RE: 2018 Schedule
Policiious, no disrespect, but please stop with your "alternative" a.k.a., disaster scheduling concept.
No. 1, there is not a growing number of Independent teams.
No. 2, aside from BYU, none of the teams you suggest are any more desirable opponents than the top of the MAC. Do you honestly think people would be more interested in Liberty or New Mexico State than facing WMU or CMU?
No. 3, when you suggest "Independent" opponents can take the place of the MAC conference schedule what exactly does NIU gain? In essence you're proposing a conference of Independents based on the false notion those other schools would want such an arrangement.
No. 4, having the entire athletic program under one conference is the ideal for a number of reasons and it's why the only time you find schools in multiple conferences is because of the necessity for the other sports to have an avenue to NCAA qualification. HuskieJohn, name "a local conference" that's going to want all the other NIU sports.
No. 5, when you say several P5 teams are a closer distance than MAC opponents....SO WHAT! Those schools you mentioned have no desire to come to DeKalb and what makes you think they necessarily want to host NIU when you think it would fit? It's wonderful you label them a good foe for NIU, but that doesn't make it so. Does it occur to you that one of the reasons some of those schools found scheduling the Huskies to be an attractive / acceptable opponent was because of NIU's name recognition from having been successful in the MAC?
No. 6, good, bad or indifferent, the MAC has a number of bowl tie-ins, leave the MAC to be an independent and bowl opportunities exist only IF you have a phenomenal year. We were independent in football at one point and it got us nowhere! Learn from past mistakes, don't repeat them.
No. 7, a Hawaii game annually? The excessive costs in playing at Hawaii is why you don't see schools jumping at the chance to play there. Even if they were willing to come to DeKalb, what the hell makes Hawaii an attractive opponent to NIU fans? They don't bring babes in grass skirts with coconut bras shaking their hips.
No. 8, week-by-week scheduling simply proves how naive and uninformed you are on how scheduling works: it's a two-way street. You cannot operate on a basis of what you think would be workable for NIU and never consider the flip side of the equation. IF you're at BYU, et. al, what makes you think they want to play home-and-away with us?
No. 9, how much are you willing to bet because LIberty's "road game" at VA is not a winnable game; New Mexico State at Minnesota is not a winnable game. The reason UMass's fifth home game is Homecoming is because they want a win and Liberty is the opponent. Seriously are you clueless on why some schools have Homecoming either late or early in their schedule?
No. 10, everybody -- especially Policiious -- please stop and consider word for word what Lord Stanely posted in the "get out of the MAC" thread:
Schedules, W/L, attendance, revenue, location, TVs, number of NFL picks: all irrelevant if no one else wants ya.
|