Redbirdfan.com Sports Forum

One of these days, the commissioners of the non-BCS conferences will realize they need to get together and call collective BS on the programs from BCS conferences when it comes to scheduling and demand some kind of action by the NCAA. We are already within shouting distance of the time when the only road games any BCS program will have to play will be their conference games, neutral site pre-conference tournaments in which they choose to play, and maybe one "special" game against another BCS conference program, such as the Big 10-ACC Challenge.

That said, I seem to be on the minority that likes the idea of 2 or 3 for 1 deals with major opponents. Go play UNC 3 times in Chapel Hill and they will either come play you in your building OR pay you a VERY large sum of money to break the contract. Those three games in Chapel Hill are great exposure for you, especially if you can keep them close (or win), and then the game at home (or fee for breaking the contract) can be even better for the program.

Oddly enough, that might work if UNC had a player from the state of Illinois on their roster. Afterall, that's pretty much how UE got the deal with them, since UNC has a kid from near there. If UNC recruits a kid from our state, let's get on the horn with Roy Williams immediately

If the Whinning Illini don't need to play in-state schools so be it. We don't need them any more than they need us.

One of the problems, in my opinion, is that there are not enough Barry Hinsons who are coaching or administrating at the non-BCS schools/conferences. Hinson wasn't ashamed of his school or of his conference; he wasn't afraid to call out the media whenever the media discounted Valley schools or the league; and he wasn't afraid to rock the boat when discussing the arrogance or the insecurity of BCS schools when it came to the scheduling process. I think that there are a lot of coaches, athletic directors, presidents, etc. who either came up through the ranks as assistants at BCS schools or who aspire to be running a BCS program some day, and they don't want to throw rocks, burn bridges, (insert some other cliche' here), etc. at the programs that once employed them or that may soon be providing them with a larger paycheck than the one they are getting today.

Because my nature is to be a smartass, I would be tempted each year to have a press conference at which I calmly point out that we have offered the illini a contract for a home-and-home series, and we made the same offer to [name any 25 BCS schools that are perrenial NCAA tournament entries and that you would like to see at Redbird Arena], and each of those offers has either been rejected or we got no response whatsoever.....so please don't tell me at the end of the season that we are not tournament worthy because we don't play any strong non-conference opponents on our schedule. Of course, the response would be that we COULD HAVE (maybe) scheduled a couple of those games if we had agreed to a one-and-done road game, but I think that the point should be constantly driven home that we are willing to play those guys on equal footing.....and if they are too concerned about their revenue or their "nothing-to-gain-and-everything-to-lose" scheduling philosophy, then so be it but don't penalize us for pursuing non-conference games against them on fair terms.

This sounds like solid scheduling strategy...wait for an IL kid to get recruited and then beg for a 3 for 1. I never thought the day would come when I'd see UE being held up as a model for how we should run our program.

If the Whinning Illini don't need to play in-state schools so be it. We don't need them any more than they need us.

Very, very, very, very well-said. That has always been my beef with Jankovic. I acknowledge that he has been able to bring in good players, and so far - we have had competitive teams. But he continually talks as if he doesn't wish to rock the boat. He doesn't want to step on the toes of coaches in higher-profile programs. He speaks so highly of certain programs, i.e. "going to their place would be suicide", and continues to regurgitate that "only 4 non-BCS teams get in" - speaking as if it is a new rule, when it really is just a recent outcome. This has been and continues to be my biggest beef with Coach Jank. When he does leave (be it 2 years or 10 years from now), I just hope we can get a Muller or someone that has ties to this University. Hell, throw ridiculous sums of money at Doug Collins knowing he wouldn't be checking the coaches classified ads every offseason. Now, I hope I'm wrong, but I sure don't think so.

My post was mainly a joke, but honestly if it weren't for UNC's Tyler Zeller being from nearby Washington, Indiana would UE get a deal with them? I doubt it. Therefore, by that rationale, if an IL kid went to UNC...you see my point (farfetched as it may be).

The 2 tournaments you mentioned were about 4 years apart, and the second one was 2 years ago. Not much of a downward trend to spot there?

Do you honestly believe that Weber is scared to play MVC opponents? .