Baylor has scheduled a game against University of Incarnate Word for the 2019 season. At a time when college football is moving toward a stronger emphasis on strength of schedule, Baylor’s latest scheduling announcement seems to go against the grain for those in favor of stronger non-conference match-ups. Baylor Athletics Director Ian McCaw took to the radio to defend the decision to add UIW, a FCS program coming off its first year after moving up from the Division 2 ranks, to the future schedule.
During an interview on ESPN Radio Central Texas McCaw said Baylor has often scheduled one game against a program from the FCS within the region. With UIW moving up to the FCS and joining the Southland Conference, they fall within those parameters. McCaw defended that decision by referencing SEC schedules against FCS opponents and said there is no plan to change that scheduling structure in the future at Baylor. Baylor has scheduled an FCS team every season dating back to 2001. The defending Big 12 champions are scheduled to host Northwestern State in 2014, Lamar in 2015 and Northwestern State again in 2016. As noted by FBSchedules.com, a future game against Liberty is also on the agenda but does not have a specific date or year in place just yet.
The self-proclaimed thick-skinned AD noted fans have voiced opinions and demand for more interesting, or perhaps challenging games, but games against the likes of Alabama or Ohio State are probably going to be pipe dreams according to McCaw. McCaw did say Baylor has been in discussions with UTEP about potential games in the future, but nothing has been put together just yet. A former Baylor rival from the old Southwest Conference, Houston, is not expected to show up on the future schedule any time soon.
Baylor will rack up the points on a weak opponent, but they will not b the only ones to do so in the coming years. As long as a win against a FCS school counts the same in the win column as one against a conference opponent, this scheduling trend is not going anywhere. The hope for the good of the sport is that more schools will move away from this scheduling philosophy as strength of schedule is given more emphasis in the College Football Playoff, but until a team is punished for playing inferior opponents solely to pad the stats and grab an automatic win, Baylor is far from the only team to take advantage of schools like UIW.
You can listen to the radio interview here.