56 Point Spread

bbwvfan said:

Great point!

Luck was the AD when WVU was in the weakest AQ conference in America. Due to its small size, WVU faced 7 IC games each year. Alternate years, there would be 3 home IC games. In order to generate revenue for his athletic department which we all know was mainly supported by the football program, Luck needed to have at least 6 home games/year and preferably 7.

I believe each home games was valued at $2M.

When facing an upcoming season in which he had 3 home IC games, this would force him to find 3-4 OOC opponents to fill his need.

H/H contracts against other AQ BCS teams were generally a break even for WVU. One and done contracts with non-AQ teams were becoming increasingly expensive. FCS opponents were... and still are... cheaper for WVU. If I remember correctly, UNLV received $750K for getting whipped in Morgantown.

After WVU moved into the Big 12 and college football transitioned from the BCS to the CFP, the criteria changed as SOS became an important metric for the committee. As I've already provided, Luck firmly believed WVU should discontinue playing FCS opponents.

Since Lyons became AD, I believe he has scheduled 4 future opponents... 3 FCS (Youngstown St., James Madison, Indiana St) and 1 PF (FSU in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff).

As we all know, Lyons is responsible for adding Delaware St to this season's schedule when he announced it in June 2016.

When transitioning to the Big 12, Luck had to compensate for the fact his home schedule in the Big 12 would alternate between 4 and 5 IC games. An addition of 1 home game per year compared to his BE home schedule. He had to keep some of his FCS opponents at first to make the home schedule work to the advantage of having at least 6 home games each season. He scheduled JMU at Fed Ex in order to get a nice payday. First year in the Big 12... Luck had to compensate for exit fees/penalties for leaving the BE early... and not receiving a full share of Big 12 revenues.

Other than all of that... you're absolutely right... Luck was a dumb fuck too!

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Mac_Bridger said:

I don't care if we play an FCS school. We could be Bama and play 4.

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Anotherwvufan said:

My bitch is that everybody schedules these games. Great party, easy win, home game, money for the selected loser. Complete one sided football. Group of 5 teams can at least boast an equal number of scholarship players and make it a game sometimes. FCS schools, not so much.

For me, there is no value to these games. It affects my decision to not purchase season tickets. I see ecu and Delaware state together with the bad year of conference matchups in including powerhouses Kansas and Texas Tech and I say pass.

CFB is having a harder time filling stands and getting watchers. Some of it has to do with the product. If we played sPitt or Maryland last weekend, the stands would have been packed. Many on this board would attend, home or away. Win or lose, it would be interesting.

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Slaton10 said:

I gotta ask the question brother..when has it been any different? Back in the Nehlen years we played a horrific Temple and Rutgers team ANNUALLY,..sprinkle in a Cincy, Villanova, UVA and RICHMOND!

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Anotherwvufan said:

My bitch is that everybody schedules these games. Great party, easy win, home game, money for the selected loser. Complete one sided football. Group of 5 teams can at least boast an equal number of scholarship players and make it a game sometimes. FCS schools, not so much.

For me, there is no value to these games. It affects my decision to not purchase season tickets. I see ecu and Delaware state together with the bad year of conference matchups in including powerhouses Kansas and Texas Tech and I say pass.

CFB is having a harder time filling stands and getting watchers. Some of it has to do with the product. If we played sPitt or Maryland last weekend, the stands would have been packed. Many on this board would attend, home or away. Win or lose, it would be interesting.

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GoldRusher said:

Marshall needs to put away their pouty pants and play in Morgantown every year. That's a win every year for WVU and the crowd is usually really good.

Good Point. This is a game that means something to someone

Take one P5 game VT/Pitt/Maryland ect.. , One G5 (Marshall/Cincy/ECU ect.) , and the FCS school In November

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Anotherwvufan said:

Make Marshall that November easy game and play another p5 team. Give me a game that I want to watch.

Look at our home schedule
East Carolina- OK group of five team on a bad year result Blowout
Delaware State- Poor FCS team result- No contest
Texas Tech- Conference foe on a down year but could be an interesting matchup
Oklahoma State- We could ruin their season, but I think we get killed. Still a must watch game for me
Iowa State- Conference bottom dweller. This should be a Blowout
Texas- Could be a really good game.

OK State will be the only top 25 team we see at home this year; Our great rivalry game, VT, was held at a neutral site. Of our 6 home games, I could only see two that I thought would be interesting games. Swap out Delaware U and replace them with Pitt and guess who would have purchased season tickets this year.

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GoldRusher said:

I'm gonna drop this here since we all seem to be kinda talking


I'd rather play the Herd early then the FCS (scrimmage game) later to get the break for our players during Big12 play. Marshall doesn't beat us but they DO play us as hard as they can with a few decent players.
I'd rather use the FCS game as a pseudo bye week for our players if we are gonna play that level of team anyway.

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Mike said:

I don't see the benefit in playing Marshall in any sport

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WVUDAD said:

Take a look at WVU home attendance since joining the B12, I think you will see the benefit.

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