And another note about the schedule. At least this year, Michigan had the toughest schedule in all of college football.
I don't really know why MAC teams have been scheduled the last couple of years. But it's interesting to note that OTHER BIG TEN teams have done the same. This can only mean that there is either and implicit or explicit agreement between the B10 and MAC conferences. Of course, I don't know how the B10 benefits from these games, but that's besides the point. Maybe they schedule because it's close, or because B10 teams want more home games ($$$).
Also, the B10 is a powerful conference. If you schedule tough non-conference games, you also have to play tough in-conference games. For example, Texas and USC don't have this problem.
And a note on ND's schedule. Why don't you schedule teams that will be good NEXT YEAR, not the YEAR BEFORE (UCLA, PSU). And don't tell me ND doesn't have cupcakes (all three service academies) and average teams (Stanford, Purdue, UNC and MSU) that are very much like the Wisconsin's, Minnesota's and Northwestern's of the world. That's 9 of 11 games. Michigan has ND (if you're good next year, of course) and OSU.
And yeah, it wouldn't kill ya to beat MSU. It's not like they're any good.