except half of colorado state's conference games were against teams ranked below odu last year in sagarin's rankings. their non-conference consisted of a solid/good p5 team, a horrendous p5 team, a horrendous g5 team, and arguably one of the 20 worst fcs teams.
2016 game still open
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except half of colorado state's conference games were against teams ranked below odu last year in sagarin's rankings. their non-conference consisted of a solid/good p5 team, a horrendous p5 team, a horrendous g5 team, and arguably one of the 20 worst fcs teams.
ODU and Charlotte have nothing in common. ODU is already a mediocre C-USA team.
Our ultimate goal should be to get that Access Bowl slot. 13-0 with wins over Louisville and Pitt would accomplish just that. Adding Florida or South Carolina, while cool, would accomplish absolutely nothing.
Thats cool. Enjoy Western Carolina. Maybe Glenville St has an opening.
Thats cool. Enjoy Western Carolina. Maybe Glenville St has an opening.
sadly, more people enjoyed our last 3 fcs games than did wku and the cusa championship last year...
Thats cool. Enjoy Western Carolina. Maybe Glenville St has an opening.
Exactly........We want to challenge ourselves and playing an FCS school on top of playing schools like ODU, UNCC, and FIU does nothing but hurt. We need to leave no questions on scheduling and keep of any FCS school
We don't want a challenge anymore. That's not our mantra. It's the take the easiest road to have a chance at a Access Bowl game but even if we don't get it we can go to a bowl game in Florida and play a Sun Belt or MAC school and continue to inflate the record.
FCS games are boring, do nothing for us from a perception standpoint. Honestly reading some of the responses in this thread actually prove what a lot of fan bases say about us, and that is we are scared to play anybody good and our records are inflated because of cupcake schedules.
I always find it amazing that we will play as few as big time schools as we possibly can but want to go to an Access bowl where our opponent is going to be one of the top programs in the country. Why would the committee reward a program by letting them play a big time program in a bowl for millions of dollars when that same program won't schedule those same teams in the regular season?
FCS games are boring, do nothing for us from a perception standpoint. Honestly reading some of the responses in this thread actually prove what a lot of fan bases say about us, and that is we are scared to play anybody good and our records are inflated because of cupcake schedules.
I always find it amazing that we will play as few as big time schools as we possibly can but want to go to an Access bowl where our opponent is going to be one of the top programs in the country. Why would the committee reward a program by letting them play a big time program in a bowl for millions of dollars when that same program won't schedule those same teams in the regular season?
Wonder if Western KY's AD had the same mind set as our AD when he made the 2015 schedule for the Hilltoppers? They play 4 FBS nonconference games, only Miami (o) at home. On the road at Vandy, Indiana and LSU. Not inconceivable that they could win 3 of those 4 and running the table in CUSA would leave them at 11-1 going into conference championship, with a very strong argument for inclusion in the G5 access bowl slot. Wonder if the Toppers AD sat around saying "woe is me, woe is me, I need another home game, so I'll forget another FBS road game and sign up the cheapest and weakest FCS team I can get to come to Bowling Green"? In other words, the WKU AD obviously did NOT ELECT to follow the Mike Hamrick scheduling plan in making their 2015 schedule. Its called the "No guts, No glory" approach, guys.
you do know schedules are made sometimes 5-6 years in advance. its not like basketball when they are made basically every year. wku's 2017 schedule includes power house, home against Eastern Kentucky, home against Ball state,at Vanderbilt and at Illinios. So Mike Hamericks schedule of 2016 is very similar to what the big bad ass of an AD at wku has lined up for the future. our 2016 schedule would include a fcs team, one group of five team, and two power five teams. Only difference is we host one of the power five teams!! So if you ask me, it looks like they have the same philosophy when it comes to scheduling.
Sorry, TDherd, but you need to read the OP. There, the post indicates NUMEROUS Power and G5 teams with openings in 2016, which is NOT 5 or 6 years down the road. Also, our schedules for next 5 or 6 years contain numerous openings. Also, the league does not schedule conference games years ahead. These apparently are done season to season, so the only opportunity that AD Hamrick has to impact our strength of schedule is with out of conference opponents. This becomes more critical in next few season considering that schools like ODU and Charlotte, division opponents, are on the Herd schedules every year and weaken our overall SOS.
obviously I am referring too OOC schedules being booked years in advanced which they are, look at our nc state ,ecu, app state,and navy series. I was never talking about our conference schedule, Any knowledgeable football fan knows that. I was just pointing out that you were making fun of Hamericks scheduling philosophy and saying that wku's AD was a bad ass b/c he has 3 power five teams on their schedule this year. You did not bother to mention however their future schedules look identical to ours. They play a Fcs team next year just like us, along with a G5 school and two power five schools! like I have said several times, I would love to see a power 5 team in 2016 over a fcs team at home. But its not really that easy to schedule G5 team at home on this short of a notice. so what I was trying to explain to you is, WKUs AD is doing basically the samething as our AD if you look at their future schedules, beyond this year!
Well considering the game was played in a constant rain, wind and 36 degree weather , that may have affected attendance just a tad.
We must ask ourselves, "do we want to get the same recognition that Boise State gets or do we want to flounder around with 3rd rate teams and bitch because people claim we don't schedule quality teams?"
you do realize it poured for uri too, right?
here's the deal for those of us say we don't want a challenge anymore...challenges don't build programs, don't pay the bills. over the last dozen years boise state has been the model g5 program, one we should all want to emulate, but yet they never schedule 3 bcs/p5 schools in one season while building their program, they scheduled a FCS most of those years. they bcs/p5 schools they played in the years before they'd won 2 fiesta bowls, were largely average at best bcs/p5 regional teams (oregon state, washington, washington state, etc).
playing 3 p5 schools doesn't accomplish anything for us, unless we've decide to be a paycheck opponent, which i hope we haven't. the odds of us beating 1 p5, let alone 3 in one season is against us. they have more money, more resources. it's not just us, historically p5 dominates g5 schools. it's not about not challenging ourselves, or being scared, it's about scheduling smart and building a successful program for the long run. boise did it. fresno took on all the challenges, played anyone, anywhere, anytime. which program would you rather be 15 years later? it's not even a close question...
Boise State also went and played UGA and OL Miss in Atlanta. My thing is play an FCS team and make maybe $1M while saying good job we destroyed another 1 win noname 1AA. Or take a $900,000 paycheck from Florida and try to beat a storied program who is down on the road. In the world that perception is key. Which one will be better? I would rather take our chances at an middle of the road SEC school which Florida is now vs. playing some terrible not even a decent 1AA program. And even if we lose to Florida, we would get a pat on the back and they will say atleast they went on the road and challenged themselves. We get no pat on the back for beating a 1AA program 59-0
Fresno State is still a solid program so I don't know what your talking about. I don't think you get it but it's ok. If WKU is 10-1 this year and we are 11-0 when we meet, who do you think will be ranked higher? Your acting like we are playing Ohio State, Alabama, and Oregon all in the same season. We are talking about Pitt, NC State, and a third P5 program like Florida or South Carolina 2 teams we can beat right now or next year. That is not difficult at all to navigate. And having more money don't mean shit. Texas got more money then anyone and look what they have done since 2009. We can't play shitty schedules and expect to get into the Access Slot.
Priorities should be
P5 road game
P5 home game
G5 road game
G5 home game
And nothing to else. If we expect to be the top G5 school then we need to stop the FCS games unless we are going to play ND STATE.
Most of those P5 and even G5 schools that are listed are also looking for a home game too. While they would take us and pay us very little, and offer no return trip, we also want the same deal. The benefit of a home game where we pay less and don't have give a return visit is in our best interest. Making the schedule any more difficult will not be critical if we are unbeaten against the 11 on there now. The competition going forward will now be against other G5 schools, at least for the bowl slot. That means FCS early, or a very weak G5, perhaps a MAC or SunBelt team.
As far as getting $1 million to go play a P5 school, we will be viewed as too big a risk right now for a school to do that and get beat. UF is not going to pay that much anyway when they can fill a slot with a weaker team for less.
As far as getting $1 million to go play a P5 school, we will be viewed as too big a risk right now for a school to do that and get beat. UF is not going to pay that much anyway when they can fill a slot with a weaker team for less.
yeah, they played ole miss and georgia, we play louisville and pittsburgh next year. ole miss was their only p5 opponent last year. in the year they played at georgia, they played oregon state, bowling green, and portland state. which is a lot like playing, louisville, pittsburgh, akron, and a fcs school.
i don't want a ****ing pat on the back, i want to put us in the best position possible to get the access bowl spot. playing 3 p5s and losing them all doesn't help us get there, hell winning one and losing two doesn't get us there, but if we play two and beat one and lose to one, it helps us get there as long as we take care of business in conference.
the teams that were in contention for the access spot last year played:
ole miss, byu, uconn, ul lafayette
colorado, uc davis, boston college, tulsa
tennessee, idaho state, wake forest, arkansas state, byu (played at hawaii in conf, so got an extra game)
austin peay, ucla, middle tennessee, ole miss
mighty boise, the program we all aspire to be as a g5 school, is around 12-19 against bcs/p5 schools and never have they played 3 in the regular season.
so, if in 15 seasons we had 1 conference title, 1 shared conference title, and 1 top 25 finish you'd be happy? that's what fresno is...
what texas has done since 2009: beat ulm by 39, beat wyoming by 31, beat utep by 57, beat ucf by 32, beat rice by 17, beat wyoming by 27, beat florida atlantic by 34, beat rice by 25, beat wyoming by 20, beat new mexico by 45, beat new mexico by 49, beat north texas by 31...so it looks like what texas has done since 2009, has been a mediocre p5 that has absolutely demolished g5 opponents, thanks for proving my point.
Please, just stop already. OK, so it poured for RI. But it was WARMER. We always have better attendance earlier in the season when the weather is better. Plus the WKU game was on Black Friday, which is a big deal to a lot of people. Also for the CUSA title game, they had a shorter window to sell tickets. The tickets were not part of the season ticket package AFAIK. Plus it was cold. Therefore, fewer people.
You simply can't compare attendance for games in late November or December to those in early-mid Sept. Apples-oranges.
You guys want to take the easiest rout to have a chance at an access bowl where we have to play one of the big boys of college football. Teams that you guys don't think we should be playing in the regular season but by golly we beat Kent state and Ohio and a FCS school we should get to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. I just think it's funny that so many of you think that's logical. We don't think we are good enough to play you guys in the regular season but as a committee you should ignore that and after we take care of FIU and Charlotte you should give us the access bowl where we can play one of those teams and get the big paycheck.
It's weird how little many of you guys think of our program. If playing Pitt, Louisville, and another mid to lower level P5 school OOC is considered a juggernaut schedule that we have no hope in winning then I'm not sure why we are playing FBS football to begin with.
It's weird how little many of you guys think of our program. If playing Pitt, Louisville, and another mid to lower level P5 school OOC is considered a juggernaut schedule that we have no hope in winning then I'm not sure why we are playing FBS football to begin with.
you're just proving my point. I'm saying playing wcu/norfolk state or buffalo/umass in indifferent because we draw really well for september games, no matter who we are playing. If we play a fcs school here and have nice weather we'll draw 27,000 or so. If we play buffalo or umass (or a school like that) and have nice weather we'll draw 27,000 or so. there's no difference in those games in terms of attendance, i was disputing a comment someone made that no one cares about fcs games and we'll have empty seats.
it's weird that you don't realize that is EXACTLY how boise built up the crown jewel g5 program. and that how we built our program when first moving up to fbs in the 90s.
I like you Cali, always have, but you're building strawman arguments here.
No one is claiming we can't handle our 2016 schedule. In fact, everyone who is ok with an FCS is claiming the exact opposite - that we have a real shot to run the table and make the Access Bowl.
Honest question: Do you really believe a 13-0 Marshall with wins against two ACC teams would be left out of the Access Bowl? Maybe you do, but I don't.
Colorado State plays UTSA, Northern Colorado, Minnesota and Colorado in 2016.
Boise plays ULL, Oregon State, Washington State and BYU.
UCF plays Michigan, Maryland, FIU and likely an FCS.
ECU plays Western Carolina, USCe, NCSU and Virginia Tech.
Houston plays Lamar, Texas State, Louisville and Oklahoma.
Our OOC schedule, outside of maybe ECUs, compares well with our direct competition for the Access Bowl.
All I can say fellas, don't bitch and whine when the media pounds us again for playing pussies. Don't say that we get no respect. Enjoy our wins and heading to a bowl against a MAC team more often than not.
Some of you arguing about the increased attendance of FCS games we've had when compared to such games as WKU and the CUSA championship game are ignoring a very important piece of information: in 12 and 14, our first home game was against that season's FCS opponent. in 13, they were our second home game. Of course they would have good draws for attendance! The weather's nice, and there hasn't been any college or NFL games in the previous six months. Compare this to games at the end of the season when the weather is worse, and of course you'll lose a lot of the people who are casual football fans. As the best comparison, let's look back to 2005: season open against William & Mary, K State a week later. The season's average attendance was about 26.5K. The W&M game drew about 25K. A good amount, certainly not the worst on the season for attendance. K State drew just shy of 37K, and set an attendance record. Other times we've hosted current P5 teams: VaTech (2010) 34.5K, WVU (2009) 41K, WVU (2007) 40K. Keeping in mind that the Joan has a capacity of 38K, bringing in good P5 teams means a near sell out.
That said, I feel that this is the perfect time to springboard into a series with another decent opponent - P5 or good G5. 2016 is the only season we have two P5s scheduled, and 19, 21, and 22 have no P5 opponents scheduled. Since both 16 and 17 already have two home games scheduled, we're in a good position for both years to start a new series against a P5 (1-1 or 2-1, as long as we end up with 6 home games every year) or against a good G5 (Utah State, Boise, NIU, UCF, ECU, etc). Since there are a number of FBS teams across the board who still need to schedule opponents not only next year, but in 2017 as well, with P5 conferences placing more restrictions on scheduling (Big10 can no longer schedule FCS opponents. Even with reduced OOC and a required P5, that still reduces the pool of teams they can schedule by 125ish teams), and with a greater need for a strong OOC slate, it shouldn't be as difficult as in years past to fill those schedule spots with series against good teams.
I also include Army as a good team to schedule, especially for home games. Sure, they're not the greatest football team out there. However, in a state with one of the highest number of verterans per capita, it would likely be a huge draw - with a big television audience. And who doesn't love seeing the service academies play ball?
That said, I feel that this is the perfect time to springboard into a series with another decent opponent - P5 or good G5. 2016 is the only season we have two P5s scheduled, and 19, 21, and 22 have no P5 opponents scheduled. Since both 16 and 17 already have two home games scheduled, we're in a good position for both years to start a new series against a P5 (1-1 or 2-1, as long as we end up with 6 home games every year) or against a good G5 (Utah State, Boise, NIU, UCF, ECU, etc). Since there are a number of FBS teams across the board who still need to schedule opponents not only next year, but in 2017 as well, with P5 conferences placing more restrictions on scheduling (Big10 can no longer schedule FCS opponents. Even with reduced OOC and a required P5, that still reduces the pool of teams they can schedule by 125ish teams), and with a greater need for a strong OOC slate, it shouldn't be as difficult as in years past to fill those schedule spots with series against good teams.
I also include Army as a good team to schedule, especially for home games. Sure, they're not the greatest football team out there. However, in a state with one of the highest number of verterans per capita, it would likely be a huge draw - with a big television audience. And who doesn't love seeing the service academies play ball?
Once again Boise WAS NOT playing teams like UNCC, FIU, and ODU in their conference schedule. Shit even at one point they had played 3 ranked conference opponents on their way to a BCS bowl. CUSA has 3 good teams in the conference WKU, LT, and Marshall. Playing 1AA schools and the lower rung of 1A isn't going to do jack shit for us when you also include the very weak conference schedule. We need as much p5 teams as we can get. I would rather people say "They play a weak conference schedule but they went out and played 3 P5 schools or played a top G5 program and was competitive in each game" Versus them saying "Damn look at that weak conference schedule AND they played a 1AA school. They had a chance to play 3 P5 schools but choose to instead take the easy route and play an FCS opponent.
And once again, you're incorrect.
2014 Sagarin Ratings
ODU: 116
FIU: 121
Wyoming: 126
New Mexico: 132
And next year Boise adds UNLV (172), San Jose State (153) and Hawaii (123).
We get that game against UCF and if we win, we essentially eliminate one of our key opponents. Now you list Boise State. They play ULL a perennial Sun Belt contender, 2 P5, and a opponent who should be a P5 school. ECU plays 3 P5 schools similar to what I ask for. And you guys think a weak MAC school, 2 P5s and a 1AA school matches up??
Boise's schedule is better, yes, but Louisville is a better program than both WSU and Oregon State.
And I'm not advocating an FCS school over UCF. If we can get a 1-1 with UCF I'm ALL for it.
The Mountain West is a much, much, much better conference than C-USA. Especially since ECU, Tulsa, and the others left for the American. Last year's strength of schedule complaints weren't based around playing an FCS team, it was based on playing UAB, FIAU, and Miami OH.
Yes, the MWC is much better than CUSA but sans leaving CUSA we can't control who we play in-conference. Where we got hammered, in my opinion, was our crazy weak OOC schedule. That is much improved in 2016.
Compare the 2 conference schedules........im doing a million things at work because of the storm in NY the other night
I don't need to, my man. You and I both know the MWC is better than CUSA. I guess it's minutia but all I was saying is that the MWC has crappy teams, too.
And that is why I think we need to make sure that fourth game is either against one of the better g5 opponents or against a third P5 school
If it came down to an 13-0 Boise, 13-0 ECU or UCF, and 13-0 Marshall.....who do you think will get the pick? With a weak MAC school and a FCS opponent we will be the third school. We need UCF just as much as they need us
I agree with you completely. I should have prefaced that by saying it was a comparison to last year's schedules and SOS. Even this season, simply by being in the MW, Boise will get the nod over an undefeated Marshall. I've stated many times that I hope and wish for Marshall to get an invite to the American, as it would help with SOS and overall perception.
