It was interesting to see in today's POST article the topic come up about OHIO being unable to get home and home series with BCS teams while other MAC teams do.  Schaus responds basically saying that those same BCS teams willing to do home and home series with other MAC teams don't seem to be interested in doing the same with us.  It would be interesting to see what the reasons for this are and if the type of home and home agreement we want differs than what the other MAC schools proposed.  Because if Schaus is correct that OHIO is just not getting the love through no fault of our own, it kind of kills some of the arguments on this board.  Now I understand we could always get rid of the FCS-opponent home game and add another BCS-opponent away game, but that would defeat the current plan Schaus has for OHIO.  As some like myself have said we need to build a consistently winning and successful program before we start front-loading our schedule with hard games that could derail seasons for OHIO teams that aren't as resilient and confident.  I am kind of hoping that those future time slots that Schaus mentioned are waiting to be filled after this year or next year to see how the team is progressing.  Because if things continue improving for OHIO we might lure better opponents as well as offers for home and home series against BCS teams.

But these other MAC schools usually aren't drawing more than 24,000 when they have BCS teams in, right?  Might be a few instances where they do, but usually not.  Correct me if I'm wrong here. 

Toledo does better than 24k for BCS teams.  Plus no other school to my knowledge is charging $5 to fill seats for these games.

UConn was our last BCS school, correct?

I see Ohio is only charging 10 dollars for the Miami game this year. Yet Marshall is a 30 dollar ticket? 

The idea has to be to optimize alumni interest with the schedule. The only way the Bobcats are going to build a strong fanbase is by appealing to alumni. The local community is too poor to support the program by itself. An alternative idea might be to play 2 Big Ten schools on the road for money every year with CUSA schools at home to ensure the 6 home game objective.

September Saturday vs. November Tuesday.

Minnesota attendance in 2003 was listed as 20,227. Iowa State in 2001 was listed as 24,000. Pittsburg game in 2005 listed as 24,545.

You're right about minnesota, but Iowa state was the first home game after the renovations and was a packed house.

Yes they deserve 6 home games. We have to have 6 games at home as 1 or 2 will be moved to a midweek timeslot almost every year for ESPN. If it truely is that difficult to get a BCS to play in Athens on a 1 for 1 basis then try to sign series with better mid majors. We have a CUSA on the schedule every year with Marshall and due to money purposes that makes a lot of sense to continue. Its that far away WAC game that doesn't make a lot of economic sense. Idaho and NMSU are extremely difficult to attend from Southern Ohio. Why aren't we playing Army and Navy often in 2 for 2 type of series like other MAC schools or at least upgrade to solid MWC teams. A Fresno State or Air Force series would be better than what we have now. There is no reason with the program built under Solich that we should continue to sign the dregs of FBS to 1 and 1 series. 

I don't see a playoff happening Monroe so you have nothing to worry about. The trend we are seeing from the BCS boys is they are gradually getting their domination down to an exact science. Gone are the days like the Tangerine Bowl where the MAC #1 played the SEC #4 in Orlando. The Big East would be lucky to get that matchup with the SEC today.  I love the way Ohio has taken the program to another level under Solich and ESPN games. The football budget is now tops among the MAC. The postseason system though offers little mobility. That is why I'm focused on scheduling, its the one thing in our control that we could be doing a better job of. At a minimum if Ohio's going to continue the 1 BCS game a year thing it has to be against a Penn State, Notre Dame, Nebraska type of opponent. Playing Rutgers for a payday as the BCS on the schedule when the cats may be favored to win isn't the answer.

Death sentence? It's already dead.

I agree that a playoff system couldn't make anything worse for MAC football than it already is.

I think the most likely system would have the 11 conference champions plus five at-larges.  Monroe, I don't know where you're coming up with 12 conferences.