by Eyes of Old Main on Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:34 am
The NCAA allows us to play 4 non-D1 games a year and typically, we schedule all of them. This year, we only have , I think, but that's the first year in recent memory we haven't used our full compliment. While these are usually easy wins, they don't do much for fan or player morale or the respect factor. I'd be OK with playing 1 or 2, but 4 is a bit much. But, the way things seem to be going right now, I don't see us moving away from this. Can you imagine how horrid our alradey bad records the past few years would look if we didn't pick up 4 wins against the non-D1's? Dreadful...
As for the major conference games, we usually play 6-8 and from what I understand, make between $30-$40K plus expenses each time. The net effect of all that is almost as big as a football game aganist a BCS school. Since resoucres are so short, I don't see this going away. Plus, these games draw attention, occasionally we win, help recruiting and look good on a schedule, but, you are right, they hurt the final record.
The one ray of sunlight I see is the growing trend of scheduling other mid-majors and local rivals. I am very pleased with James Madison and Jacksonville State on this years schedule. I was also very happy with the home and home series we had with East Carolina last year. I see no reason that we couldn't play more of these type games against schools more our size and level of play. Not only would these games be more competitive, but they would enhance fan interest and that can only be a good thing.