Let's schedule Boise St

[Guest Scherdin]

I say do it, they always seem to be near the top.  Its a road game and we have nothing to lose.  We actually would probably get some respect around college football for scheduling them.

Make it happen CJL

[Bullstang43]

Not a snowball's chance in hell this happens, but it's fun to wonder. >

[Mama_Bull]

Boise is looking for a road game. Have them come here. That would be great to spank them in our house. Increase season ticket sales!

We could probably only afford to pay them about $500,000. I don't think they would come here for that amount of money, but it's worth asking.

[ncentonze]

I don't think Boise would want us. Sounds like they are sniffing out "traditional powerhouses" to take down to give themselves a huge boost.

Id say we would beat them if they came down here.

[Mama_Bull]

I don't think Boise would want us. Sounds like they are sniffing out "traditional powerhouses" to take down to give themselves a huge boost.

Id say we would beat them if they came down here.

I think it's probably more a question of money for them.

The traditional powerhouses with enormous stadiums can afford to pay upwards of $1,000,000.

WVU paid $740,000 for a 2010 home game against Nevada:

For Big East teams, buying extra home games is getting more and more expensive

By Colin Stephenson/The Star-Ledger

August 09, 2009, 12:24AM

When Kevin MacConnell heard a couple months ago that West Virginia agreed to pay Nevada-Las Vegas $740,000 for a game in 2010, Rutgers' senior associate athletic director wasn't shocked. A year earlier, he had brokered an agreement between Rutgers and Kent State for a game in 2012 that would guarantee a $750,000 payment to the Golden Flashes for simply making the trip to Piscataway.

It is the most Rutgers has ever agreed to pay a school for one game -- almost double the previous high. But Rutgers' deal for 2012 could end up being a steal, considering West Virginia will shell out those dollars two years prior.

"I felt pretty good about that," MacConnell said.

Such is the game of scheduling in the Big East, where the challenges are plenty and the triumphs are costly. Because the eight-team conference -- the smallest in the Bowl Championship Series -- creates unbalanced scheduling, Big East teams must be willing to pay if they want to have seven home games per season.

And those costs are rising.

"Some conferences can afford to pay large sums. And they do," said Nick Carparelli, the Big East associate commissioner for football. "That makes it tough for everyone else."

With seven conference opponents, Big East teams have just three Big East home games every other season. That means in order to have seven home games in those years, four out of the five non-conference games must be home games.

That requires at least one game against a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division 1-AA) team per season, administrators said. And with competition for luring those teams coming from the Southeastern, Big Ten, Pac-10 and Big 12 conferences, which can offer more money because of larger stadiums and more reliable ticket bases, the Big East is at a disadvantage.

In the Big East, only Rutgers and West Virginia will play at least seven home games in each of the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons.

"Buy games are just inevitable," MacConnell said. "You have to do them to get to seven home games."

COST OF STAYING HOME

West Virginia had an opening in 2010, and it needed to be a home game with road dates already scheduled with Marshall and LSU. But the Mountaineers already had an FCS team (Coastal Carolina) on the schedule and weren't willing to add a second.

That created the perfect storm, a $740,000 check to UNLV -- $300,000 more than West Virginia has ever paid for a game. Knowing the school makes close to $2 million in revenue for each game it hosts, it was a price the school was willing to pay in order to maintain seven home games.

"Oh yeah," said Mike Parsons, WVU's deputy athletics director. "We really have got to do it from a financial standpoint. Our athletic department is a self-sustaining one. We don't get any funds from the state or university. To do that, we have to rely upon seven home games. That's critical to us."

Big East teams will pay an average of $318,000 for guarantee games in 2009. The least expensive deal made in 2009 was between Connecticut and Rhode Island for a mere $225,000.

This season, Rutgers will pay Howard $325,000 for their Sept. 12 game. And Texas Southern will receive $400,000 for its game on Oct. 10.

South Florida -- the other team in the Big East with two FCS games next year -- will pay Wofford $300,000 and Charleston Southern $450,000. And even that leaves the Bulls with merely six home games (at a stadium they pay rent for) to make a profit. South Florida hasn't played seven home games since 2001, but is scheduled to do so in 2010.

"If a school feels that they want to have more home games than away games in a single season, then the guarantee game is going to be necessary," Carparelli said. "That's kind of a luxury more than necessity. It's up to each school to evaluate how much they're willing to pay for it."

WORKING AHEAD -- AND BEING SMART

Texas Southern athletic director Charles McClelland said the money isn't what drew his school to Rutgers. Sure, the $400,000 was a great payday, but McClelland had better offers, including one from Oklahoma.

"Obviously, you look at the game guarantee that comes along with it," McClelland said. "But the exposure you get is something you can't really put a price tag on."

McClelland likely left at least $100,000 on the table -- Oklahoma filled its scheduling void by signing a $500,000 deal with Idaho -- but the idea of bringing his team and alumni to the New York City area was too appealing. That, Carparelli said, is how Big East teams need to take advantage of their shortcomings. Pitch TV opportunities and use the market exposure.

The Big East is fortunate in that the Northeast is home to a number of FCS schools, he said. Maine, for example, has taken bigger payouts before -- $450,000 from Iowa last year in a 46-3 loss -- but will receive considerably less from Syracuse ($250,000 in 2009, $300,000 in 2010) to stay closer to home. UConn has made deals with schools like Hofstra, Rhode Island and Northeastern all for $225,000 or less.

Rutgers has built a strong relationship with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which McConnell said has somewhat diminished the blow to the checkbook. Since 2006, the Scarlet Knights have scheduled five games against MEAC teams. The original deal with Howard later helped forge partnerships with Morgan State and Norfolk State.

And Rutgers has begun to schedule ahead far into the future, something that MacConnell admitted wasn't a priority before. That could pay off in the Kent State deal. It also helps ensure Rutgers at least seven home games each season.

"We've made some great progress in the last two months," MacConnell said. "We still have work to do. But I'm pleased with where we are now compared to last year when we were looking for two games months before the season, which is scary."

West Virginia's Parsons is a little less optimistic. He can foresee a scenario in which Big East teams have to regularly schedule two FCS opponents just to be able to afford seven home games. In addition to Rutgers and South Florida, five other BCS programs will play two FCS schools this year: Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State, Mississippi and Kansas State.

While the price is rising, the FCS schools still cost less than other non-BCS Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. And in the Big East, where the offers don't compare to those of the other power conferences, any solution to stay competitive in scheduling will be considered.

"We've got to certainly look at it and talk about it because it is a challenge," Parsons said. "It affects our bottom line."

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2009/08/for_big_east_teams_buying_extr.html

[nobull.Bulls]

It sucks that many has gotten in the way of college football.

We need these Top teams and "traditional powerhouses" to play the best in the country, not the best in 1aa.

With that said, I'd love to see us play Boise State in tampa

[crambone]

I'd LOVE to play the Smurfs.

[MaltLiquorBull]

Heck yeah!  I'd love to play these guys here in Tampa.  Not so crazy about a return game, though.

[smazza]

I say do it, they always seem to be near the top.  Its a road game and we have nothing to lose.  We actually would probably get some respect around college football for scheduling them.

Make it happen CJL

of course you get respect but not an easy win  and no chance for a loss

[Joe]

$ will prevent a 1 game series we had to go home and home with Ball state, how the he'll could we pay BSU for one game