LAWRENCE, Kan. — Appalachian State’s shocking upset of Michigan has done nothing to change the ideology of Kansas schedule makers. Associate athletics director Jim Marchiony said the Jayhawks plan to continue to schedule opponents from the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.
“I remember a couple years ago when we played Appalachian State and nobody here thought they were any good,” Marchiony said. “There are no gimmes in college football. You can’t worry about what people think of the schedule; you just do what you think is best for the program.”
In 2005 KU defeated the Mountaineers 36-8. Appalachian State won the FCS championship that year.
The Jayhawks beat FCS foe Southeastern Louisiana 62-0 in Week Two. They will host Sam Houston State early next season.
Marchiony said FCS schools generally accept less money to travel to Lawrence than lower-division FBS opponents.
FCS opponents are considered inferior to their larger-division counterparts, without the exposure, resources or prestige to recruit on a national level. Yet Michigan’s hiccup, coupled with such upsets as Northern Iowa’s Week One win against Iowa State, has helped debunk the notion that FCS opponents are pushovers.
Marchiony said KU has tried to “schedule for success,” with an eye on getting enough wins for bowl eligibility.
KU student Eric Sternberger said he would rather see the Jayhawks host a marquee non-conference game than qualify for a lower-tier bowl game with wins against inferior competition.
“What does bowl eligibility mean?” Sternberger said. “There are 30 bowls. That means you’re an average team. The only bowl games that matter are the BCS games.”
Kansas played an FCS opponent in nine of the past 10 seasons, and won each time. Before that, the team only had scheduled one FCS opponent since 1990. Only one victory against an FCS opponent can be counted for bowl eligibility each season.
“When you get to the point where you want the program to be, then you can think of having a more challenging schedule,” Marchiony said.
Sternberger believes a program should be built with the opposite mindset.
“If you play good teams, you will get more national attention and better players,” Sternberger said. “Our schedule looks bad. I’m a fan of a tough schedule, something like Kansas State’s, because they get national TV exposure. That helps recruiting.”
KU student Patrick Millard said the university had a responsibility to fans to put together a more difficult schedule.
“I don’t feel like KU should ever have the easiest schedule in the nation,” Millard said. “It isn’t fair for the fans. My uncle drove two and a half hours to Lawrence to watch this game.”