Football Scheduling

[UteThunder]

What is it going to take to get Utah State back on the schedule, even if only on a part-time basis?

Hill is handcuffed in scheduling just a little bit with the political pressure to keep scheduling BYU, and the need for one-offs against FCS teams to balance the schedule and get us a 7th home game every other year. But I don’t see any reason why Utah State shouldn’t be on the schedule at least every once in awhile.

A couple of suggestions for getting Utah State back on the schedule:

1. Stop scheduling home and homes with teams like Northern Illinois and Wyoming. Dropping the Aggies for games against teams like San Jose, San Diego, and Fresno makes sense as those schools are located in recruiting hotbeds; but NIU and Wyo? Give me a break.

2. Replace the FCS teams with the Aggies. Utah State seems to be falling back to their lovable loser status so they wouldn’t be much more of a threat to beat us than North Dakota or SUU. They probably won’t give us annual one-and-dones, but I would bet we could get 2-for-1 or 3-for-2 and with some creativity still have 7 home games every other year.

I would say drop BYU for Utah State, but we all know that isn’t happening, unfortunately. 

[Utah]

I think there was some bad blood when USU gave BYU a 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 then demanded a H/H from Utah and Utah said fine, good luck with that. 

I wouldn’t count on playing them until they accept a 2/1 or we have a new AD. 

[UteThunder]

There might be bad blood(I have no idea), but if there is, I doubt it is from that. USU has given BYU 3-for-1s and 2-for-1s in the past, but their scheduling agreements since BYU went independent have all been home-and-home.  

[Utah]

I do remember Hill saying Utah would not play in Logan anymore. 

[Utah]

Here is a decent article that sums up what I’ve heard. 

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765601703/Utah-Utes-Utah-State-Aggies-football-Last-clash-in-Logan.html

[HoosierUte]

Meh. I never want to play 2 in state schools in the same year.  The only way I want to see USU back on the schedule is a 2 for 1 that alternates w/ the obligatory TDS home and home.  What is the upside of playing USU? 

[UteThunder]

What is the upside of playing Wyoming and NIU?

 

[HoosierUte]

I mean NIU gives a smidge of exposure outside of the region. But I agree our Noncon is boring and looks to continue being that way. 

[Utah]

Whitt has said that he likes early, easy, road games. A chance to get into travel mode before the PAC-12. 

Thats the purpose of Wyoming and NIU that USU can’t give. Get the team together, go through plane protocol, get a win, go home. 

[LVUte]

We can onside kick when up by 40 pts vs the pokes lol 😉

[FtheY]

That was great. Another one of my favorite Utah moments. 

[Utah]

I say play USU on a 2/1 and FBYU-P on a 1/1 every five years. 

[GameForAnyFuss]

The question is, why? What’s the upside of playing USU? I see even less reason to schedule USU than I see to schedule BYU-Provo.

[UteThunder]

Again, I ask what is the upside of playing Wyoming and NIU?

At least the Aggies have the positives of being an in-state rival which means a nearby road game making it easier for our fans to attend and costing our athletic department less money for travel.

[GameForAnyFuss]

My point is, why does it have to be an either/or thing? Why are our choices teams like Wyoming or USU? NIU or BYU-P? Just because I don’t see the point of playing USU doesn’t mean I’m advocating playing Wyoming and NIU.

If we’re looking for a G5 opponent that makes sense, I’d be all for Houston, SDSU, or UNLV. Some school in a place where recruiting could be affected.

So again I ask, why USU?

[UteThunder]

I agree with you on all counts.

My point is that if we are going to schedule teams like Wyoming and NIU anyway, then my preference would be to schedule USU instead. I’m happy with the Fresno, San Jose, and San Diego series. Those games serve an actual purpose. But if we aren’t going to schedule a P5 or an interesting G5 or a G5 in a recruiting hotbed, then we might as well use the slot on USU instead of wasting it on Wyoming and Northern Illinois.

[FtheY]

Agreed. I think at the time of scheduling, NIU was on their big run and had 1-2 loss seasons. They would have been one of the top G5 opponents. 

Now, it’s just another meh OOC game. 

There are so many schools to schedule in California, Texas and Florida. Are there any other up and coming recruiting hotbeds? Utah seems to have a few big recruits, but we already play in that market. What about Hawaii? Or would that make us play an extra game? 

[UteThunder]

Playing Hawaii doesn’t require an extra game. Teams who play at Hawaii have the option to play an extra game as an incentive for teams to take on the expense of playing on the island. When you host Hawaii, you don’t get the option for the extra game.

[zeous]

I like playing WYO.  I don’t really care that there’s no strategic advantage for recruiting or exposure.  Football is still just a game and playing an old rival is cultural heritage that transcends recruiting or corporate college football, in my opinion. 

[utefansince79]

Exactly why I miss trips to Logan.  Wish I had the funds to travel to lots of road games, but simply don’t have then.  Trip to Cache Valley just takes a bit of gas and no overnight stay is required.  Playing there used to pretty much be like having another home game, and as I noted on the other board, fans there have been infinitely more friendly than fans of that other in-state school who shall not be mentioned.

 

[FountainofUte]

1) I’m fine with BYU and USU on the schedule. I don’t want to see both every season. I wouldn’t mind just trading off H&H’s with them alternating in two-year cycles. And from time to time, just have neither on the schedule.
2) I don’t mind the game with Wyoming. Maybe I’m just getting old, but I grew up watching the Utes and Pokes throw down and I’m excited to see it again. I think we should always have a H&H with a MWC team on our schedule perpetually.
3) I wonder what the difficulty is scheduling P5 H&H’s? Is our stadium too small? Are we not sexy enough such that other P5s “get nothing” from playing us (not enough bump in revenue or respect)?

[UteThunder]

To answer number 3, I don’t think it is any of that because we had no problem getting P5s on the schedule when we were in the MWC.

The lack of P5s on our non-conference schedule comes down to a few different variables. In no particular order:

1) Most of the P5s we scheduled in the past were in the Pac-10. Now that we are in their conference, that is 11 P5 teams in the region we can no longer schedule.

2) We play 9 conference games against P5 opponents. I think Whit and Hill are still in the mode of trying not to overschedule by playing a 10th P5.

3) BYU. They are a tough opponent and play right along with the previous point about not overscheduling. As long as BYU is on the schedule, we can expect to see very few P5 non-conference opponents.