Big Sky race

[marceagfan5]

The other thing that has pissed me off about the Big Sky schedule is that we have been playing the Montana schools back to back for a while now. I think Sac State also has it this way. They need to shake up the conference schedule some. Montana doesn't play EWU and MSU in back to back weeks, nor does MSU play EWU and UM in back to back weeks. What gives?

Weber State has played the Montana's back to back for 2 years in a row.

This drove me to do a little research and I found that NAU has played Montana and Montana State on consecutive weekends for 9 of the past 10 seasons. Shake up the scheduling, Big Sky Conference officials....please.

I agree! There's no such thing as travel partners in football!

Good thing is next year everything changes with the conference additions. The only 2 guaranteed games each team has every year is against their rivals. After this year, we only have MSU scheduled for '12 and '13 but not for '14 and '15...our home schedule does look pretty sweet next year.

 

[ewueagle2010]

Who are the visiting teams coming to Cheney next season, or where can I find it?

 

[WILDCAT]

Who are the visiting teams coming to Cheney next season, or where can I find it?

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" Home games:

Montana
North Dakota
Saramento State
UC Davis

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" away games

@ Weber State
@ Montana State
@ Southern Utah
@ Portland State

 

[ewueagle2010]

Thanks WILDCAT, although I doubt we play Portland St twice next year?

 

[WILDCAT]

Thanks WILDCAT, although I doubt we play Portland St twice next year?

:doh:


Fixed :mrgreen:

 

[marceagfan5]

Who are the visiting teams coming to Cheney next season, or where can I find it?

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" Home games:

Montana
North Dakota
Saramento State
UC Davis

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" away games

@ Weber State
@ Montana State
@ Southern Utah
@ Portland State

We also have Cal Poly in Cheney next year (non-conf), the return game from this year. Now we just need to get rid of the damn idaho game next year...

 

[WILDCAT]

Who are the visiting teams coming to Cheney next season, or where can I find it?

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" Home games:

Montana
North Dakota
Saramento State
UC Davis

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" away games

@ Weber State
@ Montana State
@ Southern Utah
@ Portland State

We also have Cal Poly in Cheney next year (non-conf), the return game from this year. Now we just need to get rid of the damn idaho game next year...

Thats a good very winnable home slate

 

[LDopaPDX]

The Cal Poly thing is another one-off that is discouraged... I'm very surprised the Big Sky didn't make dissolution of any contracts with present members a stipulation of Cal Poly joining the conference. That said and without looking, I'm sure we're not the only ones with a non-conference game against a conference opponent next year. For future seasons, that is going to be actively discouraged by the NCAA.

 

[WILDCAT]

The Cal Poly thing is another one-off that is discouraged... I'm very surprised the Big Sky didn't make dissolution of any contracts with present members a stipulation of Cal Poly joining the conference. That said and without looking, I'm sure we're not the only ones with a non-conference game against a conference opponent next year. For future seasons, that is going to be actively discouraged by the NCAA.

So far Weber's 2012 non conf opponents are BYU and Fresno State....but I wouldnt be suprised if Weber scheduled a conf mate as an OOC game.

 

[clawman1]

Who are the visiting teams coming to Cheney next season, or where can I find it?

http://www.bigskyconf.com/documents/2011/4/28/Futurefootball2012.pdf?id=1619" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[clawman1]

Who are the visiting teams coming to Cheney next season, or where can I find it?

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" Home games:

Montana
North Dakota
Saramento State
UC Davis

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" away games

@ Weber State
@ Montana State
@ Southern Utah
@ Portland State

We also have Cal Poly in Cheney next year (non-conf), the return game from this year. Now we just need to get rid of the damn idaho game next year...

It should be Idaho that is wanting to get rid of the game. We have a reasonable chance of winning that one and it would be a v-good recruiting tool. Besides if we got rid of FBS games who would we play? I hope you are smart enough not to say D-II teams.

 

[marceagfan5]

Who are the visiting teams coming to Cheney next season, or where can I find it?

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" Home games:

Montana
North Dakota
Saramento State
UC Davis

Eastern's 2012 "Conf" away games

@ Weber State
@ Montana State
@ Southern Utah
@ Portland State

We also have Cal Poly in Cheney next year (non-conf), the return game from this year. Now we just need to get rid of the damn idaho game next year...

It should be Idaho that is wanting to get rid of the game. We have a reasonable chance of winning that one and it would be a v-good recruiting tool. Besides if we got rid of FBS games who would we play? I hope you are smart enough not to say D-II teams.

There are a couple reasons I don't like the Idaho game. First we have 2 FBS games next year to start the season, 2nd we aren't making much money from the game, I believe it is close to $150K (correct me if I'm wrong). I know Idaho is down and a winnable game, but it is still an FBS team. On top of that, we have an open date for the 3rd week (that may be the cal poly game) and our 4th week we are at Weber. If we play cal poly next year in november and not september, similar to this year, it means we will start with 3 straght on the road again next year, with 2 of them FBS.

I don't love having a DII on the schedule (although we should have this year) because we already have 5 home games, but I wouldn't be upset at all if we scheduled a DII rather than Idaho. Next year we will be breaking in a new QB, starting out against back to back FBS opponents on the road is brutal.


And my prediction for this week....

Close game, but Eags prevail 31-27

 

[LDopaPDX]

Do you know what every single season that we have missed the playoffs since 2002 have in common?

We opened with two FBS team on the road.

LEARN FROM THE PAST !!!

Get a D-II team into Cheney on the second weekend. We'll draw well and make money with a $50k payout (which is pretty much par for the course for that type of game). Think about it, if your average ticket price is $10 (our retail prices are much higher), we'd need 5000 buyers to break even... really about 5500 if you include insurance and staffing. We can do that early in the year now.

Plus, if you look at all the top programs in the FCS... the vast majority still schedule a D-II warmup game. This doesn't affect their ability to make the playoffs; hell, it IMPROVES their chances of making the playoffs because it allows you to get better, work through your rotation, and build momentum. I laugh when people spew the "it hurts your playoff chances..." talk because it is flat out wrong. Let's say we win out and go 7-4, we either get dealt a first round game or go on the road for the second round. Had we gone 8-3 by playing Eastenr Oregon instead of South Dakota, we'd be opening at home.

 

[clawman1]

Do you know what every single season that we have missed the playoffs since 2002 have in common?

We opened with two FBS team on the road.

LEARN FROM THE PAST !!!

Get a D-II team into Cheney on the second weekend. We'll draw well and make money with a $50k payout (which is pretty much par for the course for that type of game). Think about it, if your average ticket price is $10 (our retail prices are much higher), we'd need 5000 buyers to break even... really about 5500 if you include insurance and staffing. We can do that early in the year now.

Plus, if you look at all the top programs in the FCS... the vast majority still schedule a D-II warmup game. This doesn't affect their ability to make the playoffs; hell, it IMPROVES their chances of making the playoffs because it allows you to get better, work through your rotation, and build momentum. I laugh when people spew the "it hurts your playoff chances..." talk because it is flat out wrong. Let's say we win out and go 7-4, we either get dealt a first round game or go on the road for the second round. Had we gone 8-3 by playing Eastenr Oregon instead of South Dakota, we'd be opening at home.

A record of 8-3 with an Eastern Oregon win is comparable to 7-4 as far as the committee is concerned. We'll still be 3rd in the BSC and no way would we get a game at home.
We'll have to agree to disagreed on this scheduling issue as we have in the past.
I'll defer to the experts on scheduling, those being the coaching staff and the administration, as they have far more information than you or I and I trust they will do what is best for the program with the options available to the program.

 

[EWURanger]

Had we gone 8-3 by playing Eastenr Oregon instead of South Dakota, we'd be opening at home.

Dunno, we went 8-3 in 2009 which included a Division II win and went on the road to play at SFA. Or are you talking about opening at home for the play-in game?

I don't like the Idaho game, either. With breaking in a new QB for the second game of the season, it is not a good match-up for us. Also, they aren't going to pay us dick to go there. I would rather have an additional FCS game, even if it means going on the road or scheduling a non-conference Big Sky game. No more Division II's.......yes you can tune-up in those games to an extent, but it automatically reduces your total number of wins to 10. How much did we really gain by playing CWU last year? If you schedule a tough one you run the risk of being beaten and embarrassed. If you schedule a weak one, how much do you learn about your team from a 40-50 point drubbing of a completely over-matched opponent? I think you play to your level of competition, and playing FBS teams helps you get better.

 

[ewueagle2010]

I'm confused because from what I read online, the Idaho game is our first game next year, followed by the Wazzu game....correct me if i'm wrong. :?

 

[marceagfan5]

I'm confused because from what I read online, the Idaho game is our first game next year, followed by the Wazzu game....correct me if i'm wrong. :?

You are correct, Idaho is the first game of the year next year, followed by the cougs. I was mistaken and confused myself, sorry.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I'd love to schedule some patsy FCS team like Montana did v Albany, Montana State v. Drake, or North Dakota State with Lafayette or St. Francis. That'd be preferable over a D-II. I don't know why we can't ever home-home one of those types of teams. Or even one of the MVFC or Southland bottom feeders... what's up Lamar?

The important thing is to schedule a game you know you're going to win and win in a walkover more often than not. Believe it or not, winning by 50 is great because it allows you to get everything clicking and get all your guys on the field. We've been in tight all year, and it would be downright ugly if Mitchell went down 'cuz our backup has completed a total of one pass this season. You don't want to be backed into that corner every year.

There's a reason almost every FBS/BCS team brings in at least one FCS team each year, because they have the same effect as a D-II does for us. And remember, it still counts as a win. The playoff committee is going to look a lot more favorably on a won game than a lost game...

 

[LDopaPDX]

Had we gone 8-3 by playing Eastenr Oregon instead of South Dakota, we'd be opening at home.

Dunno, we went 8-3 in 2009 which included a Division II win and went on the road to play at SFA. Or are you talking about opening at home for the play-in game?

I don't like the Idaho game, either. With breaking in a new QB for the second game of the season, it is not a good match-up for us. Also, they aren't going to pay us dick to go there. I would rather have an additional FCS game, even if it means going on the road or scheduling a non-conference Big Sky game. No more Division II's.......yes you can tune-up in those games to an extent, but it automatically reduces your total number of wins to 10. How much did we really gain by playing CWU last year? If you schedule a tough one you run the risk of being beaten and embarrassed. If you schedule a weak one, how much do you learn about your team from a 40-50 point drubbing of a completely over-matched opponent? I think you play to your level of competition, and playing FBS teams helps you get better.

Think about this... had we replaced last year's Central Washington game with this year's South Dakota game, we'd have finished last year 8-3. We don't get seeded, and we probably end up on the road for the final 3 games of the playoffs. *Maybe* we still win the national championship, but having to travel to one of those East Coast schools makes your life a helluva lot more difficult.

 

[LDopaPDX]

Do you know what every single season that we have missed the playoffs since 2002 have in common?

We opened with two FBS team on the road.

LEARN FROM THE PAST !!!

Get a D-II team into Cheney on the second weekend. We'll draw well and make money with a $50k payout (which is pretty much par for the course for that type of game). Think about it, if your average ticket price is $10 (our retail prices are much higher), we'd need 5000 buyers to break even... really about 5500 if you include insurance and staffing. We can do that early in the year now.

Plus, if you look at all the top programs in the FCS... the vast majority still schedule a D-II warmup game. This doesn't affect their ability to make the playoffs; hell, it IMPROVES their chances of making the playoffs because it allows you to get better, work through your rotation, and build momentum. I laugh when people spew the "it hurts your playoff chances..." talk because it is flat out wrong. Let's say we win out and go 7-4, we either get dealt a first round game or go on the road for the second round. Had we gone 8-3 by playing Eastenr Oregon instead of South Dakota, we'd be opening at home.

A record of 8-3 with an Eastern Oregon win is comparable to 7-4 as far as the committee is concerned. We'll still be 3rd in the BSC and no way would we get a game at home.
We'll have to agree to disagreed on this scheduling issue as we have in the past.
I'll defer to the experts on scheduling, those being the coaching staff and the administration, as they have far more information than you or I and I trust they will do what is best for the program with the options available to the program.

Here's the thing... our school is an EXCEPTION. If you believe we are "doing it the right way," you'd have to believe all the other major programs in the FCS are "doing it the wrong way." Montana and Montana State will likely meet for the Big Sky title this year, and they play D-II patsies.

Look at the other major FCS programs: Georgia Southern, Delaware, William and Mary, and Richmond all do it. Appalachian State and North Dakota State play all D-I, but they play Savannah State and St. Francis, respectively, who would be bottom-half of the D-II ranks. The only team I see that is tightly scheduled top-to-bottom is Northern Iowa.