Just saw this posted
Home games include Alabama and Penn State and road games include at USC and at Iowa and at Michigan.
Not exactly an easy slate of games, but with playoffs expanding to 12 teams perhaps strength of schedule will become more important.
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Is the Alabama game at Lambeau?
From what I heard the Bama game is home and home series. So Alabama at Camp Randall in 2024 and Badgers at Bryant Denny Stadium in 2025.
The LSU game at Lambeau was incredible but I actually think Alabama in Madison - especially if it’s a night game - would be bananas.
The 2025 schedule includes road games at UCLA and Alabama, along with home games against USC and Ohio State and Iowa, amongst others.
On paper, 2024 and 2025 are arguably their two toughest football schedules ever.
The Alabama game will be an interesting one to evaluate. For all intents and purposes, it's like playing a team composed of NFL rookies, but with a bunch of guys that will be 1st round picks.
Alabama has 21 5-star recruits from the 2021-24 classes. That is supplemented by 60 (SIXTY!) 4-star recruits in those same classes.
Wisconsin has one (Nolan Rucci) 5-star recruit in the 4 classes. They do have 12 4-star guys.
If you lose to Alabama by a non-embarrassing margin (say something like 38-24) you won't lose much in the rankings. The risk you run is getting blown out in a game were you are behind something like 31-7 at the half. The problem then is that it's hard to make it respectable even if Alabama puts in their backups, because every back-up they have is a 4-star recruit.
I love the fact UW is playing Alabama. It’s even better that it’s a true home and home. I may make a trip to Tuscaloosa.
Kids want exposure and you know those two early season games will be featured in prime time. I hope that the Madison home game is at night as the atmosphere will be electric.
I’ve already checked into the U$C road game and have reached out to buddies on the left coast. Just make sure if you attend that game to guard your shit. It’s in a horrible area.
I hope the USC game at Madison is late in the season. Those Cali boys might not like the cold.
@Tschmack posted:I love the fact UW is playing Alabama. It’s even better that it’s a true home and home. I may make a trip to Tuscaloosa.
Kids want exposure and you know those two early season games will be featured in prime time. I hope that the Madison home game is at night as the atmosphere will be electric.
I’ve already checked into the U$C road game and have reached out to buddies on the left coast. Just make sure if you attend that game to guard your shit. It’s in a horrible area.
Richie Rich Private school USC in a horrible area? I mean, Compton is close by, but c’mon man. If you don’t go out of your way to mess with people they don’t mess with you.
Pretty awesome this Inter conference play against major teams though. Hopefully the new recruits are up to the task.
One tip is take a shuttle to the Coliseum for the USC game. We went to the Packers-Ram game there, parked on the westside, took the metro train east and it was great. No traffic.
@MichiganPacker posted:If you lose to Alabama by a non-embarrassing margin (say something like 38-24) you won't lose much in the rankings. The risk you run is getting blown out in a game were you are behind something like 31-7 at the half. The problem then is that it's hard to make it respectable even if Alabama puts in their backups, because every back-up they have is a 4-star recruit.
I remember those days when OK and NE were about 6 deep at tailback. They'd get a big lead and call off the dogs by putting in the reserves. They'd have 4 guys with 100 yards and really ran up the score because those guys were trying to earn playing time. Barry Switzer and Tom Osborne.
I wouldn’t drive and park my ride anywhere near the Coliseum. It’s pretty rough around there.
BTW I lived in So Cal for a period of time and there are plenty of areas around LA you simply don’t visit. South of downtown is one of them. My roommate at the time (who lived there his entire life) told me stories of people he knew getting held up or car jacked. One of our good friends got car jacked in the middle of the day. I had a motorcycle that got stolen while out there.
As for the schedule, I think it’s really cool they are playing some of these other teams. A game at UCLA would be pretty fun as well.
UCLA plays in Pasadena, a very safe area.
It’s not necessarily “nice” around Marquette either, but not sure I ever felt unsafe being around that campus. The Coliseum is a different matter, not unlike when the Forum was still in existence.
If you could Uber or shuttle to the Coliseum that’s cool but don’t think I’d park and leave my vehicle and walk there. At night? No way in hell.
Pasadena and Rose Bowl is pretty especially the backdrop. I’m sure you will get a lot of people from the Midwest that want to see road games there.
Honestly I’ve never been to LA outside of the airport. That doesn’t sound awesome. I just get annoyed at folks who won’t go into the city because of reported crime. I live in downtown St. Louis, which overtook Detroit as the homocide capital. Crime happens, but I’ve personally never had any issues walking/biking/driving here or across the river in East St. Louis.
"homocide capital." Didn't know we kept that statistic
Keep your head on a swivel wherever you roam. From the Fox River Valley to Simi Valley. Every place is safe til it isn’t.
I parked 2 blocks from the Coliseum, no prob, felt very safe. Had my catalytic converter sawed off in the Minneapolis suburbs. Ya never know.
Maybe it’s gotten safer around there. I can tell you in early to mid 90s it sure wasn’t.
Lived in Mpls for 10 years. Never was concerned. Now some places are complete hell holes.
I do have to wonder if that Bama game will be at night. I would bet good money good old Saban is pulling strings to make sure that game is NOT under the lights. But, I agree if that game is at night that would be freaking awesome.
So a friend of mine told me that the BIG will no longer have divisions starting in 2024. I haven't heard that before and if they still have the BIG title game we should get used to OSU vs. USC or Michigan every year.
Not sure long term about divisional alignment, but what will or should continue are the key rivalry games. So O$U will continue to play UM. Michigan will still play Michigan State. The Badgers will continue to play Iowa and Minnesota. Even U$C will still play a team like UCLA.
Given it’s a very early season game, I would be shocked if Bama and UW isn’t a night game.
So I guess there will no longer be divisions starting in the 2024 season. Also, each BIG school will have a home and home with every team in the conference no less than every four years and they will also will be playing a nine game conference schedule.
My biggest hope is that they continue the Big Ten title game they keep it in Indy. We got on a renewal system for our tickets to that game. As long as we buy our four seats we get to keep them in the same location. The only bad news about that is that I think I have seen UW play there four times and I have never seen them win. And not only that game but I have never seen in person UW win a football game.
