The Michigan Shade
by Kyle Golik
After Tuesday’s press conference, Penn State head coach James Franklin didn’t endear himself to the rest of the conference's coaches and potentially toward one of his nemesis in Jim Harbaugh and Michigan.
In today’s Fact or Fiction, Mike Farrell believes it was a direct shot toward Michigan; you be the judge.
This question was posed to Franklin: "Last month, you were asked about scheduling teams like Delaware, and you said there was pretty good data to suggest that scheduling like that in the non-conference helps teams win championships and get to the playoff. Do you see that approach to non-con scheduling changing or staying the same with a 12-team playoff arriving soon?"
Franklin’s full response is as follows:
Yeah, I would say there's a team in this conference, specifically, that's buying out of a ton of game contracts that are already signed, to go in the complete opposite direction. No, I don't think it's changed.
I would say you could even make the argument it's magnified and that's why people are changing their schedules because you look at who people are going to have to play, just in our conference, it's going to be even more challenging than it's ever been.
I don't think the philosophy or the model has changed. You've got to do whatever you possibly can to give yourself a chance, number one, to be undefeated at the end of the season, to your point, with a bigger playoff, there's probably a little bit more wiggle room in terms of, right now it's kind of undefeated or at-most one loss, and then on top of that, if you're not scheduling to be undefeated, you're scheduling to have the least amount of losses possible to give yourself a chance to be in the Playoffs.
There's another team in this conference that has had a ton of success the last couple years, and again, I think it would follow the same argument. So no, I don't think so, and from the ADs and head coaches and people I've talked to, if anything, I think it magnifies it even more.
A lot of fans and media, notably Chris Balas, feel it was a direct shot at Michigan.
Last season marked the first time in 78 years Michigan played an out-of-conference schedule that didn’t have a Power 5 opponent or Notre Dame. Most of this was due to Michigan buying out or canceling, depending on who you ask, a series with UCLA in 2019, set for 2022 and 2023, to ensure Michigan had seven home games.
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While other teams have been guilty of this across the country, like Georgia canceling a series with Oklahoma due to the Sooners joining the SEC, it is the nature of college football at times. Ohio State had canceled a home-and-home with Georgia back in 2012 for 2020 and 2021, and a series with Washington was canceled with Ohio State for 2024 and 2025 due to the Huskies joining the Big Ten.
While Michigan may have skated with a softer schedule in 2022 and 2023, the scheduling gets infinitely harder for Michigan next year, with Texas being on their out-of-conference schedule and Oregon, Southern Cal, UCLA, Michigan State, and Ohio State. In 2026, Oklahoma is on the out-of-conference schedule, and in-conference Oregon, Penn State, Iowa, UCLA, Michigan State, and Ohio State are all on the slate.
Needless to say, all will be right with the Wolverines' schedule. The template the rest of the country uses is that they schedule a Power 5 opponent, a Group of 5 opponent, and an FCS money game. That seems to be the standard.
Franklin, according to Penn State source Christopher Hess, wasn't even trying to target the Wolverines. Instead, he was referring to the Indiana Hoosiers for avoiding their game with Louisville.
Where I don’t buy that is why is Indiana’s scheduling such an issue, and if you read between the lines of Franklin’s response where people are really believing it is Michigan, it is this line, “You've got to do whatever you possibly can to give yourself a chance, number one, to be undefeated at the end of the season.”
I can tell you in all my years following the Big Ten, outside of the freak show 2020 season where Indiana was nationally relevant, they haven’t sniffed the Top 10, let alone be undefeated. I don’t buy Franklin’s intent was Indiana; it was Michigan, specifically Jim Harbaugh.
There was no benefit of Franklin stoking the Michigan fire, a Michigan team that Franklin has a 3-6 record against. The direct shot against a team that has embarrassed Penn State in three of its last four wins, scoring an average of 44 points a game, including the embarrassing physical demolition where Michigan had 418 yards rushing against the defense.
If Franklin wanted to deliver the best revenge, get the result on the field, with a physical display. The mouth games win absolutely nothing behind the microphone if you can’t back it up on the field.
