[jcmanson]

Sat. Sept. 4 at West Virginia
Sat. Sept. 11 at Towson
Sat. Sept. 18 GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Sat. Sept. 25 DELAWARE STATE
Sat. Oct. 2 at Richmond
Sat. Oct. 16 at Presbyterian*
Sat. Oct. 23 STONY BROOK*
Sat. Oct. 30 at Gardner Webb*
Sat. Nov. 6 at VMI*
Sat. Nov. 13 LIBERTY*
Sat. Nov. 20 CHARLESTON SOUTHERN*

[LUconn]

looking like a bad year

[ToTheLeft]

We'll know very quickly how legit CCU is. If they start off 2-2, they're about what we expected. If they're 1-3 or 0-4, they're not looking so good. If they have 3 or (heaven forbid) 4 wins, we're in trouble.

[PAmedic]

I could see them losing the first but then going 3-1 before conf play.

I'm more impressed that they got Geo South to come in there.

but hey, we've had Concord.

[ToTheLeft]

If they go 3-1 against their FCS opponents, we're in trouble. That means they either beat National Championship contender Richmond, or a new and improved triple option GaSo that will be near the middle-top of the SoCon.

[jcmanson]

I'm surprised noone else has mentioned it, but their OOC schedule is exactly what I'd like for ours to be. But no we'll stick with the Robert Morris', St Francis', and Savannah State's of the world

[ToTheLeft]

If we finished at .500 in the Big South every year, and lost to Towson, we'd get teams to play guarantee games against us, too!

[jcmanson]

I'm tired of that excuse. In 2007, the year after Coastal went to the playoffs they played Delaware State, JMU, Georgia Southern, and Furman.

[Sly Fox]

That is indeed a salty non-conference schedule for which I applaud Moose & Bennett's staff. I have serious doubts that they'll be able to have winning record after four games. But it would be great for the league for them to prove me wrong.

[ToTheLeft]

I'm tired of that excuse. In 2007, the year after Coastal went to the playoffs they played Delaware State, JMU, Georgia Southern, and Furman.

and we're playing JMU the year after not making the playoffs. We're not good enough to lose to yet, but we're too good to play. CCU was good enough to lose to when they were in the playoffs.

But whatever, the schedule will always be an issue. If we scheduled JMU, Richmond, App St., and Montana it would be "too tough" and would "beat us up before conference play". I'm gonna trust Rocco to get us ready for what we need to be ready for.

[jcmanson]

I don’t think anyone expects us to play a schedule like that. What Coastal has is about perfect for what I’d want. My ideal schedule for us would be:

St Francis
@ Ball State
@ top 25 CAA/SOCON (Elon, Furman, W&M, Richmond, etc.)
@ JMU
Vs. a middle to lower pack CAA/SOCON or a solid MEAC (WCU, Towson, Del St, etc.)

This would give us a “tune-up” game, winnable FBS, 2 road games with a chance to make a statement, winnable home game

[flamesfilmguy]

Manson you won't get teams to play us that are top CAA or SOcon teams. I would bet money that furman,elon,Gasouth, Richmond etc. would all turn us down. like lefty said we are too good to play and not good enough to lose to. Coastal gets that schedule because those teams see them as a winnable game. especially southern and Richmond. D-state is about as bad as st. francis. and towson is a little better than ssu. We are in a bad spot right now because noone wants to play us. trust me we screwed up that oppritunity when we knocked elon out of the playoffs.

[jcmanson]

[jcmanson]

Outside of Ball St and JMU we are playing a horrific schedule. 2009 Final GPI Rankings (out of 125 FCS teams):

Robert Morriss #91
St Francis #116
Savannah St #124

Seriously? That’s the best we can come up with? I’m fine with playing 1, maybe 2 of these type games a year, but 3 is way too many especially considering our conference foes:

Stony Brook #47
Charleston Southern #57
Gardner Webb #62
Coastal #66
VMI #97
Presby #115

Substitute 2 of those 3 weak games for 2 top 50 schools and that’s a perfect schedule. And I don’t want to hear the excuse “no one wants to play us.” There’s 90 teams “better” than these 3 teams. 90! I can guarantee you we could find one or two of them to play us.

Eastern Kentucky
Norfolk St
Tenn Tech
Wofford
The Citadel
Florida A&M
Samford
Colgate
GA Southern
Chattanooga
Laffy
UMass
Furman
Holy Cross
Penn
Delaware
Jax St
SC State
Elon

Those are all teams ranked 15-50 within a reasonable distance to us.

[BJWilliams]

Sorry that the AD didn't clear the schedule with you before announcing it jc...all I will say is how do you know that they didn't contact some of those schools about games? We are in a funny position right now as TTL and ffg have so astutely put (and you've dismissed as meaningless blather). we're making good progress but unfortunately with how we beat Elon in 2008 (to basically doom their playoff hopes) no one wants to come to our house knowing what they have to potentially look forward to in the home crowd in addition

[Maximus]

So this is another our schedule sucks thread?

[x] New
[x] Exciting

Seriously, congrats for CCU for getting the job done but I don't see how it helps them, but I am suspecting CCU to be bad.

[SuperJon]

These schools that Manson wants to play only have 3 non-conference games. Most of them play an FBS school and a lower-level FCS school or DII. That leaves one date for us to fall into with those teams. Dates lining up for those spots, especially in weeks four through seven are ridiculously hard.

[LUnpretty11]

Also, since we haven't made the playoffs yet, we don't have much ground to stand on. It would make sense to play cup-cake teams before conference, since we haven't made the playoff yet. Now if we dominate this year, lose maybe 2 games, and go to the playoffs, then we can talk about getting a better schedule. Congrats to CCU. Hope they do well before conference.

[Schfourteenteen]

Both sides are valid. Liberty's position obviously makes it more difficult to schedule quality opponents. There's no way we get that schedule - it's unrealistic. Our conference strength (usually 2-3 really bad teams) leaves us little room for error.

Heres what I would consider a good schedule that is realistic

1 FBS game - Something we can keep respectable. No Florida. No LSU.
1 CAA team - weve gotten one almost every year and to have a series with JMU is huge
1 Top Small Conference team- Lafayette was the perfect example of this. CCSU, Albany, HC, SCSt would also work. Home and homes should be easier to get (especially with the NEC) NOW that everyone has an auto-bid.
2 FCS schools - They dont have to be good if weve got 3 quality OOC games. I'd like to stay away from Div II, even if that means adding another money game.

Anything less than this reeks of ducking. 1 money game, 2 good teams, and 2 garbage FCS schools should not be hard to get even with our "situation."

[jcmanson]

These schools that Manson wants to play only have 3 non-conference games. Most of them play an FBS school and a lower-level FCS school or DII. That leaves one date for us to fall into with those teams. Dates lining up for those spots, especially in weeks four through seven are ridiculously hard.

I understand your point, but it’s not a valid argument. Coastal is playing a schedule full of these types of teams. So, it can be done.

[jcmanson]

Also, since we haven't made the playoffs yet, we don't have much ground to stand on. It would make sense to play cup-cake teams before conference, since we haven't made the playoff yet.

Worst. Argument. Ever.

[LUnpretty11]

Also, since we haven't made the playoffs yet, we don't have much ground to stand on. It would make sense to play cup-cake teams before conference, since we haven't made the playoff yet.

Worst. Argument. Ever.

How?
You can't expect us to schedule like a powerhouse if we aren't a proven powerhouse yet. Sure we win the conference, but like I said, we haven't made it yet. If we had gotten in 2 years ago, or last year, then maybe there would be more of an argument for a stronger schedule. Until we make the playoffs, we have to be content with what we got.

[Schfourteenteen]

I understand your point, but it’s not a valid argument. Coastal is playing a schedule full of these types of teams. So, it can be done.

Well - Liberty and Coastal are in different situations. The idea that teams are hesitant to play us is correct.

Go back to Coastal in 07. Coming off 3 straight conference championships(one Co-Championship), they had these teams on their schedule

@ Delaware State - playoff team
vs. Georgia Southern - T3rd in SoCon
@ James Madison - playoff team
@ Furman - 6-5
Winston Salem - 6-5

All of these games were home and homes. I don't want a guillotine for a schedule, but if Coastal could set up 3 legit games, a middle of the pack, and a bottom feeder in Winston Salem after winning championships, so can Liberty.

The counter to the "teams have only one week to play us" - They have 2 if you include a bye. Plus, we have plenty of open dates. 6 in fact. We've had Ball State and JMU lined up for some time. So really that gives us 4 weekends to work with. Can we find one good team to play in those 4 weekends? I think so.

[BJWilliams]

well 2010 is pretty much a wash...lets look at 2011:

Home:
JMU
Coastal
VMI
Presby

Away:
FBS (I forget who...I'll have to look it up later)
G-W
CSU
SBU

That leaves us three slots (although there may be games already lined up that I dont know about) to fill (two home one away). Id like to see us have another go at William and Mary (especially with how the last meeting ended). the question would be who could we get who would be willing to come to Lynchburg next year

[Schfourteenteen]

well 2010 is pretty much a wash...lets look at 2011:

Home:
JMU
Coastal
VMI
Presby

Away:
FBS (I forget who...I'll have to look it up later)
G-W
CSU
SBU

That leaves us three slots (although there may be games already lined up that I dont know about) to fill (two home one away). Id like to see us have another go at William and Mary (especially with how the last meeting ended). the question would be who could we get who would be willing to come to Lynchburg next year

Robert Morris at Home? I think
I think I remember NC State being thrown around as the 2011 game