[Husker] cupcake games / schedule

[Patrick Gaule]

Nick Chevance wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 10:39 AM, William E. Laughlin
> <weldoc52 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>Thanks to Pat Gaule for his detailed analysis and research!  I appreciate
>>it, and it solidly demos his opinion that scheduling these weaker teams is a
>>more recent trend.
> 
> 
> I too really appreciate all that hard work, Pat.  Good job.  Though I
> could quibble with how some teams are listed as cupcakes and others
> not from major conferences (I specifically remember some pretty good
> Sonny Lubick teams at Colorado State that were far from cupcakes even
> though they played in the WAC), overall the work is excellent and does
> demonstrate how the non-conference schedule has lost its punch.

I don't mind the quibbles at all.  My "research" was pretty rushed and I 
admit that it was not very scientific.  If I ever get the time, I may go 
back and look at the non-conference opponents and see how their final 
records stack up throughout the years.  It seems that NU's final 
strength of schedule ranking has been noticably lower in recent seasons 
(going off the Sagarin ratings), than it was in the late 90's and early 
part of this decade.

With the NCAA-mandated "12th game", it's understandable that Nebraska 
may have to play 2 "cupcakes" a year.  However, I would still like to 
see 1 game against a respectable mid-major (teams like Fresno State, 
Utah, BYU, or Marshall), and 1 game against a top-tier BCS team, such as 
Tennessee, Miami, or even Washington; in spite of the fact that the 
latter two teams are not very good at the moment.  Judging by the games 
that Osborne/Pelini have scheduled so far, it seems that they agree. 
Playing 3 cupcake games is too many, especially when ticket prices are 
over $50.