Tuesday, February 15, 2011

WVU scheduling philosophy won't change with TCU arrival - Charleston Daily Mail

WVU scheduling philosophy won't change with TCU arrival - Charleston Daily Mail

WVU scheduling philosophy won't change with TCU arrival - Charleston Daily Mail

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West Virginia's football scheduling situation isn't much different right now than its 2011 head coaching setup.

Things are "in waiting."

The schedules that coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen will face starting in 2012 are pretty much set for five seasons (through 2016). And even when TCU joins the Big East Conference in 2012, the Mountaineers' scheduling philosophy remains the same.

"The biggest thing is our goals haven't changed," said Deputy Athletic Director Mike Parsons, the point man on scheduling at WVU. "We still want to get to seven home games for financial reasons, and we still want two non-conference games with teams from BCS leagues, preferably one home, one away."

That jibes with first-year Athletic Director Oliver Luck's stated desire to play a schedule that will allow the Mountaineers to legitimately compete for a national championship ... even when the Big East is as down as it was in 2010.

Still, Parsons said Monday there are "no guarantees" because the Big East staff and football school athletic directors have not yet come forth with the concrete plan for working the Horned Frogs into what will be an eight-game conference schedule.

The Big East could just take the current schedules, with a 4-3 breakdown, and add TCU to make it four home, four road dates. That would have WVU going to Fort Worth in the Frogs' debut season, as well as trips to Connecticut, Pitt and Louisville, with home games against the same four that visited WVU this past season.

Or, the conference could completely start over with a different setup. Even when that's done, it doesn't figure in a potential 10th Big East football member that the league is open to considering.

Another unanswered question: Parsons said that should a 10th football school be admitted, still undecided is whether teams would get eight or nine league games (although it would seem likely the latter).

That could change WVU's master plan again. Nine league games, plus two BCS level foes (neighboring Maryland, preferably for the Mountaineers, would be one), would leave West Virginia with only one date to fill each year.

Whatever happens when TCU comes aboard, Parsons concedes it will be more difficult for West Virginia to get seven home dates each season.

If WVU had four home conference dates and split two BCS-level non-league games home and away, that leaves two games - and they'd both have to be in Morgantown every year for West Virginia to get to seven at Mountaineer Field.

To get to seven this season, West Virginia is paying Bowling Green $775,000 for a no-return date on Oct. 1. That's the most WVU has paid for a "buy" game in history, topping the $740,000 that UNLV landed last season.

West Virginia's football scheduling situation isn't much different right now than its 2011 head coaching setup.

Things are "in waiting."

The schedules that coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen will face starting in 2012 are pretty much set for five seasons (through 2016). And even when TCU joins the Big East Conference in 2012, the Mountaineers' scheduling philosophy remains the same.

"The biggest thing is our goals haven't changed," said Deputy Athletic Director Mike Parsons, the point man on scheduling at WVU. "We still want to get to seven home games for financial reasons, and we still want two non-conference games with teams from BCS leagues, preferably one home, one away."

That jibes with first-year Athletic Director Oliver Luck's stated desire to play a schedule that will allow the Mountaineers to legitimately compete for a national championship ... even when the Big East is as down as it was in 2010.

Still, Parsons said Monday there are "no guarantees" because the Big East staff and football school athletic directors have not yet come forth with the concrete plan for working the Horned Frogs into what will be an eight-game conference schedule.

The Big East could just take the current schedules, with a 4-3 breakdown, and add TCU to make it four home, four road dates. That would have WVU going to Fort Worth in the Frogs' debut season, as well as trips to Connecticut, Pitt and Louisville, with home games against the same four that visited WVU this past season.

Or, the conference could completely start over with a different setup. Even when that's done, it doesn't figure in a potential 10th Big East football member that the league is open to considering.

Another unanswered question: Parsons said that should a 10th football school be admitted, still undecided is whether teams would get eight or nine league games (although it would seem likely the latter).

That could change WVU's master plan again. Nine league games, plus two BCS level foes (neighboring Maryland, preferably for the Mountaineers, would be one), would leave West Virginia with only one date to fill each year.

Whatever happens when TCU comes aboard, Parsons concedes it will be more difficult for West Virginia to get seven home dates each season.

If WVU had four home conference dates and split two BCS-level non-league games home and away, that leaves two games - and they'd both have to be in Morgantown every year for West Virginia to get to seven at Mountaineer Field.

To get to seven this season, West Virginia is paying Bowling Green $775,000 for a no-return date on Oct. 1. That's the most WVU has paid for a "buy" game in history, topping the $740,000 that UNLV landed last season.

And before we go further with all of this, what a lot of readers probably are wondering has become a very short subject:

Are WVU and Marshall discussing extending their Coal Bowl series beyond 2012? Nothing is happening there at this point. Nor does it figure to happen soon.

Parsons said WVU has not talked to any teams on its future schedules about potential changes in series due to the TCU entrance or even a 10th Big East team. But he said a six-game, home-and-home series like West Virginia has with East Carolina (2013-18) is "going to be harder to do."

One advantage to WVU will be that the increase in the number of conference dates will help keep annual guarantee payments under control.

And while playing a Football Championship Subdivision team annually would be one way for WVU to get another sure home date, Parsons said the Mountaineers are "not obligating to an FCS every year. While that may be one way we'd have to attract one less game, we won't necessarily focus that way."

WVU has four FCS games scheduled - Norfolk State (2011), William & Mary (2013), Towson (2014) and Liberty (2015).

There may be more neutral site dates in future seasons, like the BYU game scheduled through the NFL's Redskins at FedEx Field in September 2016.

That will bring West Virginia a $2.2 million guarantee. That takes care of replacing the revenue from a typical Mountaineer Field home game - about $2 million, Parsons said - but it isn't going to be a perennial solution.

Barring changes (and the Big East creating a nine-game league schedule with a 10th member), WVU needs only two dates through 2016. Those are home games in 2012 (likely an FCS foe) and 2016.

The current 2014 schedule is a 6-6 split, however, with non-league games at Maryland and ECU, and home against Michigan State and Towson.

Such a situation "may mean juggling an ECU, how the series is split up," Parsons said.

Whatever happens with TCU's insertion into an upgraded Big East schedule and beyond, WVU's future scheduling philosophy brings another area of intrigue besides Holgorsen's airy offense to the Mountaineers down the road.

Contact Sports Editor Jack Bogaczyk at ja...@dailymail.com or 304-348-7949.

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