Longest time not playing D-1AA schools

[Spence]

Michigan - Last time they played a non-D1A (or major college team
before the D1AA split in 197 team was Western Michigan in 1943

Michigan State - Last time they played a non-D1A teams was Hawaii in 1948

Notre Dame - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Carnegie Tech in
1941

Ohio State - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Western Reserve
in 1934

USC - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Pacific in 1945.

UCLA - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Pacific in 1945.

Washington - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Willamette in 1941.

Colorado - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Peru State in 1945.

When CU plays Montana State it will be the first time CU played a non
D1A team since playing Peru State in 1945."

Ohio State has scheduled Youngstown State in a few years, a lot of alumni are against the meeting. Hopefully enough pressure will be applied to cancel the game.

Does anyone see a positive advantage to playing a D-1AA school, something that benefits the D-1A school?

[mountainman]

Here's what come to mind for me:

Good Will
Player Development
Filling a game in the schedule created by a special circumstance
Promoting college football in general

I could probably come up with a couple of more, but those are some off the cuff.

[Spence]

I agree that it does all of those things. Ohio State is playing Youngstown State to get them a big payday. It will be very good for them and I'm not opposed to sharing the wealth among instate schools. My problem with it is that it kills the schedule. Why couldn't they have a late August scrimage with them and stick to D-1A during the season. A scrimage would allow the coaches to play a lot of players and also not put the pressure on them to kill the 1-AA to make up for playing them in the first place.

[mountainman]

We'll see how it all turns out. College athletics is getting or has gotten so expensive. It straining the resources to the point that some sports are going away. I read where at Tennessee they had to borrow money this year to pay the bills. That's a school that puts 110,000 orange clad fans in the seats at every home football game and has a 25,000 seat basketball arena. At West Virginia where 97% or so of all football tickets and all the home basketball games (about 13,000) are sold out, but the basketball team quit flying charter and started flying commercial due to the expense. There's all kinds of reports about schools dropping non-revenue sports. We may start seeing more of it because the guarantee to the 1-AA school is much less than the guarantee to a larger school. It's probably more about dollars than anything ..... and besides it really helps the smaller schools who are facing the same revenue and cost issues just on a different scale.

And besides, Coach Tressel is a good guy. He remembers his roots. I say that because he probably could have chosen any D-1AA school in the nation to come to Columbus. And heck, considering the expectations and demands put on the Buckeyes every year, he may want to go back there someday. (just kidding)

[Spence]

Yeah because of the money thing, the good guy in me likes the fact that they are funneling money to instate schools (I doubt the school would go along if they didn't). That is why we alway play a MAC school OOC. A lot of those schools are instate an struggling.

Ohio State is one of the lucky ones. The Athletic dept. funds 36 varsity sports and runs in the black. They have a 91 million dollar operating budget.

It is hard to believe Tennessee had to borrow money. I was thinking they were one of the top teams in terms of revenue. I would think they would have 3 or 4 sports that actually made money. Maybe they went into the red trying to pay for Fulmers meals.

[Yeofoot]

I was looking at Texas' schedule, and it makes a lot of sense, they play Sam Houston State the week before OU, so they can be preparing for Petersen for two weeks. They probably treat it like a bye week, just prepping for OU. I really hope we beat them next year.

[ktffan]

A few I-AA opponents you missed.

USC - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Pacific in 1945.

USC played San Diego Navy in 1952 and 1951.

UCLA - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Pacific in 1945.

UCLA played San Diego Navy in 1954.

Washington - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Willamette in 1941.

Washington played Hawaii in 1973, Santa Barbara in 1971, Idaho in 1968 and 4 non-1A teams in 1944.

Colorado - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Peru State in 1945.

Played Fresno State in 1965.

[Spence]

A few I-AA opponents you missed.

USC - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Pacific in 1945.

USC played San Diego Navy in 1952 and 1951.

UCLA - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Pacific in 1945.

UCLA played San Diego Navy in 1954.

Washington - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Willamette in 1941.

Washington played Hawaii in 1973, Santa Barbara in 1971, Idaho in 1968 and 4 non-1A teams in 1944.

Colorado - Last time they played a non-D1A team was Peru State in 1945.

Played Fresno State in 1965.

I got that out of an newspaper article and didn't check it out. My bad. Thanks for setting the record straight.

[ktffan]

I got that out of an newspaper article and didn't check it out. My bad. Thanks for setting the record straight.

I wonder what source they checked.

[Spence]

I wonder what source they checked

.

It appears, not a very good one. I know where I found it so I will see if I can get the source and link it.