http://www.journalnow.com/sports/asu/fo ... f6878.html

It does sound promising down the road however.

Coming off what is looking to be a disappointing 2013 season, that is not going to do much to build any buzz for 2014. We should be building momentum for this move, instead we seem to be backing up at the worst possible time.

There will be snark and sneers, but FBS scheduling is a lot more complex than FCS scheduling. This is a part of growing pains.

Many FBS programs have OOC schedules set years in advance. At one point, ECU had SIX YEARS of OOC scheduling done.

So having 17 months between our FBS announcement and our first game as an FBS isn't easy, especially since we're trying to set up home and homes.

Most programs have all the FBS games they want and are now just looking for FCS opponents to throw cash at.

For instance I just looked through the MAC and out of 13 teams, there are five openings left for 2014. Three of those are for FBS teams. And that's what is announced, not what is verbally agreed to.

Georgia Southern has a set schedule, but that's because they took three money games (worth 1.9 million) and a FCS (Duquense) instead of setting up home and homes because they really need the money.

I think it is understandable under the circumstances especially since we want that sixth home game.

Although the story seems to suggest otherwise, I'm still holding out hope that we play a 13th game at Hawaii. Some of our players and their parents believe it's still a possibility.

appst89 wrote:Coming off what is looking to be a disappointing 2013 season, that is not going to do much to build any buzz for 2014. We should be building momentum for this move, instead we seem to be backing up at the worst possible time.

I'm not ready to throw this season away just yet, and I'd much rather walk in to FBS than go though a meat grinder like Georgia Southern is going to do. We have a marquee game against Michigan, and FBS conference games at home against winnable opponents. I'll take it even if it means two FCS schools next year... for home and homes against G5 or P5 teams starting in 2015.

Being negative about everything associated with our football program seems to be en vogue right now, but I don't see anything but positives in this article.

Sutton said there are talks with ACC, Conference USA and MAC programs.

Beyond 2014, the aim is to land home-and-home agreements with some FBS opponents.

“We have some conversations going,” Cobb said. “There are 60 schools just like us not in the five power conferences that want to play FBS (nonconference opponents).”

Sutton said the move has opened the door to putting bowl-subdivision teams on future schedules, especially at home.

“I have had more conversations with schools about scheduling — and these conversations have been positive — than I have had in many, many years."

Appsolutely wrote:Being negative about everything associated with our football program seems to be en vogue right now, but I don't see anything but positives in this article.

Sutton said there are talks with ACC, Conference USA and MAC programs.

Beyond 2014, the aim is to land home-and-home agreements with some FBS opponents.

“We have some conversations going,” Cobb said. “There are 60 schools just like us not in the five power conferences that want to play FBS (nonconference opponents).”

Sutton said the move has opened the door to putting bowl-subdivision teams on future schedules, especially at home.

“I have had more conversations with schools about scheduling — and these conversations have been positive — than I have had in many, many years."[/quote]

Voices of reason from hapapp and Appsolutely! Right on! So far as I can tell, the sky is not falling. We're going to be just fine with football schedules. Our fans will just need to realize that it won't be instantaneous.

"Voices of reason from hapapp and Appsolutely! Right on! So far as I can tell, the sky is not falling. We're going to be just fine with football schedules. Our fans will just need to realize that it won't be instantaneous."

Agreed --- some just don't understand how difficult scheduling can be --- Hey we all wanted to take the Homecoming Queen (female posters not included here) to the Prom but there was that little problem of HER accepting

"Our fans will just need to realize that it won't be instantaneous."

Exactly, CP...hard to get that across in a culture that expects everything, right now. People seem to have forgotten that a certain amount of patience is a virtue...and that's true when it comes to so many things in life.

Appsolutely wrote:"Our fans will just need to realize that it won't be instantaneous."

Exactly, CP...hard to get that across in a culture that expects everything, right now. People seem to have forgotten that a certain amount of patience is a virtue...and that's true when it comes to so many things in life.

I hope you're right. I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to sit down and talk with Jay Sutton for a long time. I appreciate how hard he is working and how difficult the task of scheduling is. My post above was written from the perception is reality angle. One of the big selling points of the move was improved scheduling. A lot of the "I-told you-so'ers" are going to look at two FCS teams at home and they are going to say, "I told you so." The media is very likely to take the same approach. We've already seen examples of some of them who will take every opportunity to kick us.

appst89 wrote:

Appsolutely wrote:"Our fans will just need to realize that it won't be instantaneous."

Exactly, CP...hard to get that across in a culture that expects everything, right now. People seem to have forgotten that a certain amount of patience is a virtue...and that's true when it comes to so many things in life.

I hope you're right. I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to sit down and talk with Jay Sutton for a long time. I appreciate how hard he is working and how difficult the task of scheduling is. My post above was written from the perception is reality angle. One of the big selling points of the move was improved scheduling. A lot of the "I-told you-so'ers" are going to look at two FCS teams at home and they are going to say, "I told you so." The media is very likely to take the same approach. We've already seen examples of some of them who will take every opportunity to kick us.

You're probably right, but oh well. If people get their jollies from saying, "I told you so," I just feel sorry for them.

Appsolutely wrote:"Our fans will just need to realize that it won't be instantaneous."

Exactly, CP...hard to get that across in a culture that expects everything, right now. People seem to have forgotten that a certain amount of patience is a virtue...and that's true when it comes to so many things in life.

I posted a few weeks ago that I was concerned about our scheduling, but that had more to do with seasons beyond 2014. We are still transitional next season so it's understandable to have difficulty finding a home FBS game. I just hope we get a quality OOC road game close by for one of the two open slots so our fans can travel easily. I just checked and WVU, ECU, Louisville, Temple, and MTSU all need a home game.

I too was encouraged by this quote: “I have had more conversations with schools about scheduling — and these conversations have been positive — than I have had in many, many years,” he said.

Schedule another FCS program, but for the other OOC game make it a home and home so we are able to announce our first OOC FBS home matchup for 2015.

From what I gather, the game at Hawaii will not happen (potential guarantee apparently wasn't enough to offset or justify a costly trip). I probably should have included that in the story, but hope this helps clarify.

What people don't realize is that Charlie lets Jay and the HFC schedule how they want and just signs off on it. It's a good thing Jay got App all the FBS games he got in 2005 before the first title (NC State, Florida, VT, UGA) because afterward, getting games became a hassle. There were FBS team who were begging for games with $$$ payouts whom Jay would call and get a NO! from. Michigan didn't want to play us, but had Hawaii cancel at the last minute and literally had no other options. We had to pay NAU 175K to come in that year to play.

Appsolutely wrote:Being negative about everything associated with our football program seems to be en vogue right now, but I don't see anything but positives in this article.

Sutton said there are talks with ACC, Conference USA and MAC programs.

Beyond 2014, the aim is to land home-and-home agreements with some FBS opponents.

“We have some conversations going,” Cobb said. “There are 60 schools just like us not in the five power conferences that want to play FBS (nonconference opponents).”

Sutton said the move has opened the door to putting bowl-subdivision teams on future schedules, especially at home.

“I have had more conversations with schools about scheduling — and these conversations have been positive — than I have had in many, many years."

Agreed. I took this article as very positive, especially the part regarding discussions with the ACC. Hoping that means the Wake series again. Also, one more FCS school wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, especially if this season keeps going the way it is, as it would be a more winnable game for us. We still have a whole year of FBS conference games in the SB.

T_Bowman_WSJ wrote:From what I gather, the game at Hawaii will not happen (potential guarantee apparently wasn't enough to offset or justify a costly trip). I probably should have included that in the story, but hope this helps clarify.

Thanks, Tommy

odds are, if there is an ACC team in our future its got to be Wake, before they cancelled the series, we were their biggest draw, now fast forward to present, we are FBS, their program is horrible and not getting better anytime soon, so it makes sense to play teams comparable with their talent level instead of playing ie: Stanford, and getting beat by 40. I think this series is going to happen, it just might take 4-5 years because I believe Wake schedule is complete for atleast the next 3 years.

moehler wrote:odds are, if there is an ACC team in our future its got to be Wake, before they cancelled the series, we were their biggest draw, now fast forward to present, we are FBS, their program is horrible and not getting better anytime soon, so it makes sense to play teams comparable with their talent level instead of playing ie: Stanford, and getting beat by 40. I think this series is going to happen, it just might take 4-5 years because I believe Wake schedule is complete for atleast the next 3 years.

It could also be Duke. I'm sure they wouldn't mind selling out Wallace Wade Stadium in years they don't host Virginia Tech.