Sept. 7, 2004
It is the unsung art of college athletics.
It measures things like team records, travel, talent and RPIs.
It requires projecting the strength of your program years into the future, as well as the strength of your opponent.
It is the unsung art of scheduling.
In the ever-changing world of college athletics, scheduling football games has nearly become a full-time job with contracts signed for games years into the future. Conference affiliations are changing almost daily. And in today's society, instant gratification is a necessity. So are winning records, bowl games and balanced budgets.
For San Diego State, the addition of Texas Christian University to the Mountain West Conference means one less non-league game to be scheduled. Or, in a more likely scenario, one game on the future schedules grid that must be dropped.
But not so fast. There is also an official NCAA proposal for a permanent 12-game season, which would mean adding a game to the non-conference slate.
Stay tuned.
On Saturdays, the pressure is on the players and coaches to produce victories. The other days of the week, the pressure is on the administration to meet the needs of all parties.
And perhaps no school in the country reflects the constantly changing times of college athletics more than San Diego State.
In 1969, the Aztecs completed their most recent undefeated season as the school was winding down its stint as perhaps the nation's greatest small-college power. That 11-0 squad claimed wins over the likes of Texas-Arlington, Cal State Los Angeles, West Texas State and Boston University.
With the move into the NCAA Division I-A ranks, first as an independent and then as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, the name of the Aztec opponents became more familiar. While the jump was far from painless, the Aztecs have recorded wins over Florida State, Arizona, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. But the new challenge can be daunting.
In 2000, the Aztecs opened with Arizona State, Illinois, Arizona and Fiesta Bowl-bound Oregon State during the non-conference season. On paper, it was a perfect schedule. Powerful name opponents that were beatable. Arizona State was rebuilding, Illinois had hit rock bottom in the Big Ten and Oregon State had suffered through decades of decline.
But after a tough 10-7 loss to Arizona State in the opener, the realities of the art of scheduling surfaced. The Illini were on the rise and Illinois whipped SDSU on its way back to respectability and just a year away from a Big Ten title. Oregon State may have fielded the best team in its history as the Beavers would go on to clobber Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
The bottom line was an 0-4 start to a season and included a season-ending injury to quarterback Jack Hawley weeks before the conference race started.
"I think those schedules might not have been bad if we were still in the Western Athletic Conference," said head coach Tom Craft. "I think people underestimated this league and how often a second-division team can beat a contender. Every week is a challenge."
Two years into the job, Craft and athletic director Mike Bohn are slowly implementing their own scheduling philosophy.
"I like playing the UCLAs and Michigans because it gives us a chance to measure our program as we grow," Craft said. "But while we are building, playing those teams every week and then heading into Mountain West play doesn't make sense to me.
"We need balance in our pre-league schedule," he added. "I like playing a `name' opponent or two every year," he added. "But we need to play people we can match up with as well. We need a schedule with both kinds of challenges because you can take something out of every game as you head into conference play."
Mike Bohn agrees.
"We want an attractive home schedule," he said. "But we also know that winning is pretty attractive as well."
Tonight, the Aztecs open up their season with Idaho State of the Big Sky Conference. ISU hails from the same league as Eastern Washington, a stingy opponent SDSU defeated in the 2003 season opener, 19-9.
Next time out, it's Big Ten champ Michigan, followed by a home game with a Nevada team that won at Washington last fall. The Aztecs head to the Rose Bowl on Oct. 2nd. The Big Sky to the Big Ten provides both ends of the spectrum.
Is this smart scheduling or 2000 waiting to happen? It is a question much easier to answer after the fact. SDSU was 3-2 during non-conference play last season and gained the most notoriety for its near-miss at No. 2 Ohio State (16-13). But that loss did not nothing to enhance SDSU's bowl stature.
As for what that scheduling philosophy means in the future? Well mostly it means constant changes of course. San Diego State will open 2005 with a home game against UCLA and a home date with San Jose State is on the agenda as well. Another game at Ohio State is also solid. But things still could still change due to the addition of TCU to the league.
SDSU is close to signing a deal that could bring one of the top programs in the Big Ten to Qualcomm Stadium as soon as 2006. Future schedules include Washington State, Arizona State, Oregon State and Notre Dame.
They might also include an asterisk. Because we are talking about college athletics, where the new tradition is one of constant change.