We’re about a month away from the first college football preview magazines. They’re full of numbers and nuance, especially that Lindy’s (wink, wink).
Today we’re talking a little bit about Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, which is dipped, buffed and painted in stats, stats and more stats. Steele’s pub rates highly among college football fans because of the trends born out of stats. Did you know the Hawkeyes have the 18th best conference record (31-17) since 2002? Hey, that’s something, Iowa people.
His magazine isn’t out yet, but Steele has put out a few stats on PhilSteele.com.
One stat focuses on 2008 opponents’ winning percentage.
With Maine (4-7) and Florida International (1-11) coming into Kinnick Stadium this fall, you know where this is going.
Iowa’s 2008 opponents clock in with a .463 winning percentage, putting Iowa 95th in the country on this list.
That’s the lowest among BCS schools.
Meaningless stat? Probably, but probably not totally.
It would ring true if no teams lost any players and the returning players performed the exact same way they did the year before. Still, Iowa could be sweating its streak of 30 consecutive sellouts with Maine (surely using its Kinnick date as a tuneup for its roadie to Monmouth) and Florida International (hey, the Golden Panthers are FBS, which is one better than FCS Maine).
The truth about college football scheduling is it’s more “catch as catch can” as ever.
Iowa athletics executive Mark Abbott works closely with Coach Kirk Ferentz on scheduling. Abbott finds options and hammers out the details when it comes to signing a contract.
The job hasn’t changed, but there are more twists and turns.
“We’ve got to find an extra game every year; sometimes that’s a challenge,” Abbott said. “Sometimes, the dates are difficult. Working with the guarantees that we have to work with, those are the kinds of things.”
In 2006, the NCAA approved a 12-game season. The NCAA also relaxed restrictions on FCS (formerly Division I-AA) teams. Victories over the Maines and Northern Iowas of the world count toward bowl eligibility. FCS teams then became a hot com modity even with rising guarantees (the money they’re paid to sacrifice themselves).
In December, the Big Ten OK’d a bye week. Conference presidents voted to allow the conference teams to play after Thanksgiving. Iowa begins with Maine on Aug. 30 next season and has Oct. 25 off.
Abbott said the open date for 2009 is a “challenge.” It’s Oct. 3, between a road trip to Penn State and homecoming against Michigan. Iowa paid Montana (an FCS) $650,000 for the 2006 opener. Timing will likely have Iowa breaking out the big checkbook again.
[Edit -- BYU is paying Northern Iowa $375,000 for the Panthers' Aug. 30 trip to Provo.]
Beginning in the 2010 season, Iowa will try to keep open the weeks during the Big Ten season as “bye” weeks, Abbott said. That would be Oct. 9 in 2010 and Nov. 12 in ’11.
Abbott said progress has been made on filling the openings, but he isn’t ready to announce anything.
Iowa’s philosophy on scheduling always has been something winnable, Iowa State and another BCS-level opponent. This year, the BCS team is Pittsburgh, up and coming Pittsburgh led by running back LeSean McCoy. In 2011, Pittsburgh visits Iowa City.
With the extra game and open dates in the immediate future (2010 is the immediate future in football scheduling), Iowa will try to stick with that model.
“We’re looking for two BCS-level games and then two others,” Abbott said. “It just depends on what we can find and fit into our schedule. We’re looking for home games. I guess that’s the easi est way to explain what we need.”
Revenue was the main idea behind a 12th game, which, for most BCS schools, means a seventh home game.
So, there’s some of the logic behind Maine and Florida International. Timing, money and Iowa’s model factor in.
Sure, you can rip Iowa for not running out and scheduling the bluebloods — USC, Texas and the like — but will you be saying that after the game at Pittsburgh on Sept. 20?
Remember, when Iowa scheduled Syracuse, the Orange wasn’t yet the burnt Orange that it turned out to be the last two seasons.
I will be interested to see if you buy into Maine and Florida International. It’s football, it’s the big show around here, but, yeah, it’s Maine and Florida International.
Will you buy?
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Again, I'm not judging. I totally understand the pull. It's football. If it were my favorite team, yes, I'd buy but more for the event and less for the football.
Like I wrote to an e-mailer today. I go to one Packers game a year. If they played Green Bay Preble High School, I'd go.
And hey, there are only 12 (13 hopefully) a year.