Cat's_Claw Wrote:RIVER CITY PIRATE Wrote:Some of you guys kill me. You want an all sports conference that can someday become a great conferene but you want to allow schools like Army, Navy, and Notre Dame to be partial members.
That is not the way to go and will not add stability to the conference over the long term.
Army has seen that can't compete in a conference. They don't need to nor does Notre Dame nor Navy.
It's not a matter of Army or Navy being able to compete, and they might be able to compete look at Air Force, it's about adding their fan base and markets. It's also about scheduling flexibility and improved bowl access.
Claw,
You have just summed it up. The overall quality of the program and whether it can produce a winner on the field year in and year out is not the problem. You want their markets and their ability to maybe attract bowls. That is the problem with the whole system.
Army and Navy do not have a market like most schools do. They do have a national audience to some degree. Air Force for one has less standards for admission than Annapolis and West Point plus leaving the AFA and flying planes is much more appealing.
But how is that going to help the Big East survive in the world of collegiate football today if you have two programs who will be more at the bottom of Divison I than near the top?
And before you say ole ECU is at the bottom now I do no this but hell we beat Army even in our worst of times. They were two of our three wins the last two years. Not bragging because this record is pitiful but shows you what you would have on most years with Army and Navy. I do enjoy the games with Army for one it is a guaranteed win. It is a special game in a way but I would much rather see other schools on the schedule year in and year out.
This is Navy's schedule for 2005. You can see where they are going with their scheduling as you can with Army:
Date Opponent Location Time/Result
Sep 3 vs. Maryland Baltimore, Md. 6:00 PM
Sep 10 Stanford Annapolis, Md. 6:00 PM
Sep 24 at Rice Houston, Texas 8:00 PM
Oct 1 at Duke Durham, N.C. TBA
Oct 8 Air Force Annapolis, Md. 1:30 PM
Oct 15 Kent State Annapolis, Md. 1:30 PM
Oct 29 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J. TBA
Nov 5 Tulane (Homecoming) Annapolis, Md. 1:30 PM
Nov 12 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. 1:00 PM
Nov 19 Temple Annapolis, Md. 1:30 PM
Dec 3 vs. Army (CBS) Philadelphia, Pa. TBA
All Game Times Are Eastern Time
Here is Army' s schedule for 2005:
Day Date Opponent Location Outcome/Time
Sat 09/10/2005 at Boston College Chestnut Hill, Mass. 12:30 PM
Sat 09/17/2005 BAYLOR West Point, N.Y. 3:00 PM
Fri 09/23/2005 IOWA STATE West Point, N.Y. 8:00 PM
Sat 10/01/2005 CONNECTICUT West Point, N.Y. TBA TBA
Sat 10/08/2005 CENTRAL MICHIGAN West Point, N.Y. TBA TBA
Sat 10/15/2005 at TCU Fort Worth, Texas TBA 7:00 PM
Sat 10/22/2005 at Akron Akron, Ohio TBA 6:00 PM
Sat 11/05/2005 at Air Force USAFA, Colo. TBA TBA
Sat 11/12/2005 MASSACHUSETTS West Point, N.Y. TBA TBA
Sat 11/19/2005 ARKANSAS STATE West Point, N.Y. TBA TBA
Sat 12/03/2005 vs. Navy Philadelphia, Pa. 2:30 PM
These are good schedules for both Army and Navy. Most of their games are with schools that they can compete with. They can be competetive with these schedules. They can go to bowl games without the Big East or CUSA or whoever with these schedules. They don;t have the chance to do this playing a Big East or CUSA schedule on a yearly basis. Especially since they have to limit their out of conference games.