Playing for pay hurts Sun Belt

[California Cajun]

For those of you that can get KPEL, Jay Walker is devoting his radio program to the subject of scheduling. So if you aren't going to be in a dentist's chair like I will be, tune in at 3 PM for the discussion.

Scheduling is an interesting topic now, because it appears that there has been a change in philosophy. The emphasis has changed from "you have to upgrade your schedule" to "you have to schedule to win."

For those of you who can listen, please summarize the discussion for us.

[CajunProud]

ok well why don't you call bustle and tell him to cancel the a&t game and that you will personally find a d-1 team to come play us. Did everyone forget that Ohio pulled out of that game. We did what it took to keep it a home game. If we were on the road playing another money game isntead of that one you would still be complaining.

A lot of assumptions you are making without knowing who I am.

I am fully aware of the circumstances that led to the scheduling of NC A&T, that being the untimely backing out of a contract by Ohio University. And I never said we should cancel the game (Why don't you read my entire post and try to understand it before jumping to conclusions)

I am glad we have a home game, but if I was given a choice, I would rather be on the road against a mid major.

[CajunNation]

This year? I'm not so sure.

It was very late in the game when we found out another game was needed.

I believe TCU was available for the very same date.

Of course, that would have meant giving up our much treasured 6th home game.

[CrazyCajun]

A lot of assumptions you are making without knowing who I am.

I am fully aware of the circumstances that led to the scheduling of NC A&T, that being the untimely backing out of a contract by Ohio University. And I never said we should cancel the game (Why don't you read my entire post and try to understand it before jumping to conclusions)

I am glad we have a home game, but if I was given a choice, I would rather be on the road against a mid major.

obviously we would all like for it to work out but in this particular instance this is all we could do. If we would still have the ohio game everyone would saying how glad we are we have ohio and not some div 2 team. Its obvious playing this team hurts us nationally but it is all we could do.

[CajunNation]

The WAC got where it is today by winning games, most of which were against 1aa. Boise State won games first and got better players by winning these games and now they can play with the big boys.

Not exactly. Boise is an interesting case.

From '82 until '95, Boise made the 1-AA playoffs only 3 times.

Boise went 1-A in 1996.

'96
1-2 record vs 1-AA
2-10 overall record

'97
1-1 record vs 1-AA
4-7 overall record

'98
3-0 record vs 1-AA
6-5 overall record

No great wins. Only (7) 1-A wins in these 3 years. After the '97 season, they hired Dirk Koetter(now the HC at Arizona St.). He recruited very well.

'99
10-3 record
Big West champs
Bowl victory over Louisiville

'00
10-2
Big West champs
Bowl victory over UTEP

Impressed by his job, ASU hires Koetter away from Boise. Boise hires Dan Hawkins(now the HC at Colorado). At this point,Boise has dominated the Big West for 2 years, and has 2 bowl victories on National Television. Impressed, the WAC comes calling and invites Boise. They obviously accept.

'01
8-4 record
WAC wins over FRESNO, HAWAII, TULSA, UTEP, NEVADA, SAN JOSE STATE

'02
12-1 record
WAC champs
Bowl victory over IOWA STATE. This is their first victory over a "BCS" school.

'03
13-1 record
WAC champs
Bowl victory over TCU

'04
11-1 record
WAC champs
Regular season victory over OREGON STATE
Bowl loss to LOUISVILLE

'05
9-4 record
WAC champs
Bowl loss to BOSTON COLLEGE

Now mentioned as most probable addition to the MWC.


How did they get here?
It wasn't scheduling wins in non-conference play(NCA&T/EMU)
It wasn't marquee "BCS" or eye-popping non-conference wins.

They hire great coaches.
They have an administration absolutely committed to WINNING.
They dominate their conference virtually every year.
They won bowl games.
They accepted invitations to better known conferences and had success there.

That is the BOISE model.

[DestinCajun]

That is the BOISE model.

Which is why the MWC should be caling on them in a few years (assuming they keep it going).

[CajunNation]

Translation:

We need to win the SBC, often.

We need to win bowl games.

We need to hire another great Coach after Bustle moves on.

When offerred an invite to a higher profile conference, we need to take it.

[Clutch0364]

Not exactly. Boise is an interesting case.

From '82 until '95, Boise made the 1-AA playoffs only 3 times.

Boise went 1-A in 1996.

'96
1-2 record vs 1-AA
2-10 overall record

'97
1-1 record vs 1-AA
4-7 overall record

'98
3-0 record vs 1-AA
6-5 overall record

No great wins. Only (7) 1-A wins in these 3 years. After the '97 season, they hired Dirk Koetter(now the HC at Arizona St.). He recruited very well.

'99
10-3 record
Big West champs
Bowl victory over Louisiville

'00
10-2
Big West champs
Bowl victory over UTEP

Impressed by his job, ASU hires Koetter away from Boise. Boise hires Dan Hawkins(now the HC at Colorado). At this point,Boise has dominated the Big West for 2 years, and has 2 bowl victories on National Television. Impressed, the WAC comes calling and invites Boise. They obviously accept.

'01
8-4 record
WAC wins over FRESNO, HAWAII, TULSA, UTEP, NEVADA, SAN JOSE STATE

'02
12-1 record
WAC champs
Bowl victory over IOWA STATE. This is their first victory over a "BCS" school.

'03
13-1 record
WAC champs
Bowl victory over TCU

'04
11-1 record
WAC champs
Regular season victory over OREGON STATE
Bowl loss to LOUISVILLE

'05
9-4 record
WAC champs
Bowl loss to BOSTON COLLEGE

Now mentioned as most probable addition to the MWC.


How did they get here?
It wasn't scheduling wins in non-conference play(NCA&T/EMU)
It wasn't marquee "BCS" or eye-popping non-conference wins.

They hire great coaches.
They have an administration absolutely committed to WINNING.
They dominate their conference virtually every year.
They won bowl games.
They accepted invitations to better known conferences and had success there.

That is the BOISE model.

In 1999 they played 3 1AA CS Northridge, Portland State, and Weber State.

In 2000 they went 10-3 with Losses against North Texas, UCLA, and Hawaii. They beat 2 1AA that year...Southern Utah and Eastern Washington and they beat Louisville in the Humanitarian.

In 2001 they lost to South Carolina and Washington State to open the season and they beat Idaho and Central Michigan. Idaho and Central Michigan aren't exactly top competition.

2002 was the first year I really payed attention to them because as you pointed out they beat Iowa State. In OOC games that year they played Utah State, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arkansas. Thoughs out of conference games look a like like the OOC games we had this year before we lost that Ohio game.

What your saying is true they won games but just like I stated they won games against low competition untill they got players to play with the bigger boys. And yes they have had 2 very good coachs both of which I would put in the top 5 offensive coordinators but they beat a lot of subpar teams to do it.

[CajunProud]

obviously we would all like for it to work out but in this particular instance this is all we could do. If we would still have the ohio game everyone would saying how glad we are we have ohio and not some div 2 team. Its obvious playing this team hurts us nationally but it is all we could do.

Agreed.

And I think we are all saying the same thing, which is "We are all frustrated with scheduling 1-aa schools, but for now, it is what it is."

[California Cajun]

That is the BOISE model.

That's a pretty dynamic bunch. I think the school was a JUCO until something like 1967. Haven't been to their site in a long time, but I remember pictures of the stages of development with their stadium. Very impressive.

I would imagine that if they expanded from 9 to 12, the leading candidates would be Boise State, Fresno State, and UTEP. It will be interesting to see how TCU fares in the MWC, being so far away from the other schools.