Scheduling; Sept Open dates; etc

[Jambalaya]

Open Dates?
* I loathe September open dates on the football schedule. Should NEVER happen in Iowa.
We had two last year which is insane....

ISU travels to Toledo and another open date yesterday----- two perfect weekends BURNED.
What a waste!

what was wasted?
~ Host prospects/recruits on beautiful Sept. Saturdays in Ames
~ A chance to tailgate and enjoy a game in gorgeous weather
~ Introduce new and prospective fans to ISU tailgating in gorgeous weather
~ An opportunity to sell out Trice 1-2 times in gorgeous weather

~ Good luck getting new fans to come to a game in November

Scheduling?
Why are we traveling to Toledo? Iowa in their arrogance would never do that. Iowa went on the road twice in recent years vs MAC teams (NIU) and it was @ Soldiers Field

FYI.
I love football-type weather however, but many people do not.

I was at the KU game in 2013 with a 7-degree kickoff temp. It was actually a great time

I was also at a far worse weather-related game--that gusty November 2012 game vs West Virginia. Simply AWFUL

 

[CyAg]

Short answer: What we are willing to pay for home games and wins.
And being the worst B12 team for conference schedules.
Carry on.

 

[Spam]

If teams more high profile than Iowa travel to the likes of Toledo, no reason for us to complain about the 2 for 1 games.

 

[LindenCy]

I hate byes in general. Seems like it used to be 11 games and no byes. Season was over quicker and more time to practice for the bowl, if you had one. Money rules and the stretched out season is not going away. Fans like it in general, but it's definitely a business at this point, which is no surprise to anyone.

 

[Spam]

Playing in the colder months supposedly gives us an advantage.

 

[CyCrazy]

This has to be the first post ever Jamby never once mentioned Iowa.

 

[IcSyU]

This has to be the first post ever Jamby never once mentioned Iowa.

Reread chief.

 

[twojman]

lots of teams go to these types of locales. Okie St opened up at Central Michigan. Michigan St played @ Western Mich? this year. I don't mind it. Good way to test your team in a hostile environment IMO. I understand the 'need' fore home games. With TV money the way it is, the need for those home games is not as big. I am not a big fan of neutral site games though.

 

[chuckd4735]

Big 12 should open conference play in Week 3 and go through Week 15 (13 weeks). Give every team 4 byes built into those 13 weeks, and then each team can schedule their 3rd non-con game in one of those bye weeks.

 

[alarson]

I hate byes in general. Seems like it used to be 11 games and no byes. Season was over quicker and more time to practice for the bowl, if you had one. Money rules and the stretched out season is not going away. Fans like it in general, but it's definitely a business at this point, which is no surprise to anyone.

Part of it is that the big 12 got rid of the championship game and thus had to stretch its whole season into that week or else be completely without exposure when everyone else is playing those games.

 

[MeanDean]

How much of the scheduling weirdness is by design and how much was necessitated by the conference shake-ups? Didn't Folding WVU, TCU into the mix had to have some challenges? Maybe that's all accomplished now.

 

[theshadow]

Depending on the calendar each year, there will be 14 or 15 weeks to play 12 games. So no matter what, there will be a minimum of 2 open weeks every season.

And there was ONE open September weekend last season, Jamby, not two.

 

[cyclones500]

I hate byes in general. Seems like it used to be 11 games and no byes. Season was over quicker and more time to practice for the bowl, if you had one. Money rules and the stretched out season is not going away. Fans like it in general, but it's definitely a business at this point, which is no surprise to anyone.

Agree almost entirely.

Similar: No bye weeks in NFL, either (and NFL regular season should start a week earlier than it does).

But we're probably part of a fading demographic, and as you said, revenue dictates it.

 

[madguy30]

I hate byes in general. Seems like it used to be 11 games and no byes. Season was over quicker and more time to practice for the bowl, if you had one. Money rules and the stretched out season is not going away. Fans like it in general, but it's definitely a business at this point, which is no surprise to anyone.

Also bowl teams generally had winning records. It's probably impossible because of so many bowls now, but should almost be a prerequisite.

 

[Erik4Cy]

ISU needs to schedule tougher opponents in basketball and easier opponents in football. Also getting as many games in Ames in Sept/Oct compared to in Nov/Dec in football. It's that simple (I know it really isn't as easy as that, but it should be the goal.)

 

[TensasCy]

ISU needs to schedule tougher opponents in basketball and easier opponents in football. Also getting as many games in Ames in Sept/Oct compared to in Nov/Dec in football. It's that simple (I know it really isn't as easy as that, but it should be the goal.)

Who would we schedule? Sometimes we get beat by FCS schools or MAC schools.

 

[alarson]

Who would we schedule? Sometimes we get beat by FCS schools or MAC schools.

Easier FCS programs (not some who are better than a good deal of FBS programs) and truly bottom end FBS programs like many of those in the sun belt, not MAC programs that tend to rotate up and down between being fairly decent.

Should we beat FCS and MAC programs either way? Sure. But why not take advantage of easy opportunities where you can? The season is a grind, having games be that much easier in games 1-3 pays dividends in week 8 if youre not all banged up from the first couple games.

 

[TensasCy]

Easier FCS programs (not some who are better than a good deal of FBS programs) and truly bottom end FBS programs like many of those in the sun belt, not MAC programs that tend to rotate up and down between being fairly decent.

Should we beat FCS and MAC programs either way? Sure. But why not take advantage of easy opportunities where you can? The season is a grind, having games be that much easier in games 1-3 pays dividends in week 8 if youre not all banged up from the first couple games.

I like the idea of guaranteed wins, but we will have to choose ... wisely.

 

[Judoka]

I like the idea of guaranteed wins, but we will have to choose ... wisely.

And not schedule a decade out. How many times do we schedule an average or bad team that ends up peaking when the year we play them? Heck, even for FBS we need more Western Illinois and less NDSU and UNI. I don't care about strength of schedule or anything like that. Give us the fluffiest of cupcakes as often as possible.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Open Dates?
* I loathe September open dates on the football schedule. Should NEVER happen in Iowa.
We had two last year which is insane....

ISU travels to Toledo and another open date yesterday----- two perfect weekends BURNED.
What a waste!

what was wasted?
~ Host prospects/recruits on beautiful Sept. Saturdays in Ames
~ A chance to tailgate and enjoy a game in gorgeous weather
~ Introduce new and prospective fans to ISU tailgating in gorgeous weather
~ An opportunity to sell out Trice 1-2 times in gorgeous weather

~ Good luck getting new fans to come to a game in November

Scheduling?
Why are we traveling to Toledo? Iowa in their arrogance would never do that. Iowa went on the road twice in recent years vs MAC teams (NIU) and it was @ Soldiers Field

FYI.
I love football-type weather however, but many people do not.

I was at the KU game in 2013 with a 7-degree kickoff temp. It was actually a great time

I was also at a far worse weather-related game--that gusty November 2012 game vs West Virginia. Simply AWFUL

If this team was 21-6 the last three seasons instead of the reverse it wouldn't matter if we skipped the entire month of September and a glacier was bearing down on JTS right before Thanksgiving.........there would be 61,500 in the stands enjoying their turkey.