To be clear, are you guys advocating we play Sam Houston State and Maine, or Temple and Rice? I'm 100% all-in for "cupcake" games, as long as they're FBS cupcakes.
Here's how I'd configure the "ideal schedule" given our parameters.
5 ACC means on "average" we play the equivalent to the "#2" ACC team each year as one of the 5 games. Sometimes more, sometimes less as it's impossible to project years out. But consider we on average probably have at least 1-2 marquee games here from the quality of opponent (FSU, Clemson, or whoever is up)... on top of good rivalries (BC, Miami, etc.) that will be intriguing because of the opponent regardless of talent.
Stanford. USC. Two borderline stone cold locks for difficult opponents/marquee games.
Navy. Mandatory. Gets you to 8.
From there, we should play one regional team (Purdue, MSU, Indiana, Northwestern, Cincinnati) to get to 9.
Then we should play a Shamrock Series game against a middle-tier (BYU, Vanderbilt are ideal... someone like TCU, Utah, Colorado, Washington, Cal also works... or Wisconsin or Nebraska if you really want to up the ante, but definitely not someone who is considered a national title contender) opponent somewhere good that impacts recruiting or visibility or brand presence. That's 10.
Add 1-2 more academies or Rice or any CUSA equivalent. That's 12.
This gives you:
-3 "easy" games against non-Power 5 opponents... standard operating procedure for every team but ND.
-Likely 3-4 very difficult opponents that will be "big games" in terms rankings.
-Your full ACC slate incorporated, which gives you a lot of east coast and southern exposure for recruiting.
-1 regional game for minimal travel and a good-not-super-great opponent in what will be an intriguing game or home-and-home. Also helps maintain the Midwestern roots for recruiting.
-1 hyped game against a beatable opponent anywhere in the world that you want to put it for Shamrock Series.
The schedule will feature USC or Stanford at the middle or end depending on year... so you know that, and you sandwich byes or cupcakes around those two games as possible for starters. You open the year with a cupcake followed by your "regional" game.
Hard enough, manageable enough, and exciting enough. What it lacks in "WOOO BRING IT ON OKLAHOMA!!! COME AT ME BULLDOGS!! WE'LL PLAY ANYONE" it makes up for an expected win total of probably +2 a year.
