FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 05:13:40 AM

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sigma one

This may signal the increasing challenge of finding multiple OOC opponents within a reasonable distance.  Particularly true for the better teams as other schools don't want to schedule them either to take a beating or reduce their chances of an at-large bid to the playoffs Travel budgets factor in for many schools as well.  If this arrangement continues, it would be interesting if Randolph-Macon draws its rival Hampden-Sydney to play twice!

jknezek

I suspect the startup of Roanoke football is driving this. Hard to promise home and home series when you won't have room to schedule them going forward. Also, that third OOC is hard to get. I don't expect this will last more than this season as Roanoke appears to be on schedule to play conference ball in 2025.

Pat Coleman

Quote from: y_jack_lok on March 12, 2024, 07:16:27 PMRMC schedule announced: https://rmcathletics.com/news/2024/3/12/rmc-football-releases-2024-schedule.aspx

The accompanying article says this: "In 2024, each ODAC school will play one conference opponent twice. RMC drew Washington and Lee..."

Curious to know what is behind this decision, as opposed to schools having three non-conference games.

It sounds like conference schools were having trouble filling dates for just one season. Roanoke joins the schedule in 2025 so everyone had a one-year gap to fill.
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sigma one

Thanks for the clarification. Whew.

jknezek

#23419
I miss the days when W&L's non-conference schedule spanned a large geographic area. From Sewanee in Southern TN, to a myriad of Pennsylvania schools and west to Centre in Kentucky on a regular basis. Usually it was one game local, 2 games geographically spread. This year we have:

Salisbury, Newport News, and Randolph-Macon. W&L's entire season will be played in the mid-atlantic, with Salisbury being a 5 hour trip only because it's a royal pain to get there. Maybe you can exclude Guilford as the mid-atlantic, but only by state boundary, not by any considerable distance margin.

I just can't get excited about this. Not one little bit. Option on option game 1. Uggh. Non-D3 game 2. Double uggh. Conference opponent game 3. Triple uggh.

I know that third opponent is getting hard to find, but it wasn't that long ago we had Johns Hopkins, Sewanee, and C-M-S. Or Averett (pre-ODAC), Sewanee and Centre. Or F&M, Sewanee, and Southern Virginia.

Conference consolidation has just sucked for interesting OOC games. In the ancient times of the late 90s we had 4 or 5 OOC games. I remember going to Johns Hopkins, Davidson, Sewanee, Centre, and Swarthmore (RIP to the program), all in the same home and home 2 season span. We had OOC rivalries and a chance for player parents up and down the whole coast to get to a game easily.

Now... well, it's just uninspiring. I admire the Builders for their program and the challenges they face, but I hate that they are consistently on W&L's schedule (4th or 5th time since 2015). I hate having lost Centre and Sewanee, rivalries that lasted more than 50 seasons, with Sewanee getting 66 of 67 straight years (not counting the 2019 gap). I hate that we haven't played in New York outside of a playoff game in 25+ years. Or that we've never come down to some of the drivable SAA peer type institutions in the deep south now that Sewanee is off the schedule. Rhodes (1976), B-SC (never), Millsaps (never), and Berry (never).

It's just so uninspiring to see this schedule and as conferences continue to consolidate I just don't see it getting any better.


y_jack_lok

Stumbled across this a few minutes ago:

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2024-nfl-draft-small-college-prospects-to-watch-at-pro-days-including-a-qb-who-also-stars-on-special-teams/

"David Wallis, WR, Randolph-Macon
Wallis (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) was excellent down at the College Gridiron Showcase, and what stood out to me the most while I was there was his tremendous burst and acceleration. Then when I went back and studied his game, it was obvious that this kid is a legit speed demon. Wallis averaged 21.5 yards per catch during his career. He was a legit deep threat for the Yellow Jackets, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him crack 4.3 seconds in the 40-yard dash on the pro day circuit. With his kickoff return experience, combined with his speed, expect him to be in an NFL training camp this summer."