Somebody kill this guy

[tribe ol]

Mismatches Pad the Record, Pay the Bills -- and the Marys

By Mike Wise
Thursday, August 31, 2006; E01

Three days before the slaughter -- three days before college football's now 12-game regular season opens in earnest -- the lamb is on the other end of the line. He is laughing at his certain demise.

"In my alumni newsletter I wrote, 'Hey, David got Goliath,' " said Rocky Hager, the coach of Division I-AA Northeastern, which will be fed to the Virginia Tech lions on Saturday in Blacksburg much the same way William & Mary will be sacrificed at Maryland. "Of course, we're not going in there thinking we have an automatic chance to win. But you never know."

Hager actually told his kids that the swifter and larger Hokies put on their pants one leg at a time, just like his players. He knows it's cliche, older and more tired than premier programs scheduling Meek State to pad their win-loss records. But what's a I-AA coach supposed to say? "We haven't had new sideline phones in 10 years. Hit somebody!"

When the NCAA decided that its experiment of allowing teams to schedule 12 regular season games should be made permanent, the idealists liked the prospect of their school having another game to become bowl eligible with at least six wins -- never mind that every 6-6 team might not go to a bowl game. They also envisioned one more week of Ohio State vs. Texas, or maybe Nebraska at USC.

But instead, they got this bang-up, kickoff weekend: Akron at Penn State, UAB at Oklahoma and North Texas at Texas. Really, for all the NFL preseason whining, imagine sitting through 3 1/2 hours of Florida Atlantic at Clemson?

(Do you know there is no betting line for Northeastern vs. Virginia Tech and Maryland vs. Walter & Madge? The NCAA sanctions these games, but we can't wager on them? Criminal, just criminal.)

(Editor's Note: Mike Wise will be making several sophomoric references to William & Mary. He means no disrespect to that fine institution of higher learning and/or its proud athletic tradition. But come on, William & Mary? Is that a school or a prom couple from Culpeper?)

These mismatches used to be ghoulishly referred to as body-bag games. The term came from the stretch of a notion that kids from small schools would be routinely sacrificed and carted off the field for the larger, financial concerns of their university. Today the terminology is more practical. Payday, baby.

"We have to call it our moneymaker," Hager said. "Being honest, if we didn't have that 12th game, we would have some budgetary difficulties. We need to have some revenue brought in through football, and this is one way we can do it."

Frank Beamer's people paid Hager's people between $300,000 and $400,000 for the Northeastern kids to risk emasculation in Lane Stadium. Northeastern will deposit that check in its athletic department account so others don't bounce in the spring. Economic reality, which is fine.

But the problem comes along when the big schools further load up on inferior competition and try to sell benefactors on the idea that bringing in Wilbur & Martha, Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic is good for the program. Short-term financial gain for Maryland? Yes. Long-term prominence? Not so much.

Maryland lost a kid named Antonio Logan-El to Penn State last year. The Forestville native, one of the country's premier offensive line prospects, was originally staying home until Logan-El showed up at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore to announce his college choice. When the words "Penn State" came out of his mouth, the Terps fans in attendance got nasty. Instead of stupidly calling the kid "Traitor!" they should have demanded Maryland do something about losing the best kids in its back yard to a place such as Penn State: Why not work out a home-and-home deal with the Nittany Lions?

In a good year for both programs, that game doesn't have only national appeal; it becomes a recruiting tool like the West Virginia game for Maryland. The Fridge beats JoePa, more prospects stay home. Maybe some Pennsylvania kids cross the state line to play in College Park. Trust us, the Terps will not lose any recruits to Wyatt & Melinda.

Maryland and Virginia Tech aren't alone in the ACC in ensuring they win at least three games while playing a particularly brutal conference schedule. Boston College is loading up on Central Michigan, Maine and Buffalo, which is so bad it is commanding $600,000 per game to be a nonconference punching bag. No matter what happens in Monday's season opener against conference foe Miami, Florida State's Bobby Bowden can take solace in pummeling Troy, Rice and Western Michigan.

About the only ACC guys with any nonconference nerve are Georgia Tech's Chan Gailey, who opens with Notre Dame, and -- I can't believe I'm typing this -- Virginia's Al Groh. The beady-eyed, uptight soul in Charlottesville opens the season at Pittsburgh, a real nonconference donnybrook. For that, the GrohMustGo.com server gets shut down until at least December.

I realize this is awfully snarky and unsentimental. And I know I have failed to mention all the kids from small schools who one day will boast about playing in 50,000-plus-seat stadiums against big-time programs such as the Hokies and the Terrapins.

As Jimmye Laycock, the venerable William & Mary coach who had a young Ralph Friedgen on his first staff, reminded me: "I've had kids come back from reunions and talk about what it meant to play a Penn State or a Virginia Tech, what that felt like to be on that field with those football players."

Laycock is right. Maybe I'm missing the big picture: all those proud Maryland players who can come back 20 years from now and wax nostalgic about "the day we beat Wilbur & Martha."

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

[GeauxColonels]

God I hope SOMEONE can pull out an upset to shove that back in his face.

[LUHawker]

God I hope SOMEONE can pull out an upset to shove that back in his face.

Not just SOMEONE, best if W&M did it.

[goasu984Life]

Not just SOMEONE, best if W&M did it.

If W&M wins, he should be fired on the spot. That would be justice.

[PaladinFan]

He convieniently leaves off....

Notre Dame at Georgia Tech
Washington State at Auburn
Cal at Tennessee
Alabama at Hawaii

I'm sure there are other intriguing matchups. Southerner here, we don't look too far past our own nose.

[goasu984Life]

He mentioned GT and ND. The others he left out.

[PapaBear]

Somebody kill this guy?

I'm betting Ralph Friedgen would stand in line for that privilege. Meantime, Laycock is probably hoping this moron lives to be 100 and writes a column like this every week about the Tribe.

Funny piece, but anyone who takes this guy seriously is playing right into his hands. A columnist's job is to attract readers, and nothing does that better than coming off half-cocked about a subject you know nothing about.

[dctribefan512]

Tribe OL left off the second part of the Wise column. Located next to the column, were these "GAMES NOT TO WATCH":

College football season opens Saturday, but not all the games are marquee matchups. Here are a few to miss:

North Texas at Texas, Noon

W. Kentucky at Georgia, 12:30

Indiana St. at Purdue, 1

Northeastern at Virginia Tech, 1:30

Florida Atlantic at Clemson, 3:30

Montana St. at Colorado, 3:30

William & Mary at Maryland, 6

Appalachian St. at N.C. State, 6

Murray St. at Missouri, 7

Missouri St. at Oklahoma St., 7

The Citadel at Texas A&M, 7

Illinois St. at Kansas St., 7:10

Louisiana-Lafayette at LSU, 8

[JMU2K_DukeDawg]

Just a few articles, comments, etc. about how we at JMU stack up aginst the ACC and some others. We are not that far behind, and neither is App St. or Delaware.

By the way, while I believe Maryland will beat the Tribe fairly easily (I think this might be a down year for the Tribe, but that's purely specualtion...), I will be rooting like Hell for W&M to make this clown eat his words.

Churchland High’s Moats commits to James Madison
By JAMI FRANKENBERRY, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 16, 2005

Churchland’s Arthur Moats has committed to play football at James Madison University.

A 6-foot-1, 225-pound defensive end, Moats picked the Dukes after receiving scholarship offers from East Carolina, Richmond, Delaware and Kent State.

Moats visited JMU and Kent State. He said the Dukes’ facilities and a strong contingent of South Hampton Roads players now at JMU convinced him that Harrisonburg was the best choice, saying “it felt like family.”
__________________________________________________ ______________________
On Rockeed McCarter:

Right now the Philadelphia native currently lists James Madison as his favorite with Syracuse and Wisconsin in a close second.

"JMU is my favorite because I've been there a few times and I know the coaches and a few players," he said. "I went to their camp and they've been recruiting me real hard ever since."

McCarter knows he can make an immediate impact at the Division I-AA level, but the thought of playing at two major programs such as Syracuse or Wisconsin has the wide out unsure of his decision.

"I'm planning on visiting both Syracuse and Wisconsin before I make my decision."
__________________________________________________ ______________________"It fits for me," McPherson, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound 17-year-old said Tuesday, just minutes after the two coaches left his central New Jersey home. "… I loved the stadium, loved the campus. It felt like a good fit."

McPherson said he had eight to 10 scholarship offers – the first coming from Hofstra – and was heavily recruited by most of the Atlantic 10. He also drew interest from Division I-A programs Maryland, Temple and Vanderbilt.

In the end, his decision came down to a pair of I-AA schools, JMU and Delaware. He unofficially visited both schools in the summer. Last weekend, McPherson and his mother took an official visit to JMU.

"This was my first one and last one," McPherson said of the visit to Harrisonburg. "I saw it in the summer and thought, ‘There’s no beating this place.’"

McPherson, who cancelled a scheduled official visit to Delaware next month to commit to Madison, led Ocean to the NJSIAA Group III championship, passing for two touchdowns and rushing for 139 yards in a 41-20 win over Nottingham.

For the year, he said he passed for about 500 yards while rushing for 600. He accounted for 18 touchdowns -- seven passing and 11 rushing -- despite missing two games early in the year with an injury.

McPherson said JMU’s 2004 Division I-AA national championship – along with the school’s impressive facilities – were key factors in his decision.

"That was big," McPherson said of the Dukes’ 13-2 title year. "I’m not even going to lie, I didn’t know much about them till they won. They were 7-4 this year and all the games they lost were close."
__________________________________________________ ______________________

Brett Ainsley – Also recruited by the ACC

OL – 6-5 – 295 – Chesapeake, Va. – Western Branch

2005 first-team All-Southeastern District offensive lineman, first-team All-Tidewater offensive lineman, and first-team All-Eastern Region. 2004 first-team All-Southeastern District offensive lineman and second-team all-region.
__________________________________________________ ______________________

Sean Price – I’m sure Maryland was talking to this kid, but we managed to recruit outside our base against some tough competition.

RB – 6-2 – 215 – Baltimore, Md. – Gilman

Baltimore player of the year, first-team all-state, All-Baltimore City, All-Metro by the Baltimore Sun, and All-Maryland (big schools). Rivals.com two-time all-state. As a junior was a first-team all-state and all-metro defensive back and ranked by Rivals.com as a top-30 player in Maryland.
__________________________________________________ ______________________

[JMU2K_DukeDawg]

By the way, wasn't trying to get into any kind of pissing match on recruiting. Just wanted to point out how I-A schools are no better / worse than I-AA.

Also I am sure you could find a list of games that include the likes of ECU, Kent State, Buffalo, Temple, etc. and any number of Sunbelt teams that would be much worse to watch than some of those more intriguing matchups between I-A and I-AA foes. :nod:

[GannonFan]

Not to rain on this parade here, but don't you think we, as I-AA, should prove on the field that we are just as competitive as I-A, because unfortunaltely, the record over the past few years indicates that DII is more competitive with I-AA than I-AA is with I-A. Records of the past two years for instance:

2005 I-AA versus I-A: 2-50
Non-DI versus I-AA: 25-55

2004 I-AA versus I-A: 6-49
None-DI versus I-AA: 19-67

In at least the past two years, we've (I-AA) have fared worse against I-A than those below I-AA have fared against I-AA. Sure you can argue that a lot of non-schollies make up the losses to sub DI competition (in 2005 18 of the 25 losses were by non-schollie teams) but they are I-AA so there's only so far you can go with that. And exactly who are we, as I-AA beating in I-A? The last time a I-AA team beat a I-A team with a winning record was 2003, when UD beat Navy. Heck, half of the 6 wins for I-AA in 2004 were against Florida International (who lost three times to I-AA teams that year. Of course, in further irony, Florida International then went on to beat 2 I-AA teams in 2005 somehow so maybe they're not even a pushover anymore. Heck, we lost to lightweights like Arkansas St and Army and Troy St last year so we're not even shoe-ins against the worst of I-A.

Like I said, I don't mean to rain on people's parades, but I'd prefer if we actually had a decent record to stand on when we try to negate arguments that games by IA's, especially the heavyweights in IA, against I-AA's aren't competitive. Based on the win/loss record, it's not good for us. :(

[jstate83]

Ya'll.......................Forget these knuckle-headed announcers.
True...............Better record = better press against 1-A's.

BUT.......................GS played Georgia to the max and made them BULLDAWGS EARN every point they scored.:nod:

Just play the game and let the know it all's spew their crap.

Gonna be a great weekend.....................:nod:

[putter]

Not to rain on this parade here, but don't you think we, as I-AA, should prove on the field that we are just as competitive as I-A, because unfortunaltely, the record over the past few years indicates that DII is more competitive with I-AA than I-AA is with I-A. Records of the past two years for instance:

2005 I-AA versus I-A: 2-50
Non-DI versus I-AA: 25-55

2004 I-AA versus I-A: 6-49
None-DI versus I-AA: 19-67

In at least the past two years, we've (I-AA) have fared worse against I-A than those below I-AA have fared against I-AA. Sure you can argue that a lot of non-schollies make up the losses to sub DI competition (in 2005 18 of the 25 losses were by non-schollie teams) but they are I-AA so there's only so far you can go with that. And exactly who are we, as I-AA beating in I-A? The last time a I-AA team beat a I-A team with a winning record was 2003, when UD beat Navy. Heck, half of the 6 wins for I-AA in 2004 were against Florida International (who lost three times to I-AA teams that year. Of course, in further irony, Florida International then went on to beat 2 I-AA teams in 2005 somehow so maybe they're not even a pushover anymore. Heck, we lost to lightweights like Arkansas St and Army and Troy St last year so we're not even shoe-ins against the worst of I-A.

Like I said, I don't mean to rain on people's parades, but I'd prefer if we actually had a decent record to stand on when we try to negate arguments that games by IA's, especially the heavyweights in IA, against I-AA's aren't competitive. Based on the win/loss record, it's not good for us. :(

Do you think that, for the most part, when I-AA has been stepping up it has been against mostly BCS type teams? Look at this year as most I-AA teams are really stepping up, mostly for big paydays, with no chance of winning. I bet if we start playing mostly lower conferenced, like the Sun Belt, that the overall record will improve. Louisiana Lafayette, Buffalo etc don't do any better than I-AA teams and they have the extra 22 scholarships.

[ASU Kep]

Tribe OL left off the second part of the Wise column. Located next to the column, were these "GAMES NOT TO WATCH":

College football season opens Saturday, but not all the games are marquee matchups. Here are a few to miss:

North Texas at Texas, Noon

W. Kentucky at Georgia, 12:30

Indiana St. at Purdue, 1

Northeastern at Virginia Tech, 1:30

Florida Atlantic at Clemson, 3:30

Montana St. at Colorado, 3:30

William & Mary at Maryland, 6

Appalachian St. at N.C. State, 6

Murray St. at Missouri, 7

Missouri St. at Oklahoma St., 7

The Citadel at Texas A&M, 7

Illinois St. at Kansas St., 7:10

Louisiana-Lafayette at LSU, 8

Where's my Redbird fans at? Here's the deal: we take care of NCSU, you stop KS, then we make this d-bag look like the idiot he is.

Good luck to all the other I-AA's lumped in there, too, of course, but these two are particularly winnable.

[GannonFan]

Do you think that, for the most part, when I-AA has been stepping up it has been against mostly BCS type teams? Look at this year as most I-AA teams are really stepping up, mostly for big paydays, with no chance of winning. I bet if we start playing mostly lower conferenced, like the Sun Belt, that the overall record will improve. Louisiana Lafayette, Buffalo etc don't do any better than I-AA teams and they have the extra 22 scholarships.

I dunno, but last year I-AA teams, good ones too, lost games to San Jose St, Troy St, Arkansas St, Army, and Florida International (lost twice actually to FIU) - sure there are games against the big boys that are losses, but we lose a fair amount of games to teams we shouldn't lose to as well. It's fine to trumpet the nice big wins we get, but outside of UC Davis beating Stanford, UD beating Navy (the last time a I-AA beat a I-A with a winning record) there are just loads of games where the I-AA's lose and lose badly.

Oh, and now with last night's games, I-AA is 0-7 against I-A and while NAU's game against ASU was nice, it was still a 21 point loss. And the other games weren't pretty - a combined outscoring of 287 to 66 by the IA teams, and there were some dud I-A's playing last night that we lost to - Tulsa, UL-Monroe, and New Mexico St, who was winless in 12 games last year. It would be great to be able to counter the image that people who follow I-A have of I-AA, but it would be more effective if we could win some games to provide ammo for that argument.

[JMUfan2008]

I think they should show us more respect, but pretty much any I-AA game against a I-A is us basically trying not to get slaughtered too bad. I remember when we played West Virginia (then ranked #9) in 2004 and lost 45-10 was when it really hit me (and a lot of people) that we had a good team that might go pretty far that year, and we went on to win the national championship. WV was very frustrated that they didn't completely stomp us and I remember there was a quote from Mickey Matthews, I don't think I'll be able to find it, but he said something about when they went into the locker room at halftime and still acted like they were in the game that was when he knew they had real heart. But I digress...us sticking in a game against that kind of competition was HUGE. We're expected to lose, but even a close game will get us more respect, so keep it close and we'll start getting some attention.

[WMTribe90]

GF,

Those are misleading mumbers. How many of those DII wins over I-AA game against non-scholarship programs? There is no IA equivalent to non-scholarship IA and your comparing apples and oranges IMO. Without crunching the numbers I would wager the ratio of DII wins over scholarship (or Ivy/PL) teams is very close to the ratio of I-AA victories over IA.

[GannonFan]

GF,

Those are misleading mumbers. How many of those DII wins over I-AA game against non-scholarship programs? There is no IA equivalent to non-scholarship IA and your comparing apples and oranges IMO. Without crunching the numbers I would wager the ratio of DII wins over scholarship (or Ivy/PL) teams is very close to the ratio of I-AA victories over IA.

I put the number in my original post - 18 of the 25 games won by non DI's over I-AA in 2005 were wins over non-scholly teams. I certainly agree that the non-schollies distort the number, but I'm reminded time and time again that they are just as much I-AA as anybody else in the classification.

But your point is well taken, and yes, I don't think DII is really any more competitive versus I-AA than I-AA is versus I-A - the problem is, still, that we aren't as competitive against I-A as people, especially those that want to attack I-A media that says I-AA isn't competitive, like to think we are. And upon review, that last sentence may be the most confusing sentence I've ever written - kudos to me! ;)

[WMTribe90]

Sorry I missed that in your original post, gotta stop skimming posts :) .

I don't have a problem with sports writers pointing out the obvious, I have a problem with writers like this twit that denegrate the entire sub-classification instead of actually doing some homework and disecting the individual match-ups. I don't have any delusions that IAA is the competitive equivalent of IA or even close in most instances, I just ask for a little respect (the players deserve it) and some honest analysis, which is supposedly what the guy gets paid to do.

[89Hen]

Those are misleading mumbers. How many of those DII wins over I-AA game against non-scholarship programs? There is no IA equivalent to non-scholarship IA and your comparing apples and oranges IMO. Without crunching the numbers I would wager the ratio of DII wins over scholarship (or Ivy/PL) teams is very close to the ratio of I-AA victories over IA.
The I-AA vs. DII numbers are competely irrelevant anyway. All that matters when talking about the perception of John Q. Public and the mainstream media is I-AA vs. I-A. :twocents:

[Mr. C]

I put the number in my original post - 18 of the 25 games won by non DI's over I-AA in 2005 were wins over non-scholly teams. I certainly agree that the non-schollies distort the number, but I'm reminded time and time again that they are just as much I-AA as anybody else in the classification.

But your point is well taken, and yes, I don't think DII is really any more competitive versus I-AA than I-AA is versus I-A - the problem is, still, that we aren't as competitive against I-A as people, especially those that want to attack I-A media that says I-AA isn't competitive, like to think we are. And upon review, that last sentence may be the most confusing sentence I've ever written - kudos to me! ;)
I'm probably going to have those NEC and PFL folks bagging on me for this post, but there are D-II schools who offer more than 30 scholarships (with fewer academic requirements than any other classification in the NCAA), while you have I-AA schools who are totally non-athletic-scholarship. The PL and the Ivies have need-based equivalencies. As we've seen from teams like North Dakota State and UC Davis, some of those D-IIs are pretty good (Valdosta State, Carson-Newman and Grand Valley State would give any I-AA fits).

I really didn't think that any of those seven I-AA vs I-A matchups last night would result in a win. Northern Arizona's 35-14 loss was extremely misleading. NAU was CLEARLY the better team for three quarters (though Arizona State started playing better defensively in the third quarter). The Lumberjacks missed two FGs and had a likely touchdown denied when an official called a WR out of bounds when he made a catch at the one. ASU also tacked on one score in garbage time to make it look like an impressive win and one of the Sun Devil TDs came off an interception. NAU also played almost the entire second half without a player, Watson, who had rang up almost 250 yards. What I-AA teams need to do is take advantage of every scoring opportunity, so they have a cushion when the fatigue sets in during the fourth quarter.

The past couple of years have not been as statistically in line as previous years of I-AA vs I-A results have been. And with the new clock rules and the amount of I-AA vs I-A games on the schedule this year, we are going to start seeing some I-AA wins. I'm expecting two or three as early as Saturday.

[turfdoc]

The past couple of years have not been as statistically in line as previous years of I-AA vs I-A results have been. And with the new clock rules and the amount of I-AA vs I-A games on the schedule this year, we are going to start seeing some I-AA wins. I'm expecting two or three as early as Saturday.


Not sure how the new clock rules will help 1-AA compete. They are designed to eliminate plays and get more commerials in games without increasing game times (ala the NFL) the result is that 1-A conferences that have more games on TV will have bigger players than ever before and the division 1 teams (both A and AA) that are not on TV will actually have to be in better Cardio shape most likley resulting in them getting smaller (although be it healthier).

One reason 1-AA teams are less competitive is their conditioning and size are not made for TV games and when they play up against the big boys they are often televised.

I hate the new clock rules, its the NCAA selling out the integrity of the games (over 250 a weekend) to get a few more commercials in the 25 that are on TV. Those revenues of course go the Big 6 and are not shared by all.

sorry had to vent that out

[JMU99]

Kudos to GannonFan for speaking the truth.

Look, I love I-AA football; presumably all of us on here do.

However, I dont need my enjoyment of I-AA football to be validated by a belief that we are competitive with I-A institutions. We simply are not.

Last night, the overall score in I-A v. I-AA games was 287-66!

I-AA will be lucky to win 5 games vs. I-A opponents this year. We dont need to, we are a totally different level of football.

I enjoy watching all levels of football, High School through the NFL. Simply knowing that the lowly SF 49ers would whip the best college team doesnt damper my enthusiasm for big time college football one bit.

I just wish some folks on here would get over their inferiority complex and embrace I-AA for what it is.
:twocents:

[89Hen]

Kudos to GannonFan for speaking the truth.

Look, I love I-AA football; presumably all of us on here do.

However, I dont need my enjoyment of I-AA football to be validated by a belief that we are competitive with I-A institutions. We simply are not.

Last night, the overall score in I-A v. I-AA games was 287-66!

I-AA will be lucky to win 5 games vs. I-A opponents this year. We dont need to, we are a totally different level of football.

I enjoy watching all levels of football, High School through the NFL. Simply knowing that the lowly SF 49ers would whip the best college team doesnt damper my enthusiasm for big time college football one bit.

I just wish some folks on here would get over their inferiority complex and embrace I-AA for what it is.
:twocents:
The man speaks the truth. Doesn't make me like I-AA one bit less. I really don't give a rats arse what some sportswriter writes or what some ignorant I-A fan thinks. I love the Hens, love I-AA and hope the Hens stay I-AA forever.

[StillJonesing]

Just a few articles, comments, etc. about how we at JMU stack up aginst the ACC and some others. We are not that far behind, and neither is App St. or Delaware.


By the way, wasn't trying to get into any kind of pissing match on recruiting. Just wanted to point out how I-A schools are no better / worse than I-AA.

Also I am sure you could find a list of games that include the likes of ECU, Kent State, Buffalo, Temple, etc. and any number of Sunbelt teams that would be much worse to watch than some of those more intriguing matchups between I-A and I-AA foes. :nod:



JMU
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/college.php?college=James%20Madison&sortorder=tsxpos&order=ASC

Middle Tennesse State
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/college.php?college=Middle%20Tennessee%20State&sortorder=tsxpos&order=ASC

Temple
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/college.php?college=Temple&sortorder=tsxpos&order=ASC

Duke
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/college.php?college=Duke&sortorder=tsxpos&order=ASC

[blur2005]

By the way, wasn't trying to get into any kind of pissing match on recruiting. Just wanted to point out how I-A schools are no better / worse than I-AA.
I think that's an overstatement. But I understand the point you're trying to make. The weakest I-As and the strongest I-AAs are pretty close, which is why teams like Richmond have a chance against teams like Duke.