03-15-2012, 04:04 PM
The whole "let's play other schools with good academic reputations" feels like a pre-Harbaugh mentality. We only get 3 out of conference games a year and to use one to play a "smart team bowl" feels like a waste. We're trying to build an elite football program, that should be your focus. Does it help recruit more to play Northwestern or tOSU? Would we help our BCS bowl bid more with a win over Vanderbilt or over Alabama (well, clearly losing to Alabama and tOSU won't help at all). If we're going to dream big, we should schedule big. And for the casual fan, I'd much rather see us play a variety of teams, and try to get some big boys on the schedule.
Of course, Northwestern is not to a team to overlook. And playing them a couple of times would be fun. But if it's not a premier program, I don't see the value in establishing a rivalry with them, except that it allows us to play a game every other year in the Big Ten's back yard, which we will have a decent chance of winning (assuming our program stays on its current course.) Maybe I undervalue being able to tell recruits in rust belt that your family and friends can catch a live game twice during your college career. If anything, we're already exposed to that region via the Neuter Dame series, so why not focus on getting a home-away series with a game in the south?
Of course, Northwestern is not to a team to overlook. And playing them a couple of times would be fun. But if it's not a premier program, I don't see the value in establishing a rivalry with them, except that it allows us to play a game every other year in the Big Ten's back yard, which we will have a decent chance of winning (assuming our program stays on its current course.) Maybe I undervalue being able to tell recruits in rust belt that your family and friends can catch a live game twice during your college career. If anything, we're already exposed to that region via the Neuter Dame series, so why not focus on getting a home-away series with a game in the south?