He noted his disdain for "guarantee" games, i.e. games in which, typically, a major team hosts a low-major team and is not obligated to give them a return game in the future. This is commonplace for teams in the Big South, SoCon, SWAC, and just about every other bottom-tier conference whose institutions, needing money, play several power conference teams every year with no return game. This is simply the cycle of college basketball: major teams, who play in the toughest conferences with a stacked schedule in January and February, look to rack up easy wins and develop players against inferior teams who need the cash. The big guys get wins, the little guys get experience and money, and everyone is happy. Or are they?
There is a reasonable argument to suggest that if a low-major team cannot survive in Division I without loading non-conference schedules with guarantee games, then they shouldn't be in Division I. This idea, while insightful, is a bit anti-opportunistic. Take Texas Southern (who was mentioned in that conversation I mentioned earlier) as an example. The Tigers, who compete in the SWAC, a conference known for its APR penalties and recruiting violations, were found guilty of doing just that in 2012; they used ineligible athletes, exceeded scholarship limits, and committed "booster-related recruiting violations". They were subsequently banned from postseason play that year, but finished with a 16-2 record in the SWAC (and only 17-14 overall....go figure) to be crowned regular season champs. Last season, they followed that up with a 19-15 (12-6 SWAC) record, a conference tournament title, and an NCAA tourney berth, albeit in Dayton. And this year, the Tigers are currently 1-8 overall, and have a grand total of one home non-conference game: Lamar. Of their twelve OOC road games, seven are against Power 5 Conference teams.
This is a common trend for the SWAC and other low conferences. Alcorn State and Grambling State have two OOC home games. Mississippi Valley State has one. Arkansas-Pine Bluff has none. Not surprisingly, the SWAC is 6-74 (.075) in non-conference Division I games thus far. But despite all the losses, the conference champion is nearly guaranteed to have a winning record by March.
Although the SWAC is a bit of an extreme care, there is no doubt that all low-major conference programs face similar issues: the MEAC, WAC, America East, Sun Belt, Big South, Ohio Valley, Summit, Atlantic Sun, and, of course, the SoCon. Even with all the money gained from the guarantee games for lower schools (which might total $700-800k max, and that's only for the schools playing 90% of their OOC games on the road), the revenues aren't even close. As of 2013, Big Ten teams expended an average of $6.22 million for men's basketball. The SoCon? $1.53 million.* If you think that's crazy consider that some SWAC and Southland teams are spending as little as $500k. Larger colleges simply have massive enrollment, massive facilities, and as such they obtain exponentially more revenue from ticket sales, concessions, advertising, and media coverage. It's simply a different world over there.
VMI is playing four guarantee games this season, three of which are/were against Power 5 teams. (although the A10 might have something to say about that). Given that the payday is around $80,000, we should be pocketing upwards of $300k from these games alone. We should be thankful that our athletic budget is not so devoid of funding that we can't have home games before the New Year, but it'd be really nice to see more mid-major and low-major teams schedule in their backyard. Actually, I have no problem with a home-and-home deal between a major and a low-major as we saw last night with UNC and UNCG. Both teams benefit, and the little guy gets some much needed exposure on national television. It is, however, disappointing to see so many fellow low-majors relegated to 1-4 OOC home games/year and still often struggling to make ends meet.
Last week, after a ten-point loss at Florida State, Citadel coach Chuck Driesell was quite frank about his team's goal in coming to Tallahassee. "It gives our school a lot of money," he noted. "That’s probably the No. 1 reason I’m down here, is for the check." And as long as major programs have a fat bank account to draw funds from, it always will be about the check.
*- spending figures accorindg to BB State
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