College Football 2011:15 Teams That Rigged Their Schedules with Timely Bye Weeks
Scheduling is a beautiful thing.
College football teams know this.
That bye week sometimes gives and advantage that is hard to measure.
These teams know when to schedule their byes for the optimum planning opportunity against their toughest competition.
While some of them are not the most successful programs in football history, they are all good at one thing-scheduling for an advantage.
Learn from them...
15. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
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The Yellow Jackets have a rivalry with that other school in their state...Georgia.
This rivalry game takes place yearly in the last game of the season.
Tech also has a run-in with Virginia Tech two weeks prior to their tangle with the Dawgs.
Somehow, GT managed a bye week just in time to plan for Va. Tech and rival Georgia....
Must be nice.
14. UNLV Runnin' Rebels
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Bobby Hauck has to replace some key starters for his Runnin Rebels squad, and their scheduling of bye weeks should help him plan for their toughest match-ups.
Two bye weeks, one just before Nevada, the other just prior to Colorado State and Boise State.
The Rebels should have time to prepare for their toughest competition of the season in those two weeks...
13. West Virginia Mountaineers
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Listen, Syracuse is going to make a run at the conference title next season.
The Mountaineers will be struggling to stay at the top of the heap as well.
They play each other on Friday, October 21.
And while they both, conveniently, have bye weeks just before that game, it's the Mountaineers second bye week that puts them on this list.
WVU has theirs the week before the "Backyard Brawl" with Pitt.
Hopefully the Panthers are ready for anything.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
12. New Mexico Lobos
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The Lobos one-upped their conference counterpart UNLV, by placing their bye weeks directly prior to their games with BSU and Nevada.
Let's be honest.
It's not going to matter. These guys are atrocious.
Watching them is almost as bad as watching Bud Selig speak.
11. Michigan State Spartans
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The Spartans fooled us all last season into thinking they might be legitimate contenders.
We then realized after bowl season, they might be the sixth best team in the SEC.
Oh well, that was then.
This season, the Spartans have a tough one with Notre Dame early, but will face a coachless Ohio State bereft of their star offensive players.
So the Spartans did the only logical thins, and placed their bye immediately before a tough three game stretch.
The Spartans are off on October 8, immediately before back to back home games against Michigan and Wisconsin.
After Wisconsin they must travel to Lincoln to take on the Cornhuskers, so if you ask me, that bye couldn't have come at a better time.
10. Auburn Tigers
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We have all enjoyed the Auburn bashing, especially Alabama fans.
But somehow, it's so much fan to pick on them.
While they will not have double digit wins next season, the Tigers will be jockeying for position in the SEC bowl hierarchy come season's end.
Their bye falls on November 5, followed by Georgia, Samford and then the Iron Bowl.
In reality, Chizik and co will be planning for the Iron Bowl in that week off, as they will lose to Georgia and beat Samford with the same degree of difficulty...
How convenient.
9. Idaho Vandals
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It doesn't make a difference where the Vandals have their bye weeks, they are still awful.
But at least they try.
Their off weeks are just before their games against Nevada and Hawaii, the two toughest conference games on the schedule.
Don't worry, Vandals, someday Boise State will slide back into relative obscurity, and then the absolutely abysmal style of football played by your team won't be alone in the state of Idaho...
8. USC Trojans
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Lane Kiffin may be the most dishonest, entertaining guy in the world of college sports, but that doesn't stop his current school from planning to win.
The Trojans only have one bye week, and this is not quite so egregious as some of the other scheduling we will see in this list, but the Trojans take their week off, just before they face Cal, Notre Dame and Stanford.
That is the toughest stretch on their schedule, and fortunately for Mr. Kiffin, they have a bye just prior.
7. Colorado State Rams
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How do these people plan this stuff?
You can't make these things up.
The Rams are not going to be very competitive, but that did not stop them from scheduling to give themselves a shot.
Once again, another team with an off week before Boise State, and the Rams take it even further by scheduling another one just prior to their game against San Diego State.
This is significant because the Aztecs may very well be the best team in the conference after Boise State.
6. Syracuse Orange
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Once again, the Orange have a bye week just prior to their match up with WVU.
But that wasn't enough for them, they had to have another.
And they sure picked a good time for it.
Syracuse will need all the time they have to prepare for the high-octane offense of Cincinnati.
What the heck is a Bearcat anyway?
5. Penn State Nittany Lions
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As far as conference schedules go, the Nittany Lions have got it figured out.
JoePa's boys face the dregs of the Big Ten in their first five conference battles, including Purdue and Indiana.
Iowa, Northwestern and Illinois could all give them a run for their money, especially if PSU's QB play is still awful, but every one of those games is manageable.
Then the scheduling gods were not exactly kind to PSU.
They have their bye on November 5, followed by a brutal three game stretch.
The Lions host Nebraska, then travel to Columbus and Madison in back-to-back weeks.
Firtunately, they know when to schedule their byes...
4. Texas Longhorns
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Yes, that is Garrett Gilbert squinting to see his receivers, he just needs some contacts, and all along we thought he was just overrated.
Who knew?
But seriously, the 'Horns are one of the few teams in the Big XII to have two bye weeks in the season.
They fall within a month of each other and between them, like the inside of a sandwich, sit two games in which Texas will be overmatched...
Bouts with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are right between those bye weeks.
Of course, to throw us off the scent of some conspiracy, UT plays Iowa State coming off of the first bye week, but in reality, playing the Cyclones is usually the same as an extra bye...
3. North Carolina Tar Heels
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Really, when you look at The Tar Heels' schedule, it's tough to tell which game will be the toughest.
No really, James Madison is a good team, and-no they have one good, solid opponent all season: Virginia Tech.
A trip to Clemson might be challenging, and if Miami gets their QB situation figured out, they will be tough, but on paper, it looks like Va. Tech is the only team that will really push UNC.
Coincidence that their bye week falls immediately before that game?
Nope...
2. Cal Golden Bears
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Ah, Cal coach Jeff Tedford.
He stands for truth, justice, and the American Way...no wait that was the United Way.
Wrong guy.
In reality, Tedford stands for good scheduling practices.
The Golden Bears' toughest games of the season will be a trip to Autzen Stadium, October 6, to take on the Ducks, followed by their match-up with USC.
The fighting Tedfords have the week before the game with Oregon to plan what to say in theor post game press conferences regarding the speed of the team that trounced them.
1. Oklahoma Sooners
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The Sooners are at the top of many preseason rankings, and with good reason.
But that is not the only list they top.
Have you checked out their schedule?
While the Big XII has prove to be competitive over the last several years, there is no one on their schedule who should really challenge them-except for Florida State, and in state rival Oklahoma State.
Guess when the Sooners have their two byes.
One week prior to each of those showdowns...
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
