https://twitter.com/ZachOsterman/status/2084327020205396405
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
makes sense
I would think it would be obvious when the initial deal was inked that we would not want play an nd game in the middle of the B1G season
nd says they want to change the date so they can pick up usc who demands early game or no deal.
we decide not to bend and give up our original date and nd chooses usc.....fine
cancelation by mutual agreement
the IU backing out bullshit is just that
oh, and by the way, screw nd
the hypothetical champion every year since 1988
Right, that says, as said in other news articles, it helped Notre Dame with USC.@openwheel I linked it in our article and put the quote from Pat Forde in.
https://twitter.com/nicoleauerbach/status/2084321240676708675?s=46&t=4fHxv5TjMwb9yQxqnydLOg
So even though multiple articles say it helped ND schedule USC, ND had never asked for any favor?
I might believe that.
Indiana's silence though is more damning.
At least say ND wanted to changed the agreed upon breaded tenderloins back to only hot dogs, and we couldnt do that.
Hey Dolson!
Please schedule and cancel three or four series every year. So the announcements get lost in the noise. When it's just one series every year you bail on, it's news.
This is pretty much a PR clusterfock.
Has the IU Athletics PR dept been MIA for the last month or longer when this decision was in motion?
@middawg I would and I think others would feel differently if IU came out and said we canceled so we could start a series with a Kentucky or Missouri or something.
Right now it seems like IU is ducking ND. It’s a PR nightmare.
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Yeah, it is. But I'm not sure Cig cares. It just hurts our egos as fans.@middawg I would and I think others would feel differently if IU came out and said we canceled so we could start a series with a Kentucky or Missouri or something.
Right now it seems like IU is ducking ND. It’s a PR nightmare.
@gros-louis You're probably correct about Cig. I just don't like letting ND and the national media control the narrative on something they have been picking at for 2 years now. It could be prevented very simply, but you're right.
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It sucks, but I get it.
With a 9-game conference slate, my non-con scheduling philosophy was always:
Phase I (NEED a bowl game): 1 FCS and 2 lower G6
Phase II (regular-ish bowl team): 1 FCS, 1 average G6, 1 lower tier P4
Phase III (contender): 1 low G6, 1 average G6, 1 marquee game
I get why they scheduled ND when they did coming off 2019 & 2020 with high expectations that didn't pan out on schedule. I also get that my old philosophy & what was the deal when they booked the series in '21 is out the window with a 12-team playoff.
I don't think anyone currently at IU is particularly afraid of ND, but I definitely see them questioning the upside.
Tom Osborne made a career out of beating up lesser teams. So it's not like scheduling a top-5 schedule has historically been a requirement. Plus, a 9-game B1G schedule will usually run you into enough ranked teams that if you win you've put together your resume.
Until Dolson and/or Cig publicly say something on this, anything... like "Both teams ended up changing their priorities, we'll look forward to more chances to play them in the CFP"... logically its hard to not come to the conclusion that IU was the initiator for this change. Getting USC back on their schedule is a big deal for ND. But so was playing IU. Notre Dame had the power to play both of them before B10 season started. Maybe not ideal, and puts them back in to a situation where they're playing potentially their 2 most difficult games in weeks 1-3. But I suspect they were adding USC either way, with or without IU wanting out.
I think its a huge mistake for Dolson and Cig. Those 2 games, win or lose, would have been another big step in elevation for our program. And for the game in Bloomington, it would have been guaranteed sell out, highest revenue game of season, type stuff.
In the end, they have a strategy... overall its obviously working. But man, just can't get behind ducking these games.
I don’t like it. I think it’s a mistake, but not on the magnitude of a “huge” mistake.
We don’t need this game to elevate the program. The title did that. And we have plenty of tough conference games that will be bellwethers.
We are unfortunately gonna have to live with the weak OOC approach. Kinda stinks, but I guess Cig thinks it’s the best strategy. I’d guess he is worried about being ready for these sort of games? He has reasons.
I do wish IU was more proactive on messaging. There is no avoiding the question on what happened… so get out ahead of it.
I think its a huge mistake for Dolson and Cig. Those 2 games, win or lose, would have been another big step in elevation for our program. And for the game in Bloomington, it would have been guaranteed sell out, highest revenue game of season, type stuff.
In the past we needed games like ND to sell out the stadium. Currently, we have a waiting list for season tickets and are selling out vs teams like Howard and North Texas.
Other programs will hang it over our head but as long as it has no impact to our ability to make the playoffs, I honestly don't care. Other teams will adapt to do what we are doing until the committee shows us otherwise. My only fear is if we do have a loss or two, it's possible just the perception that we try to go all cupcakes in the non-conf schedule, it could come back to bite us. Right or wrong, I could honestly see the committee using us as an example to push teams to schedule tougher, if ever we were near the bubble.
There are 100% arguements that it was a prudent move. I am just disappointed. I hated the game when IU scheduled it because as a program IU wasn't there yet and it was just to use ND to fill seats.
However, under Cignetti IU is ready to schedule up if they really wanted to. The game would have been great for both fan bases. It was the season opener in 2030 and the build up would be fantastic.
I would have felt better if IU came out with something like we didn't want to get in the way of a rivalry that is important to CFB and we look forward to finding a new high-caliber opponent to do a home-and-home with or we are starting a series with a boarder rival.
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@yothn In an answer to both you and Tammany... agree, we'll sell out most of our games for the foreseeable future. But an ND game versus a weaker opponent, and/or lesser name... brings in the possibility of Game Day, Big Noon type atmospheres, more people coming just to be around the stadium, more everything.
And while the Natty, Mendozas Heisman, Cig's continued incredible sound takes, all of it... 100% are establishing IU as a national power. And really all that matters is they keep winning games, and keep making CFPs... I get that. But playing these HUGE pre conf games is what most of the Big, Big dogs are doing nowadays. To me, scheduling 3 easy non conference games was a great early strategy. But winning the Natty, landing guys like Sales... where the program is trending in many ways... to me, I fear that IU ducking major pre conf games will become a huge talking point. And that will stick with them. And if/when they do end up dropping a B10 game or two... it'll have a magnified effect on their perception, CFP chances, all of it.
I think it was a HUGE mistake.
we look forward to finding a new high-caliber opponent to do a home-and-home with or we are starting a series with a boarder rival.
..... Illinois State. vbg