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Increasingly, what the Badgers see — especially in September — is a college football world gone stark raving mad.
Take last weekend, for instance. In the season’s first round of nonconference games, the following upsets were reported:
And that list doesn’t include Cal Poly’s victory over San Diego State, the only game in which a team from the Football Championship Subdivision beat a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision.
What it all means is that teams from the six Bowl Championship Series conferences simply aren’t safe anymore.
Starting with Appalachian State’s shocking victory at Michigan last season and the parade of upsets by non-BCS teams that followed, BCS schools aren’t getting quite the bang for the buck they used to get from their nonconference games.
Bielema, whose Badgers beat Akron of the MAC in their opener, will send his 11th-ranked team against Marshall of Conference USA today at Camp Randall Stadium. After last weekend’s round of upsets proved that 2007 wasn’t a fluke, getting the Badgers’ attention during their big-picture get-together Sunday wasn’t difficult for the coach.
“You know, you look at Arkansas State beating Texas A&M and I can’t imagine how that feels and sits down there with the Aggie fans,” Bielema said this week. “And then Bowling Green turning around and beating Pitt. (They’re) a MAC opponent, similar to what we (played). And then I know, near and dear to my heart, that Cal Poly beat San Diego State.”
Of course, Wisconsin plays Cal Poly in its season finale, though not even the Mustangs’ victory over a poor San Diego State team can legitimize their late addition to the Badgers’ schedule in the eyes of Wisconsin fans.
Marshall, on the other hand, has excellent offensive weapons and a wide-open attack, which is exactly the kind of non-BCS opponent that has been giving BCS teams fits lately.
The Thundering Herd aren’t expected to contend in the C-USA East this season, but still the Badgers would be wise to heed the new mantra of college football non-conference games: Buyer beware.
For many years, BCS schools were able to fork over $300,000 or so to lure a team from a smaller conference into its stadium. It was a cheap way for a big-time school to buy a home date and, almost certainly, a victory.
In recent years, however, the smaller schools have banded together and the price for such games has doubled or even tripled. Worst of all for the big boys, the games are no longer guaranteed victories.
The BCS schools may be reaping most of the financial rewards, but the non-BCS schools are starting to make them pay for it on the field. Indeed, with the 85-scholarship limit, improved television exposure for the smaller conferences and the great equalizer known as the spread offense, the big conferences are routinely taking hits in prestige, if not the wallet, these days.
“The difference financially between the programs is getting greater and greater,” East Carolina coach Skip Holtz said this week, “but with the 85-scholarship limitation and recruiting the way it is, I think the play on the field is getting closer and closer. What Appalachian State did at Michigan, what we had the opportunity to do (last) week, with all these big wins we’re having, I think it’s showing, I don’t think this is just a special event or a one-win, one-time thing. I think you’re going to start to see more and more of this.“
Much to the chagrin of ticket-buying fans, scheduling non-BCS and even FCS opponents has become the norm for budget-conscious BCS schools during the non-conference season. When buying an anticipated victory and a lucrative home date, however, a BCS team had better take care of business or it could end up crying all the way to the bank.
