[FarmBoy]

Just so we're clear, I have nothing against UVA as a program. They seem to have decent teams and are more competitive than their history. But I do think they will be viewed as a cupcake, just a step above Duke and Vanderbilt. Losing to UVA would be seen as a significant sign of program weakness, regardless of the quality of UVA.

Honestly, I don't care about maximizing our chances of going undefeated via scheduling magic. I want to see Stanford play great football against great teams. Win or lose. The ACC will continue to be devalued as the SEC, Big12, B1G, and Pac12 consolidate power. So a game against them in 2017 could be on par with a game against the MWC.

I also think Hank91 brings up a great point about time zone. I'm sure the UVA games will be scheduled for pre-school games, but traveling 3,000 miles to play a game is not easy, especially for 18-22 year olds. Before we beat Duke last year, we had a pretty substantial streak of losing non-Bowl games in the Eastern time zone. I don't have the data, but I remember before the 2009 Wake Forrest game, they made a big deal out of the fact that we hadn't won out there in a while.

Additionally, the scheduling theme of "the top academically oriented BCS schools" could tend to pus us in a box. Instead of comparing ourselves to Texas, Michigan, and Georgia, we want to compare ourselves to Northwestern, Duke, and UVA.

[FarmBoy]

Just so we're clear, I have nothing against UVA as a program. They seem to have decent teams and are more competitive than their history. But I do think they will be viewed as a cupcake, just a step above Duke and Vanderbilt. Losing to UVA would be seen as a significant sign of program weakness, regardless of the quality of UVA.

Honestly, I don't care about maximizing our chances of going undefeated via scheduling magic. I want to see Stanford play great football against great teams. Win or lose. The ACC will continue to be devalued as the SEC, Big12, B1G, and Pac12 consolidate power. So a game against them in 2017 could be on par with a game against the MWC.

I also think Hank91 brings up a great point about time zone. I'm sure the UVA games will be scheduled for pre-school games, but traveling 3,000 miles to play a game is not easy, especially for 18-22 year olds. Before we beat Duke last year, we had a pretty substantial streak of losing non-Bowl games in the Eastern time zone. I don't have the data, but I remember before the 2009 Wake Forrest game, they made a big deal out of the fact that we hadn't won out there in a while.

Additionally, the scheduling theme of "the top academically oriented BCS schools" could tend to pus us in a box. Instead of comparing ourselves to Texas, Michigan, and Georgia, we want to compare ourselves to Northwestern, Duke, and UVA.