(06-26-2014 07:52 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(06-26-2014 07:37 AM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(06-25-2014 10:36 PM)ohio1317 Wrote:  Beyond that, I get not wanting to play in-state opponents. It's not trying to be disrespectful. It's just that, if you have/can have state wide following, you don't want to give people in the state a reason to cheer against your school. If you play instate schools a lot, they become rivals and it's hard to be a fan of both teams in a rivalry. If you rarely play it's easier to cheer for both though.

Really? It works well enough in Philly. The state of PA is usually one of the biggest contributors to the NCAA tournament. The Big 5 is a big part of that. It's good for the sport. It's good for the state. It's good for the schools. It's a shame the fart-sniffers at some of the Big Ten schools can't figure that out (and that's not just on Ohio State, since Penn State is almost as guilty). Of course, they're accountable to no one, so what do I know?

Yeah, Louisville and Cincinnati have no problem playing NKU, EKU, WKU, Murray State, etc. UL even opened up NKU's new arena, and they had a home-and-home with Butler to open the YUM center. UC frequently plays Horizon and MAC schools from Ohio and Indiana.

Last time we played Dayton a few years back, we doubled them up (won 68-34, IIRC). The big school doesn't have to worry about a vicious rivalry forming if they win handily every time.

That's why tOSU won't play you, of course--and why they stopped playing you back in the day I believe. Or why Kansas won't play the Shockers. (KSU won't play the Shockers either, which I don't understand at all.)