TheLoveBandit
Retired Never Was, Coulda been wannabe
Non-conference matchups, I'll throw my .02 on that one as well. A lot of teams do what Tressel and Meyer have done - pick in state, but small and beatable, schools. Reason being, you are a state school, funded by tax dollars, and a lot of people don't want you paying that money to out of state schools. They'd rather see it spent on in-state programs so they can improve both from the beating experience and with the financial windfall. UF has FAU or FIU later this year, OSU picked up Kent and YSU and Akron I think. I've no problem with Texas playing TCU or Rice. The problem becomes when you've got a situation like we have in the state of Florida or California - try to find a Div I team (if possible) that you can schedule to help your ranking and keep the money in-state, but don't pick one that can beat you. Our state capital is in Tallahassee, and they passed a law requiring that we play FSU every year, so that's not an option. But having good teams in-state, that's a big reason UF dropped playing MIA on a regular basis, and why I don't think you'll see USF on our schedule anytime soon. If UCF can get their stuff together better, they may also stop getting scheduled against us - we can't afford the non-conference loss, both in the polls and in recruiting. Notice TENN dropped Memphis after losing that matchup 
KY still pulls in WKY and such. Poor Idaho and Montana...who the hell can they pull in 
I am curious, however, as I think schools are told their conference schedule, but allowed to fill in the gaps how they want. But I wonder if some schools try to sell themselves to a conference - as I see Troy has made the rounds with Alabama, Florida, and Georgia?
cNb - where is SOS rankings listed? I looked but couldn't find them on ESPN.
Oh, and RC - MICH is *not* the best team OSU will face this year. WISC may not be as good as advertised (who is this year?), and ILL will quickly figure out it's not used to winning and return to old ways (god love ya, zookie), but MICH is not the toughest matchup other than the rivalry aspect.
KY still pulls in WKY and such. Poor Idaho and Montana...who the hell can they pull in I am curious, however, as I think schools are told their conference schedule, but allowed to fill in the gaps how they want. But I wonder if some schools try to sell themselves to a conference - as I see Troy has made the rounds with Alabama, Florida, and Georgia?
cNb - where is SOS rankings listed? I looked but couldn't find them on ESPN.
Oh, and RC - MICH is *not* the best team OSU will face this year. WISC may not be as good as advertised (who is this year?), and ILL will quickly figure out it's not used to winning and return to old ways (god love ya, zookie), but MICH is not the toughest matchup other than the rivalry aspect.
