it will for them. Had they lost on the road to Oregon last year, they would have been sitting right there alongside BYU sweating out the conference championship weekend. Their best win heading into the postseason would have been unranked Illinois, and they wouldn't have had a shot to beat OSU to add another scalp on the resume.

Conversely, Miami with 2 losses to unranked teams with a bad ACC schedule and Texas A&M who had a weak SEC schedule and didn't make the conference title game got in because they beat Notre Dame out of conference. Miami definitely would have been out and A&M would have been sweating bullets in the final week or two had they scheduled Bumfrick Tech instead of Notre Dame.

As it was, an 11 - 1 Indiana was sweating its spot in the final weeks of 2024 with no ranked wins at all on their schedule, had to go on the road for the playoff game, and got pounded in said game.

Ultimately, I think last year was a bit flukey in that Oklahoma win over Alabama set off something of a chain reaction all over the rankings. Oklahoma last year or SMU the year prior were the two worst teams to make the playoffs since this thing started. If Alabama hadn't puked all over themselves in a game they dominated and should have won by all rights...

- Oklahoma would have been definitely out
- The committee wouldn't have had to have done that wizard dance to magically jump Alabama over Notre Dame after the Auburn game, and Alabama would have definitely been in
- There would have been 2 spots for the three of Miami, Notre Dame, and Texas; Texas' win over OU wouldn't have meant as much, but we would have been weighing their wins over Vandy and A&M against their losses to a 4 - 8 team and getting hammered in mid-November at home by UGA

That would have been a much more palatable picture to what the playoff should have looked like.

I know the Big Ten has a weird flex scheduling model that protects high-profile matchups/rivalries, so it's probably pretty jacked up and can favor historical bottom-dwellers like Indiana who is now suddenly a powerhouse.

Just my best guess, at least.

It's a good point. We all can agree right now that Indiana is a top 10 program in the country. They've been good the last couple of years and look to be at least top 20 good again this year if not better.

Just schedule someone like NC State or Houston. If they had home and homes against either of those 2 teams they likely win by 20 and no one really dogs them because they are playing a P4 team

That’s unwatchable. How is that enjoyable as a fan?

B1G conference schedules for most teams are going to look weak most years because they watered the conference down with adding trash programs like Maryland and Rutgers.

There’s really only 6 good football programs in the conference (OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Oregon, USC, Indiana) out of 18 teams. If you’re one of those 6, then you only really play 2 or 3 difficult conference games a year. So scheduling 3 shitty OOC teams and you end up with what Indiana has.