Anyone else hear that MSU is doing a pair of home and homes with one of the directional schools?

Submitted by Sommy on
Supposed to happen in a couple of years. I understand playing MAC schools (after all; we play plenty of them), but it never looks good for a BCS school to play at a mid-major. If anyone has a link, that'd help out.
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ThWard

August 20th, 2009 at 5:57 PM ^

It is surprising, though I think it came up in the context of some complaining about UM playing at UConn in a few years. Re: the OP - the point is obvious - he stated that obviously UM plays plenty of MAC (and now lower division) teams, but that it's unusual to play AT a MAC school. I believe that's true, unless other Big 10 schools have played at a MAC school?

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Nothsa

August 20th, 2009 at 6:14 PM ^

In recent years IU has played at Central, at Western, and at Ball State. This is because Indiana can't really pay well enough to avoid home and homes. They are typically (always?) night games, and pretty intense. IU has never lost those games, which is pretty amazing given the MAC-level talent they have to rely on.

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rdlwolverine

August 20th, 2009 at 9:07 PM ^

and Ohio State @ Toledo (in Cleveland) here is more evidence of the trend of power conference schools having to go on the road outside the BCS (ignoring Vandy, Duke, Indiana and most of the Big East). All of these games are on this year's schedule - Florida State @ BYU Virginia @ So. Miss Miami @ Central Fla Va Tech @ E Carolina Kentucky @ Miami (O) in Cinci LSU @ Tulane Ole Miss @ Memphis Miss State @ Middle Tenn Colorado @ Toledo Kansas State @ La-Lafayette Kansas @ UTEP Iowa State @ Kent State Missouri @ Nevada Texas Tech @ Houston Oregon State @ UNLV Oregon @ Boise St Pitt @ Buffalo

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TIMMMAAY

August 20th, 2009 at 10:11 PM ^

Just because someone brings this up, does not mean that we're obsessing. This same issue has been raised in regards to our own team, and others in the past couple months here, why can't we talk about it w/ regards to MSU? I agree we need to tone down the Dantonio chatter, and the outrage over the media. I just don't see this post as any problem whatsoever. FWIW EDIT: I didn't neg ya either.

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lhglrkwg

August 20th, 2009 at 5:41 PM ^

they're billing it as a gift to the state of michigan. i don't really know why MSU agreed to it...they could have any of them in spartan stadium any year they wanted (more or less)

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WildcatBlue

August 20th, 2009 at 5:43 PM ^

This makes perfect sense. If they play Northern on their turf, do you think UM will have any chance at the top shelf talent in Ishpeming, Negaunee, or Munising? Savvy, Mr. Dantonio. Very savvy.

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Sommy

August 21st, 2009 at 12:42 AM ^

Hollis does it again! This is great for the state of Michigan and all of the schools involved. Hollis really scooped Bill Martin here. Does U-M have the lobes to play games at Central, Eastern, and Western? I guess we'll see. Ha.

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MichiganPhotoRod

August 27th, 2009 at 10:47 AM ^

The decision for every AD whether or not to play at any school outside the Big Ten comes down to, you guessed it, money. The fact that Michigan has not arranged for a home-and-home with, say, a MAC team is because the money Michigan would lose is huge. A MAC school cannot pay out to the visiting team anywhere near what Michigan could garner from any Division I school -- not to mention the money Michigan would have taken in had the game been at Michigan Stadium. Another element to this is TV. Having a team like CMU play at Michigan is an easier decision for TV to pick up the game than it would be for a game AT CMU. This would encounter, I believe, a real encumbrance for the major TV networks. I am not saying the game wouldn't eventually be picked up, thus continuing the nation's longest streak of most consecutive games broadcast, but in Michigan's eyes, it would probably produce a very unfavorable date slot -- a Thursday night game. One of the reasons to play away games in certain markets outside of the Big Ten is, for the most part, to benefit our recruiting efforts. Even with Michigan's recruiting tentacles spread very, very wide across the country, we still need to cater to certain markets. Unless families like the Ross' or the Glick's want to pony up additional donations to replace the lost revenue from such an away game faux pas, it will be a cold day in hell before the winged helmets arrive in mid-major-ville.

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baorao

August 20th, 2009 at 5:52 PM ^

in the booming metropolises of Remus, Coldwater, and Romulus will finally be able to see their school in person by making the short drive into Mt. Pleasant, Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti.

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rdlwolverine

August 20th, 2009 at 5:56 PM ^

These are three-for-ones. As I mentioned during much of the UConn discussion, it is getting harder and harder to find FBS teams that will take a guarantee game, or the price paid by the home team for the guarantee game is getting higher and higher. The result is more games against FCS schools (Delaware State) and more road games against non-BCS schools (Texas @ Wyoming, Ohio State @ Toledo (in Cleveland), Wisconsin @ Bowling Green (in Cleveland 2008), etc.

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Chuck Harbaugh

August 20th, 2009 at 5:57 PM ^

>>it never looks good for a BCS school to play at a mid-major. Bullshit. It shows they are not beholden to their wallets over every other consideration *cough* Delaware State*cough* I think it's a class move (except for the part where it's like 7 home games to 3 road games, but whatever).

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jblaze

August 20th, 2009 at 6:23 PM ^

this probably benefits MSU, because they would keep the profit from 75% (3 of 4) of the games. They probably realized that that was more than cutting a check every year to the directional Michigan schools. Also, they can claim that they "care about the state", are keeping money in state, and are enabling their fans to drive to 3 away games (since most of their fan base is in/ near MI. It's a smart move. They need to dominate Michigan to be relevant and this helps. However, if 3 of 4 OOC games are locked up, does this mean that their last game (probably ND) is all they get? If so, that's local as well.

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CarrIsMyHomeboy

August 20th, 2009 at 7:19 PM ^

In case it is yet to be mentioned: MSU's new deal is unprecedented in that they will visit ALL of Ypsilanti, Mt. Pleasant, and Kalamazoo in the next decade. Indiana, Purdue, Missouri, and some others have all done 2-for-1s in recent years, for comparison. MSU's deal involves three 3-for-1's.

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