The Jackal wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:35 pm
affirm wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 8:29 pm
Noticed Samford has a future hone and home contract vs. UIW, which is University of the Incarnate Word located in San Antonio. If that private SoCon football program and that private opponent can each mutually travel that far (it is a long way from Birmingham to San Antonio) in consecutive seasons for an FCS OOC game, then I am AGAIN suggesting that Furman should be seeking similar FCS opponents for FCS OOC games, especially opponents near cities with big airports. Or maybe it's just not worth the effort, the cost, the wear and tear on the teams, etc.; but I think it would at least make the schedule more interesting and spread the publicity and possibly the recruiting footprint somewhat.
There are probably not as many private FCS schools as you might expect that would fit this bill.
The Ivy League has a few schools in major metro areas. Villanova and, arguably, San Diego would be options. Houston Baptist maybe.
Beyond that, there are a couple of schools in the rust belt-midwest that I just don't get too excited about - Duquesne, Drake, Butler, Robert Morris. A number of those schools are non-scholarship.
Also, Furman is already recruiting heavily in Texas. They are one of the few SoCon schools that pull that off. So, while I get the sentiment, using playing in Texas as an example of how Furman could expand their recruiting footprint isn't a great example. They are already doing that.
As an aside, I also wouldn't try too hard to follow what Samford is doing. The Bulldogs have generally produced one of the leagues' worst schedules.
Not just recruiting football players, but also recruiting other students, may be helped when Furman Football is played in states where we are not very well known. So I would continue to promote Texas schools as potential opponents, if near enough to airports in Houston, DFW, and San Antonio - even if public universities.
Some other public universities that I’d like to see us have home and home are Indiana State, Missouri State, Delaware, Towson, and Rhode Island. (And let’s keep it going with W&M.)
Some private colleges I suggest for home and home are Holy Cross, Colgate, Wagner, Long Island University, Bryant, Sacred Heart, Georgetown, Robert Morris, Villanova as you mentioned, plus (as previously requested in another thread) Richmond (bus) and Elon (bus). (I also like possibilities with Bucknell, Lafayette, and Lehigh —but those are not listed in this post because they seem not particularly close to any big airports.)