Why do we bother with OOC games?

If we play Patsy's, like most do (including us the next few seasons) the games are boring and don't prove much. Plus it's harder to fill a stadium. If we play a quality team like Boise, we risk being down-graded for not winning by enough, or worse, losing and risk making the playoffs.

Teams also risk injuries. As many teams did in week 1, like Okie St losing their starting left OT.

It used to be that strength of schedule mattered, but clearly the playoff committee doesn't see things the same as fans do as evidenced by the last few years selections.

The 24 team playoff idea seems to require 10 season games against Power 4 opponents. Maybe it's time to drop the OOC wimps.

So tell me, what is the value, purpose, or goal of the 3 OOC games each year?

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by DanLduck

In my view, quite simply, is to start shaking out all the rust and exposing any weaknesses early on to address. This was exemplified against BSU where sloppy play resulted in lots of penalties and an error prone return game. It also allows for experimentation on the OL with unexpected line-ups to see how they work together.

Given the now chaotic nature of rosters due to the transfer portal and NIL, the OOC games give valuable time to tweak and refine before the regular season starts. I don't think it's reasonable to expect that teams should be playoff ready before the first game of the season.

1 hour ago, DanLduck said:

Why do we bother with OOC games?

If we play Patsy's, like most do (including us the next few seasons) the games are boring and don't prove much. Plus it's harder to fill a stadium. If we play a quality team like Boise, we risk being down-graded for not winning by enough, or worse, losing and risk making the playoffs.

Teams also risk injuries. As many teams did in week 1, like Okie St losing their starting left OT.

It used to be that strength of schedule mattered, but clearly the playoff committee doesn't see things the same as fans do as evidenced by the last few years selections.

The 24 team playoff idea seems to require 10 season games against Power 4 opponents. Maybe it's time to drop the OOC wimps.

So tell me, what is the value, purpose, or goal of the 3 OOC games each year?

Today, playing tough opponents OOC is senseless. The risk does not equal the reward.

But it's a 12-game season, and no conference wants to play 12 P4 opponents.

Autzen was sold out for Boise State, likely will be sold out for Portland State, and the SEC stadiums were packed for donut-hole games. That's millions of dollars for OBD in concessions, sales of team merchandise, and parking fees.

These home games also mean millions of dollars for Lane County and for small businesses in Lane County.

But go to a 24-team field, and a B1G/SEC football challenge, like with volleyball, will be too rich to turn down and will make up for the money lost from eliminating conference champ games.

2023 - PO champion Michigan - No P4 opponent OOC

2024 - PO champion Ohio State - No P4 opponent OOC

2025 - PO champion Indiana - No P4 opponent OOC

But the SEC will not approve a 24-team PO without the Big Ten playing 10 P4 opponents; Tony Petitti has agreed to do so.

Agree. Zero incentive to play good teams in OOC right now. I would like to see the committee have a metric for SOS (NET or RPI like in hoops) and would have no issue with a 9-3 team getting in over a 10-2 or 11-1 team from the Power 2. However, until the committee takes that step, this is what we are stuck with.

Unfortunately, the only thing that matters is number of losses.