Playing for pay hurts Sun Belt

MeanGreen61 · July 26, 2006

By Marcus Nelson

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

NEW ORLEANS - There's a reason Sun Belt Conference teams don't play many games in December - just look at who they're playing in September.

That's when Sun Belt schools often are overmatched on the road against out-of-conference heavyweights for the big payouts.

Money may help athletic departments balance the books, but it isn't helping teams in the conference become bowl-eligible, and that concerns Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters.

"We've got to get to a point where we are scheduling to get as many teams bowl eligible as we can," Waters said Tuesday at the Sun Belt Media Days.

However, that's easy for Waters to say - he isn't in charge of an athletic department budget and isn't dependent on the large paydays that Division I-A bottom feeders need from football game guarantees. For example, Florida Atlantic will receive $600,000 this season for playing at South Carolina. Louisiana-Lafayette was paid $500,000 last season for going to Texas and taking a 60-3 defeat.

In the Sun Belt, playing money games may be a way of life, but Waters would like to see teams strike a balance and start winning some non-conference games. Florida Atlantic's non-conference schedule this season isn't exactly what Waters has in mind as a model for improving the league's winning percentage.

The Owls will net $1.8 million by playing road games at Clemson, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and South Carolina to start the season.

"What we've talked about is getting your schedule where you can compete and teach winning," Waters said. "The other is to schedule up and play them anytime, any place, anywhere. It worked for Florida State and Southern Mississippi and it very well may work for FAU, but there is some risk involved."

But the Owls need the money and also need to play top teams to get better, according to FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger.

"We're not always going to play four games like that, but we are now," Schnellenberger said. "This is a long-range thing, and if we get better in those games, it will help us in the Sun Belt Conference. It's part of the building process."

Louisiana-Monroe also has a tough non-conference schedule, which includes games at Kansas, Alabama, Arkansas and Kentucky.

"You have to make sure the bank account is in good shape, but you want a balance," Louisiana-Monroe Athletic Director Bobby Staub said. "We're doing four and that's one more than I'd like to. I'd like to get it down to two guarantees a year."

Troy isn't too far behind FAU this season, playing successive road games at Florida State, Georgia Tech and Nebraska.

But Trojans coach Larry Blakeney knows playing these games benefits his program, including the time the Trojans defeated No. 17 Missouri 24-14 in 2004.

"You get better by playing them and you can't shock the world if you don't play them," Blakeney said.

And players don't seem to mind facing teams in tough environments.

"When we found out we were playing South Carolina I thought it was pretty cool, but then I saw we were playing Clemson and Kansas State," said FAU offensive lineman Nello Faulk. "It will be tough, but I just want to play top teams in those big-time environments. That's what college football is all about."

MeanGreenBuzz · July 27, 2006

Not everyone can be in a BCS conference where you can suck for years, Baylor, and still get craploads of money each season. I am glad we only have 1 money game this year in UT.

GreenTiger_OriginalAcct · July 27, 2006

Not everyone can be in a BCS conference where you can suck for years, Baylor, and still get craploads of money each season. I am glad we only have 1 money game this year in UT.
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It may be sign of improvement in our scheduling not we are not mentioned in that article!

Cerebus · July 27, 2006

The Owls will net $1.8 million by playing road games at Clemson, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and South Carolina to start the season.
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If we are going to have to play a body bag game or two a year, I hope we are pulling in the $450,000 per game average FAU seems to command.

eeally · July 27, 2006

Now this is great scheduling!!!!

Ok State, K-State, Clemson, South Carolina....

I would much rather do this for 1.8 Million than 650,000 to get washed by a top 5 team every year.

Over time could UNT not compete with these Average BCS teams?

GreenEddieNT · July 27, 2006

Not everyone can be in a BCS conference where you can suck for years, Baylor, and still get craploads of money each season. I am glad we only have 1 money game this year in UT.
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Well, the thing is that Baylor, even in losing years, still putts more butts in the seats than any Sun Belt stadium can even hold. Small fan bases and small stadiums is what is holding the Sun Belt back. The more butts you can put in the seats the easier scheduling becomes and the easier it is to win and become bowl-eligible. If you look at the non-bcs schools with the largest fan bases they are able to attract the BCS schools to their place which increases their chances of winning as opposed to always going on the road. They can also schedule lighter because they know their fans will pack their stadiums even against non-bcs schools or 1-AA teams. Instead of going on the road for one-and-done payouts they do home-and-homes with other schools(including BCS schools) or even make money by scheduling 1-AA's and still getting big crowds. In this regard we are actually doing better than the rest of the Sun Belt but we need to get to the point where we pack the stadium no matter who the opponent is, even 1-AA's, and also where we only do home-and-homes with BCS schools instead of going to their place all the time. A bigger stadium and a larger fan base would enable us to put an end to the bodybag games like other non-bcs schools have done.

MeanGreenBuzz · July 27, 2006

Well, the thing is that Baylor, even in losing years, still putts more butts in the seats than any Sun Belt stadium can even hold. Small fan bases and small stadiums is what is holding the Sun Belt back. The more butts you can put in the seats the easier scheduling becomes and the easier it is to win and become bowl-eligible. If you look at the non-bcs schools with the largest fan bases they are able to attract the BCS schools to their place which increases their chances of winning as opposed to always going on the road. They can also schedule lighter because they know their fans will pack their stadiums even against non-bcs schools or 1-AA teams. Instead of going on the road for one-and-done payouts they do home-and-homes with other schools(including BCS schools) or even make money by scheduling 1-AA's and still getting big crowds. In this regard we are actually doing better than the rest of the Sun Belt but we need to get to the point where we pack the stadium no matter who the opponent is, even 1-AA's, and also where we only do home-and-homes with BCS schools instead of going to their place all the time. A bigger stadium and a larger fan base would enable us to put an end to the bodybag games like other non-bcs schools have done.
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I can promise you during most of those crappy Baylor football years the fans that were there weren't there to see Baylor. Lets see in the Big XII Baylor plays, UT, aTm, TT, OU, OSU, on and on. If we played a schedule like that we would have constant sellouts or near sellouts even if our stadium held 50-60k.

Eagle1855 · July 27, 2006

I can promise you during most of those crappy Baylor football years the fans that were there weren't there to see Baylor. Lets see in the Big XII Baylor plays, UT, aTm, TT, OU, OSU, on and on. If we played a schedule like that we would have constant sellouts or near sellouts even if our stadium held 50-60k.
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exactly. If Baylor was in the sunbelt, they would have LESS attendance than us. If UT, ATM, OU, or TT came to town, we would easily average 28-30k a year. I consider it a success if we can average 20k this year playing the spares of D-1A football.