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PSU’S NON-CONFERENCE SLATE IS A JOKE
A quick glance at the Big Ten’s non-conference football schedule indicates that Penn State will likely be the least prepared squad of all the league’s upper echelon teams when it heads into conference play on Sept. 27.
That’s because the Nittany Lions have, once again, an almost embarrassingly weak pre-conference slate that is, clearly, inferior as compared to the other Big Ten programs that have legitimate bowl aspirations and beyond. The only others with a similarly unimpressive string of tune-up games are Indiana, Minnesota and Northwestern, the three teams that are expected to finish in the basement of the 2008 standings.
Penn State’s non-conference schedule would be a complete joke if it wasn’t for a Week Two clash with Oregon State. But don’t give Penn State too much credit for playing this game. The Beavers (9-4 in ’07) are only coming to Happy Valley because they did not require the Lions to make a return trip to Corvallis. app
The remaining non-league games are against Coastal Carolina, Syracuse and Temple, who were a combined 11-24 a year ago. Like Youngstown State in 2006, Coastal Carolina is a Div. I-AA program, and like Florida International last fall, its program is in its infancy (established in 2003). Temple is improving under head coach Al Golden but the Owls have just eight wins in the last five seasons.
And the lone road trip is to Syracuse, which was 2-10 in 2007. And with only seven victories since 2005, it is a program in the midst of the worst stretch in history.
All of the other upper-tier Big Ten programs will play at least one challenging road game:
-- Conference favorite, Ohio State, has a Sept. 13 showdown at Southern Cal.
-- Michigan travels to South Bend to take on Notre Dame.
-- Michigan State opens the season at California.
-- Wisconsin plays at Fresno State.
-- Iowa visits Pittsburgh.
-- Illinois tackles Missouri in St. Louis.
-- And even Purdue has a more adventurous slate, playing at Notre Dame and hosting Oregon. And unlike PSU, the Boilermakers will be making a return trip to Oregon in 2009.
This fall, the Lions face a brutal mid-season stretch that includes four Big Ten road games out of five, including games at Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Iowa. Will they be prepared to play a quality team in a hostile environment? -- NEIL GEOGHEGAN.
That’s because the Nittany Lions have, once again, an almost embarrassingly weak pre-conference slate that is, clearly, inferior as compared to the other Big Ten programs that have legitimate bowl aspirations and beyond. The only others with a similarly unimpressive string of tune-up games are Indiana, Minnesota and Northwestern, the three teams that are expected to finish in the basement of the 2008 standings.
Penn State’s non-conference schedule would be a complete joke if it wasn’t for a Week Two clash with Oregon State. But don’t give Penn State too much credit for playing this game. The Beavers (9-4 in ’07) are only coming to Happy Valley because they did not require the Lions to make a return trip to Corvallis. app
The remaining non-league games are against Coastal Carolina, Syracuse and Temple, who were a combined 11-24 a year ago. Like Youngstown State in 2006, Coastal Carolina is a Div. I-AA program, and like Florida International last fall, its program is in its infancy (established in 2003). Temple is improving under head coach Al Golden but the Owls have just eight wins in the last five seasons.
And the lone road trip is to Syracuse, which was 2-10 in 2007. And with only seven victories since 2005, it is a program in the midst of the worst stretch in history.
All of the other upper-tier Big Ten programs will play at least one challenging road game:
-- Conference favorite, Ohio State, has a Sept. 13 showdown at Southern Cal.
-- Michigan travels to South Bend to take on Notre Dame.
-- Michigan State opens the season at California.
-- Wisconsin plays at Fresno State.
-- Iowa visits Pittsburgh.
-- Illinois tackles Missouri in St. Louis.
-- And even Purdue has a more adventurous slate, playing at Notre Dame and hosting Oregon. And unlike PSU, the Boilermakers will be making a return trip to Oregon in 2009.
This fall, the Lions face a brutal mid-season stretch that includes four Big Ten road games out of five, including games at Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Iowa. Will they be prepared to play a quality team in a hostile environment? -- NEIL GEOGHEGAN.
posted by Nittany Lines at
11:30 AM
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