All G5 programs schedule OOC games under certain financial pressures, and for each program those pressures are different. I say that because when you look at the overall athletic budgets of these programs, money tends to be a factor in which programs can afford to rank in the "Top 5". P5's are the white whale every G5 wants to host at their stadiums, so that is my metric for judging these rankings. With that, I give you my list of the 5 best and worst G5 OOC schedulers (Spoiler Alert: there was a huge tie for the worst).


The Top 5 G5 Schedulers (over the next 5 years)

1. San Diego State- SDSU will host a P5 program ever season over the next 5 years
2. Boise State- Boise will host a P5 program in each of the next 4 years (probably adds another P5 for 2024)
2. Temple- They also host a P5 program in each of the next 4 years (and probably adds another P5 for 2024)
4. Colorado St- Host a P5 in four of the next 5 years (no P5 in 2022)
5. USF- Hosts 4 P5's in 3 of the next 5 seasons (2 in 2024)



Who are the worst you might ask? I'll list those too....

The Worst G5 Schedulers (over the next 5 years)... This becomes a conference ranking

1. MAC programs currently not scheduled to host a P5 (over the next 5 years)
Ball State
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Kent State
Miami (OH)
Toledo

2. Sun Belt programs currently not scheduled to host a P5 (over the next 5 years)
Arkansas State
Georgia Southern
ULL
ULM
South Alabama

3. C-USA programs currently not scheduled to host a P5 (over the next 5 years)
FIU
FAU
Southern Miss
UAB
UTSA

4. MWC programs currently not scheduled to host a P5 (over the next 5 years)
Nevada
New Mexico

Every program in the AAC will host at least 1 P5 within the next 5 years.

Interesting take. I appreciate the analysis, but I wonder what metrics the schools are using to evaluate this?

Here is what I mean:
Are the P5 schools scheduled interesting/regional matchups? (I would guess the Florida G5 schools are better at this).

Are the other "buy" games worth enough? (I.e, a $2 million dollar buy game is better scheduling than a $1 million dollar buy game)

Do they schedule any FCS matchups that they pay for themselves?

Does competitive status play a role? I.e, if I am a 5-7 team many years, am I scheduling so that I am likely to get to 6-6 and make a bowl? If I am a 9-3 team am I considering games that might be winnable and also look good on paper so if I get to 10-2 and win my conference championship I might get a NY6 bowl slot? Am I scheduling so that if we lose our coach we can keep that up? If I am 2-10 am I scheduling so that I can afford to buyout the coach?

Lots of other factors than straight P5 at home. What kind of deal brought them to your stadium - was it a home and home, or a 2 for 1?

I don't know how you evaluate all of that, since each school probably has their own metric. But maybe a criteria list (earn points for 1 for 1s, earn points for buy games that pay more than x amount, earn points for games where attendance is greater than 1.5 times the average?)

SDSU is getting HnH's with all of the PAC except USC, Oregon, and Washington. We also have a 4 game aggreement with Missouri (2 Home, 2 Away). With a new home venue likely to open in 2022 and furtile recruiting and leisure in the region the sky is the limit. Oh did I mention the county has 3.5mil people and only one professional team (Padres). Seems like the sleeping giant is almost done waking up.

Interesting Toledo doesn't have a P5 home game scheduled. They recently got Miami to the Glass Bowl. Historic stadium, consistently competitive, decent fan base, located in Ohio (#1 midwestern state for FB recruits).

(07-07-2020 04:41 PM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  Interesting take. I appreciate the analysis, but I wonder what metrics the schools are using to evaluate this?

Here is what I mean:
Are the P5 schools scheduled interesting/regional matchups? (I would guess the Florida G5 schools are better at this).

Are the other "buy" games worth enough? (I.e, a $2 million dollar buy game is better scheduling than a $1 million dollar buy game)

Do they schedule any FCS matchups that they pay for themselves?

Does competitive status play a role? I.e, if I am a 5-7 team many years, am I scheduling so that I am likely to get to 6-6 and make a bowl? If I am a 9-3 team am I considering games that might be winnable and also look good on paper so if I get to 10-2 and win my conference championship I might get a NY6 bowl slot? Am I scheduling so that if we lose our coach we can keep that up? If I am 2-10 am I scheduling so that I can afford to buyout the coach?

Lots of other factors than straight P5 at home. What kind of deal brought them to your stadium - was it a home and home, or a 2 for 1?

I don't know how you evaluate all of that, since each school probably has their own metric. But maybe a criteria list (earn points for 1 for 1s, earn points for buy games that pay more than x amount, earn points for games where attendance is greater than 1.5 times the average?)

I think a lot of the scheduling choices are based on needs. Many of the G5's that don't host P5's seem to take at least one money game every season. They need those funds to keep their programs running.

The G5's that can afford it, schedule P5's series rather than accept million+ dollar checks to play one shot road games at P5 stadiums. Some will accept 2 for 1 deals, and a few will only sign home and home deals. These better funded programs view hosting P5's as a way of elevating their programs in the eyes of their fans, media market, and the overall national landscape.

The other factor to remember is that home games are owned by a programs conference, so those games add value to their conference's media deal. Both the AAC and MWC conferences will each host over 25 P5 programs in the next 5 years, and it is reflected in their higher media value among G5 conferences.

No Cincinnati? In the past few years we have had H/H series with UCLA, The U, Purdue and Oklahoma. Starting a series this season with Nebraska, and will have future H\H with Pitt, NC State, Indiana and Boston College. We have a one off with Notre Dame in 2021.

(07-07-2020 07:30 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  No Cincinnati? In the past few years we have had H/H series with UCLA, The U, Purdue and Oklahoma. Starting a series this season with Nebraska, and will have future H\H with Pitt, NC State, Indiana and Boston College. We have a one off with Notre Dame in 2021.

Cincinnati only has 2 P5's currently scheduled to play at Nippert Stadium in the next 5 years (Indiana in 2022 & Pitt in 2024). There are 22 other G5 programs that will host 2 or more P5's in the same time frame. Cinci needs to up their game if they want to make the cut.