Phil Roe's mentioning of scheduling D-I-A's to raise money at the Student meeting about football revival has me contemplating something.

Supposedly the state won't fund college athletics past 2007. So these "money" games are more important for D-I-AAs.

However, what if the state legislature got together and then forced the big schools- Tennessee, Vanderbilt, MTSU, and Memphis- to play the smaller ones- ETSU, Chattanooga, UT-Martin and Austin Peay- on a rotating, yearly basis?

Now, I don't know if Vanderbilt could even be thrown into the mix because I believe it is a private school. But then again- I'm sure it's not impossible and the virtually assured win and short trip for rival fans might work out well for them- so they may WANT to be added to the mix.

I also wonder about Tennessee State and any other Division I-AA I've forgotten- but perhaps they too could be thrown into the mix and one of the Division I-AA's is left on their own to schedule "money" games against whomever every five years if they need to.

Thoughts?

A more correct way to put it might be that Vandy couldn't be FORCED into the mix. Their private status assures that.

They also can't force UT athletics to do anything by law, not unless the state government said they would cut something else. UT athletics is 100 percent funded through ad/gate revenues, private donations. The only possible way around that is the base salary that is covered by the state. That goes for any sport they have.

Yes they can force ut, exactly in the manner you stated, by law. They are a state institution and the state government trumps them and funds their entire university. As long as they are a state university, the legislature owns them lock stock and barrel (as Bill Meade would say, plain and simple). ;-)

A similar example, it took pressure/legislation to force UofL and UK to play basketball against each other. Just a little friendly persuasion exerted by the folks in Frankfort ==>

I did a story on this awhile back regarding a then-State Legislator in Pennsylvania who wanted to bring back Pitt and Penn State.

He spoke of how Ohio State, thanks to the Ohio Legislature, has always had one and often times two games on their schedule against intrastate schools such as Cincinnati and the MAC since 1996.

While the politician I spoke to was more Blow than Go- which is why his resolution didn't pass in Pennsylvania- the fact of the matter is obviously this law hasn't hurt Ohio State.

Why can't we do something like that here?

Especially when I think if I was Vanderbilt I would want to get in on the mix.

They do it already with UT and Memphis. Calipari hates coming to knoxville and Fulmer hates going to Memphis. Good luck making it work, if they try to force athletic teams to do that and it's a detriment to one of the two universities, see ya in court.
Besides, who wants to do that? Let the mid-majors play each other, and let UT and to an extent Memphis and MTSU big time the rest of the state. Eventually it will come around to haunt them in one way or another. At some point UT will reach a price cap, and they'll stop selling out games, families will stop going due to simple economics, and when it does, where will ETSU be? Will they be there to offer a suitable alternative, or will they still be flicking their pud getting their asses kicked by teams like Morehead State.

Who wants to do that?

Well, ETSU does- because they want to find funding to start up a team.

Every D-1-AA does- because of the exposure and revenue such an agreement would give them.

I'm gambling Memphis, Vanderbilt, and MTSU would want to do it too, or at least could be talked into it. They get a much needed win, big-boy status that they didn't before, and I just happen to think the fans of the D-1-AAs would more likely travel to a big city within their state limits than, say, Colorado State.

The ones who would complain somewhat are the Vols. Tennessee fans perceive even ETSU as being a threat to them.

But they shouldn't. They haven't had a Division I-AA tune-up since 1983, and since they've tried everything else to beat Florida, maybe a 50-0 win preceeding the third weekend in September might do the trick.

Furthermore, Florida proved you can schedule a Division I-AA and still play for a National Championship- even with a loss- out of the SEC.

But where it helps Tennessee is their football program eats up the other programs in the state.

Here's a way to be altruistic and get a 50-0 win to boot.

You know, Virginia Tech plays James Madison with regularity. The end result is that both VPI and JMU are national powers in their respective levels.

Why can't that happen here?

Speaking of VPI, when is UT gonna balls up and play these guys? They've been putting it off for years now. Hell they were scared out of their mind when they thought they might have to actually play them in a bowl game.

Go find the money, then call Mike Hamilton. A game with Tech won't get them what they want in his eyes, king of like the Mets/Yankees in the World Series... Not many outside of New York cared, and right now with the two programs having not been conference champs recently it just doesn't look like a great national matchup like a USC/Nebraska, Cal/Tennessee, Tennessee/Nebraska, etc... Hamilton is a salesman, he wants name recognition, how many times can he get the athletic teams mentioned on ESPN or any other type ot TV for free? Hell Notre Dame figured that out years ago, to the point that people PAY THEM to broadcast their games!
I think everyone wants it from a fan standpoint, not going to happen.
And by the way Tech scheduled patsies years ago to build their program, in case anyone forgets with the exception of Don Strock and Bruce Smith Va. Tech was pretty much an unheard of in football until the mid 90's. Tech schedules weak OOC every year to keep logging wins, to the point that they backed out of an LSU game a couple of years ago to play JMU, and now they have to play LSU next season in Baton Rouge. FCS schools are a bad proposition right now for BCS schools, ask Colorado about Montana State. The good ones can compete 11 on 11, the bigger schools beat them with depth.

FCS (I still like Division I-AA) schools are a bad proposition for Division I-AA teams and sometimes for the Division I-AAs as well- just ask the '98 and '94 Bucs.

That's why I thought Phil Roe was on smelling salts or something when he started talking about how you could fund football that way to the students.

My thing with the BMS game is- IT AIN'T A FOOTBALL STADIUM!!!!

How far away are the fans going to be on this thing? What are the facilities for dressing and such going to be?

And I'm sorry- I do not think this will sell 150,000 tickets.

Well Memphis, MTSU, App State, Austin Peay, TTU, TSU, Furman, Wofford, Western Carolina, Coastal Carolina, and about every other program in the country is funded through the students, and supplemented through gate, concessions and donations. That's just how the small schools operate, otherwise the only universities that could actually afford scholarship Division I athletics of any kind are the BCS schools.

Yep- that's what I said at the student's meeting that you were at. Congrats for picking up on it.

Oh the meeting for students you weren't invited to, right... BTW i thought you wanted nothing to with anything ETSU until Stanton and Mullins are gone?

Obviously since I make 200 posts on here a day it's not as if I don't want anything to do with ETSU sports.

Get a clue.

I said I would not attend games. I won't give them any money. I sure as HELL won't buy a car from Johnson City Honda.

Do I still care about what goes on? Yeah.

Because I know the only way this crummy hole in the wall will ever be seen in a positive light is if ETSU wins on a national scale again.

Again? How many national championships does ETSU have? What is the streak for consecutive weeks ranked in the top 25 in basketball? How many games a year is ETSU on TV AT HOME, and I'm talking about back then...
You're delusional man. You romanticize this program like it's Alabama football... They had a couple of really great years, that's it! We've never been in the caliber consistently like Butler, Gonzaga, Wichita State, etc... Those teams were more like a Valparaiso.
And get over yourself, Johnson City Honda gives the sports network money, something they need to compete, and it's not like you have money to give them, you make less than most full time bartenders at the ol' 92 dot 7.

Bartenders. Mmmmmm. Coyote Ugly.

Why couldn't ETSU be a Butler, Gonzaga, or whoever?

There's really WAS no reason.

Yea there was, it's called no facilities, no money and the great Les Robinson, just like Sonny Smith, Ed DeChellis and many others left for alleged greener pastures, villages on the plains and cold weather. fact is ETSU has never done their job fundraising, now I'll give all the credit in the world to the efforts given from marketing/sales. They are getting in game promotions going, the "Where do you sit?" slogan is a good idea for a campaign to try and generate interest. We're just now starting to see some efforts made there, and they weren't in the 90's and even when the Eddie was around.

The facilities weren't considered a hindrance until the fire marshall started poking his nose around and a campaign to bulid new facilities started.

True, the sightlines at Memorial Center were never real good. But name me the recruit that came to a college for fan sightlines.

Football coaches often spoke of the Vault as a good recruiting tool. In 1996 the Tennessee Oilers considered training here because of the facilities- especially after Keener Fry put some money into the weight room.

In basketball the vast seating capacity meant ETSU had a top 60 venue for seating capacity.

Over the years people started picking on the place because of the sightlines- the fact it felt empty with 5000 people there- the cries of "We want football outdoors!"

But it was kind of like Cleveland Stadium. It was a sense of pride for Indians fans to say "We have the largest stadium in the Major Leagues" in its day and filled up for the 1948 World Series or something it was an incredible venue.

But then it wasn't so much when there were 5000 fans in a mid-summer game to decide last place in the AL East.

You're playing basketball in an airplane hanger, until a few years ago the locker rooms were a joke, athletes didn't have a nice place to live until Buc Ridge was built, there's been no renovations, THINGS WERE RUNDOWN! It's the same reason that C-USA laughed at us and said build some facilities then call us.

I will buy that.

I will also say- and my original point was- that until recently, the facilities at ETSU were considered to be decent during the eras of Robinson and Smith for the reasons I spoke of above.

DeChellis wasn't too jacked about the place because he saw it as Cleveland Stadium and was never around to see the place filled. That's kind of when the real momentum to replace the "hangar" started.