Bowling Green State University Athletics
Planning Ahead
July 19, 2005 | Football
July 18, 2005
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Three of Bowling Green's four non-conference football games for the 2006 season are set.
The 2006 season starts the new NCAA legislation permitting 12 football games.
"Our league, at least at this point in time, has taken the position that we'll be playing eight conference games and four non-conference games," BG athletics director Paul Krebs said about the Mid-American Conference.
The Falcons' three non-league games for the 2006 season are Sept. 2 against Wisconsin at Cleveland Browns Stadium; Sept. 23 at home with Boise State; and a game at Florida International. The 2006 contest with Florida International is the first of a home-and-home agreement with the Division I-A school.
Recent published reports in Pittsburgh had Bowling Green playing the Pitt Panthers in 2006, but Krebs said that is not the case.
Krebs said Bowling Green's fourth non-conference opponent for the '06 season has yet to be identified.
"You try not to over-schedule ... competitiveness, economics, travel, all those things factor in," Krebs said.
There is a possibility of the MAC formulating a scheduling agreement with the Big 10, which would help conferences fill the 12th game in upcoming years.
"It's probably fair to call those general discussions," Krebs said. "I think there is a certain amount of flexibility each school will have as it relates to that. The league can't really commit us to that."
Rick Chryst, the MAC commissioner, told The Ann Arbor News that he anticipates the deal will begin with the 2006 season and run through 2009.
"We see this as a window to bring the broader MAC into Big Ten stadiums and also have more Big Ten teams come into our stadiums," Chryst told the Ann Arbor paper. "We want to (be) able to be flexible with our conference so we can fill in the (Big Ten's open) October and November dates."
Bowling Green has played at Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan in recent years and visits Wisconsin to open the 2005 season. The Falcons played three Big Ten foes in 2003, winning at Purdue and beating Northwestern in the Motor City Bowl while losing at Ohio State.
However, finding Big Ten opponents for the Falcons in the immediate future, other than the two-game series already signed with Wisconsin, could be difficult.
"It's my understanding there is limited interest (from Big Ten teams) in playing Bowling Green," Krebs said. "That's more of a condition of our success (37-12 over the last four seasons)."
"We are certainly in the mix ... but people aren't beating a path to play us," Krebs added. "And I understand that. If we were 0-11, it might be a different story."
By virtue of the size of their home stadiums and their drawing power, Krebs said there is no way Ohio State, Michigan or Penn State would play at a MAC school.
Toledo (Minnesota), Miami (Iowa) and Ohio (Minnesota) are among the MAC schools to host Big Ten teams in recent years.
The BG-Wisconsin game at Cleveland in 2006 counts as a home game for the Falcons.
Krebs said Bowling Green initiated the talks for the game in Cleveland, first making a deal with the Browns and then working with Wisconsin.
"I think our ability to play at a place like Cleveland Browns Stadium or Ford Field (in Detroit) might make it attractive enough to get a game that we couldn't otherwise get in Doyt Perry Stadium," Krebs said. "The economics are different. And it's a chance for an opponent to come into an NFL stadium; that can be seen as something very advantageous."
If the BG-Wisconsin game in Cleveland goes as planned, Krebs said Bowling Green "certainly would look to do more games like that. We are in various stages of negotiations with other teams about other neutral game sites."
Other non-conference games tentatively scheduled for the Falcons are: 2007, at Arizona State on Sept. 1 and a home game with Florida International; 2008, at Virginia Tech on Aug. 30 and at Pittsburgh on Sept. 13; 2009, at Missouri on Sept. 12; and 2010, at Ohio State on Sept. 18.
The contests with Pittsburgh and Missouri are the second road game of a two-for-one deal in which Pitt (2000) and Missouri (2002) played in Perry Stadium.
Krebs said a previously announced home-and-home series with Wyoming is still in the works.
"Due to some scheduling issues on their end and our end, we are in the process of rescheduling those games," he said about the Wyoming series. "We haven't canceled the series. We are just looking for dates that match up."
