Scheduling dilemmas

[tornado]

Here's one that blows me away...

If a mid-major coach who's trying to beef up a schedule is faced with two options...

-a HOME and HOME series vs. a BIG EAST team, a RARE opportunity - a BCS school giving a home-and-home to a mid-major

vs.

-a single home game vs. D-II Rockhurst

which one would YOU choose........


well, I was blown away by this, but Rick Majerus actually had this very decision to make,
and he chose the home buy-game with cupcake, D-II Rockhurst because it meant more money, and he turned down the home-and-home series with Seton Hall!!!
"We'll make a ton of money on the Rockhurst game, rather than playing a Big East team home and home," Majerus said
. .."Hopefully it doesn't come back to haunt us when the NCAA field is picked."

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/article_96b19b28-bbe3-11df-9e2a-00127992bc8b.html

Obviously none of know all the factors and tiny details, but Majerus is taking a little of a beating for this decision...
this article even notes that SLU offered to play a "one-shot game" and Michigan State and were turned down!

[squirrelgotdead]

There are so many nuances, and I won't pretend to have all the details here. But Majerus has scheduled reasonably the last 2-3 years with a mix of BCS types. However, the pressure on him to produce is starting to build. If SLU is to get some sort of noteworthy postseason, they almost have to have a clean non-con slate. So, you have to put some perspective on it.

And it's not like he's not already taking chances. . .they are playing on the road at Duke, Portland and Missouri State. They also are playing what should be a much improved (some suggest NCAA-caliber) Georgia squad and always competitive Austin Peay.

[Braves4Life]

Keep in mind SLU IS a private university and can always use the money. Like squirrel said SLU has certainly put a few "big boys" on their schedule to make up for this cash cow cupcake.

[tornado]

BUT -- there's the little factor of LOSING the BIG cash cow home game next season with BCS opponent Seton Hall that, of course, won't be happening now since they turned down the series...

a Rockhurst-type game is exactly the kind of game that if you don't fill a lot of seats, the cost of operating the facility takes a bigger bite and it then becomes a game that makes far LESS profit than say, a game vs. Seton Hall.

Question--- if it's such a GREAT thing to pocket tons of cash playing a home game vs. Rockhurst...then why not do it every year...hey why not host them 3 or 4 times every year -- surely Rockhurst would love it....but in the end the fans would barf!!

[TheAsianSensation]

Sounds like Majerus has a mandate from the powers that be that he has to have 18 home games. Heh.

[Braves4Life]

Question--- if it's such a GREAT thing to pocket tons of cash playing a home game vs. Rockhurst...then why not do it every year...!

May have a little something to do with the economic times?

[Beninator]

May have a little something to do with the economic times?

But there is nothing little about your avatar!

[squirrelgotdead]

BUT -- there's the little factor of LOSING the BIG cash cow home game next season with BCS opponent Seton Hall that, of course, won't be happening now since they turned down the series...

If Majerus doesn't have confidence that he'll be around next year, I'm sure he's not concerned about the return game.

[Out of Balance]

May have a little something to do with the economic times?

But there is nothing little about your avatar!

Had a girlfriend one time, just like that/her She was very limited with her movement to do things for me, because of her over imbalance of growth So I got rid of her and got another one that could do all the right moves She didn't last long and I got another one, then another , then another and on and on and on Then I had a weak moment with another, got married and now there is only one

[Da Coach]

Indiana State coach Greg Lansing had a choice to play a home game against Nicholls State, a home-and-home against Rhode Island, or a road "buy" game at Notre Dame. He chose the game at Notre Dame.

http://tribstar.com/sports/x797274436/From-the-Press-Box-Kudos-to-ISU-men-s-hoops-coach-Lansing-for-having-guts-to-play-ND

[tornado]

but he doesn't have to work around "Little Mermaid on Ice"

[theBUer]

Indiana State coach Greg Lansing had a choice to play a home game against Nicholls State, a home-and-home against Rhode Island, or a road "buy" game at Notre Dame. He chose the game at Notre Dame.
http://tribstar.com/sports/x79727443...uts-to-play-ND

Anybody know how much buy games in men's hoops are compared to football? Just a rough guesstimate will do.

[tornado]

teams are paid $25,000 to $100,000 with the bigger schools playing more and the better opponents demanding better pay to come get hammered.

here's a quote from an older post on our board...

"...you can actually make a lot of money.
Winston-Salem State is making the jump this season to Division-I, and has set up a schedule loaded with
"guarantee games". The games are called guarantee games I suppose for two reasons.
First, because they get a guaranteed payment agreed upon in advance just for showing up and
playing, and there is no return game or home and home offered.
The other reason must be that they will be guaranteed to lose lots of these games.
BUT--they sure can be profitable.
Here is an article about all the guarantee games Winston-Salem State is playing this year and
how they will profit $500,000 from their 29 game schedule that includes only SIX home games.
WSSU plays at Kansas (for an $80,000 guaranteed payment) and also at Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Notre
Dame, and Auburn. Just so they don't go 0-29, they have rigged their schedule with a few ultra patsies also, adding
Anderson, Ferrum, North Dakota State (twice), Columbia Union, Alabama A&M, Coppin State, Towson, Morgan State, and
Florida A&M."

[Da Coach]

Anybody know how much buy games in men's hoops are compared to football? Just a rough guesstimate will do.

In football, teams that play guarantee games against higher level NCAA football schools can get $150,000 to $500,000 or more for one game. That kind of money can help support an entire athletic program for smaller schools. Here is an example- Tennessee-Martin will get $350,000 for playing one game this year at Tennessee. The article also states UT-Martin got $450,000 from Auburn in 2008, $300,000 from South Florida in 2008, and $175,000 from Memphis in 2009.-

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2010/sep/03/utm-relies-guarantee-games-balance-budget/?partner=RSS

In D1 basketball, guarantee games average around $50,000 to $60,000 but can easily go as high as $75,000 to $100,000 for desirable matchups or at schools with large attendance.
Here is an article about "Guarantee games" that reports that Northwestern State (of Louisiana) got over $70,000 for a game at Indiana last November.

http://www.midmajority.com/2009/11/anatomy-of-a-guarantee-game.php

Here is another article from 2006 by Andy Katz of ESPN that describes how Syracuse can make over $400,000 for a home game, and paid their non-conference opponents $40,000 to $60,000 for the guarantee. No wonder most of these BCS schools would rather load their schedule with easy home games when they can rake in the cash like this.-

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2602247

[Steve81]

We're (UMass) FCS Football team and are getting paid $550,000 to play Michigan on Sept 18th.