The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-28-2013 10:26 AM)smudge12 Wrote:  I think a pretty balanced schedule would we be:

@ BCS
BCS
@ non-BCS
non-BCS

There's enough non-BCS teams to go around, so rarely should we play FCS programs.

I'd like how that sounds.

I think a scenario like this could be a realistic schedule in the future:
@WVU/Nearby BCS Team
Virginia Tech
@UMass
Navy

(03-28-2013 10:41 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  We certainly do want to play BCS and established FBS teams and bring them to Norfolk abd I don't want to sacrifice that to play FCS and new FBS teams like ourselves but on the flip side we would like to be bowl eligible too. We've got much better odds at beating these teams and I think it should be a part of our diet. If the point comes where we're winning in C-USA with enough frequency that this isn't such an issue then yes I say we try schedule up more.

All rationale thoughts aside I'd really like to kick GaSo's teeth in and I'm not afraid of them at all.

Glad to hear it!

The rationale for playing an FCS team is twofold: it allows teams to have 3 OOC home games on a consistent basis and the assumed win helps marginal teams be bowl qualified. I expect to see W&M, UR, perhaps Hampton & Norfolk State make periodic appearances at ODU.

If your object is to get the best possible bowl bid coming from the new CUSA, you have to have the strongest possible OOC schedule. GSU & App St. do not add anything in terms of SOS. They will probably feel the same with regards to us, so there's no disrespect toward each other for taking this approach. We have to schedule more big boys to counterbalance the dregs of our conference.

**Note: this is assuming we intend to be conference front runners perennially once we're established in FBS...may take a few years to accomplish.

(03-28-2013 11:25 AM)odusteeler Wrote:  If your object is to get the best possible bowl bid coming from the new CUSA, you have to have the strongest possible OOC schedule. GSU & App St. do not add anything in terms of SOS. They will probably feel the same with regards to us, so there's no disrespect toward each other for taking this approach. We have to schedule more big boys to counterbalance the dregs of our conference.

**Note: this is assuming we intend to be conference front runners perennially once we're established in FBS...may take a few years to accomplish.

That's just not true. It seems to me that both LSU and Alabama have scheduled GSU in the last two years as an FCS team, and it sure hasn't hurt their Bowl selections. The fact is that one FCS school on the schedule does not hurt you at all. Go win the conference division and win the conference championship game, and no one will care that you played W&M along the way. Tulsa won the C-USA championship last year and played Nichols State of the FCS Southland Conference. If you don't know where Nichols State is, it is in Thibodaux, LA and has a student population of somewhere around 7,000, and it is not exactly a powerhouse in the Southland Conference. What is true is that it is common practice to schedule one FCS team to (1) ensure a win and (2) give your team a breather on the schedule so that guys with injuries can use the week to heal. That's just the way it is.

Here's my $0.02.

If we want to get the non-BCS AQ for the playoffs, we have to be as highly ranked as possible. Playing an FCS team can only hurt our chances to be ranked higher. We would be better off playing a lower-level FBS team than playing any FCS team. SEC teams can get away with playing whoever they want, because no matter what, they are perceived as being the best. The polls reflect that perception compared to schools in other conferences.

Also, my father is from Thibodaux and attended Nichols State

(03-28-2013 12:07 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 11:25 AM)odusteeler Wrote:  If your object is to get the best possible bowl bid coming from the new CUSA, you have to have the strongest possible OOC schedule. GSU & App St. do not add anything in terms of SOS. They will probably feel the same with regards to us, so there's no disrespect toward each other for taking this approach. We have to schedule more big boys to counterbalance the dregs of our conference.

**Note: this is assuming we intend to be conference front runners perennially once we're established in FBS...may take a few years to accomplish.

That's just not true. It seems to me that both LSU and Alabama have scheduled GSU in the last two years as an FCS team, and it sure hasn't hurt their Bowl selections. The fact is that one FCS school on the schedule does not hurt you at all. Go win the conference division and win the conference championship game, and no one will care that you played W&M along the way. Tulsa won the C-USA championship last year and played Nichols State of the FCS Southland Conference. If you don't know where Nichols State is, it is in Thibodaux, LA and has a student population of somewhere around 7,000, and it is not exactly a powerhouse in the Southland Conference. What is true is that it is common practice to schedule one FCS team to (1) ensure a win and (2) give your team a breather on the schedule so that guys with injuries can use the week to heal. That's just the way it is.

I'll go ahead and point out the obvious that those schools play in the SEC. Thier conference schedule is plenty tough to make up for whomever they want to play OOC. The same reason we could play powderpuff OOC in the CAA and as long as you get to 7-8 wins you were assured a spot in the playoffs (most years) because the conference schedule was tough enough.

Let me point out that the most recent team to claim an at large BCS bowl bid is Northern Illinois, who played Florida State in the Orange Bowl last year. On their schedule was mighty UT Martin of the FCS Ohio Valley Conference, and NIU had one defeat on their schedule. Look, it's going to take a miracle to get one of those bids anyway. Even if we go undefeated, the chips have to fall just right (as it did for NIU) in order to get the bid. But being undefeated or having only one loss is way more important than having one FCS team on your schedule. That's why so many FBS teams do schedule an FCS team. That's just the way it is.

All of that said and true -- if the other BCS conferences follow the lead of the B1G in disallowing FCS teams on their schedules, that could all change in the future

I think it would be cool if down the road we got matched up with them in a Bowl game, and won.

(03-28-2013 12:17 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 12:07 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 11:25 AM)odusteeler Wrote:  If your object is to get the best possible bowl bid coming from the new CUSA, you have to have the strongest possible OOC schedule. GSU & App St. do not add anything in terms of SOS. They will probably feel the same with regards to us, so there's no disrespect toward each other for taking this approach. We have to schedule more big boys to counterbalance the dregs of our conference.

**Note: this is assuming we intend to be conference front runners perennially once we're established in FBS...may take a few years to accomplish.

That's just not true. It seems to me that both LSU and Alabama have scheduled GSU in the last two years as an FCS team, and it sure hasn't hurt their Bowl selections. The fact is that one FCS school on the schedule does not hurt you at all. Go win the conference division and win the conference championship game, and no one will care that you played W&M along the way. Tulsa won the C-USA championship last year and played Nichols State of the FCS Southland Conference. If you don't know where Nichols State is, it is in Thibodaux, LA and has a student population of somewhere around 7,000, and it is not exactly a powerhouse in the Southland Conference. What is true is that it is common practice to schedule one FCS team to (1) ensure a win and (2) give your team a breather on the schedule so that guys with injuries can use the week to heal. That's just the way it is.

I'll go ahead and point out the obvious that those schools play in the SEC. Thier conference schedule is plenty tough to make up for whomever they want to play OOC. The same reason we could play powderpuff OOC in the CAA and as long as you get to 7-8 wins you were assured a spot in the playoffs (most years) because the conference schedule was tough enough.

Agree 100% here. Boise State didn't garner their current reputation by beating Idaho, San Jose State, & the like. They got it by beating Oregon, Oklahoma, VT, & such. CUSA will be a steady diet of the former once we're there. We'll need opportunities to take down the later if we want to grow the brand. Since there's only 4 OOC games, I think it prudent to schedule aggressively, especially knowing that BCS teams are willing to play us home-n-home (something that NIU & GSU haven't established yet).

(03-28-2013 01:42 PM)odusteeler Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 12:17 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 12:07 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 11:25 AM)odusteeler Wrote:  If your object is to get the best possible bowl bid coming from the new CUSA, you have to have the strongest possible OOC schedule. GSU & App St. do not add anything in terms of SOS. They will probably feel the same with regards to us, so there's no disrespect toward each other for taking this approach. We have to schedule more big boys to counterbalance the dregs of our conference.

**Note: this is assuming we intend to be conference front runners perennially once we're established in FBS...may take a few years to accomplish.

That's just not true. It seems to me that both LSU and Alabama have scheduled GSU in the last two years as an FCS team, and it sure hasn't hurt their Bowl selections. The fact is that one FCS school on the schedule does not hurt you at all. Go win the conference division and win the conference championship game, and no one will care that you played W&M along the way. Tulsa won the C-USA championship last year and played Nichols State of the FCS Southland Conference. If you don't know where Nichols State is, it is in Thibodaux, LA and has a student population of somewhere around 7,000, and it is not exactly a powerhouse in the Southland Conference. What is true is that it is common practice to schedule one FCS team to (1) ensure a win and (2) give your team a breather on the schedule so that guys with injuries can use the week to heal. That's just the way it is.

I'll go ahead and point out the obvious that those schools play in the SEC. Thier conference schedule is plenty tough to make up for whomever they want to play OOC. The same reason we could play powderpuff OOC in the CAA and as long as you get to 7-8 wins you were assured a spot in the playoffs (most years) because the conference schedule was tough enough.

Agree 100% here. Boise State didn't garner their current reputation by beating Idaho, San Jose State, & the like. They got it by beating Oregon, Oklahoma, VT, & such. CUSA will be a steady diet of the former once we're there. We'll need opportunities to take down the later if we want to grow the brand. Since there's only 4 OOC games, I think it prudent to schedule aggressively, especially knowing that BCS teams are willing to play us home-n-home (something that NIU & GSU haven't established yet).

Boise State beat TCU in the 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. This was after a sterling 2009 season that included a win over UC Davis of the FCS Great West Conference.

You one example doesn't really prove much and it certainly doesn't prove your point that we should be playing a team like ga southern.

We have acc teams coming to town to try and get inroads into our area.

Playing a team like ga southern serves ZERO purpose.

And that doesn't even begin to address our problems stopping a triple option. People wouldn't even be suggesting this if we hadn't played them twice in the playoffs.

Pass

Personally, I would like to play them once more in the immediate future. My reasoning? To prove we can beat them. Yeah the TO sucks but we need to be able to defeat it.

Otherwise, I'm in the same boat as some other posters. We should schedule and beat the best in FBS. Maybe GSU will become the next Boise State and then we should schedule them regularly. Currently, I'd rather have Navy (VT, UVA, etc.) @ ODU than GSU @ ODU, but that's just my two cents.

(03-28-2013 02:06 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 01:42 PM)odusteeler Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 12:17 PM)mturn017 Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 12:07 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  

(03-28-2013 11:25 AM)odusteeler Wrote:  If your object is to get the best possible bowl bid coming from the new CUSA, you have to have the strongest possible OOC schedule. GSU & App St. do not add anything in terms of SOS. They will probably feel the same with regards to us, so there's no disrespect toward each other for taking this approach. We have to schedule more big boys to counterbalance the dregs of our conference.

**Note: this is assuming we intend to be conference front runners perennially once we're established in FBS...may take a few years to accomplish.

That's just not true. It seems to me that both LSU and Alabama have scheduled GSU in the last two years as an FCS team, and it sure hasn't hurt their Bowl selections. The fact is that one FCS school on the schedule does not hurt you at all. Go win the conference division and win the conference championship game, and no one will care that you played W&M along the way. Tulsa won the C-USA championship last year and played Nichols State of the FCS Southland Conference. If you don't know where Nichols State is, it is in Thibodaux, LA and has a student population of somewhere around 7,000, and it is not exactly a powerhouse in the Southland Conference. What is true is that it is common practice to schedule one FCS team to (1) ensure a win and (2) give your team a breather on the schedule so that guys with injuries can use the week to heal. That's just the way it is.

I'll go ahead and point out the obvious that those schools play in the SEC. Thier conference schedule is plenty tough to make up for whomever they want to play OOC. The same reason we could play powderpuff OOC in the CAA and as long as you get to 7-8 wins you were assured a spot in the playoffs (most years) because the conference schedule was tough enough.

Agree 100% here. Boise State didn't garner their current reputation by beating Idaho, San Jose State, & the like. They got it by beating Oregon, Oklahoma, VT, & such. CUSA will be a steady diet of the former once we're there. We'll need opportunities to take down the later if we want to grow the brand. Since there's only 4 OOC games, I think it prudent to schedule aggressively, especially knowing that BCS teams are willing to play us home-n-home (something that NIU & GSU haven't established yet).

Boise State beat TCU in the 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. This was after a sterling 2009 season that included a win over UC Davis of the FCS Great West Conference.

How many I-AAs have they played since? I don't have a problem playing a I-AA game. But the 3 remaining OOC games should be against nationally recognized programs IMO. Otherwise, in your best years, Herbsteit & Fowler will be saying "but who did you beat?"

(03-28-2013 02:44 PM)Razor Ramon Monarch Wrote:  You one example doesn't really prove much and it certainly doesn't prove your point that we should be playing a team like ga southern.

We have acc teams coming to town to try and get inroads into our area.

Playing a team like ga southern serves ZERO purpose.

And that doesn't even begin to address our problems stopping a triple option. People wouldn't even be suggesting this if we hadn't played them twice in the playoffs.

Pass

Razor,

Yes, this thread is about Georgia Southern. No, my response was not at all about whether or not we should play them. Our discussion had moved on to whether or not to play FCS teams and the affect of having them on the schedule as it relates to at large bids for BCS bowls. Steelers' claim was that Boise State didn't play FCS opponents to get to a BCS bowl. I simply pointed out the error of his statement.

As you well know, if we play GSU in 2014 or later, it will be against a member of the Sun Belt. They will be every bit a FBS team as we are, and I will gurantee you that beating GSU will not be seen as picking on the weak daughter in the conference. It will be a solid win. The game would have a lot of appeal because of the history we have already established. It would match an up and coming Sun Belt team against an up and coming C-USA team. As to stopping the triple option, the defense has to get better -- period! If we cannot stop the GSU triple option at least good enough to win the game, we will be sucking hind tata in C-USA. I see nothing but upside to having GSU being one of the OOC FBS games.

I have never suggested playing GSU every year, but a home and home series every now and again will be a good thing, not a bad one, and yes, I would be happy about playing GSU in the not too distant future.

"How many I-AAs have they played since? I don't have a problem playing a I-AA game. But the 3 remaining OOC games should be against nationally recognized programs IMO. Otherwise, in your best years, Herbsteit & Fowler will be saying "but who did you beat?" "

Steeler,

I get your point and don't necessarily disagree. It might be a good idea to have three BCS OOC games, and one that is either an FCS or a respected non-BCS FBS team. One year we might play someone like Georgia Southern, and the next we might play someone with significant past FCS athletics history like W&M, JMU, or Richmond.

Im not sure if i missed something on how we got to FCS teams... GSU will be in the Sunbelt after next season. So it would be a non AQ fbs opponent. At this stage in our FBS development can we really be above scheduling other new comers? Im all for scheduling top tear opponents, however i think we should expect more realistic goals, use games against other upstarts as stepping stones to knowing how to win at the FBS level.

However i also tend to agree with the knee injury argument.