(08-20-2013 09:32 AM)GaSouthern Wrote:  

(08-19-2013 09:36 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(08-19-2013 09:08 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  How long did it take for you guys to get other FBS teams to come to your place to play (other than conference games) after you moved to the FBS?

Georgia Southern has a few things going against it here:

1. Satesboro is not a major media market.
2. The campus is not conveniently located for fans to travel.
3. With Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State all located in state, you don't necessarily have to go to Satesboro to satisfy recruits in the area.

My guess is that your best success will either come from realignment creating a lot of scheduling holes, or a series of calls to teams that appear on the future schedule of teams like Navy and Army. No one likes preparing for the Wishbone, so I could see an AAC team finding the value of a Georgia Southern home and home just so they can be better prepared for facing a Wishbone team like Navy when it counts for real in league play.

We are an easy drive and have good history with UCF and ECU but i'm not holding my breath. I expect our AD to pull a MAC team out of his hat for 2015 home slate due to his connections with that conference.

A good point made earlier is that the AAC now has Navy, so those teams may want to schedule us to get more experience against the flexbone.

They'd likely rather schedule Wofford or Citadel.

(08-20-2013 10:09 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  They'd likely rather schedule Wofford or Citadel.

Yes, but you can only play one of those schools in a given year, and it is very rare (unless you are the University of Arkansas) to play FCS teams from a long way off. Teams like Memphis, SMU, and Tulsa might see value in getting a game in Georgia, and getting prepared for the Wishbone at the same time.

(08-20-2013 10:09 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  They'd likely rather schedule Wofford or Citadel.

I doubt it. Wofford and Citadel usually play a major P5 money game for their 1 FBS game. Plus, Wofford is a tough team and could surprise an AAC team as they led Clemson a couple of years ago in the 4th.

I think we can get a 2 for 1 with a Wake Forest and maybe get UCF,USF or maybe Marshall in. I thought the had to get to thing was over.

(08-20-2013 10:22 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  

(08-20-2013 10:09 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  They'd likely rather schedule Wofford or Citadel.

I doubt it. Wofford and Citadel usually play a major P5 money game for their 1 FBS game. Plus, Wofford is a tough team and could surprise an AAC team as they led Clemson a couple of years ago in the 4th.

If I were a P5 team I wounldn't schedule Wofford, Furman, or Chatty. Those teams give the G5 teams a fit and Furman has several wins against FBS teams. I would not want to be on the other end of a lose to a school with 63 less schollies and (Less Talnet??????)

(08-20-2013 11:13 AM)rbostic287 Wrote:  

(08-20-2013 10:22 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  

(08-20-2013 10:09 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  They'd likely rather schedule Wofford or Citadel.

I doubt it. Wofford and Citadel usually play a major P5 money game for their 1 FBS game. Plus, Wofford is a tough team and could surprise an AAC team as they led Clemson a couple of years ago in the 4th.

If I were a P5 team I wounldn't schedule Wofford, Furman, or Chatty. Those teams give the G5 teams a fit and Furman has several wins against FBS teams. I would not want to be on the other end of a lose to a school with 63 less schollies and (Less Talnet??????)

?

(08-20-2013 11:13 AM)rbostic287 Wrote:  

(08-20-2013 10:22 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  

(08-20-2013 10:09 AM)Saint3333 Wrote:  They'd likely rather schedule Wofford or Citadel.

I doubt it. Wofford and Citadel usually play a major P5 money game for their 1 FBS game. Plus, Wofford is a tough team and could surprise an AAC team as they led Clemson a couple of years ago in the 4th.

If I were a P5 team I wounldn't schedule Wofford, Furman, or Chatty. Those teams give the G5 teams a fit and Furman has several wins against FBS teams. I would not want to be on the other end of a lose to a school with 63 less schollies and (Less Talnet??????)

I think you mean 63 total schollies....that's 22 fewer than FBS

Of the new members, Georgia State will probably have the most luck in the scheduling of OC FBS games or hosting a team from a big5 conference due to (1) location-Atlanta (2) stadium size.

When NT returned to FBS in 1995 location & stadium availability (Texas Stadium) certainly helped us. As a Indy in '95 NT hosted Kansas State & Oregon State.

I think the issue here that hasn't been mentioned that can override all the others can be stated as "Just win." In other words, I think that as our team establishes itself as a legitimate team at that level, the home games will come. Right now we're an unproven factor, and there's no reason for nationally know teams to play us at our place. If GaSo (or anyone else) wins consistently, the home games will start to happen. I think the biggest negative factor that has been mentioned other than this may be stadium size.

Location and media market, I think, aren't quite as big as a lot of people say. Yes, Statesboro's out in the middle of the countryside, but my experience is that it can take longer to get from the Atlanta airport to the Georgia Dome or Georgia Tech than it takes to get from the Savannah airport to Statesboro. I guess most air travel is on charters, so I doubt it makes that much difference in terms of which airport is used as a destination.

In terms of media markets, many of the biggest college sports towns are media markets because of college sports, not the opposite. I respectfully submit that Tuscaloosa, Athens, and South Bend (to name three) are important because of what's there, rather than UA, UGA, and ND being important because of where they're located. I'm not comparing GS to those schools in terms of athletic success (we can always dream, though), but just pointing out that the sports media flock there because of who's there. If we establish ourselves as winners, the media will come to us.

Again, as I said before, win and things will tend to take care of ourselves. The order of concern should be (1) take care of business with our new conference mates; (2) win road games against out of conference FBS opponents (lots of opportunities coming up there); (3) make a profile for ourselves that is high enough that people will be willing to travel for home-and-home. That should be enough to keep us busy for the next year or two... maybe even three!