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Post by The Cats on Mar 23, 2020 22:19:40 GMT -5
Western Carolina and Presbyterian have signed a contract for a single game at Western Carolina’s E.J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, N.C., on September 17, 2022. Western Carolina will pay Presbyterian a $95,000 guarantee for the contest, according to the copy of the contract.
Western Carolina and Elon will compete in a home-and-home series in 2024 and 2025. Elon will host the first game of the series at Rhodes Stadium in Elon, N.C., on September 28, 2024, before the series concludes at E.J. Whitmire Stadium on September 13, 2025.
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Post by wcugamer2 on Mar 24, 2020 10:07:08 GMT -5
I really like the Elon series. They are former SoCon opponent, and they have drastically improved their program since leaving for the CAA. Looking forward to this!
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Post by bigdave82 on Mar 24, 2020 12:05:55 GMT -5
I really like the Elon series. They are former SoCon opponent, and they have drastically improved their program since leaving for the CAA. Looking forward to this! I like it as well I wish we would play more of the Carolina schools like Campbell or Central |
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Post by catamountforchrist on Mar 24, 2020 13:06:07 GMT -5
I tend to disagree! Playing these smaller schools does not support the goal of elevating the football program. I remember when we first booked Elon back in the 90's. I complained especially since we had to play in a high school stadium at Elon.
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Post by catamount87 on Mar 24, 2020 13:23:22 GMT -5
It at least is two D1 games and that is important when it comes to playoff implications. Although Presby will be more like playing a D2 game. Bottom line, it keeps us out of the issues we saw a few years ago when we were between a rock and a hard place when it came to D1 wins.
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Post by bigdave82 on Mar 24, 2020 13:52:34 GMT -5
Playing schools like Elon could help the football team in the future they keep getting better and better every year and I think they were even ranked and make the playoffs a few years ago so if we beat them that could help us gain exposure and also get better recruits I mean it's not like we'd be playing against James Madison or North Dakota State but it's a start.
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Post by wcugrad95 on Mar 25, 2020 7:52:13 GMT -5
As already mentioned, we have to find D1 games to off-set the money games we play each year. Playing teams like Elon or Campbell makes a ton of sense to me (I’d like to get the Camels on the schedule), and taking the occasional game with Presbyterian or Davidson is better than playing North Greenville or Mars Hill. It “counts” while still hopefully being nearly a guaranteed win - something we obviously need.
I like series we now have with teams like EKU and Elon over the next several seasons.
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Post by The Cats on Mar 25, 2020 8:52:22 GMT -5
Out of conference games so far on the schedule
2021
09/04 - Eastern Kentucky
09/11 - at Oklahoma
09/25 - at Gardner-Webb
2022
09/03 - at Charleston Southern
09/10 - at Georgia Tech
09/17 - Presbyterian
2023
09/02 - at Arkansas
09/16 - at Eastern Kentucky
09/23 - Charleston Southern
2024
08/31 - at NC State
09/07 - Campbell
09/14 - at Montana
09/28 - at Elon
2025
08/30 - Montana
09/06 - at Wake Forest
09/13 - Elon
09/27 - at Campbell
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Post by catamount87 on Mar 25, 2020 9:54:27 GMT -5
Out of conference games haven't been the SoCon's strong point over the last decade or so. We've definitely taken on the chin when the SoCon gets criticized for our OOC games and OOC record. Rumor mill over the last 5 or so seasons is that there has been some pressure placed on the SoCon to improve OOC scheduling. The playoff selection committee has all but flat out said the SoCon needs to improve OOC performance too.
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Post by wcugrad95 on Mar 25, 2020 14:24:11 GMT -5
All of the upcoming schedules look way better than they have in the past. No D2 games, several really good looking home-and-home series (EKU, Montana, Campbell, Elon, Charleston Southern). And only 1 money game each year. The 2024 and 2025 schedules in my opinion look to be the best I have seen for WCU in a long time - even the OOC games are all in the state of NC except the 1 trip to Montana. If we can somehow/someway get back to having some 7-win seasons, these schedules would put us in the playoffs versus us being left out when we had the D2 games.
Of course, we are a long way from 7-wins right now, but at least this makes it look like the schedule would not be a deciding factor.
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