Football Scheduling

Side note on the schedule - evidently Appalachian St saw where Georgia Tech had an opening in the schedule. So they picked up the phone to see if Dan Radakovich was interested in playing the Mountaineers.

D-Rad: Hello....

App State: Dan, how are you? This is Jay Sutton, the AD over at App.St.

DRad: Jay, how are you?

Sutton: I'm good. Hey Dan, listen. I noticed that you've got an open spot on your schedule and was wondering if you'd be interested in playing our little school next season.

DRad: Jay, I'm trying to remember. Aren't you guys pretty good?

Sutton: Dan, we've had some success, but we're just a little of North Carolina school in I-AA. Playing such a big, important school as yourself would sure give our school the type exposure we need.

DRad: For some reason I keep thinking you guys are real good. Maybe I'm confusing you with Furman or something like that.

Sutton: Oh, yeah, you're definitely getting confused. Not us. We're just a little I-AA school.

DRad: Hang on, let me look you up on the internet.

Sutton: Oh Dan, now, uhhh, you don't have time for that. You're a big AD. Don't go wasting your time doing that.

DRad: Now wait a minute Jay. This site says you just won your third consecutive national championship..................... oh yeah - you were the guys that beat Michigan to open the season.................... oh yeah - you guys run a spread offense................ oh yeah, you have that stud Armanti Edwards at QB.............. Jay, I'm not sure that..............

Sutton: ................ dial tone...........

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Truthfully, App St has contacted a bunch of schools like GT, FSU, NC and Clemson, and we all turned down their gracious offer............. AS WE SHOULD!!!

Trust me, we don't want to be opening the season against those guys with a brand new offense, a brand new coaching staff, a brand new QB, blah blah blah.

Props to LSU for taking the challenge. Maybe another time for us. I absolutely abhor the fact that we have two I-AA schools on our schedule, but I sure as heck don't want those guys as one of them.

Here is a quote from an anonymous ACC coach:

"Of course we don’t want to play [Appalachian State]," said an anonymous ACC coach to SI.com. "It’s not because I don’t think we can beat them. … When we play a [FCS] team, we want to play our starters for one quarter, get a lead, and get them out of there. That’s not going to happen against Appalachian."

Scheduling Insight From Around the Nation

An interesting look at scheduling trends by conference - here. While the ACC ended up with three teams with two I-AA opponents on their schedule (GT, Clemson, FSU), it turns out that the conference still stacks up in terms of their willingness to travel and their willingness to play quality opposition. The Big12 and the SEC continue to prove that they are content to kill one another and live off that reputation instead of putting themselves out there on a more consistent basis against quality competition (outside their league).

I am not suggesting for a second the SEC is not the best football conference. They are. However, they do in football what the ACC tends to do in basketball - schedule creampuffs, then whine all year about how the conference "eats their own". I'm not saying they're wrong. However, the only REAL measure of a league is how they stack up against teams outside their conference. The problem is that you are not rewarded for doing it by bowl committees or NCAA tourney committees. Kansas didn't play one BCS team outside their conference, yet ended up with a better bowl than Missouri, who actually beat Kansas and played a tougher schedule.

At the end of the day, you are not rewarded for playing a tough non-conference schedule, and yet it is the only true measure of the strength of a league. Oh the irony. However, while the trend is toward more "easy" victories, this year's schedule of two I-AA opponents was not by design and AD Dan Radakovich tried hard to avoid it. But, when Army backs out at the last minute, that's about all that's left without seriously opening up your wallet. It raises the bar for Paul Johnson, since only one of those wins will count towards bowl eligibility. Now we have to have a 7-win season just to get bowl-eligible.

The ACC Schedule is out......

.... and it looks to be a fairly tough one for the Jackets. I'll have more later, but all I have time is to post it:

2008 Schedule
Aug. 28 (Thur.) JACKSONVILLE STATE
Sept. 6 at Boston College
Sept. 13 at Virginia Tech
Sept. 20 MISSISSIPPI STATE
Sept. 27 Open
Oct. 4 DUKE (Family Weekend)
Oct. 11 GARDNER-WEBB
Oct. 18 at Clemson
Oct. 25 VIRGINIA (Homecoming)
Nov. 1 FLORIDA STATE
Nov. 8 at North Carolina
Nov. 15 Open
Nov. 20 (Thur.) MIAMI
Nov. 29 at Georgia

Also announced were a bunch of future match-ups:

2009
Home: Jacksonville State, Georgia, Clemson, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Away: Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Virginia, Duke, Miami

2010
Home: South Carolina State, Mississippi, Middle Tennessee State, NC State, Virginia, Duke, Miami
Away: Georgia, Clemson, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Virginia Tech

2011
Home: Western Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Away: Mississippi, Middle Tennessee State, NC State, Virginia, Duke, Miami


2012
Home: Middle Tennessee State, Boston College, Virginia, Duke, Miami
Away: Georgia, Maryland, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia Tech

2013
Home: Elon, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Away: Alabama, Boston College, Virginia, Duke, Miami

2014
Home: Wofford, Alabama, Wake Forest, Virginia, Duke, Miami
Away: Tulane, Georgia, Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech

2015
Home: Tulane, Georgia, Clemson, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Away: Syracuse, Wake Forest, Virginia, Duke, Miami

Other Non-Conference Games beyond 2015
2016 Syracuse Home
2017 Auburn Home
2018 Auburn Away
2018 Tulane Home
2019 Tulane Away
2021 South Carolina Away
2022 South Carolina Home