Are 2 $$ games worth the 0-2 record??

[ISUCC]

Interesting article coming out in the EIU newspaper tomorrow about whether or not it's worth it for
I-AA schools to play one or two I-A games each year?

Obviously ISU has 2 I-A games this season and I am pretty sure next year they play at Louisville and Tulsa, which will probably be 2 blowout losses.

I know the school needs the $ badly from these games, but is it worth it to the program to keep doing it year after year and risk getting players injured and being out for an entire season? And not to mention the almost assured blowout losses (unless you're App. State or any other bigger I-AA power). I'm sure the kids really look forward to these games though and they could be a recruiting tool for ISU coaches. (maybe they'll get some PA kids to ISU since they're playing at Penn State?)

I wonder how much Penn State is paying ISU to play at PSU in 2010 or whenever that game is? Is it enough to cover the cost of playing 2 lower division I-A schools, like ISU is doing this season with EMU and NIU? I know some of the bigger schools pay I-AA schools $300,000 or more for a game, I can almost be sure that ISU is not getting that much from EMU and NIU combined? Who knows?

So instead of the 2 I-A schools every year, why not start scheduling another weak I-AA school (i.e. Northern Colorado or Southern Utah for example), or even a D-II school? That would at least give ISU a "chance" to win an early game in the season and give the team some confidence. It wouldn't gaurantee a win by any means, one has to look no further than Mizzery State's loss last weekend to
D-II Washburn and lest we forget the ISU blowout loss to NAIA power St. Francis of Fort Wayne, IN in Lou West's 1st season at ISU.

anyway, the FB board has been kinda quiet, so maybe this will generate some discussion prior to the EIU game on Saturday. Let's all pray for a good effort from ISU Saturday night.

 

[bent20]

I would agree, but aren't those big pay days about the only thing keeping the football program around? At least that was my impression. It would be nice to see some easier opponents on the schedule early in the season. It would hopefully help boost the team's confidence.

 

[ISUCC]

I am sure they help keep the program around, no doubt about that, but maybe a game against 1 I-A team that pays more money than 2 lower division I-A teams might not be so bad either?

Anyway, here is the article from the EIU paper about this topic, with a reference to ISU as well.

"Each of the past three years EIU has reached the postseason playoffs, the past two years through at-large berths by not tainting its schedule with inferior wins.

Actually, during that period the Panthers have had what could be called automatic wins against an FCS foe Indiana State that has gone 1-32 the past three seasons.

Indiana State did not used to be, maybe is not this year and for sure won?t always be an automatic win.

The Sycamores always will be a nice nearby rivalry football game for Eastern.

And even though some other OVC schools try to be fair by finding a Lambuth or Concordia for their teams to beat, EIU might have the best formula for getting its team into the playoffs."

Full Article Link

 

[bent20]

Wow, they give us more of a chance than some of our posters do.

"Indiana State did not used to be, maybe is not this year and for sure won’t always be an automatic win."

My guess would be that we schedule two lesser D-1A teams because we can't always get bigger teams to play us. As bad as we've been I can't blame them. You don't want your competition to be so weak that they put up almost no fight and make your own fans feel bad for them.

 

[country123a]

If the paydays are adequate, playing Div IA schools will be a necessary evil to fund the program. Unless injuries become an issue, hopefully the prospect of playing in front of 1,000s of fans would be something the players will enjoy. Once the program rebounds the beatings won't be so bad and it will be a positive experience the team, recruiting, etc.

 

[Ong Hop]

How many players did we lose due to playing EMU? Getting hurt is part of college FB. We lost 3 players for the yr. in practice. You can NOT get good players to come to ISU to play St. Mary's of the Poor...they want to compete and compete against good, BIG name schools to show they are good too, that they belong in big time FB. Our players are proud to be playing Louisville & Penn State. They are looking forward to the games. Would you really want players who didn't want to compete against BCS schools? Playing down is no way to build a program. Playing up is.

 

[ISUCC]

Ong, I realize getting hurt is part of college FB, I also realize the players want to play big time schools to prove themselves. And I know they look forward to those games too.

My point is that while ISU is down (I mean really, there haven't been very many, if any, teams worse than ISU the past several years) why not schedule one game against a bigger I-A school that would pay the same as 2 lower I-A schools. I know scheduling is hard and done years in advance, but I don't think playing one lower level I-AA school or even a D-II school is going to hurt ISU at this point. Like I said, it gives ISU a "chance" at an early season win and would give the players confidence and make them realize "hey, we really can win FB games".

And look at the games in the conference, the Gateway/mvfc has always been one of the most difficult conferences in I-AA FB. EVERY week is a hard game, no matter which teams are playing. And if you ask me, the Gateway is alot better top to bottom than even the Sunbelt, which of course is I-A.

Look around at all the I-AA schools who schedule down, heck, even in ISU's own conference teams schedule down and still make the I-AA playoffs. UNI, always a power, just played a D-II school transitioning to D-I. YSU plays Central State this week, there is nothing wrong with 1 game against a lower division opponent is all I was trying to say.

But if ISU needs the $ that bad and is forced to play more than 1 upper level school, then so be it, I am not an administrator and know nothing about what ISU's needs are.