I am glad BC scheduled a two-game series with Purdue. I've been complaining about soft scheduling and the flimsy excuses for our recent schedules, so I view booking a Power 5 team as the right step. Doing it in advance (the series is for 2018 and 2020) also solidifies BC's Power 5 requirement for the next few years (Notre Dame is scheduled for 2017 and 2019). Great news! Congrats to Brad Bates for booking the series! We get to play and Big Ten team we've never faced! Give us all ya got, Boilermakers!
Yet for all the excitement, there is still a sense of cynicism in this series. Right now Purdue is a very bad team. Arguably better than BC, but still bad. We have no idea what they will be like in 2018 or 2020, but the odds are they won't be great. It will take a long time for Darrell Hazell or more likely his successor, to become good again. Maybe it will be by 2018, but unlikely. Even if Hazell is fired next year, 2018 will only be Year 2 of the new coach's tenure. Purdue's situation certainly factored into the scheduling. Addazio and Bates used their first Power 5 matchup not as a chance to test the team or excite their fanbase, but to win a game. They are not the first to schedule like this and won't be the last but that doesn't make it fun.
When BC scheduled the USC series, they were still a dynasty. When we finally played them, we caught them in a down cycle and went 1-1. But we still were able to rally around playing and beating the Trojans. Even if we go 2-0 against Purdue, I don't see the series providing any residual benefit beyond meeting the Power 5 mandate. It is a wasted opportunity. Few will get excited about a trip to West Lafayette. While good academically, Purdue is not considered a peer school. Indiana is not a focal point in recruiting.
I hope the series with Purdue is great. I also hope this is just the first step in more exciting scheduling. And I hope BC wins and I hope I am wrong about BC's motivations in scheduling.
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Like it. Definitely an improvement
We're in this weird place where the big names that we all clamor for probably don't want to play us and be that year's USC. But we don't have enough name recognition to force our way into the conversation.
I'm ok with this agreement. We weren't going to get any of the big B1G boys in a straight home and home, and this presents a better picture (to me at least) than Indiana or Minnesota.
Besides, maybe we'll lure the next Jeremy Trueblood and Mathias Kiwanuka to the heights with our next trip to the hoosier state.
The criticism is justified. However, BC has a lot of housecleaning to do before they can tell someone else to "clean up their room". Sadly, BC is in a very bad place. Actually, I hope that Bates will go to Michigan. Then, the housecleaning can take place. I would like to see Coughlin brought in to sweep the floor. In all reality, Bates is very suspect. The everyday operation is run by Jill Hegarty who is or was Director of Football Operations. I met her in a visit in March. Maybe, it is time to give her a looksee as Athletic Director.
Purdue is a good opponent all things considered. Have no problem with UConn or N. Ill. either. I just don't want cupcakes like UMass, RI, Maine, Buffalo, Wagner, Howard, HC, Weber State, etc. who don't pass the straight face test.
Would love to see us play 9 in the ACC. Sure would solve allot of these scheduling troubles. The cowardly ND deal prevents it of course.
How many 1AA/FCS schools can BC schedule?
How are Duke, Stanford, and ND all managing to recruit players to their schools that meet the same or similar high admissions requirements that BC has and succeeding? BC has to be able to do that again. That should be Bates' and Addazio's primary concern.
@STC: Luke and Mattie Ice are just two examples. You also have to have the good coaching. BC had that as well with Coughlin and a few more. There was a reason that BC could lose 54-7 to ND and then come back the next year for one of the greatest moments in BC history. It is labelled as T. Coughlin. "If you build it, they will come" works in the Iowa cornfields as well as on the Heights. There is a reason that he won two Super Bowls. He has the pedigree and needs to be brought back to BC in some capacity.
It's only because our schedule is so bad that a home and home with Purdue merits a sigh of relief. I mean, come on. Can we all get a GoFundMe account going to get Drew Brees one more year of eligibility? I feel like like we're getting the sports version of battered wife syndrome. I know in their heart that the school loves me. They just have a difficult time showing it.
So, I see that Stanford and Duke have an upcoming series, so along with their ND game, that's out. Northwestern is out. I think they're filled up. BYU has multiple games with Umass, so that's out, too.
You gotta respect an AD who has the temerity to say, "Hey, you get FSU and Clemson and ND every other year! What more do you need?" while he Facetimes Harbaugh and reminisces about those character building Michigan winters.
At this point I'd rather just build a rivalry with Howard in order to get their band on campus. Just think about the good PR and those Fall trips to DC.
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