Who would you want as a non-conference rival?

[IndianaAppMan]

First, let's throw out the notion that teams can't have permanent rivals if they're not in the same conference. Clemson has played South Carolina in non-conference games for almost 40 years. FSU & Florida for almost 50. FSU & Miami for 40 until Miami joined the ACC. USC & Notre Dame... well, forever. Oklahoma & Texas... well, forever, until they became conference rivals 12 years ago. Etc. etc...

So, which team would you want your team to play every year OOC?

I'll throw some ideas out there to get the ball rolling...

App State-James Madision: These two schools are relatively nearby (270 miles apart). They're very similar academically and in size. They are already familiar with each other as of late. Among current FCS teams not in the SoCon, only Presbyterian and VMI have played App State more times than JMU (16 times including this year), so there is definitely a shared history. I don't see another team that would be a better permanent rival.

Elon-Liberty: These teams already play each other pretty often anyway and are pretty close geographically. Maybe Elon-Richmond or Elon-A&T would be good games, too.

NDSU-UND: self-explanatory.

SDSU-USD: see NDSU-UND.

The Citadel-Charleston Southern: I expect citdog's objections on this one! I think The Citadel-VMI should defintely be an annual affair, though.

Delaware-Delaware State: We're probably pretty aware of this one. Please, let's not let this board be dominated by a Del-Del State debate.

Chattanooga-Tennessee State: Could also be Chatt vs. Tenn. Tech or Austin Peay, but it seems that Chatty should be playing against in-state teams more often.

Looking forward to everyone's ideas! xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx

[UIWWildthing]

For Towson, I'd say Morgan State. They are nearby (say 5-6 miles or so apart), and as these are the only 2 Baltimore area colleges with D-I football, this would be a natural fit.

[AZGrizFan]

Two:

I wish the Griz would play Cal Poly and NDSU every year. Then people would stop bitching about their SOS. xcoolx xcoolx xcoolx

[OL FU]

I honestly can't think of one. xconfusedx

We played SC State more than a few years in a row in the 80s and it worked great until FU began dominating.

The problem is with 11 games, including 8 conference games and one FBS team, having an annual rivalry game would really limit scheduling.

[andy7171]

For Towson, I'd say Morgan State. They are nearby (say 5-6 miles or so apart), and as these are the only 2 Baltimore area colleges with D-I football, this would be a natural fit.

WTF? The series is lame. Morgan has beaten us twice since renewing the rivalry in 1993. (Which was stopped in 1987 because we had beaten them 7 times straight.)

Bring back Del State or Howard as a yearly MEAC rival.



Other than that, nice to see another Towson fan on board! xthumbsupx

[UIWWildthing]

WTF? The series is lame. Morgan has beaten us twice since renewing the rivalry in 1993. (Which was stopped in 1987 because we had beaten them 7 times straight.)

Bring back Del State or Howard as a yearly MEAC rival.



Other than that, nice to see another Towson fan on board! xthumbsupx

It's the only OOC rival I see Towson really having, though Howard might not be a bad choice either (Baltimore/DC rivalry). You'd think in a city like Baltimore with 5 D-I schools you'd have one decent rivalry...too bad only 2 of the schools have football

[IndianaAppMan]

The problem is with 11 games, including 8 conference games and one FBS team, having an annual rivalry game would really limit scheduling.

I disagree. Georgia and Georgia Tech play 8 conference games a year, but that has never stopped them from playing in a non-conference game, even when they each had only 11 total games a year. Same thing for all the other rivalries I mentioned previously.

Furman has plenty of in-state choices: Coastal, PC, SC State, and Charleston Southern.

[OL FU]

I disagree. Georgia and Georgia Tech play 8 conference games a year, but that has never stopped them from playing in a non-conference game, even when they each had only 11 total games a year. Same thing for all the other rivalries I mentioned previously.

Furman has plenty of in-state choices: Coastal, PC, SC State, and Charleston Southern.


yep, I don't see any Ga- Ga Tech type rivalries on that list. xnonono2x Like I said SC State would be the closest. xnodx

Rivalries are based on history and tradition. For years and years in SC, it was USC/Clemson and FU/Cit. I just don't see one of those schools being in the same category. xnonono2x

[McNeese72]

For McNeese fans, even though they are FBS, it is ULL (or whatever they are calling themselves this week) and nobody else is even close.

After 21 years of not playing us, this happened!!

http://www.geauxcowboys-eastside.org/images/ull07gscore.jpg

Doc

[g-webb1994]

I would say Wofford, being it is only 30 minutes down the road, and Spartanburg has The Beacon.xthumbsupx xnodx

[andy7171]

It's the only OOC rival I see Towson really having, though Howard might not be a bad choice either (Baltimore/DC rivalry). You'd think in a city like Baltimore with 5 D-I schools you'd have one decent rivalry...too bad only 2 of the schools have football

Geographic rival, yes. Morgan is that, which is why we've played them for the last 10 years.

Let's hope the game on 8/30 creates a new in-state rival for years to come!

[CSUBUCDAD]

El Cid of course. Natural crosstown rivalry.

[dbackjon]

For NAU - it would be Southern Utah - closest FCS school to Flagstaff.

I even have thought up a name for the rivalry "The Grand Canyon Cup" - the schools are seperated by the Grand Canyon.

[AZGrizFan]

For NAU - it would be Southern Utah - closest FCS school to Flagstaff.

I even have thought up a name for the rivalry "The Grand Canyon Cup" - the schools are seperated by the Grand Canyon.

Both literally and figuratively. xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx

[Ivytalk]

Harvard should bring back UMass and/or Northeastern on some kind of rotating basis. We don't need to play Holy Cross every year.

[Pitbull]

I would love to get one going w/ the following teams in this order:

1. Coastal Carolina ( About 2.5 hours fromOrangeburg; We have a lot bunch of alumni down in the Horry and Georgetowm County areas)

2. Wofford (Still pretty close)

2. Furman

3. Charelston Southern (Lots of alumni in that area)

[bluehenbillk]

Temple would top the list for me. If we could ever get a home & home with them again. DelState does nothing for me, last year's playoff competitiveness should cease a lot of outcry for that.

I think a CAA-Southern challenge like they do in hoops would be cool, 1st place team from last year's CAA vs 1st place from Southern, 2nd vs 2nd & so on...

[UCABEARS75]

For McNeese fans, even though they are FBS, it is ULL (or whatever they are calling themselves this week) and nobody else is even close.

After 21 years of not playing us, this happened!!

http://www.geauxcowboys-eastside.org/images/ull07gscore.jpg

Doc

Nowhere near the history of the rivalry listed above, but for somewhat the same reasons it would be Arkansas State (FBS, Sun Belt).

[Killtoppers90]

I'd like WKU to be on UK's schedule every year.

[UIWWildthing]

Geographic rival, yes. Morgan is that, which is why we've played them for the last 10 years.

Let's hope the game on 8/30 creates a new in-state rival for years to come!

I'll be there in my black and gold, with my girlfriend, who works at the Naval Academy...the trash-talking has already started :)

[OSBF]

For us it's EIU. The 2 schools are only 1-2 hours apart. We play each other every year, always a 700 pm game early in the season. Everyone in red or blue looks forward to the meeting every year. Problem is that in the midwest there aren't a ton of quality FCS programs that we don't play in our MVFC schedule. Lately we've been playing Murray on a home/away basis, but it's far from a "rivalry".

[93henfan]

Temple would top the list for me. If we could ever get a home & home with them again. DelState does nothing for me, last year's playoff competitiveness should cease a lot of outcry for that.

I think a CAA-Southern challenge like they do in hoops would be cool, 1st place team from last year's CAA vs 1st place from Southern, 2nd vs 2nd & so on...

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. DelState would be OK once they can field a good team. We don't need another West Chester. Actually, if we replaced West Chester with DelState, that would be about the only way I'd be OK with it, until DelState can be competitive.

Regarding the CAA-SoCon challenge, that would be a blast.

To answer the original post, I'd like to see Georgia Southern as an alternating home and home. The past home and homes with them have been fun.

I'd also like to see Delaware throw in Lehigh, Lafayette, Penn and Princeton once in awhile on the local side.

[DFW HOYA]

Villanova.

[Hoseinexile07]

Wofford

[slostang]

Two:

I wish the Griz would play Cal Poly and NDSU every year. Then people would stop bitching about their SOS. xcoolx xcoolx xcoolx

Well for the next five years you are getting half of your wish. Montana and Cal Poly are playing each other the next five years. Two in SLO and three in Missoula.

As for Cal Poly I would like to see Montana on the schedule every year. Three other teams I would like to see are Montana State, the University of San Diego and Sac State.

[Appaholic]

Well for the next five years you are getting half of your wish. Montana and Cal Poly are playing each other the next five years. Two in SLO and three in Missoula.

As for Cal Poly I would like to see Montana on the schedule every year. Three other teams I would like to see are Montana State, the University of San Diego and Sac State.

You better hope the first two games are in SLO......xwhistlex

[Appaholic]

App St - JMU
El Cid - Army
Presby - Wofford
App St - NC A&T (because we usually beat the crap out of them, but we let their band play halftime......last game I saw, Their band broke out some Herbie Hancock - "Watermelon Man".......right on....xnodx

[CSUBUCDAD]

I would love to get one going w/ the following teams in this order:

1. Coastal Carolina ( About 2.5 hours fromOrangeburg; We have a lot bunch of alumni down in the Horry and Georgetowm County areas)

2. Wofford (Still pretty close)

2. Furman

3. Charelston Southern (Lots of alumni in that area)

Wouldn't mind a home and home with SC State.

[appfan2008]

I would love to see app and montana play home and home!
that would be a fun one

[uofmman1122]

Idaho.

I want to see that rivalry start again.

[NSUDemon98]

Well, it sure would be nice to have a rival period...Northwestern St. doesn't even have one in their own conference...it use to be SFA but their hatred is more geared towards Sam Houston St. these days, which is understandable.

But if I had to choose, it would be Louisiana Tech. There are maybe a few other Demon posters on here who are old enough to remember the days of the NSU vs. LaTech state fair games up at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, LA.

The rivalry started in 1907 and grew so large that it had to be moved to a larger location. At the height of the rivalry and towards the end upwards of 40,000 would come to watch the annual state fair game. Ever since LaTech went FBS, Div. I-A at the time, our fans don't really seem to get excited about too many games.

[slostang]

You better hope the first two games are in SLO......xwhistlex

The first one is in SLO on September 6, 2008. The second game in SLO is in 2012.

App. State interested in a home and home? California is beautiful in September.

[Seawolf97]

We have Hofstra not only in football but all sports. Hofstra-Stonybrook always draws the fans in just about any sport. Our lacrosse game this past May at Stonybrook drew just under 6000 fans (5893). The schools are about 30 miles apart.
Would like to see a football rivalry with a NYC school either Fordham or Columbia. Once again not much travel there about 50 miles and I know they both have a strong fan base on Long Island.

[bjtheflamesfan]

Id say Elon for out of state and in-state...hmm...honestly Id like to see ODU and Liberty start a rivalry

[OL FU]

[QUOTE=93henfan;1027789]
Regarding the CAA-SoCon challenge, that would be a blast.

QUOTE]

If my math is correct we would play............................Hofstra:( xbawlingx

[OhioHen]

The problem is with 11 games, including 8 conference games and one FBS team, having an annual rivalry game would really limit scheduling.

Have to disagree with that one. Delaware has an annual OOC (albeit with DII West Chester). This doesn't stop the Hens from scheduling a regional FCS opponent and an FBS opponent most years.

[IndianaAppMan]

Montana and Cal Poly are playing each other the next five years. Two in SLO and three in Missoula.

As for Cal Poly I would like to see Montana on the schedule every year. Three other teams I would like to see are Montana State, the University of San Diego and Sac State.
App. State interested in a home and home? California is beautiful in September.
Seems like Cal Poly has more non-conference games than they know what to do with...

If this thread is about permanent non-conference rivals, it's more realistic to consider teams that are closer by, which is why I think App State-James Madision would work better than App State-Cal Poly or ASU-Montana. After all, in the FCS world, travel budgets are very limited.

Not that those wouldn't be games I'd enjoy seeing. Too bad the Montana-App home-and-home series fell through a couple years ago... xsmhx

[Bison "FANatic"]

I would like to see NDSU play Montana on a fairly regular basis. Us playing UND on a regular basis mmmmmmm not so much. The problem I see comes down to 8 league games, 1 FBS, a lower level FCS to start the season and that leaves us one game and I would rather see some different teams come to the Fargodome than the same team every other year. The SHSU game was a great game and it might not have happened had we only had one open date to work with.

[JMU DUUUKES]

I would love to play UVA most years, but they are afraid THIS would happen again ...

http://i35.tinypic.com/2vn52xd.jpg

[Captain]

I would love for UT Martin to play Chattanooga every year because they are both part of the University of Tennessee system. There could also be a little East vs. West competition within the state and I think it would be a competitive series as well.

[citdog]

I'll be there in my black and gold, with my girlfriend, who works at CANOE U...the trash-talking has already started :)

ACCURACY

[jstclmet]

We have Temple for the next 4 years. It would be nice if we could rotate Penn St, Pitt, SU, RU, UConn, GT, and BC with Temple.

[mainejeff]

1. Montana
2. Harvard
3. Albany
4. Holy Cross
5. Dartmouth

[Tribe4SF]

W&M has had VMI as an OOC rival for many years. That series gets interrupted next year, but will likely continue. It hasn't been very compelling over the past 20 years.

I wish we had the schedule room to play Hampton and Norfolk State every year. Our four year series with Liberty got more interesting the last two years, as they became more competitive and developed some fan interest.

[Go...gate]

Other than Cornell, I'd like to play Brown and Princeton. Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Hofstra and Army would also be nice.

[Lionsrking]

For Southeastern Louisiana, we've had a pretty good rivalry with Tulane over the years in baseball...would love to see us play on an annual basis in football...played them twice in the last three years and have had close calls both times...doubtful they'll want to schedule us again anytime soon...We also beat them the last time we hooked up in basketball, in 03-04...they haven't scheduled since, except for pre-season scrimmages.

Also wouldn't mind getting something going with Southern on an annual basis, but that will never happen for obvious reasons.

[McNeese72]

Nowhere near the history of the rivalry listed above, but for somewhat the same reasons it would be Arkansas State (FBS, Sun Belt).

Did you noticed the ad video that was running on the video screen on the scoreboard when I took the picture. I didn't notice it until after I put it up on the Geauxcowboys website and a McNeese fan pointed it out to me.

A deer caught in the headlights. Very appropriate because that is what most of their fans looked like leaving the stadium after McNeese ran over them.

http://www.geauxcowboys-eastside.org/images/ull07gscore.jpg

Doc

[UIWWildthing]

ACCURACY

:D I have to remember to use that one

[Appaholic]

The first one is in SLO on September 6, 2008. The second game in SLO is in 2012.

App. State interested in a home and home? California is beautiful in September.

So is Boone......

[R.A.]

I would enjoy having the game with Georgetown at the start of the season develop into a strong rivalry.

[Russ B]

Would be nice to see the UC Davis -- Nevada (Reno) series start up again. Tough to get going now that it's a FCS/FBS match-up, obviously.

[appfan2008]

how about asu-duke home and home every year... then again that might not be fair

[OL FU]

Have to disagree with that one. Delaware has an annual OOC (albeit with DII West Chester). This doesn't stop the Hens from scheduling a regional FCS opponent and an FBS opponent most years.

xeyebrowx You are happy you play West Chester every yearxlolx xlolx

Let me clarify and you don't have to agree. We play one FBS which more than likely we will lose because we will play a top tier ACC or SEC team. Then we play one OOC rival that leaves one game a year to play someone different in FCS. I would rather have two games to spread around even if one of them is a D-II (just not the same D-II).

Now on the other hand, if there was really a good choice of a rival from a historial perspective, I would say fine. Let's play them every year. But there isn't. I said before SC state would be the closest because you have two teams that have a good history in FCS. While I would like to play the bulldogs frequently I don't think I would want to play them every year. So I suppose the answer is I don't see an out of conference team as a candidate for that rivalry, so I would rather have two games a year to play around the country.

[GeeWiz]

Harvard
Holy Cross
Albany
Fordham

[muletrain]

FBS, but Appalachian vs East Carolina would be big.............and what a tailgate party. Play in Charlotte like NC State and UNC have done.

[BgJag]

Also wouldn't mind getting something going with Southern on an annual basis, but that will never happen for obvious reasons.

xconfusedx

[89Hen]

Delaware-Delaware State: We're probably pretty aware of this one. Please, let's not let this board be dominated by a Del-Del State debate.
Oddly enough, the only debate would be between Delaware fans and people who have nothing to do with UD or the state of Delaware who think this game is a natural. There aren't many Hen fans who would pick DSU as an annual game.

For me, I'd say either Lehigh or Penn.

[Lionsrking]

but that will never happen for obvious reasons. xconfusedx

You guys won't play us unless it's at your place...that's why it won't happen and it's pretty obvious.

[GAD]

Tennessee State and any instate FCS team

[JoltinJoe]

Our non-conference rival is Columbia. I would love Army.

[griz&beer]

Well for the next five years you are getting half of your wish. Montana and Cal Poly are playing each other the next five years. Two in SLO and three in Missoula.

As for Cal Poly I would like to see Montana on the schedule every year. Three other teams I would like to see are Montana State, the University of San Diego and Sac State.

I wonder way Montana State..xwhistlex lol. You guys owen them don't you???

[griz&beer]

I would love to see the Griz play Washington State, Idaho NDSU, Wyoming

[AZGrizFan]

Idaho.

I want to see that rivalry start again.

Nah. I'd rather play somebody who's competitive against us. Like Albany. xlolx xlolx xlolx

[poly51]

Cal Poly's OOC rival should be Fresno State even though they are FBS/I-A.

They are the closest Football playing schools to each other. 140 miles.

They have played 41 times in history but not since 1985. Fresno State leads the series 10-29-2. The last 12 games they were 6-6. Cal Poly was D-II and Fresno State I-A.

Fresno State usually plays a I-AA game but not Cal Poly.

Cal Poly usually plays 1 or 2 I-A games but not Fresno State. This year San Diego State & Wisconsin.

Fresno State's Bulldog Stadium would be packed for a game against Cal Poly. Extra home game for Fresno State, Good payday for Cal Poly.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Nah. I'd rather play somebody who's competitive against us. Like Albany. xlolx xlolx xlolx

Not only that but Albany at least brings a few fans along.

[griz&beer]

[QUOTE=AZGrizFan;1028267]Nah. I'd rather play somebody who's competitive against us. Like Albany. xlolx xlolx xlolx[/QUOT.

That is true, but pay back is so fun.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

[QUOTE=AZGrizFan;1028267]Nah. I'd rather play somebody who's competitive against us. Like Albany. xlolx xlolx xlolx[/QUOT.

That is true, but pay back is so fun.

What payback? We are 4-1 against them since they went 1A. And we have the little Brown Stein in our possession.

[Jackman]

UConn.
Would be fun to play Montana though.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Frankly Eastern doesn't really play any FCS OOC games other than UC-Davis and Cal-Poly every other year (Nicholls State is the only other FCS OOC game I can remember). We always play a ranked FBS for the $ and get our asses handed to us (including this year, we'll have played Texas Tech, Colorado, BYU, West Virginia, Oregon State, San Jose State, and Air Force in the past 4 years) , or the opposite, we play a crap DII or NAIA team like WWU or Montana-Western. Makes no sense in my eyes; if we play a quality BCS team for the $, that hurts chances at making the playoffs and winning a NC (which would bring more recognition and put fans in the seats, which makes more $ in the long run). Or we take an easy win against a lower division team, but that doesn't count toward D-I wins for the post-season.

So, I'd just like to see EWU play some FCS OOC games PERIOD. Cal-Poly and UC-Davis are the closest but we don't play them on a consistant basis. Maybe NDSU or SDSU would be good matchups as well. If we must play a FBS team, why not spend less on travel and make the game interesting? Take a bus 100 miles and play WSU. Granted are chances of pulling the upset are far less now that they took Paul Wulff from us, but it would definitely add to the interest. Just my two cents.

[AZGrizFan]

[quote=griz&beer;1028281]

What payback? We are 4-1 against them since they went 1A. And we have the little Brown Stein in our possession.

Like I said: Find somebody that's competitive. xnodx

[yoself09]

Coastal

I need an excuse to get to Myrtle Beach xthumbsupx

[JBB]

NDSU needs a rival in Montana or Minnesota. The Gopher games were a lot of fun. Playing Wyoming this year will be exciting. Iowa State next. None will be every year but if it were going to be a series of home/homes I would hope one of the Montana schools.

NDSU might schedule UND OOC if they come to Fargo. Probably as many times in a row as they are willing. I dont think NDSU has any interest or intention of playing in Grand Forks.

If NDSU was going to do home/homes UND makes no sense. It might help UND but it doesnt give NDSU any new exposure.

[IndianaAppMan]

how about asu-duke home and home every year... then again that might not be fair
To which side would that not be fair?

As for App, they could have 8 conference games, the JMU game, an FBS game, and one other game against a regional FCS or DII team such as PC or Lenior-Rhyne. Maybe if the AD was really ballsy, he might do another game against another FCS powerhouse.

For those who don't think that kind of scheduling can be done, there's a team that did the equivalent at the 1A level all through the 90's and early 2000's. My favorite FBS team, Florida State, had an 11-game schedule. Every year, ten games were the same: 8 ACC games, Florida, and Miami, and that's when the Big Three in Florida were at the peak of their power. The 11th game was against teams like USC, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame. Sure, sometimes the 11th game was against middle- or lower-tier teams, but so what? It was daring scheduling, and FSU thrived on it.

Why couldn't App, or Furman for that matter, flourish with that kind of scheduling?

Another thing: nine games (8 conference plus one permanent OOC rival) eases the scheduling headaches for AD's. Charlie Cobb had his hands full the past two off-seasons before getting the final games sqaured away.

[gophoenix]

First, let's throw out the notion that teams can't have permanent rivals if they're not in the same conference. Clemson has played South Carolina in non-conference games for almost 40 years. FSU & Florida for almost 50. FSU & Miami for 40 until Miami joined the ACC. USC & Notre Dame... well, forever. Oklahoma & Texas... well, forever, until they became conference rivals 12 years ago. Etc. etc...

So, which team would you want your team to play every year OOC?

I'll throw some ideas out there to get the ball rolling...

App State-James Madision: These two schools are relatively nearby (270 miles apart). They're very similar academically and in size. They are already familiar with each other as of late. Among current FCS teams not in the SoCon, only Presbyterian and VMI have played App State more times than JMU (16 times including this year), so there is definitely a shared history. I don't see another team that would be a better permanent rival.

Elon-Liberty: These teams already play each other pretty often anyway and are pretty close geographically. Maybe Elon-Richmond or Elon-A&T would be good games, too.

NDSU-UND: self-explanatory.

SDSU-USD: see NDSU-UND.

The Citadel-Charleston Southern: I expect citdog's objections on this one! I think The Citadel-VMI should defintely be an annual affair, though.

Delaware-Delaware State: We're probably pretty aware of this one. Please, let's not let this board be dominated by a Del-Del State debate.

Chattanooga-Tennessee State: Could also be Chatt vs. Tenn. Tech or Austin Peay, but it seems that Chatty should be playing against in-state teams more often.

Looking forward to everyone's ideas! xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx

I personally want A&T back, but as soon as we started winning the games, they wanted nothing to do with us. A&T wanted easy wins outside of their classics. So, they chose not to renew and took up the search for easy wins. The A&T/Elon series was treated as a big rivalry by the Triad media. Promotions on all the radio and TV stations, games the kids cared about. And a general "hate to lose the game" mentality to the fans. Heck, for the first two years, to wear Elon gear around an A&T fan talking football in public was fun. And they got us back. But, ultimately, we aren't an HBCU so it didn't work for some. With Central and WSSU now I-AA, I just don't see that series ever taking off like it used to.

To many of us in-state Elon fans from the Triad area (and to our App fan friends in the area). The Elon/App game is bigger than the Western game to all of us. But that that is only to a select group and so doesn't work for the bunch.

Elon/Liberty has potential. But it would take some real effort to get that rolling continuously. Elon/Presbyterian might have potential. Elon/Richmond might have potential too, but they are established and have their own rivals. If Campbell or High Point ever steps up to scholarship ball, I could see them being the rival more than anyone else. They recruit the same areas for students.

App fans will laugh, but I bet if you asked the current Elon fans who the rival was to them, they'd say App. When I was in school, the rival was Lenoir-Rhyne and High Point for everything else. To the older people, it'll always be Guilford.

I think we're now in the position of UTC, we have no natural rival in the conference. We're an outlier, and outside of school size and location, we have nothing in common with the rest of the SoCon. We would have been better served in the CAA.

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

You guys won't play us unless it's at your place...that's why it won't happen and it's pretty obvious.

SLU doesn't have a stadium that could hold the Jaguar Nation. Do you know how many SU fans would travel to that game, ULL is going to find out next season xlolx .If SLU's home game was moved to say New Orleans, and the gate was split, it might happen.

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

Tennessee State and any instate FBS teamFixed it for you. SU has more to gain playing ULL, LaTech, Tulane and ULM imo, if they are going to play an instate school.

[Lionsrking]

SLU doesn't have a stadium that could hold the Jaguar Nation. Do you know how many SU fans would travel to that game, ULL is going to find out next season xlolx .If SLU's home game was moved to say New Orleans, and the gate was split, it might happen.

You just made my point why it will never happen. I'm all for playing a neutral site game in the Dome and I would be for splitting the gate, but your administration won't go for that either.

[phoenix3]

Elon - Richmond

[IndianaAppMan]

App fans will laugh, but I bet if you asked the current Elon fans who the rival was to them, they'd say App. When I was in school, the rival was Lenoir-Rhyne and High Point for everything else. To the older people, it'll always be Guilford.

I think we're now in the position of UTC, we have no natural rival in the conference. We're an outlier, and outside of school size and location, we have nothing in common with the rest of the SoCon. We would have been better served in the CAA.

I personally would love it if App & Elon develop into fierce rivals b/c I have ties to both Boone & Burlington. A lot of App students & alumni call Alamance County home. That rivalry seems to be a natural, especially being such a straight, easy, 2-hour shot between the schools. Also, the App-Elon rivalry actually goes back a long way. They've played each other somewhere around 40 times, although most games were prior to 1970.

I'm surprised to hear an Elon fan have discontent with the SoCon. Geographically, it's a perfect match, especially w/ Davidson, App, & UNCG so close by. I have known numerous people from Elon, App, Furman, and UNCG, and it seems like Elon's a perfect fit. Far from an outlier.

The CAA would be a tougher fit geographically, with the closest team (Richmond) farther than the fifth-closest team (Furman). I also think Elon would fit in with James Madison, Delaware, ODU, or UMass than it would with App, Western, or Ga. Southern.

[Hoseinexile07]

I'd definitely be cool with Elon or Furman as well. Elon used to be in the old SAC-8 with us, and we have a long history with Furman. Unfortunately, it's a history of getting taken to the woodshed, but it's history...

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

You just made my point why it will never happen. I'm all for playing a neutral site game in the Dome and I would be for splitting the gate, but your administration won't go for that either.

Im SUre they would go for SU having the first game @ Home and SLU have its game in New Orleans with the gate split. SU brings way more(fans) to the table than SLU brings. If not o well. We do have plenty of rivals already, that will bring more to the table, so I understand them. Football has to fund everything. The Swac went back to a 7 game schedule but certain games SU has to play because of the rivalry SU/JSU, SU/Alcorn, even if they won't count towards the Swac standings. SU/Bama State just signed a deal to have the next 5 or so games played in Mobile, so even when they roll off our rotation we will play them OC xlolx . Famu/Tenn St. is a must OCC, years of tradition. And the final game will be reserved for an FBS school I guess. We have Houston this season, and ULL next season.

[TheValleyRaider]

Other than Cornell, I'd like to play Brown and Princeton. Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Hofstra and Army would also be nice.

Like he said, we already have one

http://www.sweetstall.com/acatalog/Big-Red-Gum-new.jpg

:D

[GannonFan]

Delaware's real bitter rival for some time was Temple. Great games over the years before they decided losing to little ol' Delaware was holding them back from greatness. Would love for that rivalry to start up again. Temple week was like 4 nova weeks rolled into one.

[RabidRabbit]

Two:

I wish the Griz would play Cal Poly and NDSU every year. Then people would stop bitching about their SOS. xcoolx xcoolx xcoolx

Do home n home's, I suspect Bison and Stang fans would be happy to do this! xlolx xlolx

[McNeese75]

Fixed it for you. SU has more to gain playing ULL, LaTech, Tulane and ULM imo, if they are going to play an instate school.

And the reason is??????? Surely you do not think they are going to draw bigger crowds than the FCS teams in the state do you? If so, I'm afraid you are in for a surprise xrotatehx And of course you realize the Jags will ALWAYS be the visiting team and they are not going to fall for that BS of a home game for you and a neutral site with a split gate for them.

[RabidRabbit]

The 4 Dakota's should be playing each other. LONG history for those 4 schools.

I'll even suggest Northern Colo. as another ex NCC mate would be good to continue on this higher level, but it wouldn't attract the crowds that the I-29 schools to bring to the games.

[Appaholic]

App St - JMU
El Cid - Army
Presby - Wofford
App St - NC A&T (because we usually beat the crap out of them, but we let their band play halftime......last game I saw, Their band broke out some Herbie Hancock - "Watermelon Man".......right on....xnodx


Actually, El Cid vs. Navy would be more historical (you know, US Naval vs CS Naval)....and alot more competitive year in - year out....Army would have problems with VMI......

[SUjagTILLiDIE]

And the reason is??????? Surely you do not think they are going to draw bigger crowds than the FCS teams in the state do you? If so, I'm afraid you are in for a surprise xrotatehx And of course you realize the Jags will ALWAYS be the visiting team and they are not going to fall for that BS of a home game for you and a neutral site with a split gate for them.
Its not about their fans, its about our's. In state FCS teams in state doesn't excite our fan base. All im saying if you are going to play an instate school you might as well play the FBS schools. For example SU played Tulane in New Orleans. The crowd was around 50,000 with 45,000 being SU fans. You would be SUprised at the deals folks offer SU. With the 7 game mandate AAMU rolled off SU schedule. AAMU offered SU half the gate for their homecoming this season. SU declined. ULL basically did the same thing. smirk

[g-webb1994]

I'd definitely be cool with Elon or Furman as well. Elon used to be in the old SAC-8 with us, and we have a long history with Furman. Unfortunately, it's a history of getting taken to the woodshed, but it's history...


Even though Newberry is still D-2, it sucks that the Bronze Derby game is in exile now.:(

I agree with you on the Elon sentiment though, I wouldn't mind G-W rekindling that in-state rivalry (and former SAC-8 rivalry) as well.

[Hoseinexile07]

Even though Newberry is still D-2, it sucks that the Bronze Derby game is in exile now.:(

I agree with you on the Elon sentiment though, I wouldn't mind G-W rekindling that in-state rivalry (and former SAC-8 rivalry) as well.

Doesn't suck for us; we have the Derby for good. We dominated that series, especially since 1998 (8-1). It's time to move onto bigger and better things. xcoffeex

[Maroon&White]

Harvard

[crunifan]

Out of conference, our only rivals are Iowa and Iowa State, which are both quite one sided, especially in football (not quite as much in basketball as we hold our own).

It's kinda surprising considering how good UNI has been in football for the past 20 years, but our only rivals are in conference (SIU, Youngstown, and now North Dakota State/South Dakota State to an extent)

To be honest I would just like a stronger rivalry with say SIU and NDSU.

[rudy1648]

Few years ago, East Carolina had legislation passed requiring in state schools to play them. NCSU is the only one which will play ASU voluntarily. I would love to see us resume the series with Wake,,,,,,or,,,would love even more if UNC would manup and play us.

[Maroons]

This is a challenging question because all of EKU's classic rivals that are not in the OVC are not playing FCS scholarship football. Because of that, it is obviously unlikely that any kind of home-home series could be struck up. But if that were not an obstacle, it would be these teams in this order of priority:
1) WKU
2) Morehead State
3) Middle Tennessee
4) Marshall
5) Louisville

Who is left for EKU? Will I get hammered for picking App. State? I enjoyed our non-conference series and I am pretty sure EKU and App. State have a history of facing each other in the playoffs. In fact, I'd take an OOC series with any repeat national champ.
1) App. State
2) Georgia Southern
3) Youngstown State

I didn't forget Montana... but I don't see either athletic department traveling across the country for a non-playoff OOC game. (Quote this paragraph and insert your joke about Montana never leaving Wa-Griz stadium here.)

[Squealofthepig]

I would love to see app and montana play home and home!
that would be a fun one

Holy crap, that would be fun. Think the fans and hospitality of both Boone and Missoula would become legendary - though after last year, I wouldn't mind seeing a Wofford/Montana rivalry either!

I'd also pay to see the mountaineers play every year at Duke... but that's just my hatred of the Blue Devils showing. :)

Missouri/Missouri State is also probably overdue, and MSU has been gunning for it since back when they were SMSU and Mizzou was the laughing stock of the Big 8/Big 12.

Southern Illinois/Illinois and Northern Illinois/Depaul would also be great and easy regional matchups, though I doubt either bowl team would tolerate that.

[Lionsrking]

Im SUre they would go for SU having the first game @ Home and SLU have its game in New Orleans with the gate split. SU brings way more(fans) to the table than SLU brings. If not o well. We do have plenty of rivals already, that will bring more to the table, so I understand them. Football has to fund everything. The Swac went back to a 7 game schedule but certain games SU has to play because of the rivalry SU/JSU, SU/Alcorn, even if they won't count towards the Swac standings. SU/Bama State just signed a deal to have the next 5 or so games played in Mobile, so even when they roll off our rotation we will play them OC xlolx . Famu/Tenn St. is a must OCC, years of tradition. And the final game will be reserved for an FBS school I guess. We have Houston this season, and ULL next season.

Like I said, you made my point why it won't happen.

[gophoenix]

I'm surprised to hear an Elon fan have discontent with the SoCon. Geographically, it's a perfect match, especially w/ Davidson, App, & UNCG so close by. I have known numerous people from Elon, App, Furman, and UNCG, and it seems like Elon's a perfect fit. Far from an outlier.

The CAA would be a tougher fit geographically, with the closest team (Richmond) farther than the fifth-closest team (Furman). I also think Elon would fit in with James Madison, Delaware, ODU, or UMass than it would with App, Western, or Ga. Southern.

Well, I personally like the SoCon. But, all the SoCon schools recruit from NC through the southeast for students where Elon recruits NC through the Northeast and midwest. I'm from NC, but I was in the minority. Considering the locations of our student body, I just think that they would get more excited about the CAA schools where they probably have friends or local connections with their home cities as opposed to the SoCon where they probably have no connection. Sure, they all get excited about App, Davidson and UNCG. After that, the excitement level drops a ton. Georgia Southern, UTC and Western Carolina are as unknown to new Elon students as people at those schools claim Elon is. And it is because of the differing areas where we recruit and have alumni.

Back in 2000 the CAA approached Elon. And since they couldn't give or guarantee a football home, we told them we weren't interested.

[I Bleed Purple]

For NAU - it would be Southern Utah - closest FCS school to Flagstaff.

I even have thought up a name for the rivalry "The Grand Canyon Cup" - the schools are seperated by the Grand Canyon.
SUU is much closer to Flagstaff than it is to Ogden.

Although I've wondered which is the best (subjective) and fastest (objective) way to get from Cedar City to Flagstaff. Best to take 89 or go through Vegas? When I drove to Phoenix this year I took 89 to Flagstaff and 17 down to Phoenix. More scenic drive, IMO.

[T-Dog]

FBS, but Appalachian vs East Carolina would be big.............and what a tailgate party. Play in Charlotte like NC State and UNC have done.

That would be one big drunken tailgate. But remember to stay away from the ECU women as most of them come away from college with a BA and an STD. xeyebrowx

But of course, ECU will never play us in Boone and I seriously doubt they would go to Charlotte. It would either be go to Greenville, NC or nothing at all.

We should petition the state legislature to have a game in Charlotte! xrulesx


App fans will laugh, but I bet if you asked the current Elon fans who the rival was to them, they'd say App. When I was in school, the rival was Lenoir-Rhyne and High Point for everything else. To the older people, it'll always be Guilford.

I don't laugh at that. We're the closest SoCon team to you in football and have tons of alum in the area. The only thing I laugh at is that Elon hasn't beaten us in over 30 years. Even Western finds a way once every ten years. xnodx


We're an outlier, and outside of school size and location, we have nothing in common with the rest of the SoCon. We would have been better served in the CAA.

I'm not sure about that. Sure Virginia isn't that bad a drive, but after that you got Maryland, Long Island, Boston and New Hampshire. I'd say if any conference would better serve Elon location-wise, it would be the Big South.


As for the original topic, I wouldn't mind beating up on Wake Forest again. xthumbsupx After that, James Madison definitely has become one again. I have a feeling if UNC-Charlotte field a team eventually, they'll become one (if they don't jump into the Big East like their fans think they will).

[gophoenix]

I don't laugh at that. We're the closest SoCon team to you in football and have tons of alum in the area. The only thing I laugh at is that Elon hasn't beaten us in over 30 years. Even Western finds a way once every ten years. xnodx

Heh, it's not like we lost to you any over that same 30 year period? xlolx

[SIUallDay]

I'd also pay to see the mountaineers play every year at Duke... but that's just my hatred of the Blue Devils showing. :)

LOL at possible scores from these "games"



Southern Illinois/Illinois and Northern Illinois/Depaul would also be great and easy regional matchups, though I doubt either bowl team would tolerate that.

Ask Illinois why they won't play SIU in alot of sports....They play Eastern or Western every year in every major sport, why not the Salukis? There's a scheduled football game in 2010, but that's waaaaay overdue...and I don't know what game you are talking about with NIU/DePaul since DePaul doesn't have a football team...

[SactoHornetFan]

Well for the next five years you are getting half of your wish. Montana and Cal Poly are playing each other the next five years. Two in SLO and three in Missoula.

As for Cal Poly I would like to see Montana on the schedule every year. Three other teams I would like to see are Montana State, the University of San Diego and Sac State.

For me, its Cal Poly and until last year, was the Annual Green and Gold Bowl!

[ASUG8]

To many of us in-state Elon fans from the Triad area (and to our App fan friends in the area). The Elon/App game is bigger than the Western game to all of us. But that that is only to a select group and so doesn't work for the bunch.

Elon/Liberty has potential. But it would take some real effort to get that rolling continuously. Elon/Presbyterian might have potential. Elon/Richmond might have potential too, but they are established and have their own rivals. If Campbell or High Point ever steps up to scholarship ball, I could see them being the rival more than anyone else. They recruit the same areas for students.

App fans will laugh, but I bet if you asked the current Elon fans who the rival was to them, they'd say App. When I was in school, the rival was Lenoir-Rhyne and High Point for everything else. To the older people, it'll always be Guilford.



I think the Elon program has outgrown the likes of A&T or Presbyterian (no disrespect intended to either school). After last year, you won't find many App fans dismissing the Phoenix. You've got a great facility, a strong team, and are a legitimate in-state rival for ASU. ASU/WCU will always have the brown jug rivalry, but until they get their program turned around Elon will be our biggest test in state.

[IndianaAppMan]

Side note here, but I think this is an interesting observation:

In terms of having multiple rivalries, App State has become a lot like Florida or USC. Tennessee, Georgia, Florida State, and Miami all consider the Gators to be hated rivals. UCLA, Cal, Stanford, and Notre Dame consider SoCal a primary rival as well.

In the SoCon, App has gotten the same kind of response. Western, Furman, Ga. Southern, and now Elon consider us fierce rivals. I think it's just a tribute to success. xsmiley_wix

(Well, that, and the fact that the SoCon is so competitive. There's never a week off!)

[Skjellyfetti]

In the SoCon, App has gotten the same kind of response. Western, Furman, Ga. Southern, and now Elon consider us fierce rivals. I think it's just a tribute to success. xsmiley_wix

I agree with that. And I think the same is true about Georgia Southern when they were top dogs.

[T-Dog]

Heh, it's not like we lost to you any over that same 30 year period? xlolx

I looked it up. We've won 12 straight dating back to 1965 (1965-1971, 2003-present), so it's been 43 years. xrulesx

In fact the 32 you put on us last year was the most points Elon has ever scored on us.

[MaximumBobcat]

I want UTSA to start their football program, so we can have a rivalry with them in football. EVERY other sport we do and most of those games are the highest attended games all year.

[Punchykky]

I would love to see my beloved Spartans play William & Mary every year as an OOC opponent. And I would really love to see Norfolk State play JMU in a home and home as well,,,but I don't think JMU's coach wants to play an HBCU at an HBCU's home turf. But we got a really nice stadium! I'd like to see NSU play UR in a home and home as well. We've played Liberty U and VMI in home and home games before, and I think those games were successful endeavors.
Once Old Dominion gets on track with their team, having a cross-town rivalry would be a moneymaker.

[bonarae]

To begin with, the Ivy League has a 10 game schedule that lets its teams plan their schedules ahead - they even had one made for a squad as long as FIFTEEN (15) years from now! (in 2002, I saw Harvard's future schedule posted UP TO 2012! xnodx ) Also we have a tendency to play Patriot League teams, which I don't like. :( (Harvard's OOC slate for this year is this: Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh - all PL teams.)

So if the League gets away with its 10 game schedule that leads to the consequence above, I'll start with:

Harvard's In State Rivals
UMass - we haven't played them in 20 years! why did we pull out of them at that time?
Boston College - it's FBS, so why don't the League allow us to schedule this team? Let's see who's the best Massachusetts team in Division I. (if they play UMass, of course so we can judge it.)
Northeastern - a few years ago, we played this team. Now, with the invitations from FBS schools to play them, can they give way to us?

Teams that are as good as Harvard but for some reason we don't play them
Appalachian State - Yeah, I agree with the fans' cry that the Ivies should go into the playoffs to play them. Why not regular season, so that it can be partially fulfilled? (like the Mountaineers played Michigan last year and they humiliated the Wolverines in the Big House)
Wofford - they have the smallest enrollment of the FCS schools. Wofford is one of the best teams in the FCS year in year out so I believe we should play this school.
William and Mary - battle of the 2 oldest US colleges, so why not extend it to athletics? A date in football could create a great start to it.
Grambling State/Southern - like us, they don't participate in the playoffs, so why not schedule a date with them during the regular season? It is a battle of North and South in the FCS xpeacex
any of the Illinois schools - hmmm... how long has passed since Harvard played a school located in Illinois? Northwestern? Probably.
Northern Iowa - I can't say it in words.
Montana - oh no! The Crimson has NEVER set foot in the Treasure State in any sport! see Wofford for the reason.
Georgia Southern - although Harvard wasn't that good when Georgia Southern ruled I-AA, a matchup between these two schools would be good.

FBS Schools (long shot!)
Stanford - wait a minute. when was the last time we played this school? when we weren't in the League yet?
Northwestern - see Stanford
UCLA/USC - xcoolx
Tulane - uhumm.. New Orleans... we have never played there in the Superdome (?)
Michigan - are they ready to face the FCS again after being humiliated by App State?
Notre Dame - a battle for the ages, I'm saying. we haven't played each other for a really long time. When they renewed the rivalry with Stanford, I cheered a little. Can the League presidents allow us to play this school and renew the long-gone rivalry?

[gophoenix]

I looked it up. We've won 12 straight dating back to 1965 (1965-1971, 2003-present), so it's been 43 years. xrulesx

In fact the 32 you put on us last year was the most points Elon has ever scored on us.

Ok Mr. spin-master bandwagon app fan. xrolleyesx

You said "even Western can beat us once every ten years" and here you go and basically point to the fact that we haven't beaten you in the equivalent of 12 seasons. 3 of those games were played when you were in a separate division than us. And there is a 32 year period where, no matter how you want to spin it, you didn't beat us.

This is like saying "App hasn't beaten East Carolina in 22 years" or "App hasn't beaten Presbyterian in 30 years" both are true. Heck, even Elon's managed to beat Presbyterian in the past thirty years.

So, move along bandwagon t-dog.

[Herdman]

If Drake offered scholarships I'd say that would be a great OOC rival for UNI, but since they don't it's a hard call.

USD and UND, former NCC foes could fit the bill, but they'd have instate and Dakota boarder teams that would come first.

Others that might work, but really don't are Eastern Illinois and SEMo State.

UNI does a very nice job scheduling teams like Northern Arizona.

But on that does make a bit more sense and one I'd like to see set up on a regular basis is with Northern Colorado...mini-Buff/Cyclone hitch there.

[downbythebeach]

Pennsylvania schools

[GannonFan]

(Well, that, and the fact that the SoCon is so competitive. There's never a week off!)

xrolleyesx

The last time Chattanooga, Western Carolina, The Citadel, or Elon won a playoff game, let alone even made the playoffs? xreadx

[BearsCountry]

Well the 3 schools I wouldnt mind seeing on the schedule each year are FBS schools - Missouri, Tulsa, and Arkansas State. I guess for FCS it would be Central Arkansas and SEMO.

[bulldog10jw]

We have Hofstra not only in football but all sports. Hofstra-Stonybrook always draws the fans in just about any sport. Our lacrosse game this past May at Stonybrook drew just under 6000 fans (5893). The schools are about 30 miles apart.
Would like to see a football rivalry with a NYC school either Fordham or Columbia. Once again not much travel there about 50 miles and I know they both have a strong fan base on Long Island.


Columbia. Strong fan base? xconfusedx

[gophoenix]

xrolleyesx

The last time Chattanooga, Western Carolina, The Citadel, or Elon won a playoff game, let alone even made the playoffs? xreadx

xrolleyesx

I love how the CAA fans seem to use playoff berths as a measure of how good teams are.

Here's one for you, when's the last time all the top CAA teams played each other, like we do in the SoCon, instead of padding your schedule to make the conference look good?

[phoenix3]

... and another good interesting thread deteriorates into smack...

[BeauFoster]

Well, I personally like the SoCon. But, all the SoCon schools recruit from NC through the southeast for students where Elon recruits NC through the Northeast and midwest. I'm from NC, but I was in the minority. Considering the locations of our student body, I just think that they would get more excited about the CAA schools where they probably have friends or local connections with their home cities as opposed to the SoCon where they probably have no connection. Sure, they all get excited about App, Davidson and UNCG. After that, the excitement level drops a ton. Georgia Southern, UTC and Western Carolina are as unknown to new Elon students as people at those schools claim Elon is. And it is because of the differing areas where we recruit and have alumni.

Back in 2000 the CAA approached Elon. And since they couldn't give or guarantee a football home, we told them we weren't interested.

You are dead on about the makeup of your student body (makes sense, you went there!). My best friend's wife (both Elon alums) is from Philly. She started at Elon, transferred to Delaware for a year, then came back south - it got in her blood, but still roots for the Hens all the time. It was nice to call her in December and rub it in around 11:30. Most of my friend's friends from Elon are transplants and all have some allegiance to a school up north.

[ChickenMan]

For Delaware the best choice for a non-conference rival is.... Lehigh and it's not even close. Del St is not nearly competitive enough to be a true rival. Temple use to fill that role for UD fans.. as UD people were always hyped for Temple.. but what few fans Temple had.. they were not all that excited to play I-AA Delaware and to me for an opponent to be considered atrue 'rival' fans from both schools have to be very involved. UD/LU always had the fans from both schools hyped for the games.. which were normally very competitive and the schools are located close enough to each other that the fans of both schools could travel to any game.

[ChickenMan]

xrolleyesx

I love how the CAA fans seem to use playoff berths as a measure of how good teams are.

Here's one for you, when's the last time all the top CAA teams played each other, like we do in the SoCon, instead of padding your schedule to make the conference look good?




50% of one conference has NOT made the playoffs in over 15 yrs

83% of the other conference has made the playoffs in just the last 5 years


it's hard to argue with the cold hard facts....

[introvertedGSUfan]

Perhaps Costal Carolina since we've scheduled them the past two years, but the only other reasonable rivalry I could see forming would be UGA (which will probably be lopsided, because let's face it, the SEC is the strongest conference in FBS) or perhaps a Georgia D-II school like West Georgia (which we did play this past year) or Valdosta State.

[andy7171]

... and another good interesting thread deteriorates into smack...

Take a look at the CAA South and tell me how good the SoCon is again.

[IndianaAppMan]

50% of one conference has NOT made the playoffs in over 15 yrs

83% of the other conference has made the playoffs in just the last 5 years


it's hard to argue with the cold hard facts....


Take a look at the CAA South and tell me how good the SoCon is again.

I have two other ways of measuring the strength of a conference:
1) Who produces the most national champtions? The SoCon is a runaway winner in this one.

2) Who presents the strongest challenge to national champions? In the past three years, the only FCS teams to defeat the national champion are Furman, Wofford, and Ga. Southern. The CAA has not had the same such success. And by the way, the past three national champions have been SoCon.

A valid argument could be made that Elon and/or Georgia Southern got screwed out of a playoff bid last year. These teams proved solid and only missed the playoffs because of the toughness of the SoCon. Keep in mind that the best record in conference was 5-2; even the App State team that took the CAA to the woodshed last year couldn't exactly dominate in the SoCon.




By the way, CAA fans, take note that when I first commented on the toughness of the SoCon schedule, I mentioned nothing about the CAA. I was complimenting my SoCon brethren, but it was interpreted as smack. So I simply followed up by defending the conference.

[andy7171]

I have two other ways of measuring the strength of a conference:
1) Who produces the most national champtions? The SoCon is a runaway winner in this one.

2) Who presents the strongest challenge to national champions? In the past three years, the only FCS teams to defeat the national champion are Furman, Wofford, and Ga. Southern. The CAA has not had the same such success. And by the way, the past three national champions have been SoCon.

A valid argument could be made that Elon and/or Georgia Southern got screwed out of a playoff bid last year. These teams proved solid and only missed the playoffs because of the toughness of the SoCon. Keep in mind that the best record in conference was 5-2; even the App State team that took the CAA to the woodshed last year couldn't exactly dominate in the SoCon.




By the way, CAA fans, take note that when I first commented on the toughness of the SoCon schedule, I mentioned nothing about the CAA. I was complimenting my SoCon brethren, but it was interpreted as smack. So I simply followed up by defending the conference.

Hey pal, Relax. No one is dissing Appy's dominance of the FCS over the last three years. What is being discussed is the total strenght of the conference top to bottom.

[ChickenMan]

I have two other ways of measuring the strength of a conference:
1) Who produces the most national champtions? The SoCon is a runaway winner in this one.

2) Who presents the strongest challenge to national champions? In the past three years, the only FCS teams to defeat the national champion are Furman, Wofford, and Ga. Southern. The CAA has not had the same such success. And by the way, the past three national champions have been SoCon.

A valid argument could be made that Elon and/or Georgia Southern got screwed out of a playoff bid last year. These teams proved solid and only missed the playoffs because of the toughness of the SoCon. Keep in mind that the best record in conference was 5-2; even the App State team that took the CAA to the woodshed last year couldn't exactly dominate in the SoCon.




By the way, CAA fans, take note that when I first commented on the toughness of the SoCon schedule, I mentioned nothing about the CAA. I was complimenting my SoCon brethren, but it was interpreted as smack. So I simply followed up by defending the conference.


let me retort... ;)

1 - national championships are won by the best 'team'.. not the best conference..

2 - JMU outplayed and had App St beat at ASU.. but fumbled the game away in the last seconds.. if that's "taking the CAA to the woodshed".. App St certainly ended up with more than a few splinters in their ass... :p

[IndianaAppMan]

let me retort... ;)

1 - national championships are won by the best 'team'.. not the best conference..

2 - JMU outplayed and had App St beat at ASU.. but fumbled the game away in the last seconds.. if that's "taking the CAA to the woodshed".. App St certainly ended up with more than a few splinters in their ass... :p

1 - I'm assuming, then, that you wouldn't point to JMU or Delaware's championships as indicators of the conference's strength.

2 - JMU did play ASU extremely well. So did Elon and Furman last year, too, but the bottom line is that they all lost. As for wins and losses, ASU is 5-0 vs. the CAA over the past 3 years; they're 19-3 vs. the SoCon. To me, it seems SoCon teams are better at testing the best teams than are CAA teams.

In any case, I think a lot of the CAA-SoCon debate will get settled on the field this year with these games:

App State vs. James Madison
Elon vs. Richmond
Furman vs. Delaware
Ga. Southern vs. Northeastern



Now, let's get back to the topic of this thread!

[GSUhooligan]

South Carolina State. I think they're the closest FCS school to GSU (besides Savannah St. since they're a D-II school in FCS clothing) and they have a great fan base as well.

[BeauFoster]

let me retort... ;)

1 - national championships are won by the best 'team'.. not the best conference..

2 - JMU outplayed and had App St beat at ASU.. but fumbled the game away in the last seconds.. if that's "taking the CAA to the woodshed".. App St certainly ended up with more than a few splinters in their ass... :p

Don't forget, JMU was losing when they fumbled. There is no way to know if they would have made a field goal.

[IndianaAppMan]

South Carolina State. I think they're the closest FCS school to GSU (besides Savannah St. since they're a D-II school in FCS clothing) and they have a great fan base as well.

SC State is a good choice.

What about Ga. State once there team is up off the ground? Another one I think would make good geographical sense would be Jacksonville if they ever upgrade to scholarship football, especially since that would allow Ga. Southern to dig their fingers further into the further recruiting grounds of Florida.

[bkrownd]

UConn.
Would be fun to play Montana though.

"UConn" is dead to me. Hahvahd and Yale would be fun.

[bonarae]

"UConn" is dead to me. Hahvahd and Yale would be fun.

Yes, I agree. We haven't played each other in like 20+ years. Game's changed, so are the players and coaches in the Ivies.

[Andy]

Interesting thread--Harvard fans want less Patriot League, Hen fans more.

Nobody's paying a dime at Ivy schools these days, might as well play schollie teams. Lafayette's scheduling of Liberty is a step in the right direction. P & Penn are good regional rivals, let Harvard play UMass.

[DSUrocks07]

Delaware-Delaware State: We're probably pretty aware of this one. Please, let's not let this board be dominated by a Del-Del State debate.


...you would think so, but it appears that its a one-sided rivalry at the moment (Delaware spanking us almost every year does not help us at all...) The thing that sucks is that Del State has no natural rival...none in the MEAC at all. We're like the red-headed step child of the conference (hence all of the prior rumors about us leaving the MEAC for the Big South) regionally wise, several of the CAA teams would be interesting, and not just Delaware (Towson...hows your schedule looking?) And the CAA would be a natural fit for us as well in all sports. Once we are able to raise are academic standards up to par with the conference (Del Tech organizing into a "legitimate" entity and starting their athletic department, helps this), we can start to look into this.

Now as for the OP's question:

Towson - just because...and we just might be able to have them come to Dover a couple times
Temple - This could be a real competitive series
Penn State - I would love to see the Hornets in State College playing the JoePas before he retires

[andy7171]

...you would think so, but it appears that its a one-sided rivalry at the moment (Delaware spanking us almost every year does not help us at all...) The thing that sucks is that Del State has no natural rival...none in the MEAC at all. We're like the red-headed step child of the conference (hence all of the prior rumors about us leaving the MEAC for the Big South) regionally wise, several of the CAA teams would be interesting, and not just Delaware (Towson...hows your schedule looking?) And the CAA would be a natural fit for us as well in all sports. Once we are able to raise are academic standards up to par with the conference (Del Tech organizing into a "legitimate" entity and starting their athletic department, helps this), we can start to look into this.

Now as for the OP's question:

Towson - just because...and we just might be able to have them come to Dover a couple times
Temple - This could be a real competitive series
Penn State - I would love to see the Hornets in State College playing the JoePas before he retires

I'm all for dropping Morgan for a game against Del State. We had a nice rivalry going back when I was playing in the early 90's. Your visiting locker room SUCKS with a capital S-U-C-K-S, though! The F-ing shower room overflows and drains into the changing room.

We've traveled there before, no reason we wouldn't again. xthumbsupx

[DSUrocks07]

I'm all for dropping Morgan for a game against Del State. We had a nice rivalry going back when I was playing in the early 90's. Your visiting locker room SUCKS with a capital S-U-C-K-S, though! The F-ing shower room overflows and drains into the changing room.

We've traveled there before, no reason we wouldn't again. xthumbsupx

Home-field advantage for ya xthumbsupx

Haven't you heard, we're actually spending money on our football program again xpeacex

Could be worse tho, at least we don't have them painted pink like a certain FBS school... (Iowa xwhistlex)

[andy7171]

Home-field advantage for ya xthumbsupx

Haven't you heard, we're actually spending money on our football program again xpeacex

Could be worse tho, at least we don't have them painted pink like a certain FBS school... (Iowa xwhistlex)
xlolx xlolx
I'd rather sit in a pink locker room than have all my stuff water logged!

If the wind is right, does the stadium still ... smell like a freshly "fertilized" field? xlolx xlolx xlolx xlolx xwhistlex

[813Jag]

I'm all for dropping Morgan for a game against Del State. We had a nice rivalry going back when I was playing in the early 90's. Your visiting locker room SUCKS with a capital S-U-C-K-S, though! The F-ing shower room overflows and drains into the changing room.

We've traveled there before, no reason we wouldn't again. xthumbsupx
Could be worse, you could have to walk down the street like our visitors do. But that's still a shorter walk than what our own team has to do. Thank God for the new field house when it opens.

[elon77]

i would love to see elon and william and mary play home and home. there are a lot of elon alumni in the tidewater area of virginia and i feel like the game would draw well and be a good series. the drive isn't too bad, about 4 hours. it is a heck of alot closer than stoney brook.

[wapiti]

How about for the griz to renew their rivalry with FBS foe Idaho?

[bonarae]

Interesting thread--Harvard fans want less Patriot League, Hen fans more.

Nobody's paying a dime at Ivy schools these days, might as well play schollie teams. Lafayette's scheduling of Liberty is a step in the right direction. P & Penn are good regional rivals, let Harvard play UMass.

Yeah, I agree. The Ivy League needs MUCH more exposure beyond the Northeast. A date with Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Wofford, Grambling/Southern, Montana, Cal Poly, North Dakota State will do. UMass though is closer to us, we are deserving of renewing our rivalry with them. We need to conquer these schools first before even attempting to schedule an FBS (if the Presidents would even allow us to do this).

[GSUhooligan]

SC State is a good choice.

What about Ga. State once there team is up off the ground? Another one I think would make good geographical sense would be Jacksonville if they ever upgrade to scholarship football, especially since that would allow Ga. Southern to dig their fingers further into the further recruiting grounds of Florida.

I would love to play Jacksonville regularly if they ever stepped up a few notches. GaSt. would be an obvious rival once they got their team together, but the rivalry may not last long if we move up soon after they start playing.

[IndianaAppMan]

Yeah, I agree. The Ivy League needs MUCH more exposure beyond the Northeast. A date with Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Wofford, Grambling/Southern, Montana, Cal Poly, North Dakota State will do. UMass though is closer to us, we are deserving of renewing our rivalry with them. We need to conquer these schools first before even attempting to schedule an FBS (if the Presidents would even allow us to do this).

I mean this as the highest compliment: I'm not sure the Ivy League needs anything. Your league is the most exclusive, most elite affiliation of academic institutions in the world. Your league is extremely rich in athletic tradition as well. Other leagues, including both FCS and FBS, need Ivy teams on their schedule far more than Ivy teams need other leagues. Seriously: An Ivy team would garner more fan interest from a power team like LSU or USC than any other FCS team, besides maybe App State, and that's only because of the Michigan game. What Trojan fan wouldn't want to see them battle Harvard?

Let me assure you: App State would probably be even more honored by a series with Harvard or any other Ivy team than they would by playing LSU or Michigan. Ivy teams would schedule ASU (or any other FCS power) to challenge their team, whereas the BCS teams would be doing so in expectation of an easy win.

Let's not kid ourselves: FCS football is granted a lot of legitimacy by the presence of the Ivy League. It's just unfortunate for the rest of us that Ivy teams elect not to play outside the northeast or to play in the playoffs.

[IndianaAppMan]

I would love to play Jacksonville regularly if they ever stepped up a few notches. GaSt. would be an obvious rival once they got their team together, but the rivalry may not last long if we move up soon after they start playing.

Of course, Ga. State probably has ambitions to move up as well. The GSU's might even find themselves going FBS at the same time. I imagine the teams would garner a lot of fan interest on both sides if they go ahead and schedule a two- or four-game series. Maybe they'd maintain it after going FBS. Only time will tell...

[Sly Fox]

The obvious choices for those of us from Liberty would be any of the CAA Virginia schools. But JMU stands out as the #1 target in my opinion. We used to play them nearly every year in the '80s and Early '90s when we were on a more competitive level. Now that we are headed back in the right direction I'd love to see our upcoming series be renewed continuously.

The series we just finished with W&M was cool and they'd be a fun rival considering our differing worldviews.

Richmond ... the Spiders would make too much sense but their utter hatred of everything we stand for makes scheduling highly unlikely. They'd rather schedule BYU than a fellow Baptist school with differing theology.

Otherwise I'd love to see us schedule the only DI football schools with theological similar to us ... Baylor and Samford.

[IndianaAppMan]

By my count, here are the most popular ideas mentioned so far:

App State-JMU
Ga. Southern-SC State
Elon-Richmond
Montana-Cal Poly
Harvard-UMass
Liberty-CAA team in Virginia (maybe W&M?)
Towson-Delaware State
Northern Arizona-Southern Utah

Other ideas mentioned frequently:
Anybody vs. Montana
Anybody vs. App State
Anybody vs. NDSU
Anybody vs. Harvard
Anybody vs. Delaware
SLC teams in Louisiana vs. FBS teams in Louisiana
SLC teams in Texas vs. FBS teams in Texas
UCA vs. Ark State
Cal Poly vs. Everyone in the Country

Keep those ideas comin' in!

[Canyoncat]

Because of travel costs going up and up. For Montana State I would say any of the Dakota schools (we owe a trip to NDSU and SDSU). Cal Poly and UC Davis and even Southern Utah.

[andy7171]

By my count, here are the most popular ideas mentioned so far:

App State-JMU
Ga. Southern-SC State
Elon-Richmond
Montana-Cal Poly
Harvard-UMass
Liberty-CAA team in Virginia (maybe W&M?)
Towson-Morgan State
Northern Arizona-Southern Utah

Other ideas mentioned frequently:
Anybody vs. Montana
Anybody vs. App State
Anybody vs. NDSU
Anybody vs. Harvard
Anybody vs. Delaware
SLC teams in Louisiana vs. FBS teams in Louisiana
SLC teams in Texas vs. FBS teams in Texas
UCA vs. Ark State
Cal Poly vs. Everyone in the Country

Keep those ideas comin' in!

xrolleyesx

[IndianaAppMan]

I'm all for dropping Morgan for a game against Del State. We had a nice rivalry going back when I was playing in the early 90's. Your visiting locker room SUCKS with a capital S-U-C-K-S, though! The F-ing shower room overflows and drains into the changing room.

We've traveled there before, no reason we wouldn't again. xthumbsupx


xrolleyesx

My bad. I overlooked your previous post. I'll change it to Towson-Delaware State. No need for the sarcasm, though.

[JMU2K_DukeDawg]

You forgot App St. vs. Any team wearing PURPLE! xeekx

They seem to play more purple teams, with UNI being the notable purple team they do not seem to face with any kind of regularity.

[Eight Legger]

UR cut all official ties with the Baptists years ago.

As for non-conference rivals, I'd have to go with JMU for us...once they are kicked out of the CAA, I'd love to face them every year

:D

[Husky Alum]

For some reason I never posted on this topic.

For Northeastern...

Harvard
Holy Cross
Yale/Dartmouth/Brown

We had a 4 year gig with Harvard, they won 3, we won 1. We offered to extend the deal for 5 more years - 4 at Harvard and a contingent 1 at NU if we ever built a stadium, no stadium, the 5th game would have been at Harvard as well. They passed. We still have that offer on the table.

We've made overtures to Dartmouth, Yale and Brown - told Yale we'd go there a couple of times and not require a return, they said no. We offered a Dartmouth and Brown home/home or 2 for 1 and they've said no.

HC we're doing a home/home with. We played there in 06, they come to us in 09. We are re-upping and do another home/home starting in 11.

[LarryBoy]

As it's been said a number of times now, all of Furman's historical foes are our SoCon brethren. We need to make some new history, I guess.

Coastal Carolina: In-state, has played us tough twice, and modeled their architecture after our campus...which I guess makes it a somewhat similar school. Or....blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah it's at the beach.

SC State: Maybe the best way to bring back the glory days of the 80's is to play our 80's schedule. So I guess we should go ahead and sign up Newberry, William and Mary, and kick NC State's butts a few times, too.

Richmond: I'm not quite sure why we haven't pursued this series more. VERY similar schools, a lot of history, and some great games as of late.

JMU: Battle for the right to wear purple! (Then play the winner of UNI/UCA?...) JMU fans talk about last year's fumble against ASU, but our late fumble in the '04 quarterfinals against JMU still makes my stomach churn. In fact, I have a theory that attributes much of App State's recent success to that one fumble. But that's off-topic...

Other CAA teams: I'm greatly looking forward to the Delaware game, and I think that the SoCon and CAA should really push some more interconference series. It would be good for FCS football on the East Coast.

Clemson: Yes, FBS, but...even if we can only win 1 out of 100 times, I want to get to that one win, no matter how many years it takes. We've out played them the last two outings and have nothing to show for it. One day we'll catch them napping.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Don't hold your breath on Dartmouth, the word I get is that they can't wait for their series with UNH to end and they won't be signing up for a new series.

A while back I looked at the Ivy OOC schedules and only found these games that were against schools not in the Patriot League:

Brown-Stony Brook
Brown-URI
Dartmouth-UNH
Columbia-Towson
Penn-Villanova
Princeton-THE Citadel

That's it. xwhistlex xsmhx xsmhx

[bulldog10jw]

Don't hold your breath on Dartmouth, the word I get is that they can't wait for their series with UNH to end and they won't be signing up for a new series.

A while back I looked at the Ivy OOC schedules and only found these games that were against schools not in the Patriot League:

Brown-Stony Brook
Brown-URI
Dartmouth-UNH
Columbia-Towson
Penn-Villanova
Princeton-THE Citadel

That's it. xwhistlex xsmhx xsmhx

Yale did have Army scheduled for 2010, 2012, and 2014, but they backed out. xsmhx

[leatherneck177]

Eastern Illinois would be nice. I am not sure why we do not regularly schedule them. Illinois State seems to have the Panthers on their schedule every year.

[ASU33]

I would have to say Tennessee State, and FAMU for us. Tuskegee is the other but we play them every year. It will be nice to try to keep UAB on the schedule also!

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Yale did have Army scheduled for 2010, 2012, and 2014, but they backed out. xsmhx

Wow, that's surprising since you have a long history with them. xconfusedx xconfusedx

I have a book on the New Haven RR Passenger Trains and there is a picture of a "special" returning from West Point after a game with Yale in 1954. The train stretches almost off the picture and there are over a dozen passenger cars in the train.

Still, only 6 of 24 OOC games outside the Patriot isn't the Ivy League that I grew up along side. Not expecting them to jump into the sewer with the factory schools, but maybe just staying a little more competitive with Rice, Tulane, Duke, Wake Forest, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, etc. And besides the Patriot, why not schedule more games with W&M, Richmond, Elon, Wofford, Furman, Samford, THE Citadel, VMI, etc. Not really forcing you to par-TAY to with us scruffy Publics! ;) xlolx And it sure would help provide a better test of the relative strength of Ivy teams within FCS. This isolation philosophy is so counter to what I remember of the Ivies.

[furman94]

As it's been said a number of times now, all of Furman's historical foes are our SoCon brethren. We need to make some new history, I guess.

Coastal Carolina: In-state, has played us tough twice, and modeled their architecture after our campus...which I guess makes it a somewhat similar school. Or....blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah it's at the beach.

SC State: Maybe the best way to bring back the glory days of the 80's is to play our 80's schedule. So I guess we should go ahead and sign up Newberry, William and Mary, and kick NC State's butts a few times, too.

Richmond: I'm not quite sure why we haven't pursued this series more. VERY similar schools, a lot of history, and some great games as of late.

JMU: Battle for the right to wear purple! (Then play the winner of UNI/UCA?...) JMU fans talk about last year's fumble against ASU, but our late fumble in the '04 quarterfinals against JMU still makes my stomach churn. In fact, I have a theory that attributes much of App State's recent success to that one fumble. But that's off-topic...

Other CAA teams: I'm greatly looking forward to the Delaware game, and I think that the SoCon and CAA should really push some more interconference series. It would be good for FCS football on the East Coast.

Clemson: Yes, FBS, but...even if we can only win 1 out of 100 times, I want to get to that one win, no matter how many years it takes. We've out played them the last two outings and have nothing to show for it. One day we'll catch them napping.

Strangely... So do I

[bulldog10jw]

Wow, that's surprising since you have a long history with them. xconfusedx xconfusedx

I have a book on the New Haven RR Passenger Trains and there is a picture of a "special" returning from West Point after a game with Yale in 1954. The train stretches almost off the picture and there are over a dozen passenger cars in the train.

Still, only 6 of 24 OOC games outside the Patriot isn't the Ivy League that I grew up along side. Not expecting them to jump into the sewer with the factory schools, but maybe just staying a little more competitive with Rice, Tulane, Duke, Wake Forest, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, etc. And besides the Patriot, why not schedule more games with W&M, Richmond, Elon, Wofford, Furman, Samford, THE Citadel, VMI, etc. Not really forcing you to par-TAY to with us scruffy Publics! ;) xlolx And it sure would help provide a better test of the relative strength of Ivy teams within FCS. This isolation philosophy is so counter to what I remember of the Ivies.

I'm with you. The first thing needed is an 11th game. Then there is much more flexibility in scheduling. Play all the New England state schools once in a while, even UConn once a decade(if they'll play). Play Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart, in state, and do some travelling. Yale has played at Army, Navy, Central Florida, Valparaiso, Dayton, and San Diego in the last 20 years. More away games in different locations (NAU ;) ) would be welcome.

Of course, if you think Ivy scheduling is bad now, from 1968 to 1975 Yale had the exact same schedule EVERY year. 7 Ivy games and UConn and Colgate OOC.

[mrklean]

James Madison
Jacksonville State

[bonarae]

I mean this as the highest compliment: I'm not sure the Ivy League needs anything. Your league is the most exclusive, most elite affiliation of academic institutions in the world. Your league is extremely rich in athletic tradition as well. Other leagues, including both FCS and FBS, need Ivy teams on their schedule far more than Ivy teams need other leagues. Seriously: An Ivy team would garner more fan interest from a power team like LSU or USC than any other FCS team, besides maybe App State, and that's only because of the Michigan game. What Trojan fan wouldn't want to see them battle Harvard?

Let me assure you: App State would probably be even more honored by a series with Harvard or any other Ivy team than they would by playing LSU or Michigan. Ivy teams would schedule ASU (or any other FCS power) to challenge their team, whereas the BCS teams would be doing so in expectation of an easy win.

Let's not kid ourselves: FCS football is granted a lot of legitimacy by the presence of the Ivy League. It's just unfortunate for the rest of us that Ivy teams elect not to play outside the northeast or to play in the playoffs.

Yeah I agree. App and Harvard would make history by playing each other and by breaking barriers to Ivy football as well. xnodx Sad but true (of the Northeast bias and the playoffs). Ivy League football deserves better exposure than what they have now. xsmhx
This is my ultimate games wanted list (no particular priority):
FBS
Michigan
Tulane
Stanford
Cal Berkeley (forgot them last time)
Northwestern (well, or any Big Ten for that matter)
Penn State (forgot them - this should make history!)
UCLA/USC
Duke
Vanderbilt (forgot them last time :p )
Notre Dame

FCS
Appalachian State
Georgia Southern
Southern/Grambling State
William and Mary
VMI
The Citadel
Montana
Wofford
Furman
North Dakota State
Cal Poly


Yale did have Army scheduled for 2010, 2012, and 2014, but they backed out. xsmhx

When did they originally made the promised dates? IMO Yale is the only Ivy team to go beyond the Northeast (or beyond Washington, D.C.) in terms of scheduling in recent memory.


Wow, that's surprising since you have a long history with them. xconfusedx xconfusedx

I have a book on the New Haven RR Passenger Trains and there is a picture of a "special" returning from West Point after a game with Yale in 1954. The train stretches almost off the picture and there are over a dozen passenger cars in the train.

Still, only 6 of 24 OOC games outside the Patriot isn't the Ivy League that I grew up along side. Not expecting them to jump into the sewer with the factory schools, but maybe just staying a little more competitive with Rice, Tulane, Duke, Wake Forest, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, etc. And besides the Patriot, why not schedule more games with W&M, Richmond, Elon, Wofford, Furman, Samford, THE Citadel, VMI, etc. Not really forcing you to par-TAY to with us scruffy Publics! ;) xlolx And it sure would help provide a better test of the relative strength of Ivy teams within FCS. This isolation philosophy is so counter to what I remember of the Ivies.

Good point! See my reply to IndianaApp's post above, in which Ivies should deserve better exposure in football.


I'm with you. The first thing needed is an 11th game. Then there is much more flexibility in scheduling. Play all the New England state schools once in a while, even UConn once a decade(if they'll play). Play Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart, in state, and do some travelling. Yale has played at Army, Navy, Central Florida, Valparaiso, Dayton, and San Diego in the last 20 years. More away games in different locations (NAU ;) ) would be welcome.

Of course, if you think Ivy scheduling is bad now, from 1968 to 1975 Yale had the exact same schedule EVERY year. 7 Ivy games and UConn and Colgate OOC.

The 11th game is a BADLY needed (and #1) thing in our Ivy football wishlist! Also counter the Northeast bias as well... it (us playing opponents across the nation) equals better exposure across the nation - not only in FCS, but in the whole world of college football.

Oh? 1968 to 1975? Only 9 games?! I remember since 1956 we have only played 10 each year...

[bulldog10jw]

The 11th game is a BADLY needed (and #1) thing in our Ivy football wishlist! Also counter the Northeast bias as well... it (us playing opponents across the nation) equals better exposure across the nation - not only in FCS, but in the whole world of college football.

Oh? 1968 to 1975? Only 9 games?! I remember since 1956 we have only played 10 each year...

The Ivy League did not go to 10 games until 1980.

[ur2k]

.

Richmond: I'm not quite sure why we haven't pursued this series more. VERY similar schools, a lot of history, and some great games as of late.



Agreed. We owe you guys for that playoff game a few years back.

I'd like to see us play more schools similar to us at the FCS level... Furman, Wofford, Lehigh, Elon (glad to have this home and home).

I like our matchups for the next few years at the FBS level - UVA, Vandy, Duke.

[Maroons]

Should I consider it telling that not one poster has mentioned EKU as a desired non-conference rival?

It strengthens my belief that EKU is geographically isolated from much of the current FCS and should perhaps pursue other avenues.

[The Gadfly]

La Cid v Beach Chickens. There maybe shots fired by both sides.

[NoCoDanny]

Southern Utah

[The Sheriff]

For North Dakota, I'd like to see one of the Montana schools on our schedule each year. If the two states can get together for a high school football game each summer, there's no reason why we couldn't see each other in the fall.

[IndianaAppMan]

Should I consider it telling that not one poster has mentioned EKU as a desired non-conference rival?

It strengthens my belief that EKU is geographically isolated from much of the current FCS and should perhaps pursue other avenues.

How about these potential rivals:
Western Carolina--they're only 4 hours away
App State--maybe 5 hours
Youngstown--a little farther
Chattanooga--roughly the same distance

EKU is only isolated because of Marshall and WKU's departure to FBS. Even so, it's not as distant as you suggest. Think about what it's like for all the schools in the Rocky Mountains.

[TheBisonator]

Montana, Montana, and oooh, Montana!!!

[Chi Panther]

Iowa State

[Seawolf97]

I would like to see a Yale or Harvard matchup with Stonybrook sometime down the road. We have Brown for the next four seasons which is great. A home and away with the Crimson or Bulldogs would be cool !xnodx

[Maroons]

How about these potential rivals:
Western Carolina--they're only 4 hours away
App State--maybe 5 hours
Youngstown--a little farther
Chattanooga--roughly the same distance

EKU is only isolated because of Marshall and WKU's departure to FBS. Even so, it's not as distant as you suggest. Think about what it's like for all the schools in the Rocky Mountains.

EKU just finished a series with WCU. And the Appy series was before that. I really enjoyed the Appy series and would love to see it resumed... but the Moutaineers are probably fielding quite a bit of interest and aren't the same program they were during the 4 (6?) year series.

Chatty has some real potential... but if I'm Chatty... I'd rather play TTU or Austin Peay or ETSU or JaxState because they're closer and will probably bring more fans.

Youngstown may be a good choice because they seem similarly isolated. There is some history there as well.

[already123]

Based on what I saw last year, I think NAU and APP created a NATURAL rivalry! I know it is somewhat farfetched, but those who attended the game know what I am talking about.

But to be more realistic, there is no geographical match for NAU...we are the only of our kind in our area....

[ViennaSpider]

Richmond vs. UVa – Of course, home and home will never happen; we’re lucky to get them to play us, maybe, once a decade and then only in Charlottesville. And our soon-to-be-built stadium (9,300 capacity) would never do for the Cavaliers.

Richmond vs. Georgetown – More realistic. Could turn into a big-time rivalry. Only a hundred or so miles separate the two schools.

[slycat]

I want UTSA to start their football program, so we can have a rivalry with them in football. EVERY other sport we do and most of those games are the highest attended games all year.

thats what i was going to post. if we both move up i hope we end up in the same conference. there would be huge crowds for that game.

[Henny]

For me it would be easy.

Marshall

They beat us 3 times in the playoffs in the 90's. Semis, quarters and first round before they went FBS. I want another shot at them.

Oh, and by the way they owe us a trip to Newark (I know they would never come)

[08Dawg]

I'll throw my .02 in.

I wish VMI would man up and commit to playing us every year. Sure, the past two years we've thrashed them, but in the not so distant past, within the past five years, they've been competitive. While I think our recent success has been because we've gotten much better, I wish VMI would try and keep up. Two similar schools, not that far apart (what, seven hours maybe?) is a natural.

Charleston Southern is another obvious choice for us. Twenty minutes up the road, a program of some accomplishment. I can't remember how big the CSU crowds were when we played them, but CSU will always have to be the away team, which gives El Cid automatic homefield advantage and therefore an edge, hampering the rivalry slightly. I don't think our administration would consent to having a football game in Charleston and not having the Corps there, which woudl be a pretty big logistical headache to bus 2000 people up the road. Now, if enough CSU fans would show up, that might not happen.

For that matter, it would be fun if College of Charleston would wake up enough from their hippie pot-smoking enduced haze and start a football team. They always go around saying "Undefeated CofC football team!! *wink wink* because we never HAD ONE!" Well if you read your history, you did...and your last ever game, The Citadel slaughtered you, thus heralding the end of CofC football. That has the makings for an instant (expansion to) a rivalry.

[Mustang Man]

FCS:
Montana - Two of the top teams in the west going head to head
Sac State - History and distance support this game being played.
USD - Another Cali school we should be playing on a regular basis.

FBS:
Fresno State
SJSU

[AggieFinn]

RIVAL?

Well, Sac State is historically our cross causeway, out of league rival, but I'd like to see a salty rivalry develop between the Ags and Portland State, for whatever reason, I think these teams do a lot of damage to each other whenever they hook up, at least recently, it has been a good game to watch...and the hitting has been phenomenal.

http://athletics.ucdavis.edu/FOOTBALL/Photo_Gallery/2004games/psu13.jpg

[Bulldog87]

We've played all of the FCS Instate schools home and home before except The Citadel. I'd love to play a home and home series with all of them. I'd like to see our series with Georgia Southern resumed. We've only played App State once back in the late 80's when we didn't have a good team I'd like to play a home and home with them. They have a lot of SC players on their team. Even a few that we recruited and thought that we had. It's not that far of a trip and should end up with good contest most seasons.

[carney2]

Lafayette already has one - Pennsylvania. It has not been a terribly competitive series, but it is ancient (first played in 1882) and consistent (84 meetings so far).

Beyond that I would love to see less Ivy and more variety (CAA, SoCon, NEC).

[Kymermosst]

Harvard's In State Rivals
UMass - we haven't played them in 20 years! why did we pull out of them at that time?
Boston College - it's FBS, so why don't the League allow us to schedule this team? Let's see who's the best Massachusetts team in Division I. (if they play UMass, of course so we can judge it.)

That whole piece is one of the best ideas I've heard. I have heard TONS of stories about the Harvard/UMass rivalries involving things like apple cores, police surrounding the field, and us possibly screwing up the field the week before the Harvard/Yale game.

All-in-all, I hear it was a good rivalry.

BC or UConn woud have the greatest draw as far as student crowds, but neither of them will ever play in Amherst, and I think UConn is refusing to play us at all.

Albany would be a good rivalry as well. It's only 2 hours away, and they're already coming to open the season this year.

Unfortunately, our student body is far more likely to get excited about a rivalry in hockey than anything else, and basketball second to that. :(

[csubuccaneers]

The Citadel is always a great rivalry for us, just a 30 minute drive.

[X-Factor]

For North Dakota, I'd like to see one of the Montana schools on our schedule each year. If the two states can get together for a high school football game each summer, there's no reason why we couldn't see each other in the fall.

Yeah, you would think it would be easy. tried that one a few years back. Didn't work. Something to do with North Dakotan's being too generous with the buyout clause and a certain team not having big enough kahoonas to play top 5 program on the road.

but hey, if you guys can get it going more power to ya xthumbsupx I'm just expecting the Sioux to be a pretty damn good team in a few years as well and some of these said schools prefer cupcakes like the Dixie States and Chadron States of the world. You know, the definite wins. xlolx

[slostang]

Yeah, you would think it would be easy. tried that one a few years back. Didn't work. Something to do with North Dakotan's being too generous with the buyout clause and a certain team not having big enough kahoonas to play top 5 program on the road.

but hey, if you guys can get it going more power to ya xthumbsupx I'm just expecting the Sioux to be a pretty damn good team in a few years as well and some of these said schools prefer cupcakes like the Dixie States and Chadron States of the world. You know, the definite wins. xlolx

They may have thought that Chadron State would be a definite win, but they were wrong.xoopsx

[filbert]

I'd pick Cal Poly.

'Cause I kinda like them. And they're good.

Go Rabbits!

[bkrownd]

Unfortunately, our student body is far more likely to get excited about a rivalry in hockey than anything else, and basketball second to that. :(

Basketball second? How times have changed.... xeyebrowx

[Pauly LB]

Without a doubt my choice would be Sacramento State but the problem is that they don't want any part of getting their A$$E$ kicked by Cal Poly. Despite the fairly close proximity (less than 5 hour drive) and the long term history of playing Cal Poly (up until last year), the current AD and administration chooses to steer clear of placing Cal Poly on the schedule.

By the way, this is NOT actually a reflection on Coach Sperbeck. Word is that he would like to play Cal Poly but keeps on getting over-ruled by the AD.

Instead they have two division 2 teams on their schedule. It is kind of obvious by the way they have set up their schedule that they are serious about finally having another winning season. I really don't know when they had their last winning season. Their archives on their football website only go back to 2001. Wouldn't it be justice if they finally won seven games but fell short of the playoffs because they played and won two games against division 2 teams.

[Shockerman]

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:du8ICjiCQaIGxM:http://northwest.usd259.org/images/WSU.jpg VS http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:0_rAAqaOJhuSbM:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c7/Missouri_State_bear_logo.svg/600px-Missouri_State_bear_logo.svg.png

Coming soon to a football field near your. Oh...and stay tuned for a new website dedicated to the return of shocker Football. Hopefully, the guy does a good job of putting it together.

I would also love to see an annual game in Tulsa every year as we were once great rival.

EDIT: I am an idiot as it says non-conference rival. But who doesn't want to hang 50 on SWOMOU in Springfield?

[already123]

Based on what I saw last year, I think NAU and APP created a NATURAL rivalry! I know it is somewhat farfetched, but those who attended the game know what I am talking about.

But to be more realistic, there is no geographical match for NAU...we are the only of our kind in our area....

[ur2k]

Richmond vs. UVa – Of course, home and home will never happen; we’re lucky to get them to play us, maybe, once a decade and then only in Charlottesville. And our soon-to-be-built stadium (9,300 capacity) would never do for the Cavaliers.

Richmond vs. Georgetown – More realistic. Could turn into a big-time rivalry. Only a hundred or so miles separate the two schools.

We are playing UVA this year (Sept 6), in 2010, 2012, 2014.

[NDB]

NDSU already has the University of Minnesota.

(of course this is not true, but nothing pisses off the three remaining gopher fans than hearing that.)

[RabidRabbit]

Should I consider it telling that not one poster has mentioned EKU as a desired non-conference rival?

It strengthens my belief that EKU is geographically isolated from much of the current FCS and should perhaps pursue other avenues.

I'm surprised that there haven't been more match ups with the OVC schools for the 4 Dakota schools. Would have been good transition matchs, if not on-going, like we have had with the Southland schools.

[Marcus Garvey]

let me retort... ;)

1 - national championships are won by the best 'team'.. not the best conference..

2 - JMU outplayed and had App St beat at ASU.. but fumbled the game away in the last seconds.. if that's "taking the CAA to the woodshed".. App St certainly ended up with more than a few splinters in their ass... :p

Agreed. In the 70's and 80's when Nebraska and Oklahoma were winning National Championships, nobody in the right mind argued that the Big 8 was a competitive conference.

[UNI Pike]

I would love to see the MVFC do a conference match up with CAA much like some conferences do for basketball (Big Ten, ACC, Big East, etc.)

[Marcus Garvey]

Wow, that's surprising since you have a long history with them. xconfusedx xconfusedx

I have a book on the New Haven RR Passenger Trains and there is a picture of a "special" returning from West Point after a game with Yale in 1954. The train stretches almost off the picture and there are over a dozen passenger cars in the train.
Still, only 6 of 24 OOC games outside the Patriot isn't the Ivy League that I grew up along side. Not expecting them to jump into the sewer with the factory schools, but maybe just staying a little more competitive with Rice, Tulane, Duke, Wake Forest, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, etc. And besides the Patriot, why not schedule more games with W&M, Richmond, Elon, Wofford, Furman, Samford, THE Citadel, VMI, etc. Not really forcing you to par-TAY to with us scruffy Publics! ;) xlolx And it sure would help provide a better test of the relative strength of Ivy teams within FCS. This isolation philosophy is so counter to what I remember of the Ivies.

I find this interesting for 2 reasons.
Number 1, I like railroad history, particualrly in the Northeast. I suspect a "special" between West Point and New haven would have to travel on the New Haven RR's line through Danbury and Hopewell Junction and across the Poughkeepsie Bridge to Higland and the junction with the West Shore. West Point was on the the New York Central's West Shore RR.

Number 2, I find it odd that Yale would play Army at West Point in 1954. Did the book speficially state that the train was returning from West Point after the game?
The Yale Bowl held over twice as many as Michie Stadium. Yale was still a significant football program then too, so a game against Army would draw a large crowd. If Army were to be the home team, I would think the game would have been played in NYC at the Polo Grounds or Yankee Stadium. Lastly, according to College Football Data Warehouse, the game was in New Haven:
Army Yearly Results: 1950-1954 (http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/independents/army/yearly_results.php?year=1950)

I suspect the caption in your book is wrong and that's a picture of a Special train taking cadets from West Point to New Haven for the game!

[bulldog10jw]

I find this interesting for 2 reasons.
Number 1, I like railroad history, particualrly in the Northeast. I suspect a "special" between West Point and New haven would have to travel on the New Haven RR's line through Danbury and Hopewell Junction and across the Poughkeepsie Bridge to Higland and the junction with the West Shore. West Point was on the the New York Central's West Shore RR.

Number 2, I find it odd that Yale would play Army at West Point in 1954. Did the book speficially state that the train was returning from West Point after the game?
The Yale Bowl held over twice as many as Michie Stadium. Yale was still a significant football program then too, so a game against Army would draw a large crowd. If Army were to be the home team, I would think the game would have been played in NYC at the Polo Grounds or Yankee Stadium. Lastly, according to College Football Data Warehouse, the game was in New Haven:
Army Yearly Results: 1950-1954 (http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/independents/army/yearly_results.php?year=1950)

I suspect the caption in your book is wrong and that's a picture of a Special train taking cadets from West Point to New Haven for the game!

Yale played Army in 1954 and 1955. Both games were in the Bowl. The 1954 game drew 73k and Yale got hammered 48-7. The story is that the 1955 game became THE game to win that year. Phil Tarasovic, Yale's captain in 1955 told his father he would give him a game ball after each win in '55. Supposedly his father said he only wanted one game ball and that was Army. Yale won 14-12. It is considered one of Yale biggest upsets even though Army was not quite the team they were the year before.

[ysubigred]

EKU just finished a series with WCU. And the Appy series was before that. I really enjoyed the Appy series and would love to see it resumed... but the Moutaineers are probably fielding quite a bit of interest and aren't the same program they were during the 4 (6?) year series.

Chatty has some real potential... but if I'm Chatty... I'd rather play TTU or Austin Peay or ETSU or JaxState because they're closer and will probably bring more fans.

Youngstown may be a good choice because they seem similarly isolated. There is some history there as well.

I'd love to have an home at home series with EKU. I live at Fort Knox so the EKU game would be a short drive.

For me I'd like to see

1BCS teams; Louisville a home game for me xthumbsupx Akron and or Kent state Winnable games plus we hate those fookers xmadx WKU another close game for me to travel to xbowx

1FCS teams; EKU close to home xthumbsupx McNeese just because the fans are friggen AWESOME xbowx

1FCS non schollie; Dayton just so they'll STFU xlolx Morehead State My old stomping grounds as an instructor and close to home xbowx

[Marcus Garvey]

Yale played Army in 1954 and 1955. Both games were in the Bowl. The 1954 game drew 73k and Yale got hammered 48-7. The story is that the 1955 game became THE game to win that year. Phil Tarasovic, Yale's captain in 1955 told his father he would give him a game ball after each win in '55. Supposedly his father said he only wanted one game ball and that was Army. Yale won 14-12. It is considered one of Yale biggest upsets even though Army was not quite the team they were the year before.

I figured as much. Prior to the 60's, it was common for Eastern college teams located in rural locations to play major opponents on the road, if the opponent was in/near a major urban center.

For instance, Penn St. played Penn on a fairly regular basis up through 1958 (47 meetings total). Every single one of those games was played in Philly. They played Pitt every year from 1903 through 1992. But prior to 1967, the game was played in State College only 4 times!
Prior to 1974, Dartmouth and Harvard played in Hanover, NH only 4 times...
Yale's first trip to Hanover was in 1971...
The first 70 meetings between Penn and Cornell were all in Philly....
etc....

[Maroons]

I'd love to have an home at home series with EKU. I live at Fort Knox so the EKU game would be a short drive.

For me I'd like to see

1BCS teams; Louisville a home game for me xthumbsupx Akron and or Kent state Winnable games plus we hate those fookers xmadx WKU another close game for me to travel to xbowx

1FCS teams; EKU close to home xthumbsupx McNeese just because the fans are friggen AWESOME xbowx

1FCS non schollie; Dayton just so they'll STFU xlolx Morehead State My old stomping grounds as an instructor and close to home xbowx

Maybe EKU/YSU needs to happen. What does YSU's nonconference slate look like the next couple of years?

I think EKU is booked up next year with Kentucky, Indiana and Morehead St. Maybe in 2010?

[bulldog10jw]

I figured as much. Prior to the 60's, it was common for Eastern college teams located in rural locations to play major opponents on the road, if the opponent was in/near a major urban center.

For instance, Penn St. played Penn on a fairly regular basis up through 1958 (47 meetings total). Every single one of those games was played in Philly. They played Pitt every year from 1903 through 1992. But prior to 1967, the game was played in State College only 4 times!
Prior to 1974, Dartmouth and Harvard played in Hanover, NH only 4 times...
Yale's first trip to Hanover was in 1971...
The first 70 meetings between Penn and Cornell were all in Philly....
etc....

Actually, Yale's first game in Hanover was in 1884. It was a long time until the 2nd one. The original agreement was to play in Hanover every 4th year but with the Ivies dwindling attendance in the '70's, Dartmouth eventually asserted their right to alternate home games.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Didn't think I needed to check old schedules to validate the information in the railroad book. xwhistlex Here's the quote under the picture:


Two Fairbanks-Morse C-Liners lead a special from West Point back to New Haven through Devon, Connecticut in November, 1954. Passengers returning from Highland, New York, where they detrained for transit to the Yale-Army game, had a ride through colorful foliage on this trip.

Sounds like they had the route correct (via Highland). xwhistlex Could they have the incorrect date? Did Yale ever play at West Point during the diesel engine era? I'll try to get the picture scanned later (going to work in a short while), but the colors are a drab brownish/olive green rather than the black and orange I'm more familiar with. And the lettering on the front of the engine was a script "New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad" rather than the block "NH" that I see on the black and orange painting.

[bulldog10jw]

Didn't think I needed to check old schedules to validate the information in the railroad book. xwhistlex Here's the quote under the picture:



Sounds like they had the route correct (via Highland). xwhistlex Could they have the incorrect date? Did Yale ever play at West Point during the diesel engine era? I'll try to get the picture scanned later (going to work in a short while), but the colors are a drab brownish/olive green rather than the black and orange I'm more familiar with. And the lettering on the front of the engine was a script "New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad" rather than the block "NH" that I see on the black and orange painting.


Yale-Army series:

http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/ivyleague/yale/opponents_records.php?teamid=188

[ViennaSpider]

We are playing UVA this year (Sept 6), in 2010, 2012, 2014.

Yes. I know we play UVa on 9/6 and I’m delighted with the additional games – all in Charlottesville. But as best as I can tell, between 1947 and the last time we played UVa, 2001, the two teams have met a grand total of 4 times; that’s an average hiatus of 18 years between games. Even counting the scheduled games through 2014, it still averages out to a little less than a decade between games. You might be interested to know that the last time we beat UVa was 1946, when I was 4 years old. It would be oh, so sweet to do it to them again come 9/6/08, especially since my only child is an I-64W grad.

[Scooter]

Of all the teams that NDSU has played since the jump to FCS the one team I would like them to play is Cal Poly. We have had some heated games with Cal Poly and both teams regularly field what I think is the most fun to watch- very good defenses. So, Cal Poly gets my vote.

[Thundering_Herd]

Montana. A drivable game, a competitive game, and great game day atmosphere in both Missoula and Fargo. Cal Poly give us good games too!

[UCAMonkey]

1. Arkansas
2. Arkansas State
3. Arkansas Pine Bluff
4. Missouri State
5. Ole Miss
6. Memphis
7. Arkansas Tech
8. UT Martin

[Marcus Garvey]

Didn't think I needed to check old schedules to validate the information in the railroad book. xwhistlex Here's the quote under the picture:



Sounds like they had the route correct (via Highland). xwhistlex Could they have the incorrect date? Did Yale ever play at West Point during the diesel engine era? I'll try to get the picture scanned later (going to work in a short while), but the colors are a drab brownish/olive green rather than the black and orange I'm more familiar with. And the lettering on the front of the engine was a script "New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad" rather than the block "NH" that I see on the black and orange painting.

I'm sure it was a special chartered for the Yale-Army game. I think the authors got the destinations mixed up in that it should have been from West Point to New Haven and back. But, being a railroad book, that's an inconsequential error.

If you can scan it in, that'd be cool. BTW, which book is that from? I was always more interested in Northern New England railroads, since that's where I lived for a while. But, I find the caption interesting for 2 more reasons:
1) They clearly took the Poughkeepsie bridge route.
2) I had no idea the NH had F-M diesels. Among northeast carriers, I thought only the Jersey Central bought from them.

[elcid96]

VMI is already ours, but we don't play them every year now for some reason.

[Woof]

Agreed. I like the idea of an annual Wofford-Harvard match-up...Would also like to see Davidson step up and play SoCon level football again.





[QUOTE=bonarae;1029801]

Teams that are as good as Harvard but for some reason we don't play them

Wofford - they have the smallest enrollment of the FCS schools. Wofford is one of the best teams in the FCS year in year out so I believe we should play this school.

[bkrownd]

NDSU already has the University of Minnesota.

(of course this is not true, but nothing pisses off the three remaining gopher fans than hearing that.)

UofM probably has more alums than North Dakota's whole population. ;)

[FiniteMan]

Ideally, I'd love these to be in-conference.

UNT - Texas State
Texas State - UTSA
UNT - UTA (basketball)
UNT -UTD (basketball, if UTD ever gets their crap together)
UNT - UTEP
UNT - NMSU
UNT - La Tech
UTPA - UTSA
UNT - Houston

While there is no reason for UNT to ever play a body bag game at LSU, or Kansas State, financially, I'd love to see UNT play UT, OU, and A&M EVERY year, but that requires the new stadium to actually be built to get them to play there. I would be fine with an alternate site game (jerry world?) against one of the big 3 every year, but frankly that isn't viable today. Today the new stadium is the only possiblity of any of the 3 playing in Denton. I think that would quickly transform UNT's program into one of the most financially successful non-BCS programs around, but that would be a beating in the short term --- not much of a rivalry --- and would not draw well. As such it hasn't interested the big schools.

SMU profits greatly from playing UNT and turns around and uses that to stay in a conference that snubs UNT. I'd just as soon not play the privates OOC with the possible exception of Tulsa.


Out of conference, I'd love UNT to develop a rivalry with the MVC basketball schools to help our basketball program. Play them all out of conference every year, even if it costs some. Tech. A&M. Oral Roberts. UNM. UMKC. I frankly would like Denver back too. I'd love to see Cameron, WNM, Hartford, Southern, Centenary, and TAMU-I banished from our schedule forever. I could care less if we are sniffing 500 every year. Our strength of schedule will help in tourney talk more than a creampuff schedule created impressive record and better matchups will help build up the UNT BB fan base.

Out of conference, I hope UNM and UTEP continue to play NMSU. The simple reality is NMSU isn't going anywhere. Some years UNM and UTEP dodged them and hoped NMSU will fall out of FBS, but the Aggies always survive. It was cutting off their nose to spite their faces. The Aggies are one of the better draws that each school could bring in and they draw sellouts at NMSU. All 3 schools would be in much better financial shape if they signed 80 year series to play each other.

[YaleFootballFan]

Obviously I'd love to see Yale bring back UConn to its schedule, but we all know that'll never happen again.

I'd love to see us play William & Mary again on a regular basis. Northeastern or Hofstra would be great too.

[IndianaAppMan]

ASU-JMU. What other rivalry would be better for either school? Both southern schools in the mountains in rival conferences with quite similar academic offerings and recognition. There's a pretty good amount of history, not just in '06 and '07, but dating back to the early 80's.

For App, good alternatives, as far as rivalries go, might be Old Dominion, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, or Eastern Kentucky.

I've always loved non-conference rivalries in FBS football (UF-FSU, SC-Clemson, USC-Notre Dame, even the newer Louisville-Kentucky). Why not have the same in FCS? After all, great rivalries build tradition and tend to give fans the extra incentive to keep coming back years after they graduate or move away to another region.

[poly51]

For Cal Poly I would choose San Diego State.

[IndianaAppMan]

Based on what I saw last year, I think NAU and APP created a NATURAL rivalry! I know it is somewhat farfetched, but those who attended the game know what I am talking about.

But to be more realistic, there is no geographical match for NAU...we are the only of our kind in our area....

Cal Poly? How far are they from you?

[Russ B]

Cal Poly? How far are they from you?

About 600 miles.

[UNCBears2010]

I would like Southern Utah as our non-conference rival, because we could beat them. We've already got a pretty good rivalry with Colorado State in the sports that aren't football.

[Russ B]

CSM would be a shorter roadtrip. ;) And better beer.

[hippy@GSU]

I dont know if this has already been mentioned, but I would love to see a GSU vs. YSU regular season ooc game every once in a while.

[Walkon79]

Probably been said, but NDSU / MSU have a long history. We played pretty much annually in the 60's and 70's. I was p-ssed when we denied them entry to the Big Sky, and would love to see a 6 year deal, home and away. Besides. Fargo is just about as close for me as Bozeman, and I live in Montana!

[Walkon79]

For North Dakota, I'd like to see one of the Montana schools on our schedule each year. If the two states can get together for a high school football game each summer, there's no reason why we couldn't see each other in the fall.

You sure you want to go there. The Badlands Bowl has been pretty lopsided!

[Walkon79]

For North Dakota, I'd like to see one of the Montana schools on our schedule each year. If the two states can get together for a high school football game each summer, there's no reason why we couldn't see each other in the fall.

Careful what you wish for. The Badlands Bowl has been kinda one-sided.

[Walkon79]

Sorry, I thought the first response didn't post. See you in Dickenson next summer! or is it Miles City next year!

[ERASU2113]

App State-James Madision: These two schools are relatively nearby (270 miles apart). They're very similar academically and in size. They are already familiar with each other as of late. Among current FCS teams not in the SoCon, only Presbyterian and VMI have played App State more times than JMU (16 times including this year), so there is definitely a shared history. I don't see another team that would be a better permanent rival.

Looking forward to everyone's ideas! xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx xthumbsupx

Yea JMU is the obvious choice for me to see ASU play but I'd prefer to pick a team that we haven't seen often.

Like UNI would be great - I was on the sideline in 2005 in Chatty. Heck of a game.

And of course....Montana. I think that's a game, or rivalry, that both sides would like to see. Or is it just me?

[seahawkfan2007]

Fordham

[IndianaAppMan]

Yea JMU is the obvious choice for me to see ASU play but I'd prefer to pick a team that we haven't seen often.

Like UNI would be great - I was on the sideline in 2005 in Chatty. Heck of a game.

And of course....Montana. I think that's a game, or rivalry, that both sides would like to see. Or is it just me?

Fans of just about every team from every conference has said Montana. That goes to show you what a good reputation that school has for its fanbase, program, setting, etc. App's been mentioned several times as well, but not as much as the Griz.

Here's why I say JMU: Travel costs are much more difficult on FCS teams than BCS. Ohio State's travel costs to USC will be a drop in the bucket in their book, but even a trip to UNI, let alone Montana or Cal Poly, would eat up a lot of budget for ASU. Costs are part of why a home-and-home deal with Montana fell through a few years ago, and we were fortunate to have N. Arizona come out and play us without (to my knowledge) any return trip scheduled.

With JMU, you've got a program that is pretty much on par with UNI, Montana, etc., and they're one of the closest programs to us overall. In an 11-game schedule, we could have 8 SoCon games, 1 FBS visit, 1 JMU game, and 1 against a different team every year. That other team could be anyone from a DII team to another national power.