I find it quite entertaining that Bob Fescoe uses the opportunity to take a swipe at Bill Snyder’s scheduling practices. If I were as insufferable a K-State homer as Fescoe is for KU, I might remind him that Mark Mangino — a former assistant under Snyder — used the exact same model to take KU to the Orange Bowl that Missouri should have played in. Oh, did I just do that? Well, never mind then.
Anyway, it’s not surprising that Snyder doesn’t like the new schedule. He’s expressed disdain in the past for Thursday night games, early Saturday kickoffs, restaurants using butter instead of margarine and slow food service. The man has his routine, his players have their routine, and he doesn’t like anything to upset either. From my perspective, I don’t think the new schedule will affect much. With Nebraska gone, we lose one of the tougher tests in the North. Unless the team replacing them from the South is Oklahoma or Texas, it’s a push or possibly even an easier game. Put it this way: would K-State have rather played Nebraska last year, or Baylor, Texas A&M, or a Dez Bryant-less Oklahoma State?
Finally, why does a three-game non-conference schedule suddenly mean schools can’t schedule cupcakes? I guess I’ve never understood the reasoning behind that. K-State can still play teams from the Sun Belt, WAC, MAC, etc. in the non-conference. From a monetary standpoint, I hope they don’t buy their way out of the upcoming contracts with Miami, Virginia Tech and Oregon, although I hope they don’t play two BCS AQ-conference teams in any one non-conference season. I guess the long and the short of it is that I see this discussion of the new Big 12 schedule as much ado about nothing.