(06-20-2011 10:53 AM)Jackson1011 Wrote: Wow...I randomly looked up a WVU schedule from when it was an Eastern Independent
1986
Northern Illinois
@ East Carolina
Maryland
@ Pitt
@ Va Tech
Miami (Fla)
Boston College
Penn St
@ Rutgers
@ Louisville
Syracuse
I'm sorry, but if you don't think that schedule is vastly better then the one WVU played last year, your crazy (keep in mind that Pitt and Syracuse were Eastern Powers). You may not like the way he said it, but there's nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade.
I know this may be tough for some of the guys here who are fans of programs that see the current BE football has their historical high water mark in terms of association/conference, but I don't think there is any question WVU played a better schedule year in and year out (and one that would draw more fan interest) when it was an Indy
Jackson
Was it really that much more difficult, year in and year out?
Let's take 1986 as an example (a year in which Penn State won the National Title).
The average record of WVU's opponents that year:
6.5 - 4.5
The average record of WVU's opponents in 2010 (minus the 1-AA game):
6.7 - 6
Obviously given a 12 game schedule and far more bowl games, the numbers are a little hard to compare exactly. And win-loss record by itself isn't an exact measurement of the relative quality of a team.
But it's fairly close, even with PSU's undefeated season in 86.
Rutgers and Temple were on our schedule pretty much every year, and they were horrific most seasons (the year you cite, 1986, Rutgers had a rare winning record). Maryland has been generally far better after Nehlen left than they were before, Cincinnati is far better, and Louisville (a somewhat regular opponent) had the best years of it's program after Nehlan left.
Would I love to see Miami, VPI and Penn State on our schedule year in and year out? Sure. But when you are taking a look at an entire schedule, year in and year out, was Nehlen's average schedule tougher than what we have now? Perhaps. But not by a huge, dramatic margin. There are some good teams and programs in the BE currently.
And the reality is that Nehlen's comments - even if his point about the strength of schedule is 100% accurate and true - sound to me like sour grapes.