For those who aren’t quite aware of the coverage situation, it basically breaks down like this:

• ABC gets first choice for every weekend in terms.
• Big Ten Network has 2nd choice half the weeks, 3rd the other half.
• BTN gets to”play the second choice card”at their discretion.
• Each Big Ten team must be on BTN at least once per month.

There are more nuances, but these are the relevant aspects of the deal for now. The Big Ten Network played their second choice card this week, and they have 2 of them left. Michigan must be covered in November. Their November games are as follows:

• November 3 Michigan @ Michigan State
• November 10 Michigan @ Wisconsin
• November 17 Ohio State @ Michigan

These are all big games, with Ohio State definitely slated to appear on ABC, and one of the other two having to be on the Big Ten Network. The November 3rd weekend Big Ten schedule looks like this:

• Wisconsin @ Ohio State
• Michigan @ Michigan State
• Purdue @ Penn State
• Illinois @ Minnesota
• Iowa @ Northwestern
• Ball State @ Indiana

…I think you can figure out where this is headed by now. The Wisconsin @ Ohio State game is already locked into ABC. The Big Ten has a second-choice card left. They will play it in a week that a) gives them the bet game they can get, and b) puts a ton of pressure on Comcast.

The Michigan/Michigan State game is almost guaranteed to be on the Big Ten Network. Please note that this is mostly speculation, but it is not without good sources.

Posted under Misc., Personnel

Thanks to Brian’s link to College Football Resource, we have been afforded the ability to figure out some of the good non-conference games that we could have seen if not for the scourge of I-AA opponents. In the sake of bowl eligibility, money, and various other reasons, I-AA teams have been added to the schedules of many teams. To fix this, the NCAA must eliminate (or reduce) the ability of teams to schedule tomato cans.

Here are some of the non-conference matchups you won’t see. When picking them, I paired teams with similar prestige levels, geographic interest, or other reasons (i.e. The Michigan-Hawaii game on Sept. 1 was going to happen, but was nixed by Hawaii’s athletic department, as they are trying to sneak into the BCS this year, and didn’t want to risk a loss). When all the most interesting possibilities were used, I just paired up the remaining teams, which still allows for some paycheck games (Florida-Louisiana Tech comes to mind). Obviously, matchups between two teams in the same conference were not allowed.

Aug. 30
Boise State-Louisville
Cincinnati-New Mexico State

Sept. 1
Air Force-Kentucky
Fresno St-Rice
Michigan-Hawai`i
Indiana-Vanderbilt
Florida-Louisiana Tech
Maryland-Texas A&M
North Carolina-South Florida
Northwestern-Ohio U
Alabama-Ohio State

Left out:
Southern Miss

Sept. 8
Arizona-Kansas
Connecticut-Georgia Tech
Idaho-Northern Illinois
Illinois-Iowa St
Pittsburgh-Purdue

Left out:
Army

Sept. 15
Alabama Birmingham-Baylor
Clemson-North Carolina St
Georgia-Wisconsin
Kansas St-South Carolina
Kent St-Marshall
Louisiana-Lafayette
Memphis-Nevada
Oregon St-Rutgers

Sept. 22
Central Michigan-UTEP
Eastern Michigan-Tulane
Hawai`i-Western Michigan
Mississippi St-San Diego St
Missouri-Virginia Tech

Left out:
New Mexico

Sept. 29
Boston College-Oklahoma St
Bowling Green-New Mexico St
San José St-Texas Tech

Oct. 6
Arkansas-Toledo

Oct. 20
Brigham Young-Minnesota

Nov. 24
Houston-North Texas

There are still a few weeks where there is only 1 I-AA matchup, or the two I-A teams are in the same conference, but still, this is a far more compelling schedule than the way it shakes out in the real world.

Posted under Analysis

On ESPN.com:

“Big East. The conference everybody loved to dismiss before 2006 is must-see TV this fall with three Top 25 teams (Louisville, Rutgers and West Virginia) and a potential sleeper (South Florida). The league is littered with Heisman candidates (WVU’s Slaton and Pat White, Louisville’s Brohm and Rutgers’ Rice) and great young coaches (WVU’s Rich Rodriguez, Louisville’s Steve Kragthorpe and Rutgers’ Greg Schiano).

Big Ten. Outside of Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State and reloading Ohio State, few Big Ten teams have a legitimate chance of making the postseason. Michigan State and Minnesota have new coaches, and Illinois, Indiana and Northwestern continue to struggle. No wonder people are jumping off the Big Ten bandwagon.”

-Mark Schlabach

The Big East has 3 top-twenty five teams. Very neat. The Big Ten has 4. The Big East has a sleeper in South Florida (in the “others receiving votes” in the USA Today Top 25). The Big Ten has an “other receiving votes” as well, in Iowa, as well as a legitimate sleeper in Illinois, who has been stockpiling talent under Ron Zook, and returns 19 starters, including 9 from a defense that was, if not spectacular, certainly a bright spot for the team. (36.4% teams top 25 B10, 37.5% teams top 25 BL, with no top 5, and 1 top ten to the Big Ten’s 3)

The Big East has four preseason Heisman contenders. Michigan has 3. Wisonsin has one in P.J. Hill, one of Penn State’s skill position players on offense (Morelli or the electric but as-yet disappointing Derrick Williams) could be considered a candidate. Ohio State’s Beanie Wells will receive consideration. Juice Williams from Illinois is a human highlight reel – though he’ll have to stop allowing half of those highlights be for the other team if he wants to be considered. Indiana’s Kellen Lewis is a less electric, but also less mistake-prone version of Juice, and James Hardy is likely to catch touchdown passes over many a defensive back who can’t handle his 6-8-ness. The Big Ten returns 4 first and second team all Americans (would be five if Mario Manningham wasn’t hurt for a significant portion of last year – remember, until the injury, he was a legitimate Heisman contender, not just an all-american candidate). The Big East returns two first and second teamers, along with a third teamer, Rutgers tackle Eric Foster, their only defensive name on the list.

Great coaches? Who cares if they’re young. Give me Tressel over everyone in the Big East any day. In terms of recruiting, there is no better coach in America than Ron Zook (ok, except Pete Carroll, but he has a lot more to work with). Bret Bielema, despite being an asshole, took his team to a one-loss season in his first as a head coach. Oh, did I say don’t worry about age? He’s actually the second-youngest coach in America, only to conference foe Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern.

Bowl eligibility might be little harder to come by if you face a schedule featuring four preseason top-25 teams, as well as another receiving votes, as Illinois and Michigan State must do (Minnesota and Northwestern miss only Penn State). Despite this, Illinois will probably be bowling. At least 5/11 Big Ten teams are mortal locks to go to bowls, and 2 or 3 more likely will. 4 Big East teams will be bowling, and it is unlikely that 6 make it, despite the fact that all but 2 Big East teams (Syracuse and West Virginia) play a 1-AA opponent.

Is it fair to say that the Big East is hot while the Big Ten is not? Certainly not. The real reason peopel are “jumping off the Big Ten bandwagon” is your moronic “journalism.”

Posted under Coaching

As originally planned, Utah was to fill the September 20th open date on the 2008 fotball schedule. This is no longer the case. Utah will instead come to the Big House on August 30th, giving the football team a bye week on September 20th. The schedule will look like this (C&P from MgoBlue):

Posted under Misc.

…per the Free Press. Utah is a mid-major team that is probably better than a lot of low-level BCS teams, so this is a welcome addition, especially since it doesn’t require the promise of a return trip (as Bill Martin demands). That would mean the ’08 schedule is completed as follows:

Sept. 6 MIAMI (OHIO)
Sept. 13 at Notre Dame
Sept. 20 UTAH
Sept. 27 WISCONSIN*
Oct. 4 ILLINOIS* (HC)
Oct. 11 TOLEDO
Oct. 18 at Penn State*
Oct. 25 MICHIGAN STATE*
Nov. 1 at Purdue*
Nov. 8 at Minnesota*
Nov. 15 NORTHWESTERN*
Nov. 22 at Ohio State*

The article also gives confirmation that Carson Butler will rejoin the team, though it’s unclear whether that is based on more than just Lloyd’s vague Big Ten media day(s) statements, with fake sourcing to sound official (yes, real press do that all the time).

Posted under Personnel

…for 25 years. This is a sort of mixed blessing. If nothing else, it gives us a “name” program on our non-conference schedule in perpetuity, even if Notre Dame isn’t actually as good as their unnecessarily good reputation would imply.

On the other hand, it means we won’t be seeing a variety of non-conference foes who are high in the prestige factor. It will be the same old Notre Dame, over and over again, with the occasional foray into middle-of-the-pack BCS programs, with maybe a power here-and-there.

Used to playing Notre Dam,e always, I call this a net wash.

Posted under Misc.

As I have stated in this space before, I am a huge proponent of scheduling teams with a pulse, regardless of whether they even stand a chance of beating Michigan. In the past, I had mentioned Rutgers among the teams that I would like to see Michigan home-and-home with in the future. According to this article in the San Antonio Express-News, Bill Martin is on the same wavelength (it’s buried down there).

Michigan has a hole in its 2008 football schedule, preferring an opponent for the first or fourth weeks of the season. The Wolverines likely won’t play a Mid-American Conference school after already booking two games with teams from that conference.

Wonder if a Big 12 team would be willing to accept the challenge of playing at the so-called “Big House?”

The most likely team would be KSU, particularly as OSU already has a tough home game assured with Georgia as the return from their game this season.

But Michigan athletic director Bill Martin told the Detroit News that his preferred opponent would be Rutgers, particularly if a return game could be arranged to play the Scarlet Knights at the Meadowlands in a later season.

I haven’t yet had the opportunity (desire) to search for Rutgers’s 2008 schedule to determine if they have either the first or the fourth week open. This would be a good thing for Michigan. First, it’s playing against a team that’s on the rise, though not yet among the nation’s elite. Plus, it affords the ability to technically schedule a home-and-home with some added benefits.

The home leg would function as any other part of a home-and-home series, with the home team (in this case Michigan) taking all the gate money, and the teams splitting TV money. The away leg, however, is where things get interesting. Bill Martin has long desired to play a game in the Meadowlands, which is conveniently located in New Jersey (as is Rutgers(!)). This is to bring the UM football product near New York City, where a large number of alums live. Martin would likely refuse to play at Rutgers unless the game was moved to this venue. Since Rutgers would be unable to fill the stadium without one of the biggest draws in collegiate athletics (this is pretty much speculation, but I’m guessing second to Notre Dame football), Michigan would take some of the gate money, in addition to the even split for TV money. A large proportion (certainly not half, but much much greater than for any other away game) of the fans would also be Michigan supporters, easing the challenge of playing on the road for the Maize-and-Blue, as well.

In conclusion: YAY!

Posted under Misc.

Game times for the football contests against Oregon and Notre Dame have both been announced. Both home games will be on ABC at 3:30 PM. Oregon is a likely candidate for College GameDay to show up in Ann Arbor. Both teams will be undefeated (Oregon will have played Houston, Michigan will have played App. State), and it will be an opportunity for GameDay to show up in Ann Arbor, where they haven’t been since the 2003 OSU game. A potential hurdle is the fact that ND @ Penn State that day is also on ESPN, and ESPN has a hard-on for Notre Dame, despite the fact that ND shuns ESPN.

The Notre Dame game is a possibility, but less likely, as Notre Dame would have to beat
Georgia Tech (which they should), in addition to upsetting Penn State to be undefeated in week 3.

The other games with times already announced are the Purdue game for homecoming, which will be at noon, and the Illinois road game, which will be at 8:00 PM (7 local). Neither game has had its television coverage announced. The Appalachian State game time (and network)
should be announced sometime in June or July, and the rest of the game times will be announced after the start of the season.

If Wisconsin and Michigan both do as well as they are expected to this year, the road contest in Madison will assuredly be a night contest, and a likely candidate for GameDay as well. Michigan should probably be undefeated at that point, with the toughest game against Penn State, and Wisconsin would likely be as well, though they will have to get through Iowa, Ohio State, and Penn State.

Posted under Misc.