(12-13-2011 02:33 PM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  

(12-13-2011 02:27 PM)piratefan1975 Wrote:  Frank, there are some of us who know what we're up against. It doesn't make the pill any easier to swallow.

We need to schedule down and schedule 10+ wins a year for a couple of years. We need to win our bowl games. That's not for the Big East, that's for our fans. Our fans will appreciate some very successful seasons.

Scheduling top 12 teams South Carolina and VT to open the season; followed by North Carolina, who was getting votes; on top of that add Houston and Southern Miss, who both finished ranked makes for a very strong schedule. Navy is always a difficult opponent. It's not easy getting 10 wins that way.

With proper scheduling, we could have Boise State numbers in a 60,000 seat stadium. But, a Big East invitation wouldn't be best for us. We have nothing in common with urban schools in the Big East. It would be a temporary AQ solution at best if the AQ still exists then.

Are our fans going to appreciate what a "schedule down" home slate is going to look like? My 2 big reservations with doing it are 1) I really enjoy playing games against quality local AQ opponents and 2) if we try this and we don't start winning a much higher percentage of games (and I am not talking 7-8 a year I'm talking 10 or more) people are not going to continue showing up at as high of levels. We have a schedule that we can go 5-7 and have sellouts.

if theres ever a time it is next year. App and Navy at home OOC are very winnable. Houston is losing Sumlin and all american Keenum. Southern Miss is bringing a new Coach but will still be tough on the road. UCF is on the road, but certainly winnable. all of our other conference games are certainly winnable (@tulane, @uab, memphis, marshall, UTEP). We have 2 difficult OOC games on the road- the 4th week of the season is @UNC. Always a tough game, not sure how Fedora will be in his first year. Obviously the toughest game is @South Carolina. that game is not until November though, so hopefully we can build some momemtum.

we return practically everyone on our front 7. we lose some in the secondary, but hopefully some of these young guys and JUCO's we'll be fine (especially with an improved pass rush). we return everyone at RB and get 2 more in the stable. we return practically everyone at WR, except Lewis. we need to build some more depth at OL. the biggest question is QB. i am honestly not concerned with the secondary. the OL depth and the QB spot are my only concerns.

hopefully we can work on our future schedules and dumb it down a little so we dont play VT, UNC, WVU, and South Carolina in the same year. i am excited about next season though.