North Carolina still has not scheduled a 12th football game for next season, but "we're close,'' associate athletics director Larry Gallo said Monday. "We hope we have something done by the time the ACC releases the football schedule."
Gallo would not reveal what schools might fill the open slot, but Penn State, which also has an opening for next season "is not in the mix right now."
"The problem is, we have to have the game at home, for revenue purposes,'' Gallo said. Penn State wants a home game, too.
The opening in the Tar Heels' schedule occurred when coach Butch Davis opted to cancel a home-and-home series with Colorado. This year's season-opener against McNeese State replaced one of those games, but finding a substitute for next season has been difficult because most major conferences schedule several years in advance, and usually want a home-and-home series. UNC wouldn't be able to "return" a game for several seasons, because its schedule is so full.
Gallo said he is still hoping to schedule a Division I-A opponent, but said it's still possible the Tar Heels could play a second I-AA team next season.
The ACC is expected to release its schedule in the coming weeks.
Carolina's three non-conference games next season are against The Citadel (a I-AA team) and East Carolina, and at Connecticut.
— Robbi Pickeral
Monday, January 26, 2009
UNC still trying to fill football schedule
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7 comments:
Comon UNC- take a chance and improve your reputation- pickup ASU for your 12th game - everyone knows it would be a great game regardless of the outcome - UNCs program is on the rise and the ASU game would do alot to remove the patsy rep that UNC has picked up over the past few years.
Playing and beating App St. does NOTHING for UNC. This would be a no win situation for the Heels and the complete opposite for ASU.
Plus it would do nothing for UNC's bowl chances as they already have a I-AA team on the schedule. Only programs like Clemson and FSU do that...
Plus ASU schedule is already set and they can't add another team anyway. I am a fan of both school and smitty is correct it would do nothing to benefit UNC to win the game. Although I don't think it would be a push over as some would think.
I'd love for UNC to play App. Wake and State have done it semi-recently. And while if UNC would play them and win the sentiment would be "they were supposed to win", why not schedule App when the top 1-AA school in the nation is in your backyard? Butch is probably scared though, just like he was scared to play Colorado.
Yep, that's it, everyone's just scared off App. If UNC is going to improve on a rep of scheduling patsies, adding a I-AA team is NOT the way to do it, no matter who it is. It makes a whole lot more sense for Butch to get the UNC name into fertile recruiting grounds like Louisiana and Florida than it does Colorado, and given how in state recruiting is going, a game against App does less than the game against the Citadel.
I'm hearing the game to finish the UNC schedule out is possibly FCS powerhouse Georgia Southern.
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