With the summer upon us and college sports ending, it is the time of year where the college football "junkies" start to talk. This is also the time-of-year where every team has a right to claim they are victorious, as they discuss recruits and schedules. There are far too many recruits to discuss and I am not willing to "stick my neck out" at this point. So, as to the recruits ... I will wait until fall. However, there is no reason we cannot take a look at schedules.

Name That Schedule:

     There are many colleges and AD's trying to set a schedule that should accomplish the following:

- Play all required conference games (if affiliated),
- Make certain that you have the financial resources to fulfill your schedule,
- Schedule non-conference games that you can afford and win,
- Make certain the schedule has enough strength to place the club in the post-season (record permitting),
- Schedule as many home games as possible.

     An institution must play all the conference teams that the league requires. With 8 to 11 teams in a conference, this is very difficult to accomplish. I expect to see many conferences follow the A-10 by increasing the number of teams, then splitting and requiring teams to face only the teams in their half. Thus, teams do not have to face so may conference clubs.

     A road game must be an economically sound venture. Just because a club in Florida discovers that a school in California has an open date, does not mean this is economically feasible. Look at IA Hawaii ... the school, conference and NCAA have to cover travel expenses for teams to come to play them ... even against major institutions. Do I-AA schools have any more funds than the Big-6 institutions? How blind are many of those in the media? Was it not 2 years ago, when UNI had to ask for financial aide (from the NCAA) to cover post-season traveling costs?

     AD's should schedule non-conference games that encompass two things: 1. They are challenging and 2. you have a chance to win. Let's face it ... most every IA Big-6 club will devour any I-AA opponent. Deny this and you might as well deny your need to breath. The fact is, for every conference's Rutgers ... there are also Miami's, Pitt's, WVa's and Virginia Techs. (might be the last time I say that). So, as an AD, which would you schedule? If you schedule 3 IA games (in a 12 game season), then proceed to lose all three ... the team is probably not going to the post-season (and should not). So, games must be scheduled that a team can AFFORD to WIN...not just afford. Furthermore, nothing will destroy an improving club's spirit, than to schedule the McNeese's, GSU's, YSU's and Montana's ... just to lose, as you are a season or two away from this level of competition. However, a nice warm-up is a very good thing.

       Scheduling is a major "job" for the AD's and one I certainly do not envy. As simple as the above list may seem, it is the most difficult duty for any administrator (on any campus) to perform. So why then are the pundits now trying to tell the I-AA institutions just how to do this? I would doubt that any of them, myself included, have ever had to schedule a single game. Instead they want to change the above list ... to something like the following:

- Play as many IA clubs as possible,
- Play 12 games whenever possible,
- Play nothing but "power" non-conference foe,
- and NEVER play a lessor opponent.

     Got that? Good ... now tell the pundits to develop a sense of reality. What fans of I-AA need to realize, is that most pundits will never be satisfied and, as already mentioned,  AD's need to schedule with a certain sense of reality. Also, if you are a top-25 club, just about all the teams you will play are lessor teams on paper.

Scheduling for Dollars:

     So why don't these two list resemble each other? Since I live in "Buckeye country" (Columbus, Ohio), I will use the state of Ohio's larger schools as an example (thanks Shalver):

2002 Ohio Football balance sheet:

Ranked by Football Net Results
                        Rev(000)      Exp. (000)   Net(000)

1.  Ohio St.          $47,206       $11,964       $35,242
2.  Miami                  3,309          3,310          (    10)
3.  YSU                    1,477          1,786          (   309)
4.  Dayton                  166             579          (   413)
5.  Cincinnati             4,645          5,806          (1,161)
6.  Bowling Green       1,091         2,476          (1,385)
7.  Kent State              989          2,704          (1,715)
8.  Toledo                    971          2,704          (1,733)
9.  Akron                     997          2,736          (1,739)
10. Ohio                      777          2,761          (1,985)

     As you can see, only 1 major college in Ohio managed to pull a football profit. Even the #1 ranked I-AA mid-major team in the country (Dayton) and CUSA champs (Cincinnati) lost money with football. Now, combine this, with the fact that football is the major source of support for a universities other sports. Winning the national (Ohio State) title does help, as the Buckeyes can attest. Also, Buckeye basketball sells out a 20k+ facility, Hockey can also sell-out the same facility, baseball and track regularly see thousands of fans as well. The result ... less football funds are used to cover the expenses of the other sports. So, let us look at some other I-AA schools. How about the I-AA title winner?

                  Rev(000)      Exp. (000)   Net(000)
W. KY         $1,971      $1,605      $337

Western Kentucky was the only club in the GFC to show a profit. How about other I-AA conference powers?

Let us move down South:

Georgia Southern: Revenues= $1,247,558
                             Expenses=($2,263,272)

*Would you like me to total this for you? As you can see, finances play the major roll in every I-AA teams schedule. With this in mind ... let us proceed with the schedule discussion.

     There are two ways a I-AA club can make money with a football game ... 1)at home with a foe that will take $40k to $50k (DII or I-AA non-scholarship), or play a large IA club and ask for $250k to $500k. That's it. Conference games are "a wash", as they go back & forth between each others home fields. There is nothing, in the play-off selection set of criterion, that states that a I-AA club must play a IA team. Likewise, there is nothing that precludes a team from facing a DII club. Therefore, since it is very rare for a I-AA team to schedule a home-away series with a IA opponent ... why not schedule a home-home-home series with a DII foe and increase advertising revenues? Point of fact: I have been following I-AA football since 1986 and prior to that, DII ball for several years. In all honesty, there are about 12 to 15 DII clubs that play at a level that could compete in the I-AA play-off (although I doubt they could last 11, or 12, games to get there).

     In addition, most I-AA non-scholarship programs are lucky to play at the same level as a DIII school and are certainly only I-AA clubs ON PAPER. Sure, one can argue against this point ... but once you move below Dayton and Duquesne ... this argument will become very weak. So, ask yourself a question. "Do you think that Mt. Union can compete against I-AA clubs"? I used to live 20 miles from "Mount" and I know so. Actually the Purple Raiders could compete against quite a few I-AA teams.

     So, should a fan hold an AD accountable for the schedule? Yes, but until you have "walked in his/her shoes" think before you speak. Therefore, look at scheduling from the proper viewpoint: if you are in the top-20 in attendance (making $100k to $200k in gate revenue + your advertising and media dollars), any home game makes sense; regardless of the opponent. If not ... allow your club to go "on the road" and be a "practice dummy" for a 'big-6' club and take the money. Remember, opponent sponsors do not advertise in programs and I doubt one will find too many I-AA sponsors that can afford a spot on the score board at Ohio Stadium (home of Ohio State) even for a single game.

     Now that you have an enlightened view of scheduling, it is time for Pete's 2003 schedule previews. We will cover each conference between now and August. Even though I do not like multiple DII games, I-AA non-scholarship games, or IA "money games" ... a IA club will receive a higher difficulty rating. However, we will deduct for I-AA non-scholarship games at the same rate as a DII club. (don't complain ... if I was the only one involved ... I would deduct more for the I-AA non-scholarship). Also, the spread for conference games is not as large as non-conference opposition. After all, it is not uncommon for a low-end conference team to do well against another in-conference power. This because they play a similar style of ball and meet each other every year. In addition, there is a factor for home vs. away games. Away being a bit more difficult. Click on the conference to view the preview.

I have been receiving emails asking why I do not rank the teams nationally, as opposed to conference. I am giving it some consideration. However, since most all teams play a majority of their games within their respective conference ... the ranking is really only fair when you compare a team to other teams in the same conference. This way, a all teams are impacted equally by a conference's top and bottom teams. In addition, the larger conferences would be unfairly ranked (high or low), as it is difficult for high-end clubs to find games outside their own conference. However, we did rate the teams on individual games. So, here is a listing of the top teams in each conference:

**The most simple way to explain the rating, is that is it is a reflection of the average ranking (in our poll) of the competition each team is facing. For example: ISU's schedule averages out as if they were playing the #30 ranked club each week, while Liberty is playing a schedule as if the Flames were facing the #55 ranked team each week. As you can see ... there is not as much of a difference as many might think. The conference with the highest average was the A-10, with 38.74.