Football Teams in Love with Cupcakes

Don’t laugh, that might be what your favorite team actually looks like on the field.

Every year, football programs try to manufacture the perfect schedule and the teams below didn’t make the cut. While there is no “perfect schedule,” there are schedules that treat its fans like they are a Comcast customer.
Discarding the conference slate, as schools don’t have control on those games, here are several non-conference schedules that are ripping off fans and their conference rankings.

Marshall

The Thundering Herd are a front-runner in Conference USA this season but does not play a single power conference school. Instead, Marshall loaded up on three MAC schools and FCS Rhode Island. If Marshall wants to make a splash it will have to go undefeated before pollsters notice them. Maybe the weak schedule will help the Herd obtain the coveted mid-major spot in the four big bowls. Then again it might cause Marshall to fade away into obscurity.

Oregon State

The PAC 12 has nine games in league play allowing just three games out of conference. Oregon State took that opportunity and converted it into FCS Portland State, at Hawaii and San Diego State. Hawaii only won one game last year so way to push the envelope there Beavers. With that said, Oregon State lost to FCS Eastern Washington a year ago so maybe it’s tough enough.

Baylor

Baylor won the Big 12 last season so why in the world are Bears afraid to play anybody? It’s toughest out of conference game is at Buffalo of the MAC. SMU and FCS Northwestern State round out an unimpressive trio. This is not great for the Big 12’s strength of schedule rankings.

Middle Tennessee State

The Blue Raiders open against FCS cupcake Savannah State and then travel to their toughest non-conference foe on the season in… Minnesota? MTSU is also at Memphis of the AAC and at Old Dominion of the Sun Belt. Not a slate that will impress people and the weakest team is the only home game.

Ball State

My alma mater in Ball State has the issue of playing two FCS programs this year. BSU does play at Iowa but that doesn’t really make up for the fans having to see Colgate and Indiana State. There is no value in beating two FCS schools as the second win does not count towards bowl eligibility.

Houston

The Cougars are another school playing two FCS programs (Grambling State and Tennessee Tech) that I’m sure fans are dying to see. UTSA is Houston’s best non-conference opponent at home as BYU is away. Did I mention this is only the fourth year UTSA has had a football program?

Georgia Tech

For the second straight year the Yellow Jackets will be playing two FCS opponents. It’s as if Georgia Tech is conceding multiple losses in ACC play and the rivalry game to Georgia with that attitude. Tech also traverses to AAC Tulane which could be a trap game costing it bowl eligibility if it falters there.

With their schedule I don’t think winning a prize pack is a good thing.

North Carolina State

Another ACC school topped Georgia Tech as NC State will play 2 FCS schools too. NC State’s sexiest home game out of conference is Old Dominion of the Sun Belt. There is a trip to South Florida but that does nothing to accommodate the fans at home. For an ACC school to go this soft is a giant white flag in confidence coming off a 3-9 season. Hope the people in Raleigh like cupcakes because they’re about to get a lot of them.

Other flimsy non-conference schedules: Buffalo, Florida International, Air Force, Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky

Mid-Major Identity Crisis

I take it tickets are still available.

I did something Saturday that I probably shouldn’t have. I returned to my alma-mater, Ball State, to watch a basketball game.

That may not sound like much of a regret but it is when your basketball program is finding every way it can to hinder itself. Just like Michael Bay when he makes a Transformers movie.

I detailed how I became a Ball State fan when I guest wrote for Over the Pylon, a Ball State sports blog. No need to rehash how I my relationship with Ball State athletics began, the issue now is maintaining it.

Ball State’s problem is more than the 4-15 record of its mens basketball team. It’s more than the fact the football team lays an egg in seemingly every big game. It’s more than the poor finances of the Olympic sports like field hockey, swimming, volleyball and tennis. It’s the fact the athletic department has no identity.

This is a common problem for schools in the MAC, Sun-Belt, Conference USA and Mountain West. They can’t figure who they are.

My sports editor at the Ball State Daily News explained it perfectly to me when I covered the school’s mens volleyball team. Mid-majors like Ball State can’t focus on every sport. They simply don’t have the resources. It leaves schools in Ball State’s situation a tough to choice to make.

1. Focus on football at the expense at every other sport you have. Count on the football team to increase boosters and hope the other sports can do more with less.
2. Just view football as another sport and pool more resources to others. Don’t worry if the football team struggles because other programs should emerge to satisfy fans and boosters.

There are good examples for each here right in the Mid-American Conference. Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, and Central Michigan take option No. 1. Football is what drives them as all three have predominantly been among the conference elite in that sport. TCU, when it was in the Mountain West, had a football focus allowing it to get promoted to the Big 12. The same can be said for Marshall in the 90s and early 2000s when it was in the MAC.

Option No. 2 has worked MAC examples Kent State, Akron, and Miami University. Kent State has been a force in basketball and its baseball team has crashed the party at the College World Series. Akron has had great success in basketball and men’s soccer. Miami can even fund a hockey team that reached the Frozen Four.

This is where I come back to Ball State. In the 1990s the school had an identity. Rick Majerus had the basketball team running as a MAC powerhouse. The mens volleyball team was competing for national championships, and is still the only sport the school has with any hope of achieving a national ranking on a yearly basis.

Then the school had an athletic director change and the focus shifted to football. Having an awful football team was no longer an option. For a time it seemed to work as Coach Brady Hoke was a genius, leading the Cardinals to an undefeated regular season in 2008. Then Ball State struggled to find a replacement as bigger schools stole Hoke and he is now at Michigan.

While the football team has improved, the lack of local recruits will always hold the program back. Coach Pete Lembo has to go into other states far from Indiana to sell the school. The basketball and volleyball teams do not have that problem. Recruits can be found just a short drive away and the facilities in those sports are excellent for a mid-major. Ball State could have been as good as Butler in basketball or as good as UCLA in mens volleyball. It can still happen. This should be its identity. But in football the best it can hope for is to win the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

That is why it was so sad watching the basketball team play Northern Illinois at home Saturday. The roster is composed of seniors who were too old to transfer for just one year, and freshmen who would have needed to redshirt if they went anywhere else. Even against NIU, a school that focuses on football, Ball State couldn’t get it done.

The Cardinals broke out to 30-15 lead late in the first half only to let Huskies cut it to 30-22 at halftime. Ball State’s starters got into foul trouble and Northern hit a huge three to force overtime. The result was a 67-65 NIU win. Ball State’s talent scarcity showed as it went a horrendous 14-28 from the line. Hitting just one more free throw in regulation would have won the game.

Ball State had blown a game to a conference rival with a losing record at home. To make it worse, no one cared. The fans have bought into the notion that Ball State is a football school because of a few winning seasons, so why does it matter if the other sports struggle?

I wish I could share in their ignorance.

2013’s Outbreak of Winless Teams

This is the final week of the 2013 college football season for most schools and these four beleaguered programs are down to their last chance to avoid humiliation.

It’s crazy when you think about it. College football is the one sport where you can buy a win. In order for a FBS team pull a 0-12 season it has to in a poor financial state or a bad team with injuries. In some cases both. We only had one winless team last year and sadly that is about to repeat history (Southern Miss).

We almost had five teams that were winless as Connecticut looked hopeless going into Temple Saturday. Somehow, the Huskies overcame a 21-point halftime deficit to knock off the Owls 28-21. Instead of a disastrous perfect season I’ll remember the 2013 Huskies for this nerdy time lapse video. Mission Accomplished.

These four teams are still trying to avoid the degrading 0-12 label.

Miami University (0-11) Final game: At Ball State (9-2) Friday

The RedHawks have been dreadful all season and has only been competitive in a couple of games. A touchdown loss to Akron and UMass is pretty much the highlights. That’s about as positive as Wiley Coyote boasting on how he came within five feet of Road Runner before the anvil fell on him.

The fan base has thrown in the towel too. Check out this stadium full of seats at the SECOND QUARTER!

@darrenrovell start of second quarter. pic.twitter.com/AlHgRDIJ1U

— Sean McNally (@SeanOMcNally) November 20, 2013

Can Miami win a game? NOT A CHANCE IN HADES! Ball State has been carving people up on offense all year and is in need of a punching bag after losing at Northern Illinois. Enjoy the humiliation of a winless season Miami.

Southern Miss (0-11)at UAB (2-9) Saturday

While things are bad at Miami it is full depression for the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. Southern Miss went 0-12 last season making it 23-game losing streak. Ironically, this school’s last win came in a bowl game in 2011 over Nevada. The Golden Eagles finished No. 20 in the AP poll that year. How do you go from a 12-2 season to the armpit of college football that fast? Southern Miss fans have seen plenty of depressing tweets like this during the past few months.

Game Update: MTSU 42, #SouthernMiss 14, 6:36 remaining in the fourth quarter — Southern Miss Sports (@USMGoldenEagles) November 23, 2013

Can Southern Miss win a game? Maybe. UAB has nothing to play for other than the fact that it’s Senior Day. A turnover free game might allow the Golden Eagles to snap the streak even on the road. I give them a 40 percent chance.

Hawaii (0-11) vs. Army (3-9) Saturday

Hawaii may be winless but it’s not going down easy. The Rainbow Warriors have forced two straight overtime affairs. First San Diego State and then Wyoming. If you can’t find the humor of Hawaii being in the same conference as Wyoming then we probably can’t be friends. This epic showdown between polar opposite states was pretty much over when Hawaii couldn’t score in OT.

UH stopped on 4th down at the 5-yd line on first OT possession. Wyoming ball. #HawaiiFB — Hawaii Athletics (@HawaiiAthletics) November 23, 2013

Hawaii has even tried going retro in its uniforms to score a win. It made this suggestive and awkward video to show off the renovated threads. Good luck counting the number of close-ups just below this player’s waistline.

Can Hawaii win a game? It should. Army will be making the absurd flight from the East Coast and that will be a huge plus to consider. Army might also look ahead to its annual duel with Navy coming up. It’s Senior Day and this squad is still playing hard. I give Hawaii a 55 percent chance of getting its first win.

Georgia State (0-11) vs. South Alabama (4-6) Saturday

I’ve been making fun of Georgia State for several times this season so why stop now? The program is a great script for an episode of Quantum Leap as Sam Beckett leaps into the athletic director to keep the school on the FCS level. When FCS Georgia Southern is having more success than it means you made a huge mistake.

The GSU Twitter account has been mentioned before but now it has done the unthinkable. It engaged in a Twitter war on game day. It all started when GSU tweeted about asking for retweets when it had a 17-7 lead against Arkansas State Saturday. The lead evaporated in the third quarter and Georgia State fell 35-33. The halftime tweet was seen as bringing bad luck to the team.

@GSUPanthers why?…..Why would you do that?

— The Panther Head (@Panthersville) November 23, 2013

@Panthersville Boo you.
— GSU Athletics (@GSUPanthers) November 23, 2013

@Panthersville Any time you want to come in and talk philosophy (and jinxes), you know where my office is, or I’ll meet you.
— GSU Athletics (@GSUPanthers) November 23, 2013

@Panthersville Understood what you meant, and disagree. Rather let the 15 people who did RT have fun. Will do it again if an opportunity.
— GSU Athletics (@GSUPanthers) November 23, 2013

Whether the tweet brought about bad luck is not the issue. The fact that Georgia State is so desperate for something positive and is so insecure when challenged in a social media setting is the issue.

Asking people to retweet you is a sure fire way to not be retweeted. I don’t think a Twitter account for a SEC team would say “Boo you” to anyone. They simply wouldn’t care. The whole situation is sad, comical, and showcases Georgia’s State’s season all at the same time.

Can Georgia State win a game? Doubtful. South Alabama still has a chance at the six wins needed for bowl eligibility. A 6-6 record is probably not enough to get the Jaguars into a bowl game but they should play with urgency on Saturday. The odds are against the Panthers as I give them a 35% chance of winning.

Charging the field at Troy State

There were plenty of scores and highlights that caught my attention Saturday but the Troy State Trojans may have stolen the show. In a battle for Sun Belt bragging rights in the state of Alabama, Troy State rallied to beat South Alabama 34-33.

The Panthers scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the fourth to take a 33-27 lead. Troy State countered going 66 yards on five plays to steal the game  on a 20-yard touchdown pass with just seven seconds left.

South Alabama lost despite having 630 total yards compared to Troy’s 434. At 3-3, Troy State still has bowl hopes and also has this awesome first person video of charging the field to show off from the beginning of the game. It is amazing people don’t get trampled when you think about it. Especially the alumni cheerleaders you see at around the 55 second mark. Also note how bad the band sounds when the horns are right in your ear.

The battle for New Mexico
What is the saddest in-state rivalry game? Has to be New Mexico vs. New Mexico State. The Lobos are basketball school and the Aggies are so bad at football the Mountain West Conference did not want them forcing it to go independent. New Mexico won 66-17 Saturday but the problem is the Lobos are a 2-3 team and ranked No. 142 in the Sagarin ratings. The 0-6 Aggies dropped to No. 204 (worst among FBS teams). These two schools should probably stop playing each other, or could drop to the FCS level (bingo). The only chance New Mexico State has at winning a game this season is Oct. 26 when FCS independent Abilene Christian comes to town. Don’t know why, but tickets actually cost $40 for this game.

The sneaky unbeaten
Did anyone know that Missouri is undefeated? It dominated Vanderbilt in Nashville 51-28. The score was 30-7 at halftime! Now that Indiana shocked Penn State, Missouri’s win over Indiana looks stronger than ever. Now comes three straight games against ranked SEC schools (Georgia, Florida and South Carolina). It’s hard to see Missouri representing the SEC East in the conference championship game but you have to give it some consideration if the Missouri can pull off the upset at Georgia.

Poor Virginia
Virginia, a proud member of the ACC, got drilled by a MAC school on a shoestring budget in Ball State 48-27. Saturday’s loss dropped the Cavaliers to 2-3 and will probably make them an underdog the rest of the season. Yea for a 2-10 season! The Virginia football Twitter account pretty much summed it and is the depressing tweet of the week.

Following BSU TD, McGee fumbles after catching pass. Ball State takes over on UVa 39-yd line. #BALLvsUVA

— Virginia Football (@UVa_Football) October 5, 2013