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2018 strength of schedule

When I was a kid my father would look for a good pitching matchup before taking me to a baseball game. My first game was at Candlestick Park and I saw Juan Marichal against Bob Gibson. I have always preferred to see good competition win or lose.
You probably saw some beanballs in that one!
 
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When I was a kid my father would look for a good pitching matchup before taking me to a baseball game. My first game was at Candlestick Park and I saw Juan Marichal against Bob Gibson. I have always preferred to see good competition win or lose.
When we were kids, we always said trying to hit Bob Gibson's fast ball was like trying to hit aspirin tablets.
;)
 
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This doesn't make me happy. I guess I've been deluding myself that the 2018 schedule was kinder and gentler than what we endured last season.

Still, I like 5 conference home games (versus 4 in 2017), and 7 home games overall.

Remember, biggest two differences are: not so back to back front loaded against the murderers row of B10 like this season was. And a bye week in about week 7 or 8, when it could be really useful for rest/rehab. Last year was week #2!

And finally, new players, few new coaches and a new mindset! I see 7 wins as the floor! (Bold but I stand by it!)
 
I'd prefer a top 27 strength of schedule versus a top 7 one but, as I said down below, it's a great recruiting tool in that you can sell a prospect on the fact that the scouts love seeing how a guy really does against NFL ready competition.

A guy can really showcase and separate himself by playing well against this type of schedule And by doing so throughout the entire season prove he's no flash in the pan.

If I'm a high school guy who felt the big boys Alabama, etc..., missed on him, then IU is his chance to prove it and get it on tape over 13-14 games.

I guarantee you the guy who's seen as a key reason we beat Ohio State and go on to win the Big Ten Championship and our Bowl game is going to make about 32 NFL teams scramble to draft him...
 
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Remember, biggest two differences are: not so back to back front loaded against the murderers row of B10 like this season was. And a bye week in about week 7 or 8, when it could be really useful for rest/rehab. Last year was week #2!

And finally, new players, few new coaches and a new mindset! I see 7 wins as the floor! (Bold but I stand by it!)
Great points.

Also, no Wisconsin (hooray).
 
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This is a huge negative for the future of IU football, it really is. What's going to transpire is fairly obvious to anyone with half of a brain.

When lowly Illinois and Minnesota start playing in January 1st bowl games, playing in the Big Ten Championship game, etc., that's when IU fans realize how rotten this East division really is. Delany shit on IU and could not care less!
 
This is a huge negative for the future of IU football, it really is. What's going to transpire is fairly obvious to anyone with half of a brain.

When lowly Illinois and Minnesota start playing in January 1st bowl games, playing in the Big Ten Championship game, etc., that's when IU fans realize how rotten this East division really is. Delany shit on IU and could not care less!

Well he's done that pretty much forever... All we can do is embrace the challenge and attack it.

There's one certain positive from this "fans" perspective: at least we won't have to listen/ read all that crap about how we don't play anyone...:confused:;):cool:. Although I'm sure they'll still be someone out there complaining about our pre-Big Ten schedule...

You know how it goes: Why didn't we schedule Alabama instead of FIU...etc..:(:confused:
 
This is a huge negative for the future of IU football, it really is. What's going to transpire is fairly obvious to anyone with half of a brain.

When lowly Illinois and Minnesota start playing in January 1st bowl games, playing in the Big Ten Championship game, etc., that's when IU fans realize how rotten this East division really is. Delany shit on IU and could not care less!

Meh. Ultimately, I think there will be a negative feedback loop in the West, diminished overall quality of play in that division will then hurt their recruiting further diminishing quality of play. While they may win some more division games from time to time, the decrease in overall quality will make it harder for them to win OOC games and cross-over games with the East.
 
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This is a huge negative for the future of IU football, it really is. What's going to transpire is fairly obvious to anyone with half of a brain.

When lowly Illinois and Minnesota start playing in January 1st bowl games, playing in the Big Ten Championship game, etc., that's when IU fans realize how rotten this East division really is. Delany shit on IU and could not care less!
Feel free to lump me in the "less than half a brain" category, because it's not obvious to me.

Look, it's no secret that we're in one of the toughest divisions (and perhaps the toughest) in college football, but you play the hand you've been dealt. And we've been playing that hand much better over the last few seasons than we had for decades. We've taken Michigan to overtime in two of the last three games. We beat Michigan State in '16. We came within four yards of tying (or beating) Ohio State in regulation in '15. We belong on the same field with these guys for the first time in forever, we're playing super-competitive games against them, and it's no longer unrealistic to anticipate some Ws among this group. And I don't care what team it is or what conference - - there's some ebb and flow to all of this. MSU, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State are not all going to be Top 15 teams, every season, in perpetuity.

Allen and his staff have put together a recruiting class that has exceeded everyone's (at least everyone who's being honest with themselves) expectations. We don't have a full picture yet of how good a head coach he's going to be, but he's already demonstrated that he's a recruiter, and we know his teams are going to play defense. If we're able to field a productive offense in the next couple of seasons, a special season becomes more likely, leading to even more impressive recruiting. There's hope here, notwithstanding the rigors of Big Ten East play.
 
This is a huge negative for the future of IU football, it really is. What's going to transpire is fairly obvious to anyone with half of a brain.

When lowly Illinois and Minnesota start playing in January 1st bowl games, playing in the Big Ten Championship game, etc., that's when IU fans realize how rotten this East division really is. Delany shit on IU and could not care less!
Feel free to lump me in the "less than half a brain" category, because it's not obvious to me.

Look, it's no secret that we're in one of the toughest divisions (and perhaps the toughest) in college football, but you play the hand you've been dealt. And we've been playing that hand much better over the last few seasons than we had for decades. We've taken Michigan to overtime in two of the last three games. We beat Michigan State in '16. We came within four yards of tying (or beating) Ohio State in regulation in '15. We belong on the same field with these guys for the first time in forever, we're playing super-competitive games against them, and it's no longer unrealistic to anticipate some Ws among this group. And I don't care what team it is or what conference - - there's some ebb and flow to all of this. MSU, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State are not all going to be Top 15 teams, every season, in perpetuity.

Allen and his staff have put together a recruiting class that has exceeded everyone's (at least everyone who's being honest with themselves) expectations. We don't have a full picture yet of how good a head coach he's going to be, but he's already demonstrated that he's a recruiter, and we know his teams are going to play defense. If we're able to field a productive offense in the next couple of seasons, a special season becomes more likely, leading to even more impressive recruiting. There's hope here, notwithstanding the rigors of Big Ten East play.
May be an ebb and flow but when 3 of the 4 you mentioned have easier strength of schedules, makes Hill that much more difficult.
 
May be an ebb and flow but when 3 of the 4 you mentioned have easier strength of schedules, makes Hill that much more difficult.
Yeah, I think it was Jud Heathcote who used to say that Indiana always had an easier basketball schedule when Knight was here because they didn’t have to play Indiana and everyone else did.

Same holds true here but it also looks like some of the big boys put together a challenging Outside schedule.

We just have to lace ‘em up and see what we can do. I’m just very very happy that we now stay with these guys occasionally and feel that CTA will begin to be able to knock one off once in a while.
 
You probably saw some beanballs in that one!
I think it was the next year that Marichal hit the Dodger catcher Roseboro over the head with his bat
I'd prefer a top 27 strength of schedule versus a top 7 one but, as I said down below, it's a great recruiting tool in that you can sell a prospect on the fact that the scouts love seeing how a guy really does against NFL ready competition.

A guy can really showcase and separate himself by playing well against this type of schedule And by doing so throughout the entire season prove he's no flash in the pan.

If I'm a high school guy who felt the big boys Alabama, etc..., missed on him, we are his chance to prove it and get it on tape over 13-14 games.

I guarantee you the guy who's seen as a key reason we beat Ohio State and go on to win the Big Ten Championship and our Bowl game is going to make about 32 NFL teams to scramble to draft him...

I would look at the recruit and say "son, you are going to be playing is a bowl game atmosphere against big time opponents all season long"
 
When I was a kid my father would look for a good pitching matchup before taking me to a baseball game. My first game was at Candlestick Park and I saw Juan Marichal against Bob Gibson. I have always preferred to see good competition win or lose.

as a kid, dad us to games in old old Bush Stadium, (Sportsman's Park).

got a foul ball hit into the stands one night.

pitched by Marichal, fouled off by McCarver.

can't remember the St Louis starter that night.
 
as a kid, dad us to games in old old Bush Stadium, (Sportsman's Park).

got a foul ball hit into the stands one night.

pitched by Marichal, fouled off by McCarver.

can't remember the St Louis starter that night.
Yeah, I remember those days. In the early '60s Dad took me over to see a double header with the Pirates. I got to watch Stan Musial and a very young Roberto Clemente have a home run contest.
 
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