Would this ever work?

[Bobcat in NC]

(First off, forgive me if this has been brought up before - I'm sure it has been)

As we head into the offseason, it's time for everyone to start complaining about how difficult it is for teams to fill their schedules. The typical "No one wants to play us, everyone is afraid..." junk.

How about one OOC game each year being taken up by a "challenge" game like the ACC/Big Ten challenge in basketball? For example, a SoCon/Big Sky challenge or a CAA/Gateway challenge. First place team from Conference A (from the prior year) plays first place team from Conference B from the prior year, with hosting rights determined by some formula that takes into account final ranking from the prior year, final record from the prior year, average attendance and results of the teams challenge game from the prior year (that part I haven't thought out very well yet). If there's an uneven number of teams between the conferences (ie. CAA vs. Gateway), those who finished at the bottom of the barrell are out. The "challenge" for 2008 could look something like this:

SoCon vs. Big Sky
Montana at Appalachian State
EWU at Wofford
Elon at NAU
MSU at GSU
The Citadel at Weber State
PSU at Furman
Sacramento at Chattanooga
WCU at ISU
Samford at N. Colorado

(True that travel in some of these games would be a nightmare)

CAA vs. Gateway
Delaware at NDSU
SIU at UMass
Richmond at Youngstown
JMU at UNI
SDSU at UNH
Hofstra at W. Illinois
Illinois State at Maine
Villanova at Missouri State
Indiana State at William & Mary

Thoughts? Opinions? It would be great if this could be discussed without turning into a "our conference would dominate your conference" smack-fest...

[asu7]

I LOVE THAT IDEA!!!!!!

I would rather have a travel nightmare for one time and than a scheduling nightmare!

[Appinator]

This is GREAT. You would just have to make the deal air-tight and leave no room for teams to back out of the game.

[Cranium716]

I've been waiting for something like this to come around, but what I really want are annual SoCON vs. CAA matchups. Now THAT would be great! Travel issues wouldn't be that bad and it would be some of the best teams in the country playing each other every year!

[Bobcat in NC]

This is GREAT. You would just have to make the deal air-tight and leave no room for teams to back out of the game.

No doubt. Any buyouts would shred the whole idea. xrulesx

[89Hen]

I've always wished we could do something like that, but forcing teams into travel may not be the best thing. Many struggle financially with just having to travel to conference foes. Ask Montana about going to Maine and Hofstra. xpeacex

[Cranium716]

This is GREAT. You would just have to make the deal air-tight and leave no room for teams to back out of the game.

So I guess that leaves Montana out of the challenge? xrolleyesx xwhistlex

[Bobcat in NC]

I've been waiting for something like this to come around, but what I really want are annual SoCON vs. CAA matchups. Now THAT would be great! Travel issues wouldn't be that bad and it would be some of the best teams in the country playing each other every year!

Agreed. This same idea could be used for CAA/SoCon and Big Sky/Gateway challenges (less travel horrors that way). Basically, anything to get most teams an extra guaranteed game and to get some of the top teams in the country on the field before the playoffs (and to avoid DII - or lower - games).

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

I've always thought something like that would be great.xthumbsupx


I'm sure someone smarter then me will explain why it won't work.

[asu7]

agreed ... CAA vs SOCON and BS vs GW

[89Hen]

I'm sure someone smarter then me will explain why it won't work.


forcing teams into travel may not be the best thing. Many struggle financially with just having to travel to conference foes.
Not smarter, just realistic. xpeacex

[Bobcat in NC]

I've always thought something like that would be great.xthumbsupx


I'm sure someone smarter then me will explain why it won't work.

That's just what I'm waiting for - someone to come in and kill my buzz by telling me I'm an idiot (and why)...

xanim_chaix

[FCS Preview]

Why not SoCon/CAA and Big Sky/Gateway? At least the teams are closer together.

UMass-Wofford
Richmond-App State
JMU-The Citadel
Delaware-Georgia Southern
Villanova-Elon
UNH-Furman
Hofstra-Chattanooga
Maine-Western Carolina
William & Mary-Samford

Montana-UNI
EWU-SIU
N. Arizona-S. Dakota State
Montana State-North Dakota State
Weber-Youngstown
Portland-W. Illinois
Sacramento State-Missouri State
Idaho State-Illinois State
Northern Colorado-Indiana State

Also the GFC and BSC both have 9 teams with the addition of the Dakotas to the GFC.

[Bobcat in NC]

Why not SoCon/CAA and Big Sky/Gateway? At least the teams are closer together.

UMass-Wofford
Richmond-App State
JMU-The Citadel
Delaware-Georgia Southern
Villanova-Elon
UNH-Furman
Hofstra-Chattanooga
Maine-Western Carolina
William & Mary-Samford

Montana-UNI
EWU-SIU
N. Arizona-S. Dakota State
Montana State-North Dakota State
Weber-Youngstown
Portland-W. Illinois
Sacramento State-Missouri State
Idaho State-Illinois State
Northern Colorado-Indiana State

What would be really outstanding (again, perfect world without travel being too damn expensive for so many) would be to have the challenges rotate. First year CAA/Socon and Big Sky/Gateway. Second year CAA/Big Sky and Gateway/Socon. And so on...

Damn, travel $$$ sucks. xmadx

[Seahawks Fan]

I like it. NEC vs. PL?

[Appinator]

So I guess that leaves Montana out of the challenge? xrolleyesx xwhistlex

MAYBE thats who I was refering to....

['neers80]

this is a great idea. IF the SOCON played the BIGSKY i would like to change the EWU vs Wofford and put in Elon instead. those two young teams with quarterbacks who love to throw the ball would be fun to watch. As far as the CAA goes APP already plays JMU and i think that that matchup is better than richmond because of the history we have with JMU and not to mention the game we "stole" in boone this year makes the seasons to come compelling and competitive

[Bobcat in NC]

OVC/Southland?

EKU at McNeese
SHSU at EIU
Austin Peay at C. Arkansas
JSU at Nicholls
Texas St at Tenn St
NW State at Tenn-Martin
SE Louisiana at Tenn Tech
SE Miss St at SFA

[Bobcat in NC]

The one thing that would be important would be that the games are "set in stone". #1 plays #1, #2 plays #2, #3 plays #3 (however those are determined), etc.

This way, there could be no negotiating for a "better deal".

Probably no way to make this work, just makes some interesting dicsussion.

[asu7]

I really wanna play UM the fcs variety ... already taken care of the FBS variety lol

[gophoenix]

This is a great idea. You could even do this with all the conferences and sort of rotate. One year SoCon vs Big Sky, the next SoCon vs Gateway, the next SoCon vs CAA and so on even with the Patiot, OVC, Big South, NEC.

That's a pretty good idea. It is sort of like Bracket busters.

[Seahawks Fan]

The more I think about this, the more I like it. Probably too many stumbling blocks to fully implement, but an interesting concept. xthumbsupx

[Bobcat in NC]

Why not SoCon/CAA and Big Sky/Gateway? At least the teams are closer together.

UMass-Wofford
Richmond-App State
JMU-The Citadel
Delaware-Georgia Southern
Villanova-Elon
UNH-Furman
Hofstra-Chattanooga
Maine-Western Carolina
William & Mary-Samford

Montana-UNI
EWU-SIU
N. Arizona-S. Dakota State
Montana State-North Dakota State
Weber-Youngstown
Portland-W. Illinois
Sacramento State-Missouri State
Idaho State-Illinois State
Northern Colorado-Indiana State

Also the GFC and BSC both have 9 teams with the addition of the Dakotas to the GFC.

Bears vs. Sycamores...Clash of the Titans!

(Yes, I get the fact that UNC beat MSU xnonono2x )

[rb45070]

What about playing games on a neutral site to alleviate some of the travel? I'm sure I will get ripped for this but get a few teams from a couple of conferences and kinda do it like a high-school football jamboree. Game 1 at 12, game 2 at 6. It would be fun as hell to watch teams like APP/Montana and UMASS/UNI back to back.

[roysboi12]

What about playing games on a neutral site to alleviate some of the travel? I'm sure I will get ripped for this but get a few teams from a couple of conferences and kinda do it like a high-school football jamboree. Game 1 at 12, game 2 at 6. It would be fun as hell to watch teams like APP/Montana and UMASS/UNI back to back.

Unfortunately the only way these teams would agree to do it would be the chance to have a home and home. The way to make this work would be to do it every other year. First year #1 plays #1, 2 and 2, and so on. Then the next year the teams flip home and away. The third and fourth years do it all over again. This way each road team gets a return game, just like the Bracket Busters in basketball. Still after all this, it is still very unlikely that these conference match-ups will ever happen

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Not smarter, just realistic. xpeacex

I'm obviously a slower typer.xsmiley_wix

[siuham]

If only football were as easy to schedule these sorts of things as basketball. I know SIU already travels decent distances OOC, Southern Utah, Hampton this year, not sure about other schools.

[Canyoncat]

This is a great idea! Would love to see it done!

[AZGrizFan]

I've always wished we could do something like that, but forcing teams into travel may not be the best thing. Many struggle financially with just having to travel to conference foes. Ask Montana about going to Maine and Hofstra. xpeacex

Whatever do you mean? xconfusedx

[appfan2008]

would love to see something like that but i dont think that it will happen due to the cost of those trips...

[UNIFanSince1983]

I know Indiana State can barely afford to travel to the other Gateway schools there is no way they could do something like this. However, I would also love seeing something like this considering none of the good schools like to schedule each other out of conference (or maybe that is just UNI of recent vintage). I know UNI used to get out of conference games against McNeese and Idaho, but for whatever reason recently we've been getting Drake and Southern Utah. So for this maybe we could see for real how good of a team UNI actually has.

[eaglesrthe1]

It would never work, unless you agreed that the CAA was matched up with the MEAC... or OVC.xrolleyesx

[AppHokie]

Didn't we already have a CAA-Socon challenge this year?

ASU-JMU
ASU-Richmond
ASU-Delaware

Just Kidding! :)

I like the idea of faraway travel (such as when Northern Arizona came to Boone). It would give the teams national exposure, or at least opposite coast exposure for recruiting, recognition, etc.

[Bobcat in NC]

Didn't we already have a CAA-Socon challenge this year?

ASU-JMU
ASU-Richmond
ASU-Delaware

Just Kidding! :)

I like the idea of faraway travel (such as when Northern Arizona came to Boone). It would give the teams national exposure, or at least opposite coast exposure for recruiting, recognition, etc.

Ouch. xlolx

[Minuteman87]

I love the concept. Doubt it would work because few teams would get on board because of the aforementioned reasons.

[Touchdown Yosef]

I love this idea as well, but to make it more feasible guarentee that no team plays away two years in a row. Essentially you have a continuous home and home you just don't know who the oponent will be.

[mvemjsunpx]

Unless those conferences could get some sort of ESPN-type TV deal out of it (which is exceedingly unlikely), I don't see it happening. Where's the financial incentive? Sure, many of these contests would be high-profile, marquee games, but I don't think that would be enough to offset the exorbitant travel costs & guarantee payouts.

[ERASU2113]

(First off, forgive me if this has been brought up before - I'm sure it has been)

As we head into the offseason, it's time for everyone to start complaining about how difficult it is for teams to fill their schedules. The typical "No one wants to play us, everyone is afraid..." junk.

How about one OOC game each year being taken up by a "challenge" game like the ACC/Big Ten challenge in basketball? For example, a SoCon/Big Sky challenge or a CAA/Gateway challenge. First place team from Conference A (from the prior year) plays first place team from Conference B from the prior year, with hosting rights determined by some formula that takes into account final ranking from the prior year, final record from the prior year, average attendance and results of the teams challenge game from the prior year (that part I haven't thought out very well yet). If there's an uneven number of teams between the conferences (ie. CAA vs. Gateway), those who finished at the bottom of the barrell are out. The "challenge" for 2008 could look something like this:

SoCon vs. Big Sky
Montana at Appalachian State
EWU at Wofford
Elon at NAU
MSU at GSU
The Citadel at Weber State
PSU at Furman
Sacramento at Chattanooga
WCU at ISU
Samford at N. Colorado

(True that travel in some of these games would be a nightmare)

CAA vs. Gateway
Delaware at NDSU
SIU at UMass
Richmond at Youngstown
JMU at UNI
SDSU at UNH
Hofstra at W. Illinois
Illinois State at Maine
Villanova at Missouri State
Indiana State at William & Mary

Thoughts? Opinions? It would be great if this could be discussed without turning into a "our conference would dominate your conference" smack-fest...

That would be awesome could be like a ACC/Big Ten thing in basketball. Every year, at the other school's home. Or in a neutral site if it's more effective. Like an ASU/Montana game would bring tons of people.

[Big Bubba App fan]

great idea...but when schools like michigan are giving away $400,000...hard to turn those down..especially when like the one person said...not alot of funds there to begin with....and if ya pull off and upset....well..ya win all the way around...don;t think App St or U of Maine can match that

[Hoyadestroya85]

change it to Villanova-SIU and its a deal

[Lionsrking]

Gonna have to shut this thread down fellas...all this common sense stuff has got to stop!!!! Don't you know that good ideas are bad ideas?!!

[Keeper]

IMO if you start it up simple and show some success/enthusiasm
then other conferences will follow.

Begin with 2 conferences to agree, say with 5 teams each, so that
a winning league is determined. Let the highest ranked teams (or the
nearest residing teams) meet on a proximate neutral field. Maybe
revenues could be evenly split if return games are questionable.
Call it the AGS Trophy!

Colonial volunteers/invites:
Delaware, Richmond, JMU, W&M, Towson.

Southern volunteers/invites:
ASU, WCU, FU, Wofford, Elon.

Hopefully schedule all on the same Saturday. Sign a 2-year
agreement that home teams the first year would be on the
road next year. This is absolutely do-able and would bring
added exposure to the FCS if creatively marketed.

[ChickenMan]

Didn't we already have a CAA-Socon challenge this year?

ASU-JMU
ASU-Richmond
ASU-Delaware


Just Kidding! :)




You forgot a couple...

Furman - Hofstra
Wofford - Richmond

;)

[SuperEagle]

It would never work, unless you agreed that the CAA was matched up with the MEAC... or OVC.xrolleyesx
**
The CAA wouldn't do that. Those conferences have scholarships. I believe the CAA would go for the NEC, MAAC or the Pioneer League. :)
*
honestly though I love this idea. And I would LOVE to see a SOCON/caa matchup.

[ChickenMan]

**
The CAA wouldn't do that. Those conferences have scholarships. I believe the CAA would go for the NEC, MAAC or the Pioneer League. :)
*
honestly though I love this idea. And I would LOVE to see a SOCON/caa matchup.


maybe the CAA can get a few of these guys on their schedules..

Lenoir-Rhyne
Carson-Newman
West Virginia Wesleyan
Webber Internatiuonal
Presbyterian
West Georgia
Georgetown (KY)
Charleston-Southern

sound fimiliar???

;)