Let's assume that the non-conference games play more of a role than conference games when it comes to national ranking for MAC teams, and you have to beat a couple of "somebodies" to get noticed.  Here is the non-conference lineup for each MAC team for 2011 (with the team's 2010 record):

Akron (1-11):  at Ohio State; at Cincinnati; VMI; Florida International

BG (1-12):      at Idaho; Morgan State; Wyoming; at West Virginia

Buffalo (1-12): at Pittsburgh; Stony Brook; Connecticut; at Tennessee

KSU (5-7):      at Alabama; Louisiana-Lafayette; at Kansas State; South Alabama

Miami (10-4):  at Missouri; at Minnesota; Cincinnati; Army

Ohio (8-5):      at New Mexico State; Gardner-Webb; Marshall; at Rutgers

Temple (8-4):  Villanova; Penn State; at Maryland; Army

BSU (4-8):      Indiana (at Indy); at South Florida; Army; at Oklahoma

CMU (3-9):      South Carolina State; at Kentucky; at Michigan State; at North Carolina State

EMU (2-10):    Howard; Alabama State; at Michigan; at Penn State

NIU (11-3):      Army; at Kansas; Wisconsin (at Chicago); Cal Poly

Toledo (8-5):   New Hampshire; at Ohio State; Boise State; at Syracuse

WMU (6-6):        at Michigan; Nicholls State; at Illinois; at Connecticut

IMO, Fiami, NIU, Temps and maybe Toledo and WMU probably have the best shots at getting national ranking.  Fiami has a really good team coming back, and their non-conf schedule is all Big 6 and/or bowl teams from 2010.  Only Mizzou is a tough non-conf opponent.  If they go at least 3-1 out of conference, they could crack the Top 25.  NIU, which also has a formidable team coming back, has 2 Big 6 and one bowl team.  They should go at least 3-1, and could knock off Wisconsin (their coach's former team).  Temps won't beat PSU, but could take MD and Army.  It wouldn't surprise me if at least one of these three teams shows up in the polls this season.

 

BG and us  have the worse schedules IMO, but I'm guessing if either won out , they'd be ranked.. You'd think it would real tough for any of the 1-5 win teams winning out this year so the usual suspects (the 8- 9-10-11 win teams from last year probably have some slim chance to win out with the realization that nobody in this league is going to beat Alabama or Ohio State and not likely to beat Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State or Boise for that matter.  Miracles do happen and that's what it would take to get a top 25 team out of the MAC IMO.

First and foremost, the schedule is the schedule so we need to play that and win.  It'll be interesting with big question marks at d-line and quarterback but some lads who could help a lot returning from injury.



Yes, we'd all like to see the 'Cats play a better sched.  First, see my first point; this year we play who we play.  Beyond that, we are limited given the size of Peden and the economics (ticket prices!) of the local area.  So, if (...when) we upgrade the sched, it'll probably be by way of road games mostly.  WIth the occasional decent but not great opponent in Peden.

All that said, it's interesting to see that most of the other schools scheds are significantly better than ours.  Then again, EMU vs. UMich and Penn State, and some of those other games are gonna be about the money, not about the outcome.

Wes said upper quartile of non-BCS, not upper quartile of FBS.

Oh, yeah.  That's right.     

Patience is a virtue.

As far as the New Mexico State game is concerned, they are sick of losing in Las Cruces and beating a team fresh off a bowl game would be a real feather in their cap. They will be bringing it so this game is no cupcake for a team with a new QB.

I know on the road and early will make NMSU a challenge for us. A challenge the Cats will likely be able to meet but do you see NMSU finishing with a Sagarin rated higher than 150? Probably not. I'd rather have a top 50-60 team at home that would drive ticket sales for the entire season.

I hear we are ironing out details for a home and home with Federal Hocking and Parkersburg South...pack 'em in!

Combine that with what could be one of the better Ohio teams under Solich, if a solid QB can be found, and you have the recipe for a very good season, possibly the undefeated one I have been forecasting since i first realized how weak this schedule will be. Let's hope the players are working hard in the off-season to achieve that goal.

The concept of using weak schedules to springboard a program can work at Ohio, as it did at Kansas State. For it to work, you have to have solid coaching that causes the teams to get progressively better, and then as the schedules get easier, winning becomes the norm. Once you achieve that, the program becomes seen as a solid program with a history of winning, and as a program with a stable, competent coaching staff. That in turn causes the the quality of the recruits to rise because that's something important to a lot of recruits - a stable situation with a winning tradition. From that point, then you can start slowly upgrading the schedule at a rate that matches the improvement in recruits, and you can still maintain the stable, winning tradition.

While some here don't like this strategy, I think that Ohio has implemented it very well. The teams have gotten steadily better, and the schedules have gotten weaker, resulting in more and more wins, and now Ohio is starting to develop a reputation as an annual bowl contender.  I think the players now expect to win, and expect to go to bowls, and the same is true of recruits. I believe Ohio's 2011 recruiting class is their best yet. Thus, I think from here Ohio can begin to gradually improve the schedule, and that they can continue to win as they do so.

I'm fairly certain you wouldn't see the change that soon. What you might see would be an announcement in 2012 scheduling a home and home with someone like a Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, or East Carolina for some future years, say, 2016 and 2018. I would envision that the schedule would have no choice but to continue to include a money road game, plus an FCS school in Athens to get the 6th home game. The other two games might, over the next five years, be upgraded from the likes of Louisiana-Lafayette, North Texas State, or New Mexico State to a regional game with a Big East or CUSA school. Thus the home schedule each year would be an FCS school, a regional BCS or CUSA school, and the MAC games. The only way to eliminate the FCS school would be to give up on the idea of 6 home games a year. If you were willing to accept alternating years of 5 and 6 home games, you could replace the FCS games with another home and home.

I'll go on record and predict that overall our scheduled opponents will end up being much better than the end of year ratings last year.  I expect Rutgers, Marshall, BG, CMU, NMS, Akron and Ball State all to be better than last year.  Call me crazy, but we'll see at the end of the year.