Thursday poll: Worst Big 12 non-conference matchup for 2011

[badger]

You can view all Big 12 schedules, which were finalized yesterday, here. (http://www.big12sports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=106580&SPID=13139&Q_SEASON=2011&SCHEDULE_MONTH=) Out of those, I chose the 10 most questionable looking non-conference opponents, considering that we're a BCS conference and some of these teams are bowl regulars or at least have competed for their Big 12 divisions in the past:

Sat, Sep 03 Iowa State Northern Iowa (they're FCS, even if they beat Iowa State in 2007)

Sat, Sep 03 Kansas McNeese State (another FCS)

Sat, Sep 03 Kansas State Eastern Kentucky (once again, FCS)

Sat, Sep 03 Texas Tech Texas State (FCS, but Dennis Franchione's their coach till he inevitably tries to find a better job)

Sat, Sep 17 Missouri Western Illinois (sing it with me -- FCS! FCS! FCS!)

Sat, Sep 17 Texas A&M Idaho (6-7 last year)

Sat, Sep 17 Kansas State Kent State (5-7 last year)

Sat, Sep 17 New Mexico Texas Tech (1-11 last year but in Tech's defense, this one's on the road)

Sat, Sep 17 Baylor Stephen F. Austin (more FCS)

Sat, Oct 01 Oklahoma Ball State (2-10 last year)

Vote once, vote anonymously and you can't change your vote! Four days of voting, basically through the next poll on Monday. Explain write-ins or other votes below if you want! Annnnd... GO!

[Mississippi Sooner]

Just going by the criteria of "which game would I be least likely to watch for even a minute," I'll go with Kansas - McNeese State.

I didn't even know McNeese was a state. :O

[deweydw]

Which game would be a yawner? It's a toss up between Kansas/McNeese and Iowa St./Northern Iowa. Sometimes I forget Iowa St. is in our conference.

Iowa St. gets my vote.

[Mad Dog Madsen]

No cupcakes for Texas this year? That's odd...

[Mississippi Sooner]

Which game would be a yawner? It's a toss up between Kansas/McNeese and Iowa St./Northern Iowa. Sometimes I forget Iowa St. is in our conference.

Iowa St. gets my vote.

Heh.

I'm sure the Tech-Texas State game won't be a thriller either, but that's one I might stop on just to see what Texas State's unis look like. I watched about three minutes of the Bama-Georgia State game last year for only that reason.

[LakeRat]

I voted for tech vs. state, but then I realized I might be wrong. Didn't they beat * in a 7-7 scrimmage last year?

[Mississippi Sooner]

I voted for tech vs. state, but then I realized I might be wrong. Didn't they beat * in a 7-7 scrimmage last year?

That's right. They're a Texas team on the rise.

[StoopTroup]

Ball State....we always have a game we shouldn't play on our schedule

[OUmillenium]

Thisatola^

[badger]

No cupcakes for Texas this year? That's odd...

Rice went 4-8 last year, but they're playing a few Big 12 teams. UCLA also went 4-8, but that's on the road AND UCLA (as we are all quite aware) beat them in Austin last year the week before RRS. If you wanted to write one of those in just to bash Texas... :D

Also, I'm voting for Tech @ New Mexico, because even thought that's the only nominee on the road, Tech is in west Texas, so it's practically in New Mexico as-is, and New Mexico is possibly the weakest of the weak non-conference opponents that I've listed here. Even if you consider the FCS guys, yes. 1-11 is very, very hard to top, even if Warsh found a way to go 0-12 the season we traveled out to Seattle to beat them. And they just got a new coach! There's very little question that Tech will beat New Mexico.

[deweydw]

That's right. They're a Texas team on the rise.

They didn't rise too far last season. Overall 4-7 and 1-5 in conference. But Dennis Franchione is the HC. So this could be their season.... Oh wait, I'm thinking of someone else. :rolleyes:

[sooner59]

I voted Mizzou. I thought they could have done better. At least Ball State is D-1 A. Texas State isn't bad for a 1-AA team....they beat * in the 7-7 last year and aren't they going to be part of the MWC in a few years? Mizzou and A&M are the next best teams on the list after OU. And I thought Idaho>>>Western Illinois (team I have never heard of).

[Jacie]

I eliminated all that were a match-up between two in-state or just-across-state-lines as these could for fans at least, be something like a rivalry. That narrowed it down to five games. Of those, it seems the team likely to lose by the biggest margin would be Ball State.

[tfoolry]

UNI beat Iowa State in '07. UNI should be questioned about their weak non-conf. schedule that includes Iowa State.

[badger]

No support for Kent State yet? Maybe I can help the Golden Flashes out!

1- They went 5-7 last year, the same as :mack:
2- Losses included Toledo, Temple, Army and Western Michigan.
3- They have had one conference title in its program history, in 1972, in the MAC.
4- They're from Ohio, so it isn't even a cross-state rivalry game.
5- Dr. Lou used to play for them.
6- So did Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel.
7- Like many other programs out there on this non-conference smorgasbord, Kent State is starting the new season with a new coach.
8- Their rival is the Akron Zips.

Flash for the Golden Flashes, people! FLASH!

[Mississippi Sooner]

Kent State? That's gonna be a massacre.

[agoo758]

What IS a golden flash anyway? :confused:

[MamaMia]

I thought we could do better than Ball State

[ouwasp]

I voted Mizzou- W Ill......that sounds like on of those match-ups the Big 10 routinely feasts on...

of course, so does Ball St :O

[85sooners]

ball st

[Jacie]

Now that OUr game with Ball State has moved into the lead 16-15, I checked the schedule and see that it is to their advantage coming as it does the week before the OU-sa*et game. Stoops will be trying to heal and/or rest up everyone especially since OU will have played FSU and Mizzou the two previous weeks and won't want to provide anymore good film for whorn coaches to pore over.

[BoulderSooner79]

Ball State will be interesting to see how Josh attacks them. One of KW's strengths was to blow a team like this off the field by half-time which would allow the starters an easy week. So if we are as good as expected, this should be the biggest mis-match. I have no problem scheduling this game; when the season went to 12 games, all teams will have one of these. 10 of our 12 games are against BCS teams and FSU on the road makes our OOC schedule plenty legit.

[badger]

One thing I've noticed about the polls thus far is the terminal case of crimson blinderness that is going on here. :D

Best part of last season? SOMETHING INVOLVING OU! Best part of Stoops career? OU WINNING LOTS OF CHAMPIONSHIPS! Worst non-conference matchup? THE ONE INVOLVING OU! :P

[BoulderSooner79]

One thing I've noticed about the polls thus far is the terminal case of crimson blinderness that is going on here. :D

Best part of last season? SOMETHING INVOLVING OU! Best part of Stoops career? OU WINNING LOTS OF CHAMPIONSHIPS! Worst non-conference matchup? THE ONE INVOLVING OU! :P

Badger, I interpret "worst" as "most lop-sided" with no implication of "bad". I voted for our game with Ball State out of optimism that we will be that good, thus creating the mismatch. I feel no need to apologize for our schedule.

[Wishboned]

No cupcakes for Texas this year? That's odd...

Here's the thing. If you can't spot the cupcake the first half hour you look at the schedule, then you are the cupcake.

[TIMB0B]

No support for Kent State yet? Maybe I can help the Golden Flashes out!

3- They have had one conference title in its program history, in 1972, in the MAC.

Wow, only two years after the shooting. Is that where they got their mascot from? Golden flashes from the rifles?

[badger]

I feel no need to apologize for our schedule.

Totally, and Joe C. never has, even when we scheduled... who was it? Chattanooga? The problem is that it's hard to get quality or even not-crappy opponents to show up without a home-and-home scheduled, a neutral site, or at the very least, a six or seven-figure check upon butt kicking.

In case anyone doesn't remember UT-Chatty, here's the story behind it:


It's not always fun being No. 1.

For example, Rivals.com recently ranked the Tennessee-Chattanooga at Oklahoma contest as No. 1 on its list of "the 12 most embarrassing games," during the 2008 football season involving teams from BCS conferences.

"I wish they'd do their homework," said OU athletic director Joe Castiglione when informed of the Sooners' unwanted top billing.

Castiglione knows the matchup looks like a mismatch on paper and could turn out that way on Owen Field when the Sooners and Mocs meet in the Aug. 30 season opener.

But he takes issue with this Rivals.com question: "What in the world is Oklahoma doing playing Chattanooga, which has had just four winning seasons since 1988?"

Had they done their homework, the Rivals.com folks could have answered their own question: Chattanooga was a late addition when Division I-A Middle Tennessee State dropped the Sooners in favor of a home-and-home deal with Mississippi State.

Welcome to the wonderful world of scheduling, which can drive even the most sane athletic director bonkers. Getting dropped without warning and being forced to pay a king's ransom to visiting teams are just a few of an AD's headaches.

Castiglione didn't find out until last November that Middle Tennessee State had decided not to sign off on a written agreement it had with OU. And it wasn't anyone in the Blue Raiders' athletic department that broke the news.

"They didn't even have the courtesy to call us back," Castiglione said. "We had to find out about it in a third-party way.

"They apparently were using our agreement to leverage something else, which they were able to do when Mississippi State committed to play on (Middle Tennessee State's) home field."

Castiglione said he doesn't begrudge any school for seeking the best deal for its program. He didn't, however, appreciate the run-around from Middle Tennessee State officials.

"We had an agreement for a long period of time, and there was a contract that was written," he said. "What happens is they play games with it and won't sign it.

"You get one excuse after the other. And then they just flat out refuse to even answer your call, or return your call. So you know something is up."

Left holding an open date on the first weekend of the season, Castiglione scrambled to find a replacement. In 10 years at OU, Castiglione had signed only one contract with a I-AA school as he attempted to ensure OU's strength of schedule worked as a positive in the complicated BCS poll.

"We have purposely tried to avoid playing I-AA teams, but not because we don't respect I-AA football," Castiglione said. "Believe me, we tried every I-A option we could."

Several factors go into making a schedule work, including corresponding dates, availability and the exorbitant amount of money BCS powers like OU are forced to pay I-A teams to play in Norman.

"Let's face it," Castiglione said. "There are some (I-A) schools that just don't want to play you regardless of the opportunity or the offer."

When he ran out of I-A options, Castiglione turned to I-AA schools.

The other time he signed a I-AA school was Indiana State in 1999 (coach Bob Stoops' first game), when Arkansas State "discovered" at the last minute that it had also signed to play Mississippi on the same date.

"They (Arkansas State officials) learned so much from that experience," Castiglione said, "that they did it to us again in 2003."

While some Web site might find OU's season-opening game "embarrassing," Castiglione considers the Sooners' first opponent a schedule-saver.

Chattanooga AD Rick Hart, who worked seven years for Castiglione at OU, came to his former boss's rescue.

Chattanooga had an Aug. 30 open date when Alabama dropped the Mocs after the Crimson Tide was offered a chance to open the season on national television against Clemson at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

"There were several I-AA schools that told us no in more than emphatic terms," Castiglione said of the schools in the division that offer 63 scholarships, versus the 85 Division I-A teams are allowed. "So you have to give (the Mocs) a lot of credit; they didn't have to play us."

OU isn't the only Big 12 Conference team with a I-AA opponent on its 2008 schedule. Nebraska, Texas and Texas A&M are the only league schools playing 12 I-A teams. Texas Tech has two I-AA foes, as do several national powerhouse programs like Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Even with the addition of a I-AA team, OU's schedule is ranked the nation's 30th toughest by Phil Steele's preseason magazine.

Seven of the 11 I-A teams the Sooners will play in 2008 played in bowl games last season, and three won at least 10 games.

"We have taken major steps to ensure we have one blockbuster matchup each season, which is unique these days in college football," Castiglione said of future OU schedules. "There are not many schools playing teams like Florida State, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Ohio State and LSU.

"A lot of schools are going the other direction."

It's the easier path to the only No. 1 that matters in the end.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?subjectID=92&articleID=20080608_202_B1_spancl395251

[Sooner_Tuf]

Here's the thing. If you can't spot the cupcake the first half hour you look at the schedule, then you are the cupcake.

:D

[Salt City Sooner]

When he ran out of I-A options, Castiglione turned to I-AA schools.
The ironic thing about this is that one of those 1-A options Joe tried was Ball State. Thing is, they thought they had OU over a barrel & gave OU a $1 million asking price for their trouble. Needless to say, that dog didn't hunt too well w/ Joe.

[texaspokieokie]

Here's the thing. If you can't spot the cupcake the first half hour you look at the schedule, then you are the cupcake.

where have i heard this (or something very similar) before.

[Sooner_Tuf]

where have i heard this (or something very similar) before.

Dunno but "If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour, then you are the sucker" is pretty popular around card tables.

*edit* looks like it was in the movie "Rounders". I never saw it, looks decent though with Matt Damon and Edward Norton.

[texaspokieokie]

Dunno but "If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour, then you are the sucker" is pretty popular around card tables.

*edit* looks like it was in the movie "Rounders". I never saw it, looks decent though with Matt Damon and Edward Norton.

i don't know (or remember) where it came from, but that's what i was talking about.