Gold Hoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,578
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Post by Gold Hoya on Aug 24, 2006 11:05:58 GMT -5
NYTimes describes how the 12th game makes it more rewarding to be a Division I-A patsy (or even sometimes a I-AA team). www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/sports/ncaafootball/23college.htmlMy favorite quote: “Getting a game six months prior to the season is like finding a date the night before the prom,” said Nick Carparelli Jr., the Big East Conference’s associate commissioner in charge of scheduling. “All the other girls have already been asked, and you’re left taking what’s left, if there’s anything left.”
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,387
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Post by hifigator on Aug 24, 2006 13:31:25 GMT -5
That is oh so true. We have a game against the powerhouse program ... you know ... the Western Carolina Catamounts.
There was an article in our paper just yesterday about that very thing. Buffalo is the perennial patsy this year. They were 1-10 last season and aren't looking to be much better. But they dropped games at Rutgers and somewhere else as they got picked up by beefier programs. They were scheduled to get $300,000 for their appearance but when the NCAA authorized the 12th game a bunch of big time programs scrambled around to find a willing sacrifice. The going rate jumped to $600,000 and Buffalo couldn't pass up the moolah.
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TigerHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,808
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Post by TigerHoya on Aug 24, 2006 14:05:57 GMT -5
Look at Florida Atlantic's first 5 games this year.
Also look at Texas A&M's out of conference schedule.
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,387
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Post by hifigator on Aug 24, 2006 14:21:23 GMT -5
Alabama's is pathetic as well. I think they play Louisiana Lafeyette, Florida International and 2 other complete chumps. We do have W. Carolina but we play FSU in addition to Southern Miss and UCF. THat is not a bad schedule at all.
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TigerHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by TigerHoya on Aug 24, 2006 14:59:22 GMT -5
Florida Atlantic's schedule was meant more as a reverse example. Schnellenberger is doing what Bobby Bowden used to do at FSU when they weren't a power.
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miamihoya
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by miamihoya on Aug 24, 2006 16:02:01 GMT -5
ya FAU isnt doing it simply for the money...Schnellenberger has done a great job in a short period of time with the program. If they can get a stadium they are trying to build, then they should have a bright future. I think UCF if a good example of a team that has slowly but surely become competitive. They are expected to win the C-USA this year, after being terrible not long ago.
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,387
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Post by hifigator on Aug 24, 2006 16:13:33 GMT -5
I think you are dead on. UCF is going to be a powerhouse in a half dozen years I predict. They have a huge alumni and of course the talent pool in Florida is virtually limitless. The central location of Orlando is going to be appealing to people from all over the state except maybe the panhandle. They are looking to take the "mid" out of mid major. If they develop as much as I expect it will be interesting to see what they do. Could the C USA and maybe the MAC split off and create a real football conference? Maybe you could have UCF, Louisville, Memphis and maybe Marshall and a couple of the other more competitive MAC teams. If the trave expenses weren't so high, they could even throw in those teams like Fresno St and Boise St who are always just on the cusp of being elite. I don't see anyway that a conference with teams in Boise, Fresno and Orlando could survive though.
There was a conference called the "Big West" back when I was "very interested" in the spreads of games and who covered. Anyway, I don't remember the exact teams but I swear that at least at one point they had a divisional Lousiana school along with teams from Texas and either Idaho or Montana. The joke among my friends was that that really was a "Big" west Conference. I don't know if those teams are still there or not. I know that the Louisiane schools traded in their "divisions" for towns ... eg Lousiana Monroe or Louisiana Lafeyette instead of NE Louisiana etc...
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TigerHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,808
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Post by TigerHoya on Aug 24, 2006 16:35:52 GMT -5
I think you are dead on. UCF is going to be a powerhouse in a half dozen years I predict. They have a huge alumni and of course the talent pool in Florida is virtually limitless. The central location of Orlando is going to be appealing to people from all over the state except maybe the panhandle. They are looking to take the "mid" out of mid major. If they develop as much as I expect it will be interesting to see what they do. Could the C USA and maybe the MAC split off and create a real football conference? Maybe you could have UCF, Louisville, Memphis and maybe Marshall and a couple of the other more competitive MAC teams. If the trave expenses weren't so high, they could even throw in those teams like Fresno St and Boise St who are always just on the cusp of being elite. I don't see anyway that a conference with teams in Boise, Fresno and Orlando could survive though. There was a conference called the "Big West" back when I was "very interested" in the spreads of games and who covered. Anyway, I don't remember the exact teams but I swear that at least at one point they had a divisional Lousiana school along with teams from Texas and either Idaho or Montana. The joke among my friends was that that really was a "Big" west Conference. I don't know if those teams are still there or not. I know that the Louisiane schools traded in their "divisions" for towns ... eg Lousiana Monroe or Louisiana Lafeyette instead of NE Louisiana etc... La Tech is in the WAC. Maybe it used to be in the Big West before the current MWC changed its name from WAC. The Big West is a I-AA conference now I think.
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