Future Schedule

[JTApps1]

First priority - 6 home games
Second - limit FCS games by signing more G5 and lower level P5 home and homes
Third - quality local interest games (due to SBC travel) (P5 and G5)

It is difficult to schedule "quality" G5 games (other than Marshall, ECU types) 4-5 years in advance. When we scheduled WYO they were much better, and when Ark St. scheduled Toledo they had no clue they'd be a borderline top 25 team.

The G5 will always be a toss up from year to year because most good coaches get scooped up by P5 teams after a few decent seasons. As you said some programs have a proven history of winning so they are usually able to find good replacements.

To me the most important factor should be playing G5's we have a history with and/or are close by so fans can travel well. We have a ton of CUSA and AAC teams close enough to drive to as well as a few MAC schools so there shouldn't be much need to go too far from home.

Note- We play NC Central not A&T. Being a former FCS school we should know the difference.

[T-Dog]

Southern Miss got Nebraska to play them this year and Big Red paid us a nice sum of money to move that game back. That's how contracts work and luckily, we were able to get Wyoming in. I believe ESPN helped with that one. You'd be surprised how much ESPN is involved with FBS scheduling, even in the G5 level.

Scheduling games in FBS is hard. You have to schedule games years in advance and one domino can cause a bunch of games to be rescheduled. That's the reality of it. App has done well to get games with other G5 level teams.

It's not as simple as one school calling another, seeing they have two dates open in two different years and scheduling a home and home. It's a business with contracts, vetting and doing what's right for your program.

The reality is that teams want to schedule to win. Some games are for money with a low chance of winning, but against a team like App State, people don't want to come to Boone and lose.

If you think App is having trouble scheduling games, go look at Georgia Southern. They can barely get anyone in FBS to go to Statesboro.

[bcoach]

First priority - 6 home games
Second - limit FCS games by signing more G5 and lower level P5 home and homes
Third - quality local interest games (due to SBC travel) (P5 and G5)

It is difficult to schedule "quality" G5 games (other than Marshall, ECU types) 4-5 years in advance. When we scheduled WYO they were much better, and when Ark St. scheduled Toledo they had no clue they'd be a borderline top 25 team.

The G5 will always be a toss up from year to year because most good coaches get scooped up by P5 teams after a few decent seasons. As you said some programs have a proven history of winning so they are usually able to find good replacements.

To me the most important factor should be playing G5's we have a history with and/or are close by so fans can travel well. We have a ton of CUSA and AAC teams close enough to drive to as well as a few MAC schools so there shouldn't be much need to go too far from home.

Note- We play NC Central not A&T. Being a former FCS school we should know the difference.

To be honest, for the purpose of this conversation there really is no difference. It is a shame we have to play either one.

[MtnMan09]

Southern Miss got Nebraska to play them this year and Big Red paid us a nice sum of money to move that game back. That's how contracts work and luckily, we were able to get Wyoming in. I believe ESPN helped with that one. You'd be surprised how much ESPN is involved with FBS scheduling, even in the G5 level.

Scheduling games in FBS is hard. You have to schedule games years in advance and one domino can cause a bunch of games to be rescheduled. That's the reality of it. App has done well to get games with other G5 level teams.

It's not as simple as one school calling another, seeing they have two dates open in two different years and scheduling a home and home. It's a business with contracts, vetting and doing what's right for your program.

The reality is that teams want to schedule to win. Some games are for money with a low chance of winning, but against a team like App State, people don't want to come to Boone and lose.

If you think App is having trouble scheduling games, go look at Georgia Southern. They can barely get anyone in FBS to go to Statesboro.

I understand that schedules are made years in advance. I also understand that home and homes are hard to get. However, to your point GaSo has had no problem getting good road games though. I mean look at last year Ga. Tech, State, and Navy all winnable and have name recognition. ECU does the same thing, granted they are way ahead of us in this game. GaSo has also been better about getting instate big boys to play them with both UGA and Tech coming up on schedules. I wont hold my breath to ever see the same in our state. With that being said, I would just like us to look at playing some lower level name teams for our road games that we might possible have a shot in.

[T-Dog]

If you want App State to schedule only 5 home games so we can have a one-and-done games with Navy, NC State and Georgia Tech in the same year with no return and deprive the local economy millions of dollars, go right ahead.

Georgia Southern already has three non-conference road games in 2016 and 2017 and will only have five home games each of those years. The only FBS teams schedule to go to Statesboro after this year are UMass (2018) and Kent State (2019). Their only non-conference home game next year is vs Savannah State.

Yes, GaSo does get GT and UGA to play them on a regular basis, but that's the state of Georgia and those teams will never go to Statesboro.

ECU is further along in FBS and has the connections to play games with VT, Marshall and the like. They also threatened to get a state bill to force Chapel Hill and NC State to play them until they got put back on the schedule.

[JTApps1]

First priority - 6 home games
Second - limit FCS games by signing more G5 and lower level P5 home and homes
Third - quality local interest games (due to SBC travel) (P5 and G5)

It is difficult to schedule "quality" G5 games (other than Marshall, ECU types) 4-5 years in advance. When we scheduled WYO they were much better, and when Ark St. scheduled Toledo they had no clue they'd be a borderline top 25 team.

The G5 will always be a toss up from year to year because most good coaches get scooped up by P5 teams after a few decent seasons. As you said some programs have a proven history of winning so they are usually able to find good replacements.

To me the most important factor should be playing G5's we have a history with and/or are close by so fans can travel well. We have a ton of CUSA and AAC teams close enough to drive to as well as a few MAC schools so there shouldn't be much need to go too far from home.

Note- We play NC Central not A&T. Being a former FCS school we should know the difference.

To be honest, for the purpose of this conversation there really is no difference. It is a shame we have to play either one.

Had fans from an FBS school called us Western Carolina while we were FCS our fans would have lost their mind. We should show the same respect we ask for to the schools we play.

[AppGrad78]

I can't think of one compelling reason why we would intentionally allow ourselves to drop below six home games. Financially unstable schools that go that route are looking for quick-fix solutions and ignoring the bigger picture.

[MtnMan09]

If you want App State to schedule only 5 home games so we can have a one-and-done games with Navy, NC State and Georgia Tech in the same year with no return and deprive the local economy millions of dollars, go right ahead.

Georgia Southern already has three non-conference road games in 2016 and 2017 and will only have five home games each of those years. The only FBS teams schedule to go to Statesboro after this year are UMass (2018) and Kent State (2019). Their only non-conference home game next year is vs Savannah State.

Yes, GaSo does get GT and UGA to play them on a regular basis, but that's the state of Georgia and those teams will never go to Statesboro.

ECU is further along in FBS and has the connections to play games with VT, Marshall and the like. They also threatened to get a state bill to force Chapel Hill and NC State to play them until they got put back on the schedule.

No need to talk down to me. I get all of your points. I acknowledged ECU's lightyears ahead of us and GA being different than NC. You just don't seem to be getting what I am saying. In no way am I advocating dropping below 6 home games. But we do play one P5 on the road, I'm say saying instead of Clemson maybe shoot for a Virginia or KY or an AAC school (which maybe what Gillin is referring too). For home and homes instead of UMass maybe shoot for a Memphis, UConn, ECU. Or maybe we just cant command that type of scheduling and are forced to look to the Akrons, which was my original question.

[moonshine]

ECU is further along in FBS and has the connections to play games with VT, Marshall and the like. They also threatened to get a state bill to force Chapel Hill and NC State to play them until they got put back on the schedule.

For the love of all that is holy, I hope our AD never stoops to the level of getting government involved in football scheduling. If those state supported schools don't want to play App, we don't need them! Don't get me wrong, I would not have a problem with DG taking a shot across the bow in the media to call them out if he's tried to schedule games and they won't return his call but no need to get politicians involved.

As has been mentioned, App needs to focus on getting quality regional G5's on the schedule along with the likes of Wake on a regular basis. I know ECU (fans) have no interest in scheduling App on a frequent rotation but if the AD's at UNCC, App, ECU and maybe Wake and Duke could get on the same page, they could make Saturdays a big fun event for football fans in NC without the help of the hill or puppies.

[bcoach]

First priority - 6 home games
Second - limit FCS games by signing more G5 and lower level P5 home and homes
Third - quality local interest games (due to SBC travel) (P5 and G5)

It is difficult to schedule "quality" G5 games (other than Marshall, ECU types) 4-5 years in advance. When we scheduled WYO they were much better, and when Ark St. scheduled Toledo they had no clue they'd be a borderline top 25 team.

The G5 will always be a toss up from year to year because most good coaches get scooped up by P5 teams after a few decent seasons. As you said some programs have a proven history of winning so they are usually able to find good replacements.

To me the most important factor should be playing G5's we have a history with and/or are close by so fans can travel well. We have a ton of CUSA and AAC teams close enough to drive to as well as a few MAC schools so there shouldn't be much need to go too far from home.

Note- We play NC Central not A&T. Being a former FCS school we should know the difference.

To be honest, for the purpose of this conversation there really is no difference. It is a shame we have to play either one.

Had fans from an FBS school called us Western Carolina while we were FCS our fans would have lost their mind. We should show the same respect we ask for to the schools we play.

I have never gotten very upset about what other schools say but that is not the point. I am not calling them anything. I just don't want to play them.

[EastHallApp]

I have two questions:

First, can someone tell me again why So. Miss pulled out of their return visit to Boone?

Second, why are we not able to get home and homes, or even one and dones, with bottom tier P5's? I understand the in-state big brother mentality that keeps UNC State and Duke from playing us, but what about Vandy, Kentucky, Virginia, Boston College, Syracuse, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers, Indiana,Colorado, Washington, Washington State?

Even Ws against AAC members with name recognition like Cincy, UConn, SMU, Houston the florida commuter schools, Navy, ECU will get us on people's radar. We need to face that FBS football is a rat race. A rat race fueled by fan and commentator perception. It is not just about talent v. talent. It seems we either have to play the Clemsons/LSUs of the world or teams like Umass/Akron. We need to schedule, AND BEAT, teams that people recognize. Playing WKU and Bowling Green may seem fine because we follow G5 football, but that does nothing for us in the eyes of the rest of the country.

We always schedule high profile P5s (maybe those are the only teams that will schedule us I don't know) and I am not sure it helps us to lose by 30+ on TV. Why not spend a couple of years trying to beat the lower level name teams. I think it'd go a long way for the program, especially to counteract SB's terrible strength of schedule, to hang in with and maybe beat a Cincy or a Kentucky.

If someone who is in the know can tell me why we aren't going after those type of games I'd appreciate it.

Who says we aren't? Would Wake Forest, Marshall and Southern Miss not fall into those categories? And Gillin has all but publicly acknowledged he's had talks with ECU.

[EastHallApp]

Regardless should be an all FBS schedule. Otherwise any dreams of the Access Slot are slim to none.

Since the beginning of the BCS, of the nine non-power-conference teams to play in either a BCS bowl or the CFP access bowl, seven played at least one FCS opponent (one, 2007 Hawaii, played two).

Of the current top contenders for this year's G5 access spot, Houston, Memphis, Boise State and Navy all played an FCS team, while Toledo scheduled one but had it canceled due to weather. Only Temple did not schedule an FCS game this year.

If App goes 11-1 next year and misses out on the access bowl, it won't be because we replaced UMass with NCCU. It will be because the Sun Belt still isn't good enough, and our other OOC games (Akron and ODU) don't get anyone's attention. Keeping UMass on the schedule wouldn't make one bit of difference.

Playing one FCS game is never going to cost anyone a spot in a NY6 bowl or any other bowl.

[MtnMan09]

Who says we aren't? Would Wake Forest, Marshall and Southern Miss not fall into those categories? And Gillin has all but publicly acknowledged he's had talks with ECU.

Obviously they wouId. Wake is a huge get. I had forgotten about the series with Marshall. like that we are starting that back up. I was just saying we should look to schedule games that provide both a recognizable opponent and a chance for us to come away with a W while still trying to build our program brand.

[BeauFoster]

Just my interjection but to everyone who says we should be playing school x or y, remember that there must be a mutual interest in both playing App at their place, and also coming to Boone. I would like to play some of these teams, too, but saying it doesn't make it happen.

[TheMackAttack]

Am I the only one who feels like we are doing a pretty decent job of scheduling? We had to scramble when we moved up and had to settle for Akron, Wyoming, and UMass, but home and homes with Southern Miss, Charlotte, Old Dominion, Wake Forest, and Marshall, what's wrong with that? The fact of the matter remains that no FBS team is going to play in Boone without a return game. For every money game we schedule, we will have to settle for an FCS home game as the inevitable counterbalance unless you want to drop to five home games a year, which I think is a poor idea. I'd also like to see those FCS games be in state teams so that we may be able to curry some political favor out of it for the university's sake. I'm happy with how our scheduling has been so far.

[CVAPP]

I'd also like to see those FCS games be in state teams so that we may be able to curry some political favor out of it for the university's sake.

As much as I would like to think it might, I don't think playing NC A&T is going to move the needle for favors. If we have to play FCS games I would rather play a school like WCU, but we probably can't afford them as they need and can get P5 money. So if we are going to schedule FCS teams they are going to be who can we pay the least, or who can we pay the least and get on short notice scenarios. It will be a 6th home game, but a crappy one.

[APPdiesel]

If any of us knew exactly how much time, effort, and work it takes to schedule an out of conference game our heads would spin.

[EastHallApp]

Am I the only one who feels like we are doing a pretty decent job of scheduling? We had to scramble when we moved up and had to settle for Akron, Wyoming, and UMass, but home and homes with Southern Miss, Charlotte, Old Dominion, Wake Forest, and Marshall, what's wrong with that? The fact of the matter remains that no FBS team is going to play in Boone without a return game. For every money game we schedule, we will have to settle for an FCS home game as the inevitable counterbalance unless you want to drop to five home games a year, which I think is a poor idea.

Nope, I agree with you. My only other beef is that we didn't really have to scramble to sign UMass - we already had three OOC games signed for 2016, and I'd have rather a) waited to see if we could land someone better, and b) played an FCS team if it came to that, than locking ourselves into a home-and-home with them.

I have been pleased with the last few home-and-homes we've announced. Things are moving in the right direction.

[appsfan]

I have two questions:

First, can someone tell me again why So. Miss pulled out of their return visit to Boone?

Second, why are we not able to get home and homes, or even one and dones, with bottom tier P5's? I understand the in-state big brother mentality that keeps UNC State and Duke from playing us, but what about Vandy, Kentucky, Virginia, Boston College, Syracuse, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers, Indiana,Colorado, Washington, Washington State?

Even Ws against AAC members with name recognition like Cincy, UConn, SMU, Houston the florida commuter schools, Navy, ECU will get us on people's radar. We need to face that FBS football is a rat race. A rat race fueled by fan and commentator perception. It is not just about talent v. talent. It seems we either have to play the Clemsons/LSUs of the world or teams like Umass/Akron. We need to schedule, AND BEAT, teams that people recognize. Playing WKU and Bowling Green may seem fine because we follow G5 football, but that does nothing for us in the eyes of the rest of the country.

We always schedule high profile P5s (maybe those are the only teams that will schedule us I don't know) and I am not sure it helps us to lose by 30+ on TV. Why not spend a couple of years trying to beat the lower level name teams. I think it'd go a long way for the program, especially to counteract SB's terrible strength of schedule, to hang in with and maybe beat a Cincy or a Kentucky.

If someone who is in the know can tell me why we aren't going after those type of games I'd appreciate it.

Answer to question one:
The Southern Miss home game was moved back to accommodate ESPN as I recall. As I remember Alabama needed a game this year and ESPN arranged USM to play there, helped set up our Wyoming H&H to replace our lost game this year. USM comes to Boone in 2018:
2018 Future Schedule

Sept. 1 at Penn State 

Sept. 8 at Charlotte

Sept. 15 vs. SOUTHERN MISS



[MtnDevil95]

The grim reality of scheduling is that there will always be something someone can pick apart and question. Talk about a area where the AD can neither please all the people some of the time, nor some of the people all the time.

Having said that, I would say the scheduling done for the next few years seems to be average or slightly above average, maybe a C+ or B- even. There is definitely room for improvement, and slapping a couple or 3 years of 9+ wins with a couple bowl wins will help the scheduling going forward.

I think, as fans, we'd all love to see ECU come up the mountain, and/or any of the in-state ACC schools. I also would love to see the "money" games stay relatively local, Clemson this year was great. A drive over the mountains to Knoxville would be awesome as well. On a national scale, I'd personally love to see some top tier G5 teams land on the schedule.