You do have too much time!

So, in a rough way we are in the middle of the MAC on this count.  I'm not saying that's where we want to be.   But before we get hysterical we should have a fair assessment of the facts.

Hopefully, over the next handful of years we have great success comes and that causes sched upgrades.

Miami and Toledo are running circles around us....simple as that. They care about their fans. Our AD cares about Marshall.

I wouldn't reach that conclusion.  Instead, I view the data as showing that we are in the bottom 1/3rd in the MAC in total BCS home games, and dead last in future BCS home games.  That isn't middle of the pack to me, but rather at or near the bottom.

The fact that we are all but booked until 2015 just compounds the problem.  Whereas every other school in the MAC has a bunch of flexibility to take advantage of the current economic conditions and potentially add a quality home game (ala BGSU-Maryland), we are locked into a schedule full of schlock.  Unless we've negotiated really low buyouts in some of these contracts, given the budget situation we may very well be locked into them, in which case I suspect two years from now the stats above will look even worse.

Can't argue about the upcoming years, Flomo, but for the prior years I don' think that we're in the bottom third.  We're in the middle third.  From your list, WMU, NIU, EMU and Ball had less than we did. 

+1...although I would expect nothing less.

I'd say that lack of interest is a much bigger reason than location for why we draw so poorly.

The timing of that game (early, day after thanksgiving, and the dorms closed until January to boot) hurt the attendance more than anything, especially with it being nationalized televised (on the U I believe)

Sure we'd draw more fans if we were located in a major metropolitan area.  But that doesn't 'mean that location is our biggest problem.  Our biggest problem is that Ohio football ranks somewhere between irrelevant and a joke for at least 90% of our alumni.  The vast majority of alums simply don't care about MAC East titles.  Even if we win 5 straight MAC titles and Pizza Bowls, we'll still be viewed by most alumni as competing at the little league level compared to the sacred Suckeyes. 

That's why I think scheduling is such a big deal on the football side of things.  In basketball, if you have a successful year you achieve legitimacy by getting to play in the NCAA Tournament.  In football that isn't the case, hence the need to schedule and beat visible teams during the regular season.  Unfortunately, the current schedules don't give us much of a chance of doing so, with only one road BCS game scheduled per year.  That simply isn't going to ignite enthusiasm among most of our alumni base, which is ultimately what we need to do to move this program to the next level.

Ohio still has a probable road game to fill in 2013. No one said that we couldn't pull something out that could bring in some big name for 2016.

Again I agree with Flomo.  We should seriously look at getting weaker/lower BCS teams to play a home and home with us.  I personally think that playing Indiana, Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers, UConn, Maryland, Duke, Vandy or any other regional BCS team whether they are from the B-10, ACC, Big East, Big-12 or SEC would in the long run generate more "buzz" among the fan base, which hopefully would in turn generate more revenue for OUr program.  A good example is how the basketball team genereated a lot of good will with the W over G-town and the following game with Tennessee.  In the end, it is easier for the casual fan to get excited when we play a "name" team fom a BCS conference at home rather than someone from the Sun Belt/WAC or wherever.  And again, I do not mean to disrespect either of those conferences.

GO BOBCATS!

How money is Flomo? Just gets it done time and time again.

Well said on all accounts. I get too angry, he just puts the hammer on the nail and drives it home.