Eastern Illinois and Illinois State have continued to play each other annually despite being in different conferences. (Photo by EIUPanthers.com)
By Dan Verdun
Non-conference scheduling is often a source of debate as the FCS playoff picture comes into sharper focus in late October and early November.
While programs have little control over conference schedules, coaches and athletic directors often work hand-in-hand developing the non-league slate.
These games, which generally constitute the first three games prior to conference contests, usually cover roughly the first fourth of a given season.
This fall is unique in that it allows teams to play a 12-game regular season. Therefore, nearly all FCS schools have scheduled four non-conference games, including at least one against an FBS opponent.
In the case of Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois, there are two games against FBS programs.
“Illinois was already on the schedule for this year,” EIU head coach Chris Wilkerson said. “The opportunity to play (Northwestern) in Evanston popped up, and now it’s even more unique with the coaching change that happened last year in the summer, the renovation of Ryan Field and now with the lakefront facility.”
Western Illinois opened its season at Northern Illinois and will play Indiana University Friday night.
The biggest reason for these games, of course, is the revenue it generates. These contests will put $950,000 into EIU’s budget and $800,000 into WIU’s coffers this year.
“It doesn’t hurt at this level to have those big paydays,” Wilkerson said. “It helps offset any deficits that we might have in our budgets and allows us to be able to do some things here at Eastern Illinois University to improve our student-athlete experience.
“It’s really the cost of doing business, and it’s a great opportunity for us to compete, for our alums to be able to see us and certainly for our recruits to watch us play our brand of football.”
While Joe Davis is undoubtedly cost-conscious as well, the first-year Western Illinois head coach shared another perspective.
“There have been schedules presented to me that have us playing on the East Coast or playing on the West Coast and I say, ‘Hey, if we can stay in the Midwest, let’s do it.’ There are good opportunities for families to travel to games,” he said.
Changing times
After 39 years in the Gateway/Missouri Valley Football Conference, Western Illinois moved the the Big South-Ohio Valley Football Association this season.
That too has changed scheduling circumstances. Illinois State and Eastern Illinois own the longest-standing FCS rivalry in the state, annually playing the “Mid-America Classic” and alternating as hosts.
That series – the fourth-most played in FCS – dates back to 1901.
Meanwhile, WIU and EIU will now play each other as members of the same conference for the first time since 1995.
As a result, in order for Western and Illinois State to meet, a non-conference game must now be worked out.
“For all three schools involved (EIU, ISU and WIU), it’s a really nice in-state rivalry,” Spack said. “It’s a good game to play. It doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg. If you win the game, it’s an FCS Division I win, which is great.
“We should play these guys every year and keep the rivalry alive.”
How strongly does Spack feel about continuing games against Eastern and Western?
“We need to keep playing them. As long as we’re all playing football, let’s play them,” he said. “They’re a no-brainer for all three schools.”
Beyond state lines
While longer distance non-conference games are rare because of added costs mainly caused by farther travel, they occasionally do occur. Illinois State, for example, plays at North Alabama Saturday.
“We couldn’t find another game so they agreed to play us,” Spack said. “You’d rather not go that far, because it’s another airplane ride and airplane rides are very expensive.”
In an ideal world, Brock Spack would like to see his Redbirds play an FBS opponent on a staggered basis.
“It’s tough for us to schedule right now,” the 16th-year ISU head coach said of this year’s 12-game slate. “You can go buy yourself a game, if you want to call it that, or play another FCS opponent. Or you can move up and go get paid. I like to do that every other year.
“I would much rather play a MAC team every other year or a Big Ten school. It just makes sense from a financial standpoint. Most of those games would be bus trips.”
There is also quite a difference in financial guarantees between Big Ten and MAC schools. Illinois State received $650,000 from its season-opening trip to Iowa (Big Ten) this past weekend. Meanwhile, Western Illinois received $350,000 from Northern Illinois (MAC).
Scheduling philosophies
Though football schedules are often pieced together years in advance, each program – mainly through its head coach-athletic director partnership – forms its own outlook and doctrine.
While Spack doesn’t necessarily want to play FBS each year, he does understand what it does for his program.
“We beat Eastern Michigan. Went out to Colorado State and won, and beat Northwestern. We can compete in those games and that’s part of the reason players come here,” he said.
Spack also knows what it does for his roster and recruiting.
“That’s impressive. We love to do that,” he said of schedules that feature the likes of Wisconsin, Iowa and Oklahoma.
“I’d love to play (FBS) Northern Illinois every year as well. That would be great.”
For veteran SIU head coach Nick Hill, that means testing your team before the rigors of conference play.
“I think you’ve got to challenge your team and find out (where they’re at),” Hill said. “Playing now in the Missouri Valley for nine years and really taking our licks my first few years here (showed me that). You’d better challenge your team (in the non-conference) and be ready to go (when league games begin).”
For Hill, the benefits are obvious.
“It pays off later in the season (for) the playoffs,” he said. “You know what type of a team you have. I think you can get some false hope if you play lesser opponents. It’s just the way that we’ve been. We want to challenge ourselves. We want to have great games. We want to have a challenging schedule. This year is no different, maybe one of the most challenging schedules from top to bottom.”
The Massey ratings, which were developed by sports statistician and assistant professor of mathematics Kenneth Massey, bear out Hill’s reasoning.
According to the early August preseason Massey ratings, Hill’s Salukis will face the second-toughest FCS schedule of the nation’s 129 FCS teams.
Portland State, which plays in the Big Sky Conference, topped that preseason list.
Following the first week of games, Illinois State took over the No. 1 spot after losing at FBS Iowa, 40-0. The Redbirds were listed at No. 14 entering the season.
The other three Illinois FCS programs rank 12th (EIU), 22nd (SIU) and 48th (WIU) on the updated ledger.
“It changes throughout the season,” Massey said.
2024 non-conference schedules:
EIU
Aug. 29 at Illinois (FBS)
Sept. 7 Indiana State (FCS)
Sept. 14 at Northwestern (FBS)
Sept. 21 at Illinois State (FCS)
ISU
Aug. 31 at Iowa (FBS)
Sept. 7 at North Alabama (FCS)
Sept. 14 Western Illinois (FCS)
Sept. 21 Eastern Illinois (FCS)
SIU
Aug. 31 at BYU (FBS)
Sept. 7 at Austin Peay (FCS)
Sept. 14 Incarnate Word (FCS)
Sept. 21 at Southeast Missouri State (FCS)
WIU
Aug. 31 at Northern Illinois (FBS)
Sept. 6 at Indiana (FBS)
Sept. 14 at Illinois State (FCS)
Sept. 28 McKendree University (D2)
2025 non-conference schedules:
EIU
Aug. 30 Dayton (FCS)
Sept. 6 at Indiana State (FCS)
Sept. 13 Illinois State (FCS)
Nov. 22 at Alabama (FBS)
ISU
Aug. 30 at Oklahoma (FBS)
Sept. 6 Morehead State (FCS)
Sept. 13 at Eastern Illinois (FCS)
Sept. 27 North Alabama (FCS)
SIU
Sept. 6 at Purdue (FBS)
Sept. 13 at UT Martin (FCS)
TBA Southeast Missouri State (FCS)
WIU
Aug. 30 at Illinois (FBS)
Sept. 20 at Eastern Washington (FCS)
TBA Eastern Kentucky (FCS with aspirations to go FBS)
Source: FBSchedules.com
Barry Bottino contributed to this story.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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