Non-Conference Future Schedules

[monrowe]

2 hours ago, Football grandma said:

Ok, friend, I'll meet you halfway. Yes injuries are are risked in every game, but more so in one where the players are out-matched in a " meaningless" game, which is my point. I agree that competing with others who are more mentally or physically better than us makes us step up our play some. However, it also slowly gnaws away our self confidence. Akron needs to take an honest, in-depth look at WHY football isn't a big crowd interest. Too few winning seasons, flash in the pan success some years? So poll the students and alumni! It would be enlightening I'm sure. Why can't the MAC draw talent? I'd like to read your opinion on 

Grandma,

 

The one thing that could unravel the MAC is money -- but that's also one of the reasons it currently fits so well. For a MAC school looking elsewhere, the only sensible alternatives are the AAC or C-USA, which is a minimal upgrade in football, but you have to consider all sports. It's cool to play football at Cincy or Houston, but that also means you're flying the golf team to UCF or the soccer team to Tulsa. The MAC is a bus league now, and that's very, very valuable to fragile bottom lines. 

Even so, Toledo is the only MAC school that earns 50% what it spends. They're all bleeding money, always. MAC schools are HUGELY reliant on student fees, and as the cost of business keeps going up (cost of attendance, facilities, salaries, extra positions), they're going to have a harder and harder time milking tuition money to keep up, and big donors are few in this league. 

There is a scenario in which dominoes in the MAC start falling because the league (foolishly, IMO) values football so much. EMU loses boatloads of money to suck every year, and faculty/students have long been pissed. Akron as a university is in deep crap financially and a lot of people give partial blame (fairly or unfairly) to their giant, empty football stadium. Kent is going to have a hell of a time ever being good at football. Ohio has been bad for most of its history; Buffalo geographically could fit into a new league if it senses troubled waters. 

Who knows what happens, but the MAC has been spending above its bankroll for a while and it keeps getting worse. There might be a tipping point where a few schools say to hell with playing FBS. 

 

 

[Blue & Gold]

9 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

You are right on the money. Charles hates these money games. Starting in 2024 we will see a much better schedule. Throw out what someone else posted earlier in this thread about who we play starting in 24. 2 new games have been scheduled and we should have 6 home games. The key to success is scheduling OOC games we can win. We need to take the extra 3-5 $million we will be getting from the new football deal and use it to improve our chances of being a winning program. No facilities improvements or using it to cut the existing budget. Winning breeds winning.

[kreed5120]

If all the schools are getting the same bump in revenue then really none of the programs are going to be getting a bump in revenue. That money is quickly going to get eaten up by coaching staff pay increases all across FBS and other related expenses

Edited September 19, 2022 by kreed5120

[MangoZip]

It's a delicate balance. You need to play big schools and if you build up your program enough you can compete with them. Unfortunately, this team is not yet ready to compete with the big boys. Look at all the small conference schools with upsets against the big boys in the first few weeks. App State, Marshall, Georgia Southern etc. And several others have competed well but lost. Akron needs to keep the big boys on the schedule and I assure you that they players want it as well. Every player wants a chance to play at Tennessee or Ohio State or Notre Dame etc. Once again, the biggest issue is that this program needs to get competitive.  

[ZippyRulz]

12 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

You are right on the money. Charles hates these money games. Starting in 2024 we will see a much better schedule. Throw out what someone else posted earlier in this thread about who we play starting in 24. 2 new games have been scheduled and we should have 6 home games. The key to success is scheduling OOC games we can win. We need to take the extra 3-5 $million we will be getting from the new football deal and use it to improve our chances of being a winning program. No facilities improvements or using it to cut the existing budget. Winning breeds winning.

 

Who are the new opponents in '24?

 

[LZIp]

There’s levels to this. Multiple payday games against top teams is worse than multiple pay day games (one against a top team and one against an average to below average P5) and so on. Sweet spot to me would be one pay day game against a middling P5 team, 2 G5 OOCs, and one FCS opponent. Even if the sweet spot doesn’t happen, it doesn’t mean scheduling can’t get a lot better, and it seems it will.

[GP1]

12 hours ago, bigjim said:

 

-The main topic is that all competitive athletes want to play against the best competition.  They do not back down.  When I was a D1 and high school athlete I enjoyed playing great players and I looked forward to the challenges.    

I respect the attitude, but I will explain why the athletic directors cannot allow the players to overly influence these decisions. 

 

One of the last things to complete development in the human body is the brain. Specifically, the part of the brain that allows us to fully understand the long term consequences of our choices. This part of the brain does not stop developing until the age of 25. We are capable of understanding right from wrong, but not fully the long term consequences. 

 

With that said, the athletic directors must make the long term decisions that best support their employers, and more importantly those who are not fully capable of understanding their decisions. Unfortunately, they simply haven't in the case of the MAC and the results prove this out. 

[GP1]

1 hour ago, MangoZip said:

It's a delicate balance. You need to play big schools and if you build up your program enough you can compete with them. Unfortunately, this team is not yet ready to compete with the big boys. Look at all the small conference schools with upsets against the big boys in the first few weeks. App State, Marshall, Georgia Southern etc. And several others have competed well but lost. Akron needs to keep the big boys on the schedule and I assure you that they players want it as well. Every player wants a chance to play at Tennessee or Ohio State or Notre Dame etc. Once again, the biggest issue is that this program needs to get competitive.  

Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and Marshall all have wins against P5 schools. So do we in our wins against NC State and Northwestern. All of us have really ugly loses against many more P5 schools that far out number the wins. 

 

The point isn't to either play the games or not. The point is to limit your exposure. One beat down a year is enough. 

 

I give tDon Draper highlighting the importance of limiting your exposure. https://youtu.be/jWbyoUAEJ4E

 

 

[kreed5120]

I think what also isn't getting brought up is that since these games are often scheduled 5-8 years in advance it's hard to actually know how good some of these teams will be. Like sure if you schedule an Alabama, Ohio State then sure you know going in that's almost certainly going to be a top 10 team. 

 

Using Kentucky as an example, we reached an agreement with them in February 2018 so before the 2018 season even started. At the time we made the deal the last time Kentucky was ranked was in 2007 and they had some miserable seasons inbetween, including 2 years of going 2-10. They were the kind of opponent that you would think a good G5 team could upset. Fast forward to now and they're a top 10 team. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by kreed5120

[mes102]

2025 schedule looks really appealing right now, but if Nebraska can actually find a solid coach....

Edited September 19, 2022 by mes102

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, mes102 said:

2025 schedule looks really appealing right now, but if Nebraska can actually find a solid coach....

 

[zipsrule]

On 9/19/2022 at 1:13 PM, kreed5120 said:

I think what also isn't getting brought up is that since these games are often scheduled 5-8 years in advance it's hard to actually know how good some of these teams will be. Like sure if you schedule an Alabama, Ohio State then sure you know going in that's almost certainly going to be a top 10 team. 

 

Using Kentucky as an example, we reached an agreement with them in February 2018 so before the 2018 season even started. At the time we made the deal the last time Kentucky was ranked was in 2007 and they had some miserable seasons inbetween, including 2 years of going 2-10. They were the kind of opponent that you would think a good G5 team could upset. Fast forward to now and they're a top 10 team. 

So true. (out of likes)

[Zipmeister]

On 9/19/2022 at 9:45 AM, kreed5120 said:

If all the schools are getting the same bump in revenue then really none of the programs are going to be getting a bump in revenue. That money is quickly going to get eaten up by coaching staff pay increases all across FBS and other related expenses

I must be missing something. If none of the programs are going to be getting a bump in revenue how is that money going to get quickly eaten up by coaching staffs etc.?

 

[kreed5120]

10 minutes ago, Zipmeister said:

I must be missing something. If none of the programs are going to be getting a bump in revenue how is that money going to get quickly eaten up by coaching staffs etc.?

 

What I'm saying is if all G5 programs are getting the same bump in revenue from the expanded playoffs then its not like that gives Akron some new competitive advantage compared to the other G5 as they will be getting that same money too. The P5 will even be getting more so just furthering that gap. 

[dre22era]

On 9/18/2022 at 1:02 AM, Z.I.P. said:

They need to find a way to prevent the home/visitor fan ratio from being like it was for that Indiana Grand Opening game!

As of now I would just be happy seeing the stadium sell out period regardless if there are 99.9% Kentucky fans 

[dre22era]

Kent State's performance last week against the #1 team in the nation is a prime example why I want to see Akron compete against as many Power 5's as they can schedule. Why? 

Because Kent's play last week pumped up their program on and off the field. It got the Nation talking bringing more eyeballs and $$$$ to their program I bet. 

[dre22era]

17 hours ago, dre22era said:

Kent State's performance last week against the #1 team in the nation is a prime example why I want to see Akron compete against as many Power 5's as they can schedule. Why? 

Because Kent's play last week pumped up their program on and off the field. It got the Nation talking bringing more eyeballs and $$$$ to their program I bet. 

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by dre22era

[AkronAlumnus]

Now players are holding out on team A so when they transfer to team B they'll be able to preserve their redshirt.
 

https://www.outkick.com/smu-mustangs-football-players-expected-to-transfer-redshirt/

 

[GP1]

On 10/2/2022 at 2:56 PM, dre22era said:

 

Almost as impressive as some guy named Lil Nas X leaving a concert to take a massive dump the day before. Maybe Kent could bring in Lil Nas X to drop some Demons on the 50 yard line at halftime so the fans can really watch the diarr......errr, I mean money flow in.

[Let'sGoZips94]

3 hours ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Now players are holding out on team A so when they transfer to team B they'll be able to preserve their redshirt.
 

https://www.outkick.com/smu-mustangs-football-players-expected-to-transfer-redshirt/

 

 

Smart power moves.

[GP1]

31 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Smart power moves.

Things are never as they seem. The real winner is SMU. The get rid of four malcontents the next coach won't have to deal with and it opens up the door for four guys who want to be there.

 

These four guys will just go somewhere else and be malcontents. Good luck to that team.

[GoZips86]

On 10/1/2022 at 9:05 PM, dre22era said:

Kent State's performance last week against the #1 team in the nation is a prime example why I want to see Akron compete against as many Power 5's as they can schedule. Why? 

Because Kent's play last week pumped up their program on and off the field. It got the Nation talking bringing more eyeballs and $$$$ to their program I bet. 

 

I respectfully disagree. The juice isn't worth the squeeze and being a sacrificial lamb year in and year out gets old. I'd be happy if Akron scheduled one per season, sometimes two, but that's it. I'd prefer one only per season.

 

I think the MAC is starting to be looked at as the early season easy win schedule for these P5 schools. Kent had 3 hard games, we all know Akron's schedule, and the other MAC schools aren't any different. Sure, Kent hung with Georgia, but I doubt many new fans tuned into watching them play last weekend against Ohio. People have short memories. If Kent would have won, that would have been huge, but I bet most college football fans don't even remember that Kent hung with Georgia 2 weeks ago. 

 

Trust me, I want Akron to have respect. I want the MAC conference to be taken seriously. But each MAC school losing, sometimes getting demolished, in 3 early games per season against P5 schools is not the answer. I'm tired of it, frankly. I like the thought of a miracle each season, but Tennessee and MSU games were miserable. And just because I'm an Akron fan, who is in the MAC conference, shouldn't have to mean I just have to take it on the chin because the bigger schools deserves to have a win more.

[zippy5]

Toledo and EMU are the only two teams that don't have a losing record - at 3-2. That's not good for business

[GP1]

13 minutes ago, GoZips86 said:

 

I respectfully disagree. The juice isn't worth the squeeze and being a sacrificial lamb year in and year out gets old. I'd be happy if Akron scheduled one per season, sometimes two, but that's it. I'd prefer one only per season.

 

I think the MAC is starting to be looked at as the early season easy win schedule for these P5 schools. Kent had 3 hard games, we all know Akron's schedule, and the other MAC schools aren't any different. Sure, Kent hung with Georgia, but I doubt many new fans tuned into watching them play last weekend against Ohio. People have short memories. If Kent would have won, that would have been huge, but I bet most college football fans don't even remember that Kent hung with Georgia 2 weeks ago. 

 

Trust me, I want Akron to have respect. I want the MAC conference to be taken seriously. But each MAC school losing, sometimes getting demolished, in 3 early games per season against P5 schools is not the answer. I'm tired of it, frankly. I like the thought of a miracle each season, but Tennessee and MSU games were miserable. And just because I'm an Akron fan, who is in the MAC conference, shouldn't have to mean I just have to take it on the chin because the bigger schools deserves to have a win more.

Everything you said is true.  I always ask a basic question, "How does decision X by Athletic Director Y help the athletes, students, alumni, fans and general community around their school?". As it relates to college athletics, you can always replace Athletic Director with University President or Conference Commissioner. Whenever any one of these three people base any decision on money or "exposure" (whatever in the heck that is) or number of re-Tweets, they are not acting in the best interest of the athletes, students, alumni, fans and general community. The evidence is overwhelming they are NOT. What they are doing is either effing insanity or diabolically contrary to the interests of their employers. Sometimes I wish I lived closer to Akron and could go to more games....Then I realized by going to more games I would be enabling this insanity. MAC scheduling is absolute insanity and the Presidents of the universities have to get together, like the Presidents of the Sun Belt did, and put an end to the insanity. The ADs are not going to do it on their own because given the chance they will almost always act contrary to the interests of their employers.  

 

One P5, One FCS, One G5, Nine MAC. Less travel for the athletes, students, alumni and fans. More home games for the athletes, students, alumni, fans and general community. Better competition is better for the players. More entertaining games are better for the students, alumni, fans and general community. I could do this all day. 

[GoZips86]

10 minutes ago, GP1 said:

Everything you said is true.  I always ask a basic question, "How does decision X by Athletic Director Y help the athletes, students, alumni, fans and general community around their school?". As it relates to college athletics, you can always replace Athletic Director with University President or Conference Commissioner. Whenever any one of these three people base any decision on money or "exposure" (whatever in the heck that is) or number of re-Tweets, they are not acting in the best interest of the athletes, students, alumni, fans and general community. The evidence is overwhelming they are NOT. What they are doing is either effing insanity or diabolically contrary to the interests of their employers. Sometimes I wish I lived closer to Akron and could go to more games....Then I realized by going to more games I would be enabling this insanity. MAC scheduling is absolute insanity and the Presidents of the universities have to get together, like the Presidents of the Sun Belt did, and put an end to the insanity. The ADs are not going to do it on their own because given the chance they will almost always act contrary to the interests of their employers.  

 

One P5, One FCS, One G5, Nine MAC. Less travel for the athletes, students, alumni and fans. More home games for the athletes, students, alumni, fans and general community. Better competition is better for the players. More entertaining games are better for the students, alumni, fans and general community. I could do this all day. 

 

Great reply! Much appreciated, and I think you summed it up perfectly! I'd love to see a change on this whole scheduling thing!