The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(06-07-2018 09:24 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  

(06-07-2018 06:41 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  It's ridiculous that programs with pedigree of an Alabama are playing MAC schools.

And yes I know NIU beat the Tide once upon a time. Bama wasn't Bama then.

Why is it ridiculous? We're either D1 or we're not.

Exactly

(06-07-2018 10:46 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  

(06-07-2018 09:39 AM)GRBRONCO Wrote:  So we shouldn't play them? Whats more ridiculous, playing a team like Alabama or having a team like Wagner visit?

Not a fan of bringing in nondescript FCS teams like Wagner. There are much better options geographically (Youngstown State, Illinois State, etc.).

Remember we're a program that has never beaten Purdue or Indiana.

While it is disappointing we've never beat Purdue or Indiana, we have beat several other Power 5 teams.

Agreed on not choosing Wagner. We should choose FCS teams that are closer geographically to us.


Few things:
1.) The MAC is a D1 FBS conference. We play top-tier teams.
2.) You never know. They might catch them on a bad year. Look at Ohio beating Penn St, Toledo beating Michigan, and, yes, Northern Illinois beating Alabama.
3.) It's a payday game

So long as the MAC doesn't 2 or 3 of these types of teams every year, I'm all for it.

An ideal MAC out-of-conference schedule should be 1.) a FBS power 2.) an FCS team 3.) A G5 team 4.) A low tier FBS team
That kind of schedule you're playing all tiers of talent in FBS, have a chance at winning 2 or 3, are still getting a payday game, and have a chance of even having 3 home games out-of-conference.

Something like this would be ideal, for example:
@ Wisconsin
H Illinois St
H Middle Tennessee St
@ Purdue

I would love to see us add Louisville or UK at some point.

Basically any reason to hit the bourbon trail...

(06-08-2018 11:06 AM)broncofan1 Wrote:  I would love to see us add Louisville or UK at some point.

Basically any reason to hit the bourbon trail...

Then add Memphis.

Slow cooked BBQ (best ribs in America) and soul-cooked Blues. Gotta love it!

(06-08-2018 11:08 AM)GullLake Wrote:  

(06-08-2018 11:06 AM)broncofan1 Wrote:  I would love to see us add Louisville or UK at some point.

Basically any reason to hit the bourbon trail...

Then add Memphis.

Slow cooked BBQ (best ribs in America) and soul-cooked Blues. Gotta love it!

Heck yes. I guess we might as well add Vanderbilt, too, and hit Nashville.

Actually, Middle Tenn State isn't far away from Nashville (Murfreesboro).

(06-07-2018 10:23 AM)MajorHoople Wrote:  

(06-07-2018 10:15 AM)BuickBronco Wrote:  Why is WMU playing USC, Notre Dame, Michigan or MSU?

You forgot Ohio State.

For the money, obviously.

Secondarily for recruiting.

How about for the fans? I love watching us take on the big dogs in non-conference, and we have competed very well in those stadiums. I'm sure our FBS athletes love the challenge and spotlight as well.

(06-07-2018 10:41 AM)wmubroncopilot Wrote:  

(06-07-2018 10:30 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  Easy argument to make for programs like Michigan, MSU, Notre Dame, Ohio St... because it's an easy road game for our fan base to get to.

USC was an anomaly in my book because of the alumni connection, an awesome experience of playing at an iconic venue, playing in a large market (LA), and it also provided a great outlet for WMU alums on the west coast that aren't necessarily able to get back to Kalamazoo regularly to see us play. That situation was unique for a wide variety of reasons.

Alabama basically has none of those things. Any SEC team, really...

I think if you are going to go after a true blue-blood program, it has to make a lot of sense for a variety of reasons. Besides the prestige of it being "Alabama"... why else would we (or any MAC team) want that game?

Maybe it's just me...

$1.75M is honestly a perfectly good reason to me given the shortfalls MAC teams run.

And recruiting. Group of five players want to play these types of games.

They want to play games they know they have no chance to win, and are likely to be embarrassed score-wise?

I don't think so.

Recruits absolutely want to play these types of games, and it’s used as part of the recruiting pitch... I just think the same concept could be accomplished by scheduling an Ohio State, Michigan, MSU, Notre Dame, etc. something more localized, or destination-based, and centrally located to an alumni base.

If WMU were to schedule an SEC team, I would prefer it to be someone like Vanderbilt (Nashville) or Georgia (near Atlanta).

(06-09-2018 01:09 PM)MajorHoople Wrote:  They want to play games they know they have no chance to win, and are likely to be embarrassed score-wise?

I don't think so.

If you think these guys go into games thinking they can't win them, you need your head checked, and maybe your heart.

We can sit back as observers, fans, and analysts and understand the reality, but hopefully the players themselves are more competitive than that. If they are not, we are recruiting the wrong players.

So yes. I will emphatically disagree. Go ask the players if they want to play Michigan, Alabama, USC, Ohio State or any other big time program, and across the board I bet they say yes.

(06-09-2018 01:09 PM)MajorHoople Wrote:  They want to play games they know they have no chance to win, and are likely to be embarrassed score-wise?

I don't think so.

WMU was close enough in the 4th Quarter to have a legit "chance" of beating USC, MSU and Wisconsin the last two years. During the Darnell era, WMU almost beat #2 ranked Wisconsin. Again, the Broncos were close enough in the 4th to have a legit "chance."

That said, games against such opponents should be kept to a minimum - no more than one per year. No need to play Notre Dame and Ohio State the same season.

It should also be noted, that blow-outs can happen, and do happen, to everybody. In 1997, UCLA beat Texas, at Texas, 66-3:

http://archive.boston.com/sports/college...taggering/

Nobody said Texas should not have played UCLA because it had no "chance."

Alabama lit-up MSU 38-0 in the Playoff semi-finals (which was an absolute joy to watch). By comparison, WMU's narrow loss in the Cotton Bowl to an outstanding Wisky team looks pretty good. Likewise NIU's Orange Bowl loss to Florida State.

Give our kids a periodic chance against the proverbial "Big Boys." Yes, the chances of victory, or even a competitive game, can be slim, but it is inaccurate, and irresponsible, to say there is "no chance."

Now please excuse me, I am going to watch the movie "Miracle" about the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team, for the 110th time....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU4bufn-U00

(06-09-2018 04:03 PM)GullLake Wrote:  It should also be noted, that blow-outs can happen, and do happen, to everybody. In 1997, UCLA beat Texas, at Texas, 66-3:

http://archive.boston.com/sports/college...taggering/

Nobody said Texas should not have played UCLA because it had no "chance."

Alabama lit-up MSU 38-0 in the Playoff semi-finals (which was an absolute joy to watch).

Yep, exactly. Bottom line: Michigan St is a member of the cartel, otherwise they would've told them: 'you guys got blown out 38-0; you will never have a chance at a playoff ever again.'

Also, it's not uncommon to suffer a bigger loss to a fellow G5 team. Consider this past season, for example, where we lost bigger to Toledo then Southern Cal and Michigan St.

(06-10-2018 02:10 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(06-09-2018 04:03 PM)GullLake Wrote:  It should also be noted, that blow-outs can happen, and do happen, to everybody. In 1997, UCLA beat Texas, at Texas, 66-3:

http://archive.boston.com/sports/college...taggering/

Nobody said Texas should not have played UCLA because it had no "chance."

Alabama lit-up MSU 38-0 in the Playoff semi-finals (which was an absolute joy to watch).

Yep, exactly. Bottom line: Michigan St is a member of the cartel, otherwise they would've told them: 'you guys got blown out 38-0; you will never have a chance at a playoff ever again.'

Also, it's not uncommon to suffer a bigger loss to a fellow G5 team. Consider this past season, for example, where we lost bigger to Toledo then Southern Cal and Michigan St.

1/4 of the roster was missing by the Toledo game

(06-10-2018 04:04 PM)BuickBronco Wrote:  

(06-10-2018 02:10 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(06-09-2018 04:03 PM)GullLake Wrote:  It should also be noted, that blow-outs can happen, and do happen, to everybody. In 1997, UCLA beat Texas, at Texas, 66-3:

http://archive.boston.com/sports/college...taggering/

Nobody said Texas should not have played UCLA because it had no "chance."

Alabama lit-up MSU 38-0 in the Playoff semi-finals (which was an absolute joy to watch).

Yep, exactly. Bottom line: Michigan St is a member of the cartel, otherwise they would've told them: 'you guys got blown out 38-0; you will never have a chance at a playoff ever again.'

Also, it's not uncommon to suffer a bigger loss to a fellow G5 team. Consider this past season, for example, where we lost bigger to Toledo then Southern Cal and Michigan St.

1/4 of the roster was missing by the Toledo game

And more were banged up:[attachment=9468]

(06-10-2018 04:04 PM)BuickBronco Wrote:  

(06-10-2018 02:10 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(06-09-2018 04:03 PM)GullLake Wrote:  It should also be noted, that blow-outs can happen, and do happen, to everybody. In 1997, UCLA beat Texas, at Texas, 66-3:

http://archive.boston.com/sports/college...taggering/

Nobody said Texas should not have played UCLA because it had no "chance."

Alabama lit-up MSU 38-0 in the Playoff semi-finals (which was an absolute joy to watch).

Yep, exactly. Bottom line: Michigan St is a member of the cartel, otherwise they would've told them: 'you guys got blown out 38-0; you will never have a chance at a playoff ever again.'

Also, it's not uncommon to suffer a bigger loss to a fellow G5 team. Consider this past season, for example, where we lost bigger to Toledo then Southern Cal and Michigan St.

1/4 of the roster was missing by the Toledo game

That was just an example.

I can't say with certainty what goes on inside MAC players' minds when they see an Alabama-type opponent announced on their schedule. My assumption is they'd be excited at a possible Rocky Balboa vs. Apollo Creed battle and to play at a storied stadium.

An argument could be made that our low-to-middle tier B1G opponents in 2016 ultimately enabled us to reach the Cotton Bowl. But even so, we shouldn't reject game offers with powerhouses. As long as the frequency is within reason.

And you never really know how good a team will be 4+ years out, even football factories. Toledo's head coach gets canned the same year they beat scUM in AA.