VT might not be OU today but it was not long ago that VT was playing Florida State for the national championship. In the last 5-6 years, VT has been a perennial Top 10 team. It is only recently that they have been taking nosedives at the end of the season. I agree this has been a good thread and the one thing that we can agree on is that we disagree.
I've never seen the fans of a defending national champion so scared to play a real team because they might lose. If you can't beat the best then you are not the best. We should not play teams like Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma every week but we have enough cream puffs mixed in to make sure it won't happen. I can't believe fans are so scared to play one decent out of conference opponent a year. I hope the players are not as scared as some of the fans here. :lsug: :geaux: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs: :champs:
Ended up working half the night and got home expecting to see posts about how thrilled fans were to be playing Oklahoma, man just think of the atmosphere in Tiger Stadium. I am suprised to find even one single fan that thinks playing one quality team out of conference is a risky idea. As a season ticket holder that has sat through many a sleeper against glorified high school teams visiting Death Valley I am happy as can be. I also think the players have an easier time getting motivated and staying focused. I would think the players would see this game as a challenge that they look forward to. Also if I am a recruit do I want to go to a team that plays Oklahoma or ULL? :geaux: :lsug: :champs: :champs: :champs:
The SEC stands head and shoulders above the PAC 10, ACC and Big East every year. Some years the Big 12 and Big 10/11 are near equals. Last year no other conference was close to the SEC in overall football ability from top to bottom. The ACC will become better with the addition of Miami, VTech and Boston College but will still basically a 2 team conference (Florida State and Miami) for teams among the elite. The Big East lost their 3 best teams and will sink to also ran status for years despite the fact that they will add some teams from CUSA and the MAC.
I am not worried about playing OU or anybody else for a home and home. Win or loose it makes for a better game that ULL or ULM or La Tech. I also am a season ticket holder who enjoy's seeing this level of talent come to tiger stadium. Besides that this game would surely be picked up by t.v.. Yes OU will be a tough game but we will still get our share of cream puffs.
In another post I stated the same thing about the ACC and consequently the Big East, i've never felt the Big East was on a par with us. But the SEC has been a shell of itself the past few years as opposed to the glory days IMO, just like every other conference has also in a sense due to the schollarship limitations. The Big 10 and Big 12 were also down this past year but the PAC 10 was better than usual. Yes the SEC is the best and if we played all of the best teams in the SEC every year I would agree that our schedule would be incredibly tough. But loo at who we played last year. 3 good teams, Ole Miss, UGA and UF, 2 average teams in UA & AU, 2 bad teams in Bama & USC and 1 horrible team in Moo U. That's not much of a challenge and doesn't portray a great conference at this time. Again, the Big 12 was down this year so we were better than them, the ACC was up but didn't have the depth of the SEC but if we were in the ACC and had to play FSU, Maryland, GA TEch and NC St last year along with Clemson and Virginia we wouldn't have had a much easier time playing the guys we did play last year. Now you add BC, VA Tech and UM to that conference and it will be just as strong or maybe even stronger than the SEC. And the teams in the East get to play Vandy and YK every year and Vandy is almost always chalked up as a win and UK is a win for the toher teams most of the time so they have it even easier, especially with USC having been down 8 of the last 10 yrs or so also. The Big 12 will also come back and get much better as aTm and Nebraska will get back up their in the top 20 soon and when you add OU, Texas and KSU to the mix they are just a stop heavy as the SEC.
I am for beating a top 5 OOC opponent every year. I am against losing to a top 5 OOC opponent every year. Wins against Div 1 teams get you into the BCS mix. Losses against Div 1 teams get you nothing. It doesn't matter if someone thinks I am "scared" of tough competition. After last year I am scared of having to discuss whether the Peach or the GMAC bowl would be better for LSU. With opponents like Auburn, Georgia, Florida and Alabama on the schedule every year, there is no need to toughen it up.
In a perfect world, it would be great to schedule one great team (like OU), one mid-major team (like a MAC or CUSA team), and one cupcake (instate school). Unfortunately, the world isn't perfect and scheduling is getting tougher. Everyone wants to play home games, which leaves fewer good teams to travel. Some say expanding to 12 regular season games will solve the problem, but then schools will start requiring 8 home games. Don't know what the answer is, but I'll take OU anytime, anywhere....
But when we cycle through the weaker teams in the SEC like Vandy, Kentucky, Miss St, and Ole Miss (they will return to the cellar w/o Manning), having 1 strong OOC game along with 1 instate school and 1 mid-level school seems to be a good balance. There will be years when the conference schedule is really tough. 2004 SEC road schedule is brutal, but is offset with a really weak SEC home schedule, and with the exception of OSU, a really pathetic OOC home schedule. For the years when we have 3 OOC games, I would love to have 1 Top 25 team, 1 mid-level team (i.e., MAC), and 1 in-state team. We used to play A&M every year back when they were a good team. That was a nice measuring stick for our program and a sellout.
