You have to be pretty confident that the schedule cpthomas derived from the other teams is correct with the possible exception of missing a single game.
Tom, You already correctly noted that MK was big about hiding his hand. I think it was more about keeping the competition in the dark, maybe? And schedule publishing is probably not in BP's job description. But whoever has the job of posting schedule is failing miserably!
I am not sure what MK's motivation was in relation to the schedule. All teams know their conference schedules near the beginning of the calendar year, if not sooner and sometimes much sooner. There is no advantage I know of to keep others in the dark about what their non-conference schedules will be. I suspect it has more to do with filling the last slots in the schedule. One thing I have not mentioned previously is that now and then a previously scheduled opponent decides there is some reason they cannot play. I suspect that sometimes can be tactical. But if someone bails out on you, then it leaves you with a slot to fill. It also is possible with FSU this year that they are waiting to complete their schedule as long as possible to see which players they will be losing for part of the season and when they will be gone. That is one situation where it might make sense to see who you want to play to fill any extra opening(s).
CPT, I'm not sure that Mark was super secretive about the schedule. He was secretive about the following, some of which may make sense. 1: New recruits and transfers 2. Spring practice schedule and any games/exhibitions related to that. 3. Injuries (this may make sense) 4. Info about who is looking real good in practices etc.
I have heard that FSU has dropped the South Carolina game. Maybe schedule is still being finalized, and so it is delayed
That is odd that we would drop a home non conf. game. I can only guess that if we did that, it had to do with players leaving for the u20 WC, but we knew that all along so......
From the perspective of scheduling towards the NCAA Tournament, which may be a staff consideration, I can see what may be a problem they are dealing with. Consider the following: This is based on past history and shows a schedule target range for teams to aim for, if they are hoping for an NCAA Tournament #1 seed. It is part of a scheduling resource available to all coaches and there is a pretty good chance the Florida State staff is at least aware of it. At this point, according to what other teams show on their schedules and with FSU not playing South Carolina, and based on last year's final RPI ranks, Florida State has only 5 Top 60 teams on its schedule (South Carolina would have made it 6). The average rank of its opponents is 103.8 (99.6 with South Carolina). In other words, based on last year's ranks and with South Carolina as an opponent, their schedule already was outside the range of teams that historically have gotten #1 seeds. After losing South Carolina, it is even more outside. This, of course, does not mean that they could not get a #1 seed with the current schedule. Also, I think some of the ACC teams that were not in the Top 60 last year will be this year. If I were the coach, however, I would be wary of the current schedule and would be looking to beef it up. However, at this stage of the season, it probably is difficult to get an additional game or games against highly ranked opponents. I would not assume that Florida State withdrew from the South Carolina game. It could be the other way around.
CPT said, "I would not assume that Florida State withdrew from the South Carolina game. It could be the other way around." I know that was a problem last year!
That’s why I was surprised to hear the game was cancelled. Would think FSU would be happy to get an opponent to Tallahassee in august. From my friend, South Carolina was not happy about the cancellation but it was due to a lack of players from FSU
It's obvious BP is the delay in schedule release based on the desired roster for each game. Screwing over another school doesn't factor in the equation for some. As the saying goes for college athletics, "it's not how you play the game but whether you win or lose."
FSU schedule per FSU release via 247 site. 2024 Florida State Soccer Schedule Date Time Opponent Location Aug. 9 7 p.m. TCU^ Tallahassee Aug. 15 7 p.m. at South Florida Tampa, Fla. Aug. 18 6 p.m. North Florida Tallahassee Aug. 22 7 p.m. Rice Tallahassee Aug. 29 7 p.m. Georgia Tallahassee Sep. 1 12 p.m. Villanova Tallahassee Sep. 8 2 p.m. at Florida Gainesville, Fla. Sep. 19 7 p.m. Syracuse* Tallahassee Sep. 22 2 p.m. at SMU* Dallas, Texas Sep. 26 7 p.m. Clemson* Tallahassee Oct. 3 7 p.m. at Wake Forest* Winston-Salem, N.C. Oct. 6 1 p.m. at Virginia Tech* Blacksburg, Va. Oct. 12 7 p.m. at Boston College* Newton, Mass. Oct. 17 7 p.m. Virginia* Tallahassee Oct. 20 1 p.m. Pittsburgh* Tallahassee Oct. 25 7 p.m. North Carolina* Tallahassee Oct. 31 7 p.m. at Miami* Coral Gables, Fla. ^ - Exhibition; * - ACC Game | All Game Times Listed in Eastern Time (ET) | Times Are Subject to Change FSU Release 16 games and 1 exhibition TCU.
Definitely a weaker slate than usual. And seems like a lot of the big teams on the schedule have more questions than usual. I hope a couple of TCU, WF, Va, UNC, Clemson are v high quality teams to offer elite challenges before postseason.
Other than the ACC, who will be the elite teams? UCLA, Arky?, Georgia?, Penn State? Who am I missing?
The above is a picture of Claire Rain w/o any kind of knee brace. Considering how severe her knee injury was, that in and of itself is amazing. IMO, it speaks to her confidence in the knee. Clara Robbins wore a knee brace for 2 years I believe.
I know they lost 3 of their best players in Wade-Katoa, Vaka and Mozingo IOW, I would be shocked if they were top 8 good. Top 25, possibly to probably.
We don't have Duke, ND, or Stanford on the ACC schedule either. Just hope some of the teams on the current schedule are legit top 10 if not top 5 teams. I don't love the odds of teams in any sport going into post-season who haven't been exposed to elite teams in season. Typically would expect a few of them to be, particularly UNC but they have a much wider plausible range of quality this year than .... any time in the last forty years or so? Dunno how much Clemson brings back but obviously Hershfelt and Morris were quality. Was that a 1 year blip for UVa or signs of broader issues? Can Pitt and WF stay on an upward trajectories? Should be an interesting season!
Pitt's coach makes me think he will have the pieces in place to challenge. He at least 2 nattys on his resume', so there's that. UNC is a total mystery to me. Do they overachieve with the "tenacious never say die attitude", or do they collapse under the pressure to perform at the most storied program in women's college soccer? Haven't researched Clemson, but they have a good coach. Dani Davis, Tatum short, Megan Bornkamp is a good start, but losing Mackiewicz is a huge loss. She was a stud!
I wonder how that “tenacious never say die culture” is doing these days. After choking up leads in so many major games the last few years after clear tactical choices by the coaches, imagine that could be demoralizing. Don’t know if that directly contributed to some of the mass exodus there, but they’ve had enough turnover just rebuilding the culture will be a major task. I’ll be curious where they land… could be one of the top teams in the nation or could really struggle (by their standards).
Watch out for USC. They return a high percentage of players, added a few significant transfers, and have a solidly rated freshman class. They only lost 1-0 to BYU in their playoff game in Provo last fall and played them on pretty even terms.