Future Schedules

[marceagfan5]

It looks like we are all-in on the 5 home game model for the foreseeable future. Not sure why... We also continue to be all-in on playing as many road games as possible in the month of September.

I hope not. Next years schedule is down right brutal to start. A top 25 caliber FBS team on the road, a top 5 FCS team who has won the last 4 titles on the road, a top 10 FCS team in cheney, then of course we go to Flagstaff to open the Big Sky...ugh. NAU will be really good next year. I hate thinking we need to be 2-2 after 4 games every year, but we need to be.

Hopefully we can bring in a terrible FCS team or a D2 for a 6th home game in 2017...

marc;
Don't know if you pay any attention to the FBS playoff debate but it is interesting how much strength of schedule matters. There are few teams with a perfect record and many with only one loss. Ohio State is left out with one loss but very few wins over top 25 teams.
I realize the FCS playoffs are much different but there is still some subjectivity involved in the seeding.
With all of that said I hope we continue to schedule the best competition we can find. We need to be able to beat those teams to get higher seeding. Playing D2 teams hurts more than it helps.

The Big Sky is a good enough conference so we don't need to play a brutal non conf schedule. Here is proof.

We played a D2 in 2010, 2013, & 2014, we made the playoffs in all 3 years and we were a top 5 seed in all of those years. In 2011 and 2015 we didn't play a D2, we missed the playoffs. In 2012 we made the playoffs and were seeded, but had to win at a FBS school to do it, had we not played Idaho and won, we wouldn't have been seeded that year.

Lets look at the FBS. Of the 4 teams currently in the FBS playoff, 3 of them (Alabama, Iowa, and Clemson) played a drop down FCS team...

Lets take it one more Step...NDSU is the 4 time defending National Champ...here is their last 4 years of non conf schedules:

2011 - home against Lafayette, home against St. Francis, FBS at Minnesota
2012 - home against Robert Morris, home against PV A&M, FBS at Colorado State
2013 - home against Ferris State, home against Delaware Sate, FBS at Kansas State, this was even a 12 game year where they only scheduled 11 games because they didn't want to screw up their system of scheduling that works and put themselves in a bad situation
2014 - at Weber, home against the Griz, home against Incarnate Word, FBS at Iowa State

Looks to me like they understand their conference schedule is enough so they schedule a difficult road FBS, a complete cupcake, and just recently started home and home with another FCS school...Their non conference was filled with cupcakes, yet they were a top seed every freaking year and won the chipper. They know what they are doing in terms of scheduling...

I get playing a tough schedule, but we don't play a tough schedule, we play a brutal schedule, year in, year out. We need to find better games and not just easier games, but easier home games in the non conf schedule moving forward. Its not that we are shying away from tough competition, its the fact we get tough competition in conference so we don't need it in non-conference...

 

[Jibjab68]

I heard a rumor that in 2018 we got out of the Washington State game and are headed to the swamp to play the Gators of Florida. Can anyone confirm this? This should make the too tough of a non-conference schedule people happy. What a great experience and opportunity for our team though.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I heard a rumor that in 2018 we got out of the Washington State game and are headed to the swamp to play the Gators of Florida. Can anyone confirm this? This should make the too tough of a non-conference schedule people happy. What a great experience and opportunity for our team though.

It's conceivable. I'm sure McElwain would be willing to do us a favor and schedule us into a big payday. The only reason to think it would be wrong is that it would require WSU buying us out or having some kind of release clause in that contract that allowed us to drop the game. Typical buyouts are $250-300k, and there's no way on God's green Earth we would have paid that much to drop the game.

 

[clawman1]

:thumb:

I heard a rumor that in 2018 we got out of the Washington State game and are headed to the swamp to play the Gators of Florida. Can anyone confirm this? This should make the too tough of a non-conference schedule people happy. What a great experience and opportunity for our team though.

Thats almost as good as playing one of the military academys
:thumb:

 

[clawman1]

It looks like we are all-in on the 5 home game model for the foreseeable future. Not sure why... We also continue to be all-in on playing as many road games as possible in the month of September.

I hope not. Next years schedule is down right brutal to start. A top 25 caliber FBS team on the road, a top 5 FCS team who has won the last 4 titles on the road, a top 10 FCS team in cheney, then of course we go to Flagstaff to open the Big Sky...ugh. NAU will be really good next year. I hate thinking we need to be 2-2 after 4 games every year, but we need to be.

Hopefully we can bring in a terrible FCS team or a D2 for a 6th home game in 2017...

marc;
Don't know if you pay any attention to the FBS playoff debate but it is interesting how much strength of schedule matters. There are few teams with a perfect record and many with only one loss. Ohio State is left out with one loss but very few wins over top 25 teams.
I realize the FCS playoffs are much different but there is still some subjectivity involved in the seeding.
With all of that said I hope we continue to schedule the best competition we can find. We need to be able to beat those teams to get higher seeding. Playing D2 teams hurts more than it helps.

The Big Sky is a good enough conference so we don't need to play a brutal non conf schedule. Here is proof.

We played a D2 in 2010, 2013, & 2014, we made the playoffs in all 3 years and we were a top 5 seed in all of those years. In 2011 and 2015 we didn't play a D2, we missed the playoffs. In 2012 we made the playoffs and were seeded, but had to win at a FBS school to do it, had we not played Idaho and won, we wouldn't have been seeded that year.

Lets look at the FBS. Of the 4 teams currently in the FBS playoff, 3 of them (Alabama, Iowa, and Clemson) played a drop down FCS team...

Lets take it one more Step...NDSU is the 4 time defending National Champ...here is their last 4 years of non conf schedules:

2011 - home against Lafayette, home against St. Francis, FBS at Minnesota
2012 - home against Robert Morris, home against PV A&M, FBS at Colorado State
2013 - home against Ferris State, home against Delaware Sate, FBS at Kansas State, this was even a 12 game year where they only scheduled 11 games because they didn't want to screw up their system of scheduling that works and put themselves in a bad situation
2014 - at Weber, home against the Griz, home against Incarnate Word, FBS at Iowa State

Looks to me like they understand their conference schedule is enough so they schedule a difficult road FBS, a complete cupcake, and just recently started home and home with another FCS school...Their non conference was filled with cupcakes, yet they were a top seed every freaking year and won the chipper. They know what they are doing in terms of scheduling...

I get playing a tough schedule, but we don't play a tough schedule, we play a brutal schedule, year in, year out. We need to find better games and not just easier games, but easier home games in the non conf schedule moving forward. Its not that we are shying away from tough competition, its the fact we get tough competition in conference so we don't need it in non-conference...

Why do you want to schedule DOWN to our skill level rather than PLAY up to the top levels of competition?

 

[luckyintheorder]

Why do you want to schedule DOWN to our skill level rather than PLAY up to the top levels of competition?

Clawman, take the time to explain the psychological advantages on the players for scheduling UP or DOWN. Pro's, con's etc... Maybe the advantages or disadvantages you've seen the past few seasons on overall team performance, health, focus, Natty's won, whatever you think is a consideration we should consider. Got nothing but time until spring.

 

[marceagfan5]

It looks like we are all-in on the 5 home game model for the foreseeable future. Not sure why... We also continue to be all-in on playing as many road games as possible in the month of September.

I hope not. Next years schedule is down right brutal to start. A top 25 caliber FBS team on the road, a top 5 FCS team who has won the last 4 titles on the road, a top 10 FCS team in cheney, then of course we go to Flagstaff to open the Big Sky...ugh. NAU will be really good next year. I hate thinking we need to be 2-2 after 4 games every year, but we need to be.

Hopefully we can bring in a terrible FCS team or a D2 for a 6th home game in 2017...

marc;
Don't know if you pay any attention to the FBS playoff debate but it is interesting how much strength of schedule matters. There are few teams with a perfect record and many with only one loss. Ohio State is left out with one loss but very few wins over top 25 teams.
I realize the FCS playoffs are much different but there is still some subjectivity involved in the seeding.
With all of that said I hope we continue to schedule the best competition we can find. We need to be able to beat those teams to get higher seeding. Playing D2 teams hurts more than it helps.

The Big Sky is a good enough conference so we don't need to play a brutal non conf schedule. Here is proof.

We played a D2 in 2010, 2013, & 2014, we made the playoffs in all 3 years and we were a top 5 seed in all of those years. In 2011 and 2015 we didn't play a D2, we missed the playoffs. In 2012 we made the playoffs and were seeded, but had to win at a FBS school to do it, had we not played Idaho and won, we wouldn't have been seeded that year.

Lets look at the FBS. Of the 4 teams currently in the FBS playoff, 3 of them (Alabama, Iowa, and Clemson) played a drop down FCS team...

Lets take it one more Step...NDSU is the 4 time defending National Champ...here is their last 4 years of non conf schedules:

2011 - home against Lafayette, home against St. Francis, FBS at Minnesota
2012 - home against Robert Morris, home against PV A&M, FBS at Colorado State
2013 - home against Ferris State, home against Delaware Sate, FBS at Kansas State, this was even a 12 game year where they only scheduled 11 games because they didn't want to screw up their system of scheduling that works and put themselves in a bad situation
2014 - at Weber, home against the Griz, home against Incarnate Word, FBS at Iowa State

Looks to me like they understand their conference schedule is enough so they schedule a difficult road FBS, a complete cupcake, and just recently started home and home with another FCS school...Their non conference was filled with cupcakes, yet they were a top seed every freaking year and won the chipper. They know what they are doing in terms of scheduling...

I get playing a tough schedule, but we don't play a tough schedule, we play a brutal schedule, year in, year out. We need to find better games and not just easier games, but easier home games in the non conf schedule moving forward. Its not that we are shying away from tough competition, its the fact we get tough competition in conference so we don't need it in non-conference...

Why do you want to schedule DOWN to our skill level rather than PLAY up to the top levels of competition?

Because it works. The Big Sky is the 2nd best conference in the FCS right now, we don't need to play a brutal non-conf schedule, because we get 2-3, sometimes more, conference games against really good, playoff caliber teams. I like the 1 FBS game, its a money game and great for the players, I just wish the other two non conf games, would be home games against crappy FCS teams and with the lack of those teams out west, I'd settle for 1 drop down game. The Griz have been doing this for years and they have played in 7 national championships, NDSU has scheduled terrible teams the last 4 years as you can see my post from above and it worked out pretty damn good for them. These programs realize the conference will test them, so why risk a couple non-conf losses? The CAA has the luxury of scheduling a ton of shitty FCS teams every year for non-conf...

Playing games, especially early in the year, against lesser opponents helps you work on plays, work out the kinks, and give younger players valuable experience moving forward, why do you think the PAC 12 schedules Big Sky teams every year? It also leads to better overall records which leads to top seeds, which leads to home playoff games, which leads to better chances to win playoff games...see how that works. You want the perfect schedule, look at our 2010 schedule, and that includes playing a home game in Seattle (which would be in Cheney nowadays). Thats the perfect 11 game schedule. 1 FBS, 1 FCS at home, 1 D2 at home for non conf. If we can replace the D2 game with another crappy FCS team, I'm all in...

 

[LDopaPDX]

It looks like we are all-in on the 5 home game model for the foreseeable future. Not sure why... We also continue to be all-in on playing as many road games as possible in the month of September.

I hope not. Next years schedule is down right brutal to start. A top 25 caliber FBS team on the road, a top 5 FCS team who has won the last 4 titles on the road, a top 10 FCS team in cheney, then of course we go to Flagstaff to open the Big Sky...ugh. NAU will be really good next year. I hate thinking we need to be 2-2 after 4 games every year, but we need to be.

Hopefully we can bring in a terrible FCS team or a D2 for a 6th home game in 2017...

marc;
Don't know if you pay any attention to the FBS playoff debate but it is interesting how much strength of schedule matters. There are few teams with a perfect record and many with only one loss. Ohio State is left out with one loss but very few wins over top 25 teams.
I realize the FCS playoffs are much different but there is still some subjectivity involved in the seeding.
With all of that said I hope we continue to schedule the best competition we can find. We need to be able to beat those teams to get higher seeding. Playing D2 teams hurts more than it helps.

We played a D2 in 2010, 2013, & 2014, we made the playoffs in all 3 years and we were a top 5 seed in all of those years. In 2011 and 2015 we didn't play a D2, we missed the playoffs. In 2012 we made the playoffs and were seeded, but had to win at a FBS school to do it, had we not played Idaho and won, we wouldn't have been seeded that year.

Lets look at the FBS. Of the 4 teams currently in the FBS playoff, 3 of them (Alabama, Iowa, and Clemson) played a drop down FCS team...

Lets take it one more Step...NDSU is the 4 time defending National Champ...here is their last 4 years of non conf schedules:

2011 - home against Lafayette, home against St. Francis, FBS at Minnesota
2012 - home against Robert Morris, home against PV A&M, FBS at Colorado State
2013 - home against Ferris State, home against Delaware Sate, FBS at Kansas State, this was even a 12 game year where they only scheduled 11 games because they didn't want to screw up their system of scheduling that works and put themselves in a bad situation
2014 - at Weber, home against the Griz, home against Incarnate Word, FBS at Iowa State

Looks to me like they understand their conference schedule is enough so they schedule a difficult road FBS, a complete cupcake, and just recently started home and home with another FCS school...Their non conference was filled with cupcakes, yet they were a top seed every freaking year and won the chipper. They know what they are doing in terms of scheduling...

I get playing a tough schedule, but we don't play a tough schedule, we play a brutal schedule, year in, year out. We need to find better games and not just easier games, but easier home games in the non conf schedule moving forward. Its not that we are shying away from tough competition, its the fact we get tough competition in conference so we don't need it in non-conference...

Why do you want to schedule DOWN to our skill level rather than PLAY up to the top levels of competition?

Because it works. The Big Sky is the 2nd best conference in the FCS right now, we don't need to play a brutal non-conf schedule, because we get 2-3, sometimes more, conference games against really good, playoff caliber teams. I like the 1 FBS game, its a money game and great for the players, I just wish the other two non conf games, would be home games against crappy FCS teams and with the lack of those teams out west, I'd settle for 1 drop down game. The Griz have been doing this for years and they have played in 7 national championships, NDSU has scheduled terrible teams the last 4 years as you can see my post from above and it worked out pretty damn good for them. These programs realize the conference will test them, so why risk a couple non-conf losses? The CAA has the luxury of scheduling a ton of shitty FCS teams every year for non-conf...

Playing games, especially early in the year, against lesser opponents helps you work on plays, work out the kinks, and give younger players valuable experience moving forward, why do you think the PAC 12 schedules Big Sky teams every year? It also leads to better overall records which leads to top seeds, which leads to home playoff games, which leads to better chances to win playoff games...see how that works. You want the perfect schedule, look at our 2010 schedule, and that includes playing a home game in Seattle (which would be in Cheney nowadays). Thats the perfect 11 game schedule. 1 FBS, 1 FCS at home, 1 D2 at home for non conf. If we can replace the D2 game with another crappy FCS team, I'm all in...

My formula would be one BCS team, one marquee home/home with an FCS non-con, one home game against a crappy FCS team (or dropdown if absolutely necessary, also a home/home if needed here is fine). We need to be playing 6 home games at least every other year during an 11 game season and always 6 home games during 12 game seasons.

 

[clawman1]

Anyone who wants cupcakes on the schedule has not been listening to the FBS playoff conversations going on now. Strength of schedule goes a long way in determining who is in the 4 team playoff. The same train of thought applies to FCS. The primary reason the Big Sky gets 3 teams in is the perceived strength of the conference. Why diminish that with D2 teams on our schedule.

 

[marceagfan5]

Anyone who wants cupcakes on the schedule has not been listening to the FBS playoff conversations going on now. Strength of schedule goes a long way in determining who is in the 4 team playoff. The same train of thought applies to FCS. The primary reason the Big Sky gets 3 teams in is the perceived strength of the conference. Why diminish that with D2 teams on our schedule.

You do realize the teams ranked #1 and #2 in the country both played FCS drop down teams right?

Clemson opened their season with Wofford and App State

Alabama played ULM, middle Tennessee and Charleston southern

Michigan state played central and western Michigan

Oklahoma played Tulsa and Akron

All these teams played one good FBS team and then a bunch of bad FBS teams and drop down games...yet...they all made the playoffs...

Guess where all these games were played??? Hint...not on the road..,

 

[Vic E. Wallace]

clawman/All
Since we are not in the Playoffs, I am not interested in who is in. I am interested in what is going on with our Coaches and rumors. I made a trip to Campus yesterday, saw some Coaches. I did converse with one of them. He did mention Coach Zack Hill leaving for UH, Coach Sawyer DL Coach is leaving to do something else. Guess he is tired of Football. I wish both of them the best of luck. Will keep the Coaches name I converse with to myself, unless he give me permission to release it later. Some one else could possible come up with the name. No other Coaches were mentioned when it comes to leaving EWU. Have a great Saturday. Vic Wallace

 

[clawman1]

I was reviewing game times on the 2016 schedule while making reservations in Faggo and noticed the PSU game is on Friday. Other than playoffs has that happened in the past?

 

[360Eag]

I was reviewing game times on the 2016 schedule while making reservations in Fargo and noticed the PSU game is on Friday. Other than playoffs has that happened in the past?

It happened in 2014. It has something to do with the Timbers.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I was reviewing game times on the 2016 schedule while making reservations in Fargo and noticed the PSU game is on Friday. Other than playoffs has that happened in the past?

It happened in 2014. It has something to do with the Timbers.

Living in Portland, I've been going to EWU-PSU games for many years, and it seems like most of those games have been on Thursday or Friday. The only years I remember it on Saturdays were the two times we played them at Hillsboro and the one year they crushed us and shut us out. Frankly, if I were PSU's AD, I'd fight to make most games Friday games. It keeps them from competing against all the other stuff there is going on in Portland on Saturday. Besides, everyone aged 25 or younger goes out on Friday anyway, why not go to a football game first?

 

[LDopaPDX]

Anyone heard anything on a prospective game against McElwain's Florida team? Might be a fun team to play... The funny thing is playing in Gainesville in early September is pretty much a crapshoot with all the thunderstorms and hurricanes they get that time of year... maybe we turn out like Idaho and get a big paycheck for a week off!

 

[360Eag]

I was reviewing game times on the 2016 schedule while making reservations in Fargo and noticed the PSU game is on Friday. Other than playoffs has that happened in the past?

It happened in 2014. It has something to do with the Timbers.

Living in Portland, I've been going to EWU-PSU games for many years, and it seems like most of those games have been on Thursday or Friday. The only years I remember it on Saturdays were the two times we played them at Hillsboro and the one year they crushed us and shut us out. Frankly, if I were PSU's AD, I'd fight to make most games Friday games. It keeps them from competing against all the other stuff there is going on in Portland on Saturday. Besides, everyone aged 25 or younger goes out on Friday anyway, why not go to a football game first?

Friday night football is fun. I know our games are always scheduled for Saturday in Portland and then it's later moved to Friday. PSU's press releases always mentions that the game is moved due to a potential conflict with the Timbers (potential postseason games).

 

[eaglesfootball]

Anyone heard anything on a prospective game against McElwain's Florida team? Might be a fun team to play... The funny thing is playing in Gainesville in early September is pretty much a crapshoot with all the thunderstorms and hurricanes they get that time of year... maybe we turn out like Idaho and get a big paycheck for a week off!

that would be a fun one. have we ever placed an SEC team before?

 

[360Eag]

Anyone heard anything on a prospective game against McElwain's Florida team? Might be a fun team to play... The funny thing is playing in Gainesville in early September is pretty much a crapshoot with all the thunderstorms and hurricanes they get that time of year... maybe we turn out like Idaho and get a big paycheck for a week off!

that would be a fun one. have we ever placed an SEC team before?

I don't think so.

 

[clawman1]

To start the season we play a Pac 12 school, #1 and #4 ranked teams in our level.
Bring it on!!

 

[marceagfan5]

To start the season we play a Pac 12 school, #1 and #4 ranked teams in our level.
Bring it on!!

We also play 3 other ranked teams in conference, two of them on the road...so out of our 11 games this year, we get 5 ranked FCS teams including #1 and #4, and a top 25 caliber FBS team.

We probably have the absolute toughest road schedule of any FCS team in the country this year.