Texas' 2019 and 2020 OOC schedules

[Valmy77 13125]

I see our OOC opponents for the next two seasons are:

2019

Louisiana Tech

LSU

Rice

2020

South Florida (will Strong keep his job there long enough to make this game?)

LSU

UTEP

 

Ok while I am sure Louisiana Tech and South Florida are programs that make a serious effort to be P5 worthy and have had strong teams in the past I am not a huge fan of this trend. Hell we might lose one of those games for all I know so it not that I am trashing those two programs specifically.

However, for a long time I thought the idea for our OOC schedule was: P5, Blue Blood, G5. I know Cal and Maryland beat us but I want that to continue and am not happy to see two G5 teams on the schedule in the coming years.

Is it that no P5 schools want to play us because everybody is trying to inflate their winning percentage? Did we have better opponents but they backed out? Or is this a new trend for our scheduling?

Edited January 8, 2019 by Valmy77

[Horn80 6081]

Awesome a post actually about Texas not Alabama.  Like the first 3 games of 2019 with LSU being sandwich between to lesser opponents.  Don’t know if Strong will be able to hang on given his poor bowl game this year and if next season doesn’t meet SF expectations.

[Huckleberry 32710]

We tried to have a blue blood (or close) and another P5 when we had 4 non-conference games.

[TKthunder2 4981]

Scheduling games against Cal, Maryland, and BYU won’t help us.  We get 0 credit for wining those and it’s held against us like crazy if we lose those games.  As much as I enjoyed our trips to Berkeley and DC it’s not worth the headache.  I mean fuck we went 1-6 against these fuckers.

[jinx 2635]

6 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

I see our OOC opponents for the next two seasons are:

2019

Louisiana Tech

LSU

Rice

2020

South Florida (will Strong keep his job there long enough to make this game?)

LSU

UTEP

 

Ok while I am sure Louisiana Tech and South Florida are programs that make a serious effort to be P5 worthy and have had strong teams in the past I am not a huge fan of this trend. Hell we might lose one of those games for all I know so it not that I am trashing those two programs specifically.

However, for a long time I thought the idea for our OOC schedule was: P5, Blue Blood, G5. I know Cal and Maryland beat us but I want that to continue and am not happy to see two G5 teams on the schedule in the coming years.

Is it that no P5 schools want to play us because everybody is trying to inflate their winning percentage? Did we have better opponents but they backed out? Or is this a new trend for our scheduling?

If you can't beat em ($EC), then join em.  I mean, I totally get what you are saying, but there is no reason to schedule potential losses if you can get away from it.  Playing 11 P5 teams is a self imposed higher level of difficulty.  And in all honesty, is playing Maryland that much better than USF or LaTech from a fan perspective?

[Js1 85151]

2 minutes ago, jinx said:

If you can't beat em ($EC), then join em.  I mean, I totally get what you are saying, but there is no reason to schedule potential losses if you can get away from it.  Playing 11 P5 teams is a self imposed higher level of difficulty.  And in all honesty, is playing Maryland that much better than USF or LaTech from a fan perspective?

This.

[closetojumping 62263]

Texas routinely plays one of the most difficult schedules in college football. There's basically no reward for playing a second P5 team, even if Texas was rolling those teams. They've moved away from that approach for the most part when looking at the 20's. Not saying there won't be some of it, but when other schools can schedule garbage and rack up 12 wins without breaking a sweat and get handed a CFP seed, overscheduling to the point of 11 P5 opponents serves no purpose but our entertainment, which sadly, is secondary or tertiary in the list of priorities when scheduling. 

If you want to talk about a disturbing trend, take a look at what OU has started doing - they're adding FCS opponents because, hey, the ACC and SEC do it, so why not? It's a fucking bullshit scheduling hack that undermines the integrity of the game and that shit needs to end. I'm thankful that Texas fans were outraged about the Sam Houston State game in 2007 and threw a fit to the point where the AD had to come out and say they'll never do that again. We need to remind CDC and others of that whenever we can. 

[AUS-97HORN 11687]

1 minute ago, TKthunder2 said:

As much as I enjoyed our trips to Berkeley and DC it’s not worth the headache.  I mean fuck we went 1-6 against these fuckers.

since 2010, we have gone 63-52  for a whopping .545 winning percentage  we lost a shitload of games.  its not just those trips that we lost

[Js1 85151]

I like us playing a major P5 opponents (LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, Arky), a Texas school that isn't aggy (Rice/UTEP/whatever) and another decent but not spectacular opponent from an area of the country we want to recruit from (USF/LA Tech/maybe a Fresno State or SDSU).

[Valmy77 13125]

6 minutes ago, jinx said:

And in all honesty, is playing Maryland that much better than USF or LaTech from a fan perspective?

Well...not really. But Cal and BYU were certainly fun games to have on the schedule even if we went 1-4 against them.

I mean think if our OOC schedule was total trash and we won every game, Mack might still be here. I think having decent opponents to challenge your team make your program better. If Texas is good we should be able to handle middling P5 programs.

But I am thinking about football and what is best for the team and the fans...which, as a few have pointed out in this thread, is not what scheduling is all about apparently.

[Valmy77 13125]

3 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I like us playing a major P5 opponents (LSU, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, Arky), a Texas school that isn't aggy (Rice/UTEP/whatever) and another decent but not spectacular opponent from an area of the country we want to recruit from (USF/LA Tech/maybe a Fresno State or SDSU).

If Arkansas continues to be bad then the schedule in 2021 starts to look pretty weak.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

13 minutes ago, jinx said:

there is no reason to schedule potential losses if you can get away from it. 

I don't personally like or endorse this particular fact of life, but it's absolutely true. Texas does not need to voluntarily enhance its strength of schedule in order to get into the playoff; it needs to win the Big 12 with a maximum of one loss total on the schedule*. We weren't playoff contenders in 2018 but to the extent we ever got close, there was never going to be any benefit to having played Maryland, irrespective or whether we won or suffered a buttfuckingly painful loss-- or, to say it another way, the odds are always MUCH higher that a program like Maryland can beat you than they are that you will end a given season crowing over having beaten them and citing that as a playoff resume builder.

* to basically guarantee a playoff berth

Edited January 8, 2019 by SwanderedTalent

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

7 minutes ago, AUS-97HORN said:

since 2010, we have gone 63-52  for a whopping .545 winning percentage  we lost a shitload of games.  its not just those trips that we lost

"I didn't just get drunk when I went to the bar," said the alcoholic, "I also got drunk in the church parking lot, so I might as well keep visiting the bar."

Edited January 8, 2019 by SwanderedTalent

[Js1 85151]

6 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

If Arkansas continues to be bad then the schedule in 2021 starts to look pretty weak.

That's the same issue Alabama had this year with Louisville - these get scheduled far in advance so you don't know what your marquee opponent is going to look like.  

Hell, Cal/BYU were probably not expecting us to fucking suck so bad when those got scheduled.

[Butch Had Not 2940]

I agree that we shouldn't overschedule but the flip side is a poorly attended 11 am kickoff against a team like UTEP or USF. We'll have assholes on here complaining about game atmosphere and early kickoffs. 

I get why we should do it because the byu and Marylands of the world have kicked our asses.

[jinx 2635]

27 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

But I am thinking about football and what is best for the team and the fans...which, as a few have pointed out in this thread, is not what scheduling is all about apparently.

Trading Maryland for an auto win this year eliminates the gnashing of teeth from game one, gets us out of a shit set up where we play in DC in front of 2,700 fans for our opener, and lets us finish the regular season 10-2 instead of 9-3.  I think all of those things are good for the fans / team.

[Valmy77 13125]

1 minute ago, jinx said:

Trading Maryland for an auto win this year eliminates the gnashing of teeth from game one, gets us out of a shit set up where we play in DC in front of 2,700 fans for our opener, and lets us finish the regular season 10-2 instead of 9-3.  I think all of those things are good for the fans / team.

Well I disagree generally, even if I get that Maryland was underwhelming from a hype perspective. That loss might have been just what we needed at the time.

Also Louisiana Tech is not necessarily an auto win creampuff.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Valmy77

[El Squared 1793]

Its not just about the  OOC opponents, but the schedule timing. 

$Ec gets away with 4 OOC , at least one late in November when everyone else is deep in their conference schedule and often getting a bruising.

Our OOC games are usually done before October. No one punishes $Ec for going full cupcake in November.

Also there needs to be a standard number of conference games played in P5 for all conferences in P5 to get a bid to CFP.

The playing field is never level but there should be some equalizing of high and low spots.

Edited January 8, 2019 by El Squared

[sushihorn 3233]

Unless it's a great venue, home and home with a lower tier P5 team makes no sense.  The committee doesn't reward you for scheduling it and you lose a home game every other year.  So unless it's a great trip for our fans, there is no reason to do it.  75% attendance at a home game trumps a few thousand Texas fans in a pro stadium far away.

[NBMisha 224]

A bit "sad" to move to the weaker schedule, from an immediate entertainment perspective, the the longer term perspective of keeping in the CFP hunt does outweigh those considerations.  I have to go with those above supporting the G5 OOC trend.

[Tex Pete 20196]

34 minutes ago, El Squared said:

Its not just about the  OOC opponents, but the schedule timing. 

$Ec gets away with 4 OOC , at least one late in November when everyone else is deep in their conference schedule and often getting a bruising.

Our OOC games are usually done before October. No one punishes $Ec for going full cupcake in November.

Also there needs to be a standard number of conference games played in P5 for all conferences in P5 to get a bid to CFP.

The playing field is never level but there should be some equalizing of high and low spots.

Yep. The SEC's scheduling is pathetic and something really needs to be done about it.

Florida played  10 P5 teams, 1 bad G5 team and 2 FCS teams. A game against a 3rd FCS team (Northern Colorado. WHO?) was cancelled.

Georgia played 11 P5 teams, 2 really bad G5 teams, and 1 FCS team.

Texas played 13 P5 teams and a bad G5 team.

We also go on the road for non-conference games. SEC teams almost never do home-and-homes OOC.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Tex Pete

[Nueces River Rat 5531]

1 hour ago, Valmy77 said:

I see our OOC opponents for the next two seasons are:

2019

Louisiana Tech

LSU

Rice

2020

South Florida (will Strong keep his job there long enough to make this game?)

LSU

UTEP

 

Ok while I am sure Louisiana Tech and South Florida are programs that make a serious effort to be P5 worthy and have had strong teams in the past I am not a huge fan of this trend. Hell we might lose one of those games for all I know so it not that I am trashing those two programs specifically.

However, for a long time I thought the idea for our OOC schedule was: P5, Blue Blood, G5. I know Cal and Maryland beat us but I want that to continue and am not happy to see two G5 teams on the schedule in the coming years.

Is it that no P5 schools want to play us because everybody is trying to inflate their winning percentage? Did we have better opponents but they backed out? Or is this a new trend for our scheduling?

If every SEC team  can get by with playing 3 or even  4  teams like Lamar, The Citadel and Middle Tennessee state and receive absolutely no ridicule for padding their records with such cupcakes especially late in the season  with their traditional non conference weekend in November, there should be no ridicule of our non P5's.   Especially sense some of the non P5's on our schedule for the next two years have been opponents of P5's in the SEC the last few seasons.  

[mdmost 42876]

I'd rather play some lower tier P5 schools  because those are more enjoyable matchups but it doesn't bother me to not do that when we have top 10 marquee opponents on the schedule like LSU. It's probably a lot easier to schedule lower tier Group of 5 schools since they're not looking for home and homes and Texas makes the most money having at least 2 OOC home games. Plus, you have to have at least one terrible opponent come to Austin to throw on the LHN each year. This year will be Louisiana Tech. Next year, UTEP. I'd prefer we scrap the bottom of each P5 conference for opponents but I get there's only so many away games Texas wants to play given the 9 conference games. 

Edited January 8, 2019 by mdmost

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

1 hour ago, Butch Had Not said:

I agree that we shouldn't overschedule but the flip side is a poorly attended 11 am kickoff against a team like UTEP or USF. We'll have assholes on here complaining about game atmosphere and early kickoffs. 

I get why we should do it because the byu and Marylands of the world have kicked our asses.

Our athletic department needs to throw its weight around and not get slated at 11 AM when the game sucks. A 6 PM start will paper over how unpalatable the opponent is, somewhat. At least, that's how it seems when we're crushing NMSU or Louisiana-Lafayette at dusk versus ULL running back a Simms INT for a TD at noon.

[jinx 2635]

2 hours ago, Valmy77 said:

Well I disagree generally, even if I get that Maryland was underwhelming from a hype perspective. That loss might have been just what we needed at the time.

Also Louisiana Tech is not necessarily an auto win creampuff.

Let me clarify...

I am not arguing against your position because you are wrong, I am arguing against it because it hurts us in the glamour shot beauty pageant system that is college football.  My 2nd team is UF, and all of my Gator friends are envious that we play USC and ND, because they know that the best they can hope for is a neutral site game against Michigan or next year against Miami.  

UF (or any other SEC team) isn't about to change the way that they schedule, because they get 3 guaranteed wins and no one calls them on it.  UF bases their decision on the fact that they play FSU every year and play UGA on a neutral site.  

All of the SEC fans that I talk to wish that they scheduled more like we do so that they could see out of conference play (and prove how superior the SEC is), but there is no chance in hell that the SEC decision makers are going to make that move.

Knowing that, scheduling 11 P5 games only hurts us in the big picture.  Playing 3 scrubs gives opportunities to rest injured players and play underclassmen.  We had no real opportunity to do that this year.  Having a break to play SHSU would have been fantastic the first week in November to heal up guys and play a freshman QB.  It definitely makes for shit football, but the majority of college football is doing it and getting away with it. 

We all knew that 6-6 OSU was probably on par with 8-4 (and ranked) Mizzou, but nobody else did.  And even after that bowl game, nobody cares and the SEC knob slobbing continues.  Had K-State and Tech followed the SEC M.O. of buying 3 wins, they both would have gone bowling and the Big 12 would have had 90% bowl eligible teams.

I am as pissed about it as you, but it is much easier for us to copy the status quo than to wait for somebody to demand that the SEC actually play real opponents outside of the SEC.  And even though we went 3-1 as a conference against the SEC, and Texas body slammed UGA and Clemson decapitated Bammer, the SEC will still have 7 or 8 ranked teams to start 2019.

[n64ra 1078]

I also prefer two P5 opponents in a season, but at least we have nearly one big name per year for the next decade. It'll be fun to visit LSU, Bama, Michigan, Georgia, and Ohio St (ok, not fun to visit Columbus since their fans are such dicks).

Edited January 8, 2019 by n64ra

[sushihorn 3233]

Good to see LSU, Bama and Georgia on the schedule.  They've needed to move away from the 1 mediocre and 3 scrubs OOC scheduling for a while.  I'm not sure why we would schedule Arkansas again.  Marquee match ups against the SEC elite make a lot of sense, Arky not so much.  A minor benefit but one not to be ignored is the aggy gnashing of teeth as they realize they didn't make the VIP list.

[mdmost 42876]

Arkansas is the return matchup for the series we had with them in 2008 when they came to Austin but we never went back to Fayetteville. They asked to move the 2009 game because they added the initial series with aggy at JerryWorld which then grew to pointless annual neutral site game they play there now with aggy in the SEC. 

[El Hornarino 371]

Nm too slow

Edited January 8, 2019 by El Hornarino

[dcar00 14043]

until teams get severly punished for playing FCS and more than 2 G5's, as long as we have one marquee OOC, I'm good.    we always wanted the extra P5 for a home/home because we lose our biggest one playing in Dallas every year.  I think the Big 12 has enough cachet, as long as OSU/ISU/TCU/WVU stay pretty competitive, we are fine. just don't need KSU to return to dumpster fire territory.  KU/Baylor can be horrible for all I care.  every conf has one or two dregs.

one thing I have always wondered about SOS calculations is who sets the value for the conf "difficulty" variable.

[Magus Ossis 2784]

We don’t necessarily need to water down our schedule, but B12 should start conference play a week earlier to allow everyone the chance for a November quasi-bye.

[henrygandorf 29182]

as long as 9/10 teams in our conference are in the annual running for bowl bids, i see no reason to change the current (future) formula of 1 top tier, 1 mid tier (bowl type of smaller school) and 1 cupcake.  playing 9 b12 teams + lsu is fucking plenty.  if we end up in the b12cg then we likely play 4 top 10-12 teams in 2019.  possibly more if okie st or wva surprise.

nobody cried for us, or gave us any credit, when we had to play mahomes, goff, and mayfield in the same season.  we don't need to bend over backwards to put ourselves in a shitty light in front of recruits by losing to a mid level p5 at home.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

4 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

nobody cried for us, or gave us any credit, when we had to play mahomes, goff, and mayfield in the same season.  

hopefully this particular worm is turning and people will shut the fuck up with the "Big 12 doesn't play defense = it's easy to play in the Big 12" shit

[Murfdogg21 4412]

If you can’t beat the Marylands, Cals, Arizonas, Vandys, Indianas, Rutgerses, etc. of the world, you probably don’t deserve to be in the playoff. I doubt VY or Colt would’ve wet their panties about playing Maryland. 

[BrazilHorn 6577]

I like having the marquee OOC, the in-state team and weaker team OOC schedule that is now in place. (as someone above referenced)

Texas is in a no-win situation in scheduling all P5 teams for OOC and given the stupid add on of a Big 12 Champ game in spite of round robin play really would be disadvantaged in doing so.

Have the bad ass OOC (and making them skew heavily SEC is huge as it negates Aggy crowing about SEC superiority). Also as a fan who likes to take in one big road trip a year I much prefer going to places like LSU, Michigan etc than BYU.

[gmr548 16533]

we had to play mahomes, goff, and mayfield in the same season.

Damn. That's one of those things you know in the back of your mind, but seeing it in writing hits on a whole different level.



Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Nueces River Rat 5531]

1 hour ago, BrazilHorn said:

I like having the marquee OOC, the in-state team and weaker team OOC schedule that is now in place. (as someone above referenced)

Texas is in a no-win situation in scheduling all P5 teams for OOC and given the stupid add on of a Big 12 Champ game in spite of round robin play really would be disadvantaged in doing so.

Have the bad ass OOC (and making them skew heavily SEC is huge as it negates Aggy crowing about SEC superiority). Also as a fan who likes to take in one big road trip a year I much prefer going to places like LSU, Michigan etc than BYU.

This right here is spot on.  The strong OOC non sense should be put to bed because it's obvious it doesn't sway the playoff committee one way or another if you are considered a money maker to the NCAA .   Norte Dame can pick and choose  whomever in the heck they want to play and as long as they have a goose egg in the "L" column, the committee is going to drink the ND kool aid and let them get their ticket. On balance, the schedules for SEC teams are weak, but they get a bump in the SOS only because their fellow SEC schools are overrated too in the SOS which helps ALL OF THEM cancel out the effect on their SOS's which the FBS and lower and middle tier FCS team have on their overall schedule. 

[Nueces River Rat 5531]

9 hours ago, Magus Ossis said:

We don’t necessarily need to water down our schedule, but B12 should start conference play a week earlier to allow everyone the chance for a November quasi-bye.

We just need to get rid of the idiotic championship game because it's a worthless event unless we go back to a division format which would require an addition of a few more teams.  

Ironically what might have pulled the trigger on getting closer to doing just that would have been beating OU sucks in the Jerryworld and thus the Land Thieves missing the playoff.  It would have been better for them to lead the charge on this vs us for the simple reason it would minimize the "UT controls the Big 12" non sense we hear from aggy and the Cornsuckers.    

[UTDD 362]

The SEC having only 8 conference games and a November gimme game to recover a little is a huge advantage to me.  Plus the lack of many true tough OOC games too.

[The Golden Hat 299]

I'm looking forward to the LSU games and a Baton Rouge road trip.

[gmr548 16533]

The SEC having only 8 conference games and a November gimme game to recover a little is a huge advantage to me.  Plus the lack of many true tough OOC games too.

This is true. We played 11 P5 games in the regular season. Bama played 9.

 

I like the marquee P5, undercard P5, and regional G5 schedule setup as a fan. But I don't begrudge the AD for adding a second G5. As mentioned by posters above, playing 11 P5s is self imposing an unlevel playing field when Bama plays 9.

 

As long as we continue to schedule one bigtime program a year, which we have for the next decade, it'll cover the bases in terms of SOS and fan experience. Also, in a practical sense, a G5 on the higher end of the talent curve like USF isn't that different from a Maryland or Cal on the field (guess we're gonna lose lolz). Just less fun of a trip. Now, UTEP or some shit, yeah, it starts to weaken the schedule a bit. But as a helmet school that doesn't matter, stupid as that is.

 

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[Jiggy-Z 3432]

37 minutes ago, The Golden Hat said:

I'm looking forward to the LSU games and a Baton Rouge road trip.

...except for getting over the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi into Baton Rouge-God what a beatdown-every single time.

[Mac8111 2103]

...except for getting over the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi into Baton Rouge-God what a beatdown-every single time.

It is known.

[BigHorn'13 3357]

Always funny to me and the irony shouldn't be lost. Blue blood + P5 + G5= practically killing ourselves before conference play. Blue blood + 2 G5s= we're turning into pussies (aka secX3). Surly gonna Surly. 

 

FTR I like the first format better. Of course I'd like to not lose to Maryland or Cal but you can't be scared to play anyone. 

[Sgt Hulk 13648]

It don't make a shit.   show me a loss

[Zavala 1384]

24 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

...except for getting over the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi into Baton Rouge-God what a beatdown-every single time.

Once I drove from Dallas, thought that this was going to be perfect to take some backroads. Ran into construction on a bridge crossing that the road was closed, had to back track about 25 miles then drive a different path through the boonies.

Cut n shoot, TX was cool though.

[Istian 241]

1 minute ago, Sgt Hulk said:

It don't make a shit.   show me a loss

Avatar makes post. 

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

36 minutes ago, BigHorn'13 said:

Always funny to me and the irony shouldn't be lost. Blue blood + P5 + G5= practically killing ourselves before conference play. Blue blood + 2 G5s= we're turning into pussies (aka secX3). Surly gonna Surly. 

 

FTR I like the first format better. Of course I'd like to not lose to Maryland or Cal but you can't be scared to play anyone. 

..or NC State, Colorado, Rutgers (old SW conference OOC), Stanford, BYU etc.

[Mileslong 4718]

I’m embarrassed we were scared to schedule UCF and scheduled a cream puff like LSU instead.

[UTDD 362]

5 hours ago, Jiggy-Z said:

...except for getting over the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi into Baton Rouge-God what a beatdown-every single time.

So true, I remember the first time I was on the bridge and looking over the water towards the stadium -- "wow, there is LSU and the stadium I guess" -- "looks cool" and then you cross the bridge...