Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Football › Future FBS Opponents
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RichH 7 years, 12 months ago.
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June 8, 2016 at 2:55 pm #26979
Does anyone have the info on Lehigh’s future FBS opponents?
I thought Lehigh was playing Navy in ’17, but I only see Navy’s schedule showing us in ’18.
Much appreciated!
June 8, 2016 at 6:12 pm #26980Not much confiirmed. Impression for me is that neither Joe nor Andybinterested in body bag money games. Expect we may see same mux if NEC,CAA and Ivies with an FBS game during players’career. Perhaps they may look at UMASS and UCONN.
June 8, 2016 at 6:37 pm #26981I recalled some commentary here over the past year that a game with Penn State was a done deal until the Big10 decided to ban games against lower division schools. (I think Lafayette may have had a game with Rutgers scuttled for the same reason as well.)
If a PSU game was in fact on the table, that would seem to contradict the body-bag point.
Lehigh seems to be behind the FBS scheduling 8-ball relative to our PL counterparts. That would make sense if Joe’s efforts to get a “big-time” match-up were in vain.
Anyway, any confirmation for 2017? Anybody?
June 9, 2016 at 4:37 am #26984I think being “behind” other PL schools in scheduling FBS games is open to interpretation. I have no problem with Lehigh shying away from FBS games unless the situation is right. In all honesty I think Navy was a terrible choice for Lehigh’s first FBS games in over a decade. Even damn good P5 schools hate playing the Middies.
Colgate has been far too aggressive in their scheduling imo. They’ve taken on body bag games against Air Force, Navy and Syracuse. The Buffalo game next year was their first really good get imo.
My scheduling wish is for Lehigh to get more aggressive in their FCS scheduling. How about two IL games and two “marquee” FCS opponents a year?
FBS games are nice now and then but Lehigh is FCS for a reason. It’s not like fans of these FBS programs are excited to see Colgate or Lehigh or Fordham show up their schedule.
June 9, 2016 at 2:14 pm #26986I wasn’t trying to get into a discussion on the merits of Lehigh’s FBS scheduling, just simply what we’ve got on the docket.
Nevertheless, I tend to agree with Owl here. Overall, I think we’ve had nice balance with UNH, JMU and now VU coming back on, but would also like another “interesting” and maybe even, out of region, FCS game.
June 9, 2016 at 3:12 pm #26987yeah, Colgate was to aggressive..LOL. Hence the PL title and DEEP playoff run last yr. Quit crying people, scheduling some FBS schools would be great, would also help with recruiting. Kids that get overlooked would love the chance to play in front of 50,000 and show what they could do. We offer schollies now, act like it.
June 9, 2016 at 3:45 pm #26988FBS games are a balance between:
* FBS teams scheduling a “likely win” and getting time for their not-extensively-played seniors
* FCS teams scheduling an “event game” for their team that acts as a reward for the players (be the giant killers) and the fans
Most people know my position – I want Lehigh to travel to LSU. I don’t think Lehigh should ever just simply put FBS teams on the schedule just because, but for the right opportunity, I don’t think Lehigh should shy away from that. We don’t do that in men’s basketball. Why would we do that for football?
June 9, 2016 at 4:09 pm #26996[quote quote=26987]yeah, Colgate was to aggressive..LOL. Hence the PL title and DEEP playoff run last yr. Quit crying people, scheduling some FBS schools would be great, would also help with recruiting. Kids that get overlooked would love the chance to play in front of 50,000 and show what they could do. We offer schollies now, act like it.
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I think what helped propel Colgate’s playoff run was playing UNH earlier in the year. Not going to down to Annapolis and getting run over by Keenan Reynolds.
I don’t have a problem with playing FBS games now and then. But scheduling them yearly is silly because at the end of the day you’re scheduling losses 98% of the time.
Having the chance to be part of the Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry for 4 years is huge in terms of recruiting imo. That offsets not having a FBS game. Bring on UNI, Chattanooga, Richmond, Illinois State, EWU, Montana!
June 9, 2016 at 4:43 pm #26999[quote quote=26988]We don’t do that in men’s basketball. Why would we do that for football?
[/quote]I have mixed feelings on the FBS games, but my direct answer to that quote is “basketball players don’t get career-ending injuries because they’re overmatched.”
June 9, 2016 at 4:56 pm #27000[quote quote=26999]
We don’t do that in men’s basketball. Why would we do that for football?
I have mixed feelings on the FBS games, but my direct answer to that quote is “basketball players don’t get career-ending injuries because they’re overmatched.”
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I don’t think injury is that big of a concern. My feeling is that if these players wanted to play in an FBS enviroment they would have choosen to go to a lower tier FBS program. If they weren’t good enough to get a scholarship or didn’t want to walk-on then so be it. Playing against Lafayette for 4 years as well as games against quality FCS competition (Villanova, JMU, UNH, Princeton, Yale) should be enticing.
Lehigh doesn’t schedule D2 games for a reason….
June 9, 2016 at 5:17 pm #27001Personally, I like Army or Navy (PL members) or Rutgers (historical) as an opponent on occasion even if it is a 98% chance of losing
other than those 3, an occasional money game against say Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt would be ok with me
in general, I don’t have a desire to play Big 10 or other SEC games
June 9, 2016 at 5:22 pm #27002PSU cancelled our game when Franklin came in and restrictions lifted not as a result of B10.
Would like to see more effort or that there is indeed any effort.
I understand Andy’s reluctance to schedule a FBS loss out of the NE. Not much benefit for us other than money. The current plan seems to be one guaranteed FBS game for each class over their 4 years.
We have 5 slots to fill every year.Expect 1NEC,1 or 2 CAA and 1 or 2 Ivies. I think we should fill last OOC spot with occasional “event” games and a mix if SoCon and MAC opponents.
Guess the truly annoying part for me is lack of info from Joe. The only way to check future OOC opponents is to scan the varios teams’announced future schedules.June 9, 2016 at 6:10 pm #27003Andy over on Pard board noticed today that Gate has 5 verbals already. I wonder whether their more aggressive FBS scheduling was a factor??
June 10, 2016 at 11:14 am #27009what FBS games do the class of 2017 and 2018 have???? NONE
June 10, 2016 at 1:09 pm #27011I get your point LG. Navy in 18. Just appears that is how we are approaching FBS ganes. Wr did go to Cuse and PSU. Former was not a done deal and Cuse went with a Gate series. They dont seem interested in FBS games out of the NE. Cross and BC renewed their series. Our choices are Temple UMASS UCONN Buffalo Army and Navy. Perhaps UVA Duke UNC. What are we doing now? No idea.
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