Why don’t we just play Western Carolina as our FCS game every year?

[ah59396]

Is there a good reason here? Obviously the history is tremendous. It’s also meaningful for all of the western portion of the state.

I’d like to think we aren’t too high and mighty that we can’t appreciate our past.

What would be so bad about playing Western Carolina and keeping the Old Mountain Jug going?

[biggie]

If we want to try to be top 25 every year we need to have as high SOS as possible. I’m sure many years they’d hope to not have an FCS at all.

[AppinVA]

Because you can’t launch a boat with one foot remaining on the shore.

[ah59396]

If we want to try to be top 25 every year we need to have as high SOS as possible. I’m sure many years they’d hope to not have an FCS at all.

If we are purely talking SOS I agree.

But we are playing Campbell this year, who is filling in for Morgan State.

We played ETSU last year. Gardner Webb the year before and Savannah State the year before that. None of those help our SOS.

We appear to have an FCS team on the calendar every year. So if we are going to have one, why not it be a team we have a long history with?

Maybe I’m in the minority here but I don’t see how tipping a cap to our history makes it seem like we aren’t moving forward.

[biggie]

Yes I’m ok with western if we play a FCS team just for history. But those FCS teams in current years and near future were probably set a while ago. I’m sure they’d like to get away from them if possible.

[ah59396]

Yes I’m ok with western if we play a FCS team just for history. But those FCS teams in current years and near future were probably set a while ago. I’m sure they’d like to get away from them if possible.

Is there a particular reason why? Heck the SEC even has that week late in the fall where I see South Carolina vs Citadel and Alabama vs Savannah State.

[biggie]

For G5 I think you have to get SOS as high as possible to compete with P5s with SOS being high due to their conf play.

[WASU 93]

Yes I’m ok with western if we play a FCS team just for history. But those FCS teams in current years and near future were probably set a while ago. I’m sure they’d like to get away from them if possible.

Is there a particular reason why? Heck the SEC even has that week late in the fall where I see South Carolina vs Citadel and Alabama vs Savannah State.

I think FCS games have been the norm for FBS teams because:
1. They are a guaranteed home game, with many FCS teams looking to have 6 or 7 home gates per year.
2. They are viewed (although, not always the case) as an easier win. If you are South Carolina, North Carolina or Vandy, that win could be valuable for Bowl Eligibility.

I am not against playing Western Carolina. However, I am not aware of any situation where there is an annual FCS/FBS match-up. Rotating them in every fourth year would make sense, as would ETSU.

[ah59396]

Yes I’m ok with western if we play a FCS team just for history. But those FCS teams in current years and near future were probably set a while ago. I’m sure they’d like to get away from them if possible.

Is there a particular reason why? Heck the SEC even has that week late in the fall where I see South Carolina vs Citadel and Alabama vs Savannah State.

I think FCS games have been the norm for FBS teams because:
1. They are a guaranteed home game, with many FCS teams looking to have 6 or 7 home gates per year.
2. They are viewed (although, not always the case) as an easier win. If you are South Carolina, North Carolina or Vandy, that win could be valuable for Bowl Eligibility.

I am not against playing Western Carolina. However, I am not aware of any situation where there is an annual FCS/FBS match-up. Rotating them in every fourth year would make sense, as would ETSU.

Nor am I. In fact I’m nearly certain there is not one. I wonder, would it make us look Mickey Mouse? Or would it make us look like we are willing to play old rivals even if it’s not really part of our big picture anymore.

Maybe not quite a perfect example, but would anyone scoff at LSU if they and Tulane rekindled their storied rivalry. Or Rice and the pile of Texas schools they used to see every year? I get they are both FBS but on different stratosphères regardless. Rice is basically an FCS team in terms of quality.

[CheckYosef94]

Once we announced we were moving up I think this idea was floated around. IIRC Western was not a fan of the idea of traveling to Boone every year for the amount of money we were willing to pay. They'd much rather get the heavier payday from the Alabama's of the world.

[ah59396]

Once we announced we were moving up I think this idea was floated around. IIRC Western was not a fan of the idea of traveling to Boone every year for the amount of money we were willing to pay. They'd much rather get the heavier payday from the Alabama's of the world.

That definitely makes sense. I suspect they get well over a million from Alabama.

Maybe one day when we aren’t strapped for cash we can make it happen haha.

[AtlantaMountaineer]

I use to visit the Catamount board once in awhile. Back when we moved up to FBS, most of their fans were predicting our doom. They also stated there was no way WCU would ever play at Boone again unless we agreed to a Home and Home with them. FBS rules prohibit a FBS team playing at an FCS school Therefore, there is apparently no interest from their side. At the same time, our old rival East Tennessee State has no problem playing at Boone.

[NewApp]

Some have said that they won't play us unless it's home and home and we aren't that unwise or not permitted to play in an FCS venue.

[CVAPP]

Once we announced we were moving up I think this idea was floated around. IIRC Western was not a fan of the idea of traveling to Boone every year for the amount of money we were willing to pay. They'd much rather get the heavier payday from the Alabama's of the world.

I am pretty sure this sums it up.

[BallantyneApp]

Is there a good reason here? Obviously the history is tremendous. It’s also meaningful for all of the western portion of the state.

I’d like to think we aren’t too high and mighty that we can’t appreciate our past.

What would be so bad about playing Western Carolina and keeping the Old Mountain Jug going?

I think there's a lot of issues with making this an annual game:
1. we can't pay WCU what they need from their FBS game (generally an SEC team)
2. WCU doesn't want to go from having their rival on an equal ground to traveling to Boone every year to be our "warm up game", their fans who remember App playing in the whee aren't going to accept that.
3. From Apps point of view, the FCS game is about working out kinks and getting a relatively easy win, we would always get WCUs best shot every year, as knocking us off would make their season.
4. Also, i'm not sure that the optics work with essentially having a rivalry with an FCS program.

All that being said, I would love to have them every so often to rekindle the rivalry. I think every 4-5 years makes sense. Maybe once their AD turns over 100%, and their fans get more used to being on a different level with App, we can make it happen.

[huskie3]

I would be in favor of a three year rotation of Western, ETSU, and Furman. Have it as the 2nd or 3rd game.

[GregPercussion]

I would be in favor of a three year rotation of Western, ETSU, and Furman. Have it as the 2nd or 3rd game.

Clemson does something similar with SC State, Furman, and The Citadel (SC in state FCS schools). So I wouldn't mind it for sure. But I do think we should avoid it.

We should play western every once in a while, but not consistently. I'd rather have room on the schedule for other games and opponents.

[Stonewall]

They don't want to.

[BeauFoster]

I’m sure at some point we may see WCU on the schedule for football, but I don’t think it will be yearly. They don’t want it, and it doesn’t help us out, from an SOS standpoint. Once would be nice, just to remind them of all the beatings they once took, but none of today’s players have any clue that they were once a rival. It wouldn’t mean nearly as much to them as it would (potentially) to older fans such as us.

[mfrench]

Once we announced we were moving up I think this idea was floated around. IIRC Western was not a fan of the idea of traveling to Boone every year for the amount of money we were willing to pay. They'd much rather get the heavier payday from the Alabama's of the world.

That definitely makes sense. I suspect they get well over a million from Alabama.

Maybe one day when we aren’t strapped for cash we can make it happen haha.

WCU gets a big payday from a Bama, but more likely a third of that.