Himmelsbach | Big schools shouldn't schedule FCS teams

Each year, college football teams from power conferences line up and take aim at teams from the Football Championship Subdivision. Fans usually have little interest in watching these games, television has little interest in broadcasting these games, and some coaches have little interest in playing these games.

But the games go on, and despite what these schools will tell you, they go on because programs want wins, even if they have to purchase them.

Sure, they'll say how it's difficult to find 12 opponents to fill a schedule. Well, Notre Dame, USC and UCLA have never played an FCS school, and the Big Ten is already in the process of phasing them out. If they can find a way, so can the rest.

Or the power schools will tell you it's important to support these smaller programs with the fat checks they receive for getting popped. Please. If you cared that much about the well-being of second-tier football programs, make a donation or go play at their stadiums.

In the end, this is about wins and job security. There is a flimsy idea that success in college football should be measured almost entirely in bowl-game appearances.

"Congrats, you beat four mediocre teams and two less mediocre teams and then lost to six good teams. See you in the postseason!"

When coaches go to bowl games, they get bonuses and keep their jobs. And fans are often satisfied because they can say the humdrum team they cheer for is a champion, even if it is just the champion of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl or the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. (Those are both real, by the way.)

Well my advice here is to stop settling for second-rate. Stop looking for the cheap win.

The good news is it seems there is finally some momentum to reevaluate this scheduling paradigm. With the new college football playoff debuting this season, there will be an added emphasis on creating a schedule that will impress a selection committee.

That might only be a dangling carrot for the top-tier programs, but this playoff is going to be expanded to eight teams at some point, growing the pool of teams that will be tussling for an opportunity.

At the SEC meetings in Destin, Fla., this week, Alabama coach Nick Saban said he would prefer not to play FCS opponents. And when Saban speaks, people listen. He said it is difficult to find opponents who will agree to a home-and-home series. If the SEC finally went to a nine-game conference slate, of course, that would make scheduling less difficult.

Florida coach Will Muschamp also said that the Gators will phase out FCS opponents from their future schedules. Critics might say that Muschamp is just scared of losing to lower-level teams, as his Gators did when they fell to Georgia Southern last season. And sure, there are plenty of FCS teams capable of winning these games.

On one weekend last September, FCS teams actually tallied eight wins against FBS opponents. But they also lost 22 of them, and that was considered a historically good weekend for the little guys.

For the most part, the giants win. And for the most part, the games generate little interest. Louisville hasn't lost to an FCS program since 1987. Kentucky has never lost to one — the Wildcats are 4-20 over the last two years, with two of the wins coming against the FCS.

I have less of an issue with mid-level FBS programs facing FCS teams, but those in the power conferences should step back. Here's hoping they realize what the Big Ten has already discovered: Aside from a rare burst, these games are duds. It's time for the power programs to spend an entire season picking on someone their own size.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at 502-582-4372 by email ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com and on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach