Schedule expansion in football, too?

NCS Football17

Just last week we were all talking about the ACC’s potential interest in expanding the conference basketball schedule.

Now the N&O is reporting that the conference will also consider expanding the league’s football schedule.

“It’s something that I think we should talk about and explore,” Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman said Thursday. “There are some obvious pros and cons, and it’s certainly not beyond the exploratory stage for now. But with the 12-game regular-season policy, there is some additional room for flexible in-conference scheduling.”

Perhaps the best part of the N&O’s blog entry is that Lee Fowler is FINALLY NOT interviewed the piece!

Under any conventional situation I would be open to the idea of expanding the league’s number of conference games. However, as NC State fans in 2008 I can’t say that I am going to be supportive of it.

You see, we already have an extra ‘mandated’ game on our schedule because of Lee Fowler’s love of Terry Holland and desire to support East Carolina Athletics. Due to Fowler’s insistence on playing the Pirates – an idea that was opposed by Chuck Amato and is now opposed by current coach Tom O’Brien – NC State would then effectively be ‘locked’ into 10 games a year and only have two games which to use for strategic scheduling needs.

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17 Responses to Schedule expansion in football, too?

  1. BJD95 05/09/2008 at 10:05 AM #

    I think it gives us a way out of future ECU games. We need one REAL home-and-home series every year (i.e., a decent home OOC game, and a decent road OOC game), plus one cupcake game. No room at the inn for EZU.

    I love the idea, generally. Will mean better football and more balanced conference schedules.

  2. choppack1 05/09/2008 at 10:13 AM #

    Good news is that it helps create less time between good road trips – Blacksburg, Charlottesville, and Miami.

  3. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 05/09/2008 at 10:52 AM #

    Money, money, money. The more they make the more they spend requiring the need to make more, which of course will get spent, necessitating more money to be made.

    I don’t see any reason why these young men aren’t already asked to play a schedule comparable to the NFL, think of how much more money that could be spent by a bunch of old men on behalf of the students.

  4. newt 05/09/2008 at 11:38 AM #

    Wonder if Fowler is laying low with the press since the APR report.

  5. haze 05/09/2008 at 11:41 AM #

    Technically, this may also be another shot across the bow at the plus-1 or playoff format. If BCS teams role to 12 games, consistently, it strengthens the “we just can’t play another game” argument.

    In sum, this is good for the fans (reg season addition), TV and the bowls but bad for the student athletes and for a playoff system (which, ironically, is also bad for student athletes).

  6. Classof89 05/09/2008 at 1:15 PM #

    [quote]Good news is that it helps create less time between good road trips – Blacksburg, Charlottesville, and Miami.[/quote]

    Actually, from the “visiting a fun metropolitan area” point of view, the GaTech, BC, and Maryland road trips are pretty good too…there really isn’t a bad road trip in the ACC a la, say, Rutgers.

    Nice thing about the 9 game conference schedule is, if they do it the obvious way, no Coastal Division team would fall off the schedule for more than 2 seasons. (no more four year gaps a la series with Duke). You guys think they’d add a second “rivalry” game with the nine game slate, or just keep the one, and rotate 3 of the remaining five?

  7. PeeDub 05/09/2008 at 2:26 PM #

    My initial reaction is that they *would* add a second rivalry game, but that may be difficult to do with the current setup.

  8. howlie 05/09/2008 at 2:26 PM #

    Just let ECU and 11 other teams in the ACC; then the extra game and ECU’s blackmailing of theJed would be taken care of.

    SFN: Fowler is far to complicit in the situation for us to claim that ECU is ‘blackmailing’ us.

  9. Wolf Dog 05/09/2008 at 2:59 PM #

    Really like to see them leave it as is considering the good point made about the ECU game. Just wish LF had the same vision and sense that Les Robinson had. Really enjoyed the ECU and UNC games in Charlotte. Les understood how much press and marketing it gave our program for recruiting reasons. Now we have Va. Tech going to Charlotte and expanding their recruiting base in NC. I think the four non conference games would give us the flexibilty to still have 6 home games every year and still have something unique like playing in Charlotte almost every year. The Charlotte games drew very good crowds and lot of attention. Some of our most memorable games (winning at Texas, beating SC on hail mary pass, and win at Syracuse) have been nonconference games. Don’t know why LF hasn’t taken us back to Charlotte considering Va. Tech and South Carolina doing it. With Tenn. being down lately they not as dominant in Western NC, we should be doing something to fill the void. We could play ECU, Marshall, TN, SC, W.Va., Pitt., and others in Charlotte.

  10. ruffles31 05/09/2008 at 4:24 PM #

    I have NO desire to play in Charlotte ever again. We got beat twice by an inferior UNC squad and even lost to ECU in a driving rain storm. I went to the first 3 games that State played in Charlotte and I saw 3 humiliating defeats. The first was an OT loss where Wal-Mart Hole fans were everywhere. The second defeat was the Thursday night debacle, that at least got O’Cain fired. And the third was against ECU in a rain storm that had Scott Harley run for 350 yards against us. Talk about ugly. If I am Fowler (please pray that never happens), then I say no to Charlotte.

    Yes, the Saturday afternoon matchup between State and UNC got a sold out stadium, but the other games would have been as good or better if they were in our own stadium.

    Has South Carolina EVER played in Charlotte since BofA Stadium was built? I don’t think so.

    Wolfdog- “With Tennessee being down lately”…if winning the SEC East title in 2007 means they are down, then I will be happy to be a down program.

  11. Wolf Dog 05/09/2008 at 4:45 PM #

    ruffles31 if you listened to Tenn fans you’d think the program had fallen apart. I realize they had a good year last year but not soo good the couple of years before. Tenn fans expect to play for SEC and be in the BCS every year.

    And I know SC has not played in Bofa Stadium in Charlotte, yet. But like Va. Tech has agreed to play in upcoming years and I understand from the Panthers negotations are under way if not already finalized for a running game between SC and possibly UNC in Charlotte. It is a shame that Baddour has more foresight than our AD to see this is a good thing. There’s talk of Clemson and SC playing Charlotte setting up game like Ga. and Fl. has. Our Ad is behind the eight ball on this.

    I too went to all the games in Charlotte and sat in the rain and watched ECU run all over our nonexistent defense, watched Torry Holt lead us back into the game with UNC only to fall short, and watched MOC walk across the field and shake Torbush’s hand after falling short at the goal line.

    Unlike you I loved the games but I live in the Charlotte area. The games are good here because like Beamer (with Va. Tech scheduled to come to Charlotte to play)and other college coaches have come to realize the best high school football is being played in the Charlotte area and the talent pool is by far now the best in the state. Recruiting top talent in NC now starts in the Charlotte area. South Carolina and Va. Tech coming here strong. Playing in the largest TV market in the state not a bad thing either if you want exposure.

    With a 12 game schedule Charlotte is a resonable thing to do and would not require having to give up a home game.

  12. Wolf Dog 05/09/2008 at 5:01 PM #

    Terry Holland has ECU playing VT in Charlotte August 30th this year. LF has us playing games in Greenville while Beamer and Holland have their teams playing the largest metro area in the surronding 5 state area NC, SC, Tn, WVa, and Va. I hope everyone realizes you can get to Va Tech almost as quick as you can to Raleigh from Charlotte. Beamer and his staff rolling down I-77 recruiting and playing in our own state. The man didn’t build a top tem program by accident. Give Les Robinson credit he was first AD to understand the value of Charlotte.

  13. b 05/09/2008 at 5:54 PM #

    I wouldn’t be against us playing Clemson or SC in Charlotte every year. I was at the two Carolina games in Charlotte and enjoyed both until they ended wrong, and we absolutely destroyed ECU there (52-13) the game I saw.

    Especially intriguing to me is the Clemson game. B of A seats 8000 or so more than C-F, it is pretty close to equdistant from both schools, and they are our biggest traditional conference rival (in football, now) aside from UNC. We might have to make concessions since Clemson Memorial seats more folks, but the same is true of Sanford Stadium and Griffin Stadium in relation to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium for the Cocktail party, and neither of those schools seems to lose money on the idea. Clemson was more than amenable to ‘Bama playing in Jacksonville as well.

    Hopefully, in a couple of years, we’ll be in their neighborhood and the game can mean something like it did in the 70’s and 80’s.

    The coolest thing about the two UNC games in Charlotte to me, was the 50/50 stadium. It makes an already competitve game that much more balanced when home field advantage is removed.

  14. highstick 05/09/2008 at 6:50 PM #

    I’d really be surprised if Clemson would commit to playing in Charlotte, particularly against South Carolina. Both groups of fans might not like it either because of seating. I’d really like to see a regular series with South Carolina though no matter where it’s played.

    I am vehemently opposed to playing ECTC in football or basketball, no matter where you play the game. It’s just a no win situation for State. I’d much rather see State play an SEC school, South Carolina, Georgia, Bama, Miss St and it would add significantly more credibility to our schedule.

  15. whitefang 05/10/2008 at 7:34 AM #

    Charlotte would be convenient to me, but I really think we should play there only occasionally. Sure BofA is a great NFL-type stadium (I have Panthers tickets so I am there frequently) and Charlotte is a large metro with great HS football. And I realize some recruiting value perhaps, but with C-F’s renovations, “big” games should be played and spotlighted there. IF we become relevant in ACC football do we really get more exposure playing a “home” Clemson game in BofA or in our own sold-out, ESPN Sat. night televised C-F?
    Likewise I don’t see any advantage to playing there for regional OOC rivalries like SC-Clemson. Both have great college stadiums, showcase type venues, tailgating, home and home sold-out traditions. Do they (or us) gain more by the exposure of Charlotte or is more gained by bringing recruits into your school and a loud, rocking, C-F?

  16. RAWFS 05/12/2008 at 9:18 AM #

    SFN: Fowler is far to complicit in the situation for us to claim that ECU is ‘blackmailing’ us.

    True and Fowler is a master politician if nothing else. Well, scratch master, but he knows whose toes he has to suckle to keep his job.

    As for playing in Charlotte, why? Do we not have a perfectly good stadium in Raleigh convenient to the university?

  17. UpstateSCWolfpack 05/14/2008 at 7:17 AM #

    No, ninth conference game. Coaches were against it. I think it would have been a good idea, but I see their side of it too.

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