Hogs schedule New Mexico St in 2017

[Hawgar The Horrible]

The Hogs are due for a lighter OOC schedule. And considering the caliber of conference teams they face on the road in 2017, it will serve them well.

Yeah, getting bloodied prior to conference play is always a good idea. SMDH.

[Hawgar The Horrible]

Again, what has Arkansas won?

Iron sharpens iron.

Not a damn thing. What's behind curtain #3 if they win the SEC West with an 8-4 record? Not a damn thing.

[ricepig]

Again, what has Arkansas won?

Iron sharpens iron. 

Ok, Real man of Genius, tells us who you'd schedule if you were the AD. You're quick to retort, what has Arkansas won, let's see your brilliant plan. You've got to schedule 4 OOC games, with a minimum of 3 at home, you've got a budget to think of, you know?

[j-mann]

i beat New Mex St 59-7  in ncaa 14    and they are    Basically a  1-AA school    and i was mad giving up the 7 

[factchecker]

I'll throw one scheduling scenario I want to happen:

Move the AnM game back to the campus.

Then do one of the following:

Schedule Texas as a permanent non-con in the SW Classic   

or

Rotate old SWC (SMU, TCU, RICE, Texas etc.)  through the SW Classic game in Dallas.

[woodhog14]

I'll throw one scheduling scenario I want to happen:

Move the AnM game back to the campus. - Won't happen until the contract runs out at best. We made A&M keep the game in Dallas because they wanted to play LSU on Thanksgiving. That was our condition. A&M wants the games on campus.

Then do one of the following:

Schedule Texas as a permanent non-con in the SW Classic - Texas would never agree to that.  

or

Rotate old SWC (SMU, TCU, RICE, Texas etc.)  through the SW Classic game in Dallas.

[factchecker]

Agree with all your points but we're throwing out ideas.

I hate losing a conference game to a neutral site.  We scheduled the SW Classic when AnM was non-con.

Heck, we could move the SW Classic to Black Friday if we were able to schedule a permanent non-con with Texas.

We have a large alumni base in Texas.  The Texas rivalry would bring much more attention than a game with Mizzou.  It would almost be like playing a mini-bowl game before bowl-season.

Will never happen because my scenario is impossible.

[ricepig]

Salting the question right off the bat I see. 

Until you unencumber your self from the pursuit of money as the primary goal, success on the field is going to suffer.

Arkansas does NOT need 3 home OOC games - it has plenty of money.

Do you want to chase money or success because if you chase both you'll get neither. 

You have no idea of any of this, just pure B.S. My next question, why does it matter to you? We had this discussion years ago on FF, you're not a fan of the Razorbacks, you stated that quite emphatically. What makes you think you're any smarter than the rest of the SEC AD's?

[ricepig]

These were Sagrin's SOS numbers as of Dec 1, 2015 for all teams:

Sagarin Strength of Schedule – Overall Top 25

1. Iowa State
2. Kansas
3. Texas
4. Maryland
5. Alabama SEC West
6. Arkansas SEC West
7. California
8. LSU SEC West
9. USC
10. Georgia Tech
11. Auburn SEC West
12. Oregon State
13. South Carolina
14. Virginia
15. Texas Tech
16. Stanford
17. Arizona State
18. Vanderbilt
19. Notre Dame
20. Oklahoma
21. Washington
22. Ole Miss SEC West
23. Pittsburgh
24. Miami (FL)
25. Oregon

So here's more fuel to the fire burning the claim about Arkansas' SOS being so onerous (Only Miss State and A&M are missing from that list). 
5 SEC West teams in the Top 25 SOS
3 SEC West teams in the Top 10 SOS (with Auburn at 11).

Lesson: Most everyone in the SEC West plays a tough schedule.  These are the teams Arkansas has to catch and pass. 
A better OOC schedule is one factor in Arkansas's control that can help narrow the distance and playing the Acorn State's of the world is not helping that cause.

So, who are you going to play in that October/November OOC spot? Most other conferences aren't available due to their schedules, so? Now, if, and when we go to a 9 game conference schedule, then you've eliminated 1 " OOC game.

[ricepig]

I realize it is too late for 2016, do we want to start there or with 2017? 

Why would you answer that question, you missed several others in the thread. You're trolling, carry on.

[wildhogman]

These were Sagrin's SOS numbers as of Dec 1, 2015 for all teams:

Sagarin Strength of Schedule – Overall Top 25

1. Iowa State
2. Kansas
3. Texas
4. Maryland
5. Alabama SEC West
6. Arkansas SEC West
7. California
8. LSU SEC West
9. USC
10. Georgia Tech
11. Auburn SEC West
12. Oregon State
13. South Carolina
14. Virginia
15. Texas Tech
16. Stanford
17. Arizona State
18. Vanderbilt
19. Notre Dame
20. Oklahoma
21. Washington
22. Ole Miss SEC West
23. Pittsburgh
24. Miami (FL)
25. Oregon

So here's more fuel to the fire burning the claim about Arkansas' SOS being so onerous (Only Miss State and A&M are missing from that list). 
5 SEC West teams in the Top 25 SOS
3 SEC West teams in the Top 10 SOS (with Auburn at 11).

Lesson: Most everyone in the SEC West plays a tough schedule.  These are the teams Arkansas has to catch and pass. 
A better OOC schedule is one factor in Arkansas's control that can help narrow the distance and playing the Acorn State's of the world is not helping that cause.

You say iron sharpens iron. Ok bamma was one spot ahead of us on this list. what was their OOC schedule?  Pray tell they didn't play any cupcakes or else there is no way they would have won the playoffs. Because they must get their yearly supply of this sharpening iron stuff you speak of

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Most everyone in the SEC West plays a tough schedule.  These are the teams Arkansas has to catch and pass. A better OOC schedule is one factor in Arkansas's control that can help narrow the distance and playing the Acorn State's of the world is not helping that cause.
[/size]

The only thing that is going to help Arkansas in the West is beating those teams in the West and scheduling more big name OOC opponents in the process isn't going to make them more prepared to play better against the difficult conference schedule that we already possess.

As far as recruiting goes, win more and more consistently with the schedule we already have and everything else will take care of itself.

[ricepig]

You're a moron. 
Carry on.  And keep thinking small - you're good at it obviously. 

Oh, name calling, how cute. I was trying to bring it down to your level, something you could grasp. How is any of this, thinking small, you should really stick to Vilonia soccer, it suits you better.

We've already scheduled TCU and Michigan for the next 4 years, it blows your theory of playing a tough game out of the water, try to keep up. I've asked you twice to play AD and come up with a schedule, all you want to say is iron sharpens iron, b.s.

[WilsonHog]

Tone down the rhetoric or leave.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

MuskogeeHogFan -

Here's the rub - Arkansas isn't (at least yet) recruiting as well as Alabama, so how can one reasonably expect to close that gap? 
Arkansas can't settle for the approach that says do everything Alabama does just as well because they can't recruit as well to Fayetteville. 
It will never be a situation where all things are equal between Arkansas and Alabama - Arkansas is going to have to do some things better than Alabama to close the gap. 
Getting football players to Fayetteville is harder than getting them to Tuscaloosa and whatever the reason for that discrepancy is, it is prudent to recognize it, have a plan of attack to address (and hopefully close) the gap. 

As an aside, one could make the same arguments between Arkansas and LSU but a smaller gap exists between the two. 

The recent addition of analysts to the staff is a positive step - leave no stone unturned in the quest for improvement - but merely being satisfied with doing the same as Alabama or LSU is very unlikely to close the gap between the schools. 

I don't know why others can't see this. 

I don't think that you have some kind of special insight in all of this that none of the rest of us possess. Alabama and LSU benefit from years of national name brand recognition, NC's and more importantly, the number of players that they put in the NFL Draft, that makes them a huge draw for the more talented athletes that tend to gravitate to those schools.

The best way for us to overcome this or at least even the playing field is by doing exactly what this staff is doing in player evaluation and finding underrated or under-valued athletes that fit our mold and have a supreme commitment to the methodology of our program and all that this entails. Win more and the average value of the recruit that considers us, will increase.

Playing some OOC marquee schools that have recently had some national success like TCU and Michigan may help to some degree, but it is the overall record in the SEC and the bowls we attend and win that will help us more than anything.

[Steef]

MuskogeeHogFan -

Here's the rub - Arkansas isn't (at least yet) recruiting as well as Alabama, so how can one reasonably expect to close that gap? 
Arkansas can't settle for the approach that says do everything Alabama does just as well because they can't recruit as well to Fayetteville. 
It will never be a situation where all things are equal between Arkansas and Alabama - Arkansas is going to have to do some things better than Alabama to close the gap. 
Getting football players to Fayetteville is harder than getting them to Tuscaloosa and whatever the reason for that discrepancy is, it is prudent to recognize it, have a plan of attack to address (and hopefully close) the gap. 

As an aside, one could make the same arguments between Arkansas and LSU but a smaller gap exists between the two. 

The recent addition of analysts to the staff is a positive step - leave no stone unturned in the quest for improvement - but merely being satisfied with doing the same as Alabama or LSU is very unlikely to close the gap between the schools. 

I don't know why others can't see this.

Last year, our 3-4 stars did just fine against Bama's 4-5 stars for 3 1/2 quarters, until depth became an issue.

Year before that, we were a fumbled touchdown away from beating them.

Coaching matters.

[bythelake]

Man, I hate getting into this quick sand of idiocy, but dam.

Seven, the cool saying and the basis of your claim that iron sharpens steel is true.  But you are leaving out so much of the equation that it is NOT even funny, educational, beneficial and certainly not of any value.  I could spell out the negatives of playing a tougher OOC schedule, but I'm trying to give you a way out.  We're going to set back and wait.  Or maybe you can't figure it out.

[Hawghiggs]

 IMHO. I wish we would take a more strategic approach to scheduling.  What I mean by that is. Instead of scheduling Michigan ( which I hate ).  Schedule Kansas or Purdue.  We are far more likely to beat either of those programs as we are to beat Michigan. We need wins, not style points.

[carolinahogger]

Then we will send the basketball team in January. The are a rent-a-win in football.

And we are a rent a win for them (Kansas) in basketball.

[LZH]

When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.

What?

In my mind just now your post was narrated by a vision of Will Ferrell standing in front of a fireplace in a smoking jacket with a pipe in his hand....("ha-tubb").

[Shrevepork]

YAWN

[Inhogswetrust]

And Arkansas is NOT at that level (yet, at this time). 

Why are so many of y'all content to play catch up to the rest of the conference as opposed to getting ahead of the rest of the conference? 
Take the recent addition of the off field staff (analysts) - on it's face, that is a good move but the reality is it only serves to catch Arkansas up to what many of the other conference schools are already doing. 
If Arkansas is going to overhaul the SEC West, it must be proactive in ways other SEC West schools are not if Arkansas is to narrow the gap and potentially overhaul the rest of the teams in the conference. 

OOC schedule is one (of many) factor(s) in that consideration. 

It is hard to understand why so many here are happy with the status quo. 

The status quo for the conference is that ALL teams in it are playing about the same toughness in OOC games. As Rice pointed out the only ones playing ones a little bit tougher are Georgia which plays GT and Florida which plays FSU. All the rest rotate different teams in/out depending on the year and usually have at least one decent game against another P5 team. We've played Texas and USC for example. OOC schedules are relatively the same in difficulty by ALL P5 teams except ND which is an independent.

[Inhogswetrust]

i beat New Mex St 59-7  in ncaa 14    and they are    Basically a  1-AA school    and i was mad giving up the 7 

Imagine how mad Michigan fans were losing to Appalachian State. Upsets like that happen more and more it seems. Unfortunately we had one last year ourselves.

[wildhogman]

You are truly dense.  Enjoy the mediocrity.

I enjoy the hogs when they win or lose. The wins admittedly are more enjoyable. I have heard mediocrity so much.  I also heard that CBB would never do better then .500 in sec play and keep us at best middle of pack. News flash, he broke .500 in year 3 with a defense that was in trouble from the opening kickoff of the first game, and a special teams that seemed to have forgotten how to make field goals. 
In short, the chef is in the kitchen, he has been adding ingredients for a while now.  He is stirring the batter getting everything ready.  I believe I will wait until the cake is out of the oven before proclaiming it just a so-so cake or one of greatness. And no matter how he achieved it, let us not forget this chef has been to more BCS bowl games then the 2 previous coaches combined. He must be doing something right, no?

[ricepig]

I think Bielema (and the football program on the whole) is definitely on the right track.  It may be the case that Arkansas is building the best foundation for success since going the SEC.  If that's true, I hope they are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to removing or addressing impediments toward success.  The recent addition of analysts certainly supports the idea that the philosophy of leaving no stone unturned is in practice.  Now the challenge is to produce improvement on the field.

Building on Steef's earlier point, when the program starts to attract a greater number of 4-5 star players (as opposed to 3-4 star) that will be one tangible sign of progress.  Getting the talent to Fayetteville is a distinct and more difficult challenge than it is to Tuscaloosa and Baton Rouge as Arkansas cannot be content to offer a 'similar' experience and expect to attract talent in the numbers and quality to overhaul the top teams (not yet anyway).  Differentiating the Fayetteville experience - making it something a player can't get elsewhere - will help the program attract talent and that means going above and beyond any standard currently in place in the conference.  That is what I'm driving at.   

So, playing one of the toughest schedules isn't enough, by scheduling all P5's we'll get those 5*?? No, recruiting our current way and improving our W/L's will help bring in better talent. I didn't figure you as a star gazer, I guess I was wrong.

[hobhog]

Certainly those things happen - just like at Rutgers. 

But I still like the idea of playing teams in the northeast U.S. because there are a lot of players in that area without a lot of power schools in the immediate area.  Among other goals, OOC games should have a strategy that helps open new recruiting areas.  Doing that is far more valuable than chasing another home game against a rent a win opponent.

Exactly why we have no incentive to play ASU.

[ricepig]

Being wrong must be fifth nature to you by now.

Never being right is first for you.

[Wildhog]

Good.  We should schedule our OOC games so that we're 4-0 in them.  Our SEC schedule is more than tough enough.

[ricepig]

Good.  We should schedule our OOC games so that we're 4-0 in them.  Our SEC schedule is more than tough enough.

I have no problem playing a home and home with a P5, or the occasional neutral location game, but the fans need and want home games, the athletic department budget does too.

[Wildhog]

I have no problem playing a home and home with a P5, or the occasional neutral location game, but the fans need and want home games, the athletic department budget does too.

Sure.  Schedule Illinois or Wake Forest or Syracuse, etc... as our OOC P5 opponent. 

[ricepig]

Sure.  Schedule Illinois or Wake Forest or Syracuse, etc... as our OOC P5 opponent. 

Don't forget Kansas or Colorado!

[LZH]

Don't forget Kansas or Colorado!

Kansas!.... here here! (hear hear!)

[Mitch C]

I live in Cloudcroft New Mexico.  NMSU is about an hour and a half from me.  You guys are selling them short.  The would give any Northwest Arkansas High School a good game. 

[Mitch C]

UNM wouldn't be any better.  They barely beat NMSU.  I am on or by the UNM campus several time a month.  I am bigger than half their players

[Inhogswetrust]

Certainly those things happen - just like at Rutgers. 

But I still like the idea of playing teams in the northeast U.S. because there are a lot of players in that area without a lot of power schools in the immediate area.  Among other goals, OOC games should have a strategy that helps open new recruiting areas.  Doing that is far more valuable than chasing another home game against a rent a win opponent.   

We played Rutgers and lost, I bet the recruits up there were impressed........................

[Hogtimes]

Michigan is lined up for 18/19, and Texas for 20/21. The formula we're probably moving toward is one P5, two G5s, and an FCS. We'll likely get a NIU/Toledo type for the fourth OoC game, which I'm honestly fine with. Five or six of the eight SEC opponents we're going to face will probably be ranked, so playing a TCU team that will also likely be ranked serves our schedule just fine. We don't need Oregon, Florida State, Ohio State, and Oklahoma on our OoC slate every year.

I think Texas is a only one game  ....left from a previous series