ACC Loading up on Creampuffs -- slams USF

[MikeG]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_co...le-why-not.html

Why put a I-AA team on your football schedule? Why not?

posted by Alan Schmadtke on Mar 24, 2009 12:04:18 PM

Not every Division I football schedule is complete -- Rutgers and Kentucky are two notable schools still searching for opponents -- but a trend is firmly established.

If ever there were a stigma about playing games against I-AA schools (now officially Football Championship Subdivision schools), that stigma is gone. I-AA is Double-In.

No league is loading up on I-AAs like the ACC. Duke, North Carolina and NC State each have scheduled two games against I-AAs. Duke has Richmond and North Carolina Central. The Tar Heels have Georgia Southern and The Citadel. And NC State is taking on Murray State and Gardner-Webb.

Other two-fers among BCS schools include USF (facing Wofford and Charleston Southern) and Kansas State (UMass and Tennessee Tech).

For me, K-State’s schedule is an affirmation that yes, Bill Snyder is back in Manhattan. Snyder rebuilt K-State with better recruiting heaped on weak schedules and, well, nice to see Coach Snyder isn’t abandoning his philosophy.

Meanwhile, there might be a need for a new college football award for scheduling. And USF’s Jim Leavitt would be a contender. Leavitt's program, as has been detailed multiple times, has never met a cream puff it wouldn't play.

Not only do the Bulls have two I-AAs on this season’s slate, they also have Western Kentucky, the most recent school to move up from I-AA. Not surprisingly, Leavitt is a disciple of Snyder, for whom he was co-defensive coordinator at K-State before starting USF’s program.

As a newbie, Western Kentucky, not surprisingly, dove after two I-AAs. The Hilltoppers have Eastern Kentucky and Murray State scheduled.

If Rutgers can’t find a I-A team willing to play in Piscataway in ’09, odds are it will join the two-fer group. The Scarlet Knights already have I-AA Howard on their schedule.

In all, 70-and-counting schools are playing games against I-AAs.

“Why?†you ask.

Why not?

The way the sport is headed financially and the way it is being governed for bowl bids, the strategy makes sense. More and more traditional buy-game opponents -- teams from Conference USA, the MAC, Mountain West and others -- are saying no. They’d rather have home games. And more often, they’re also saying no to 2-for-1 contracts: two games at the big-boy’s stadium for one game on its campus.

Meanwhile, schools looking to bring them in often only want a one-game-and-out deal. Not a home-and-home.

The other factor is money. Traditional I-A buy-game schools are now asking for $1 millionfor the right to play, say Penn State, Tennessee, et al.

Division I-AA schools aren’t asking for seven-figure contracts. At least, not yet.

Another point: Thanks most recently to Clemson, there’s little incentive NOT to put at least one and sometimes two I-AAs on the schedule. Clemson played two I-AAs in 2008 and won both games. A beating of South Carolina in the season-finale gave the Tigers seven wins, and one of the I-AA wins was allowed to be counted toward bowl-eligibility. So Clemson went bowling.

Now, the other side of the schedule-makers. So far, a handful of schools are playing only I-A competition in 2009. Among them: Notre Dame, FAU, FIU, Fresno State, Colorado, Bowling Green, Middle Tennessee, Texas A&M, LSU, Tennessee (another Western Kentucky feeder).

Tune in come December to see how many of the I-A only teams makes it to postseason.

gee-- imagine my surprise at which newspaper carried this CRAP

[Orlando Bull]

I don't like the term "creampuff". I prefer Honey Buns...

[nobull.Bulls]

Ignore the fact we scheduled FSU, Miami, Kansas last year, Auburn and UNC the year before, Florida in 2010, and Notre Dame and 2011

[Apis Bull]

We do sign some creampuffs; WKU, FAU, FIU, UCF and the 1AAs.  Part me has to believe that some of the reason is because better schools won't play us in an even series.

[BleacherBull]

I don't mind the occasional attack piece when the shoe fits.  But, the Slantinel never has anything positive to say about USF.  In fact, they've sent reporters to our fair campus just to stir up trouble in a vain attempt to create some news.  Why any self-respecting USF Alum would subscribe to their so-called newspaper is beyond my ability to understand.  Now MikeG . . . he's a real photojournalist from the old school.

[UsfGrad97]

In regards to scheduling creampuffs,  I thought we chose not to renew a contract with UCF. ;D

[BULLfreak]

Notice they dont say anything about being forced to play 2 I-AA teams because of Rutgers pulling FIU away

[Triple B]

Notice they dont say anything about being forced to play 2 I-AA teams because of Rutgers pulling FIU away

That's because, like almost everybody in Orlando, he doesn't know **** about college football ...

[smazza]

usf's schedule is a joke

basically 3 aaa teams is ridiculous when you play 7 conference games

only a green and gold goggle member would defend this type of kanas state scheduling

[smazza]

In regards to scheduling creampuffs,  I thought we chose not to renew a contract with UCF. ;D

this was dumb on usf's part

why wouldnt u play a 1a school  in orlando as opposed to a 1 aaaa school in tampa?