Weighing Pro's and Con's of the 2010 Schedule

Here is my take on the 2010 schedule as of now.

Pro's- Looking at the schedule, the non-conference schedule seems pretty weak. However, given the state of IU football it is extremely important that we get back to a bowl game next season. This schedule will set us up nicely to go 4-0 in non-conference play and then we will only have to win 2 big ten games to become bowl eligible. Before we went to the insight bowl our recruiting class only had 5 three star recruits. After the bowl game appearance our recruiting class jumped to 13 three star recruits providing our roster with some instant impact players and quality depth that will improve the football team for years to come. By making a bowl game next season and increase the quality players in the next years recruiting class, we can stock up some much needed talent before our schedule add's teams like Mizzou, USF, Virginia, Navy etc...

Con's- It might be a little bit harder for fans to get pumped up for the Towson, Arkansas State and Akron games. Top recruits like to see big games scheduled on a teams schedule to get them more media attention and more nationally viewed games. One of my other concerns is that it won't prepare us as much for big ten play then other BCS schools would. We play three straight weaker opponents and then have to play Michigan and Ohio State back to back to kick off big ten play. Less attendance will lead to lower football revenues and it seems like a daunting task to sell out games against weaker opponents.

This season will be detrimental in allowing the coaching staff to sell the idea of IU being a program on the rise to future recruits. It is extremely important to have a bowl game appearance next season so we can get a boost in recruiting before our schedule gets tougher in the future. We played a lot tougher this season than the last season and we are getting close to turning the corner in this program and another bowl appearance could get the wheels on the bus rolling again.

What do you guys think of the 2010 schedule? Is it too easy? Just what the doctor ordered?