Discussion on OOC booking

[BWahlberg]

Read this in the scouting report on San Diego;

... IdaGriz, when you get here, is the Pioneer the conference that you just can't believe gets an autobid?

Go Griz!!

Here's the other background I mentioned earlier about
Pioneer League Out-of-Conference Games

The situation is actually not quite as terrible as I thought. The 11 teams played 38 OOC games.

Of those, one was a 1-A opponent (Appalachian State, which crushed Campbell 66-0).

They played 21 1-AA opponents, slightly over half of the OOC games. They were collectively 4-17 in those games. The cumulative records of the opponents in the four wins was 11-31 ... not exactly quality opponents. Losses included games with Richmond and Eastern Kentucky, but they also managed to lose to the likes of Georgetown (3-8) and VMI (2-10).

They played 16 lower division opponents (that's 42%): 7 D-II, 2 D-III, 6 NAIA, and 1 [whatever*].
* That “College of Faith - Charlotte” outfit discussed in the link I provided earlier.

For comparison, the 13 Big Sky teams played 50 OOC games, and 41 of them were against 1-AA or 1-A opponents. Only 9 were against lower-tier teams (18%): 7 D-II and 2 NAIA.

All things considered, it would be a good idea for the Big Sky to schedule more Pioneer League OOC games. They already expect to travel a lot, with teams scattered literally coast to coast. Why not come to Montana? I'll bet the Griz could guarantee them more money than they make with a home game, even with the cost of travel. It would cost UM more than say, a Fort Lewis, but it would count as a FCS game.

This is a great idea and something I hope gets consideration. A win vs a Central Washington or
Fort Lewis essentially means nothing in the grand scheme of the playoffs. The Griz (and many others) use it for a ramp-up game usually early in the season and for a nice little payday at home. With the vast upgrade in our OOC bookings where we have years in front of us with a game against NDSU, two against McNeese, and I think at least one against Liberty, as well as the 2017 UW game sprinkling in some of the FCS mid-major conference teams is a great idea, in place of a division 2 game.

I've had this talk with others before, by no means is it an original idea of mine but seeing it in another thread grabbed my attention to be brought forth.

Here's the positives;

1. It's a home game = $$$$$$$
2. It will pull more interest and attention than any D2 school
3. The probability of a win is presumably quite high and it counts toward the playoffs
4. It's probably still a tune-up type of game but the quality of the opponent is a little higher
5. In the event of an unexpected loss, it would at the very least be to an FCS school rather than a D2 school.

The negatives;
1. Presumably the incoming team would ask for a bigger payout than a D2 school.
2. Can't over-book and set up 2 or 3 of these annually, fans will wizen up and we'll get hammered over strength if schedule.

I could envision an OOC on a regular basis as follows;

1. A play up game every 2 or 3 years
2. An FCS peer program
3. A mid-major FCS
4. A regional FCS either a Big Sky team in a non-conf game or a Missouri Valley or Southland team

And then those years without the play up either find another "regional" or a peer FCS

In most years a good Griz team could then expect to enter conference play with 3 to 4 division 1 wins instead of 2 to 3 and it would arguably make our schedule a little tougher.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

Makes perfect sence to me. Do the people making the scheduel not schedule these games bcus of that extra little money we'll have to pay them. They must not worry about the playoff implications?

 

[alabamagrizzly]

Who is all involved in the schedule making process? I'm sure the AD has the most to do with it but who eles is puttin in their two cents?