Playing 6 road games

[LarryISU]

I was curious how many schools play 6 true road games as we do every other year.
For 2017, here are the schools with 6 road games played in the opponents' home stadiums:

Indiana
Michigan
Baylor
ISU
OK St.
TCU
Texas
W Virginia
Boston College
Florida St.
Louisville
NC St.
Wake Forest
Cal
Oregon St.
Stanford
Arizona
UCLA
Georgia

Note Florida is playing only three true road games this year with two neutral site games (one in Florida).

So the tally is one SEC team, two BIG teams, five each for the Pac12 and ACC, and six teams in the Big12.
I was actually surprised there were this many. Not surprised that the SEC and the BIG avoid it for the most part. Just seems that there should be better equality in scheduling within the Power 5. I'm surprised someone has not put this issue on the agenda for a rule consideration. I heard a discussion on ESPN how the Big 12 shoots itself in the foot with too many road games and especially by not winning those games. So I see now what they were talking about. If Oklahoma gets beat up by Ohio State and Texas gets overpowered by USC, the conference looks weak. Of course we have to do our part by winning our one P5 nonconference game and by not laying an egg at Akron!

 

[CycloneWarning]

Interesting information, but maybe the website you are using is off. Texas does not have six road games, the Red River Rivalry is neutral site. Michigan does not have six road games, the Florida game is neutral site. FSU does not have six road games, the Alabama game is neutral site.

Those were just a few that I was surprised at and checked, and all three teams above have five true road games.

 

[Tornado man]

I assume a lot of teams avoid it by paying huge guarantees to non-conf teams to just come to their place and avoid home-and-home arrangements. MAC teams (like Akron) are commanding $800K to over $1 mil to play on the road with no return trips. Can ISU afford that? Doubt it - that's why we're over there this year and they're here next year.
We get FCS teams for a bargain - we paid North Dakota State just $350K to play at JTS, and I'm sure we get UNI for a bargain too.

 

[VeloClone]

I doubt UNI gives ISU bargain pricing. There is enough political pressure for ISU and U of I to play UNI regularly so they don't have to offer a deal.

 

[isu81]

Interesting information, but maybe the website you are using is off. Texas does not have six road games, the Red River Rivalry is neutral site. Michigan does not have six road games, the Florida game is neutral site. FSU does not have six road games, the Alabama game is neutral site.

Those were just a few that I was surprised at and checked, and all three teams above have five true road games.

The following also do not have 6 road games:

• Louisville
• Baylor
• West Virginia
• Boston College
• NC State
• Stanford
• Georgia

 

[LarryISU]

The following also do not have 6 road games

• Louisville
• Baylor
• West Virginia
• Boston College
• NC State
• Stanford
• Georgia

Wow, sorry! I got most of my info from CBS Sports, it appears they listed neutral site games without any reference to the fact it was a neutral site. So that aligns more with what I would have guessed, that really very few teams are doing what ISU does which is to play 6 true road games. As VeloClone noted, perhaps we are hindered by our lack of funds to pay off teams to play in Ames? But you would think the game revenue would make up the difference.

 

[Clones123]

For what its worth, I noticed Texas A&M this season plays only four true road games, and their neutral site game with Arkansas is also in the state of Texas. That's essentially 8 home games! They had 8 true home games in the 2013 season! 2015 they even had NINE "home" games! (2 neutral site games both in Texas!)

 

[cyclones500]

Is it possible Iowa State can "schedule-down" for its third non-conference game, instead of MWC and MAC? Based on some info in this thread, payout for teams in those conferences (plus ISU's football status in general) doesn't lend itself to increasing # of home games on a consistent basis.

Would it be realistic to entice Sun Belt/C-USA for Trice-only arrangement, if the compensation is significantly lower than home/away schools already scheduled? Or maybe a 2-for-1 is attainable (wouldn't have to be in consecutive years).

Financial aspects are outside my wheelhouse.

 

[cyclones500]

I heard a discussion on ESPN how the Big 12 shoots itself in the foot with too many road games and especially by not winning those games. .... If Oklahoma gets beat up by Ohio State and Texas gets overpowered by USC, the conference looks weak.

With CFB 4-team playoff, and with at least some consideration of SOS, there's motivation to schedule neutral/away games with other traditional powers within P5.

I don't think the conference looks "weak" if teams lose those matchups. Obviously it'd help Big 12 schools like OU and UT if they performed better; if Ohio State/USC didn't win big-time non-league head-to-head, would that cast a shadow over Big Ten or Pac-12 as a whole?

My gut tells me the selection system penalizes B12 contenders, or at least holds them up to higher scrutiny, more severely than schools with similar pedigree in the other 4 P5 leagues. But I'll admit, it could have something to do with the number of legitimate nationally prominent opponents within each league on year-to-year basis. (Counter-argument: With round-robin, teams cannot avoid anyone during regular season, and that isn't the case in the other conferences).

 

[chuckd4735]

I think it's been proven that paying someone to come here for a 7th game instead of doing a two year home and home would lose ISU money. Until we get to the point where we need that 7th home game for a better bowl game, it's pointless to pay for it.

 

[knowlesjam]

I doubt UNI gives ISU bargain pricing. There is enough political pressure for ISU and U of I to play UNI regularly so they don't have to offer a deal.

The whole UNI every year thing is going away...looks like we now will play them every other year (odd-numbered years).

 

[DesMoinesCy]

The whole UNI every year thing is going away...looks like we now will play them every other year (odd-numbered years).

Not a big fan of playing Northern Iowa.

Coach Farley always has his teams extra motivated when they play Power 5 schools, and then his teams tank after that. Last season, the Panthers preceded to lose 4 of their next 5 games after beating us. And it's not just us. In 2012, UNI lost to Wisconsin by only 5 points and to Iowa by only 11 points. They then preceded to lose 4 of their next 5 games as well.

 

[knowlesjam]

Not a big fan of playing Northern Iowa.

Coach Farley always has his teams extra motivated when they play Power 5 schools, and then his teams tank after that. Last season, the Panthers preceded to lose 4 of their next 5 games after beating us. And it's not just us. In 2012, UNI lost to Wisconsin by only 5 points and to Iowa by only 11 points. They then preceded to lose 4 of their next 5 games as well.

Agreed. I'd much rather play either a cupcake or a home and home with a relevant team where even a loss doesn't sting like a UNI loss.

 

[jkclone]

Agreed. I'd much rather play either a cupcake or a home and home with a relevant team where even a loss doesn't sting like a UNI loss.

I've never understood why we try and play the good fcs teams. Heck Iowa fans complain about playing us. We are still a p5 team. It sucks that we have issues playing the UNIs of the world but until we don't have to worry we should try and get game reps against bad teams.

 

[DesMoinesCy]

Agreed. I'd much rather play either a cupcake or a home and home with a relevant team where even a loss doesn't sting like a UNI loss.

I would much rather play a 2-for-1, or ideally a 3-for-1 series with a MAC team then to play a FCS/Division IAA school. P.S. Northern Iowa played a game in between the Wisconsin and Iowa games in 2012. They can't use the excuse that the experienced a let down after playing two Power 5 schools.

 

[Tornado man]

I would much rather play a 2-for-1, or ideally a 3-for-1 series with a MAC team then to play a FCS/Division IAA school. P.S. Northern Iowa played a game in between the Wisconsin and Iowa games in 2012. They can't use the excuse that the experienced a let down after playing two Power 5 schools.

We would have to pay big bucks to get a MAC team to play a 2 for 1 and certainly a 3 for 1.

 

[DesMoinesCy]

I've never understood why we try and play the good fcs teams. It sucks that we have issues playing the UNIs of the world but until we don't have to worry we should try and get game reps against bad teams.

I agree with you. The problem is schedules are always made years in advance and it's difficult to know how good a program will be 3 or 4 years from now.

When we scheduled North Dakota State they were coming off a 3-8 season. They have gone 6-0 against FBS/Division I programs since, including 5-0 against Power 5 programs.

 

[mj4cy]

I can't see Texas ever playing less than 7 home games nor having to play ISU in Ames in November.

 

[cydline2cydline]

I think it's been proven that paying someone to come here for a 7th game instead of doing a two year home and home would lose ISU money. Until we get to the point where we need that 7th home game for a better bowl game, it's pointless to pay for it.

I have a hard time believing this. Below are stats from last years ticket sales (i don't know if this includes concessions, but I would think concessions would cover the cost to host the game).

ISU Ticket Sales Rev. 2016: 15,626,121
Rev. Per Game: 2.6 mil

If adding another game kept revenue the same (which I think would increase due to the game being at the beginning of the schedule when the weather is still nice for tailgating), then you are making decent money even if you pay out 1 mil to get someone to come to you. Not to mention, you typically get another W, which have been hard to come by lately.

Not to mention the community gets a bump when games are in Ames. All unrealized revenue if you play in Akron.

 

[crs8975]

I can't see Texas ever playing less than 7 home games nor having to play ISU in Ames in November.

I'm going to laugh when that game is finally scheduled for November kind of like OU last year. And we still end up losing. What's everybody going to use as an excuse when that happens?!