Giannotto
“In 2012, because Memphis prior to that had won three football games in two years, everybody took our call. Everybody wanted to play us,” he said this week. “Now, you have the challenge of scheduling. But they’re still there.”
What Memphis can do to improve its schedule
My suggestion to Memphis athletic department officials would be to have two home-and-home series with highprofile programs going on each year, therefore guaranteeing one big nonconference game at the Liberty Bowl.
By high-profile program, I mean any Power 5 conference team, or if necessary, a school with serious football cache such as Boise State, BYU or Army.
It will be hard to do, especially because Memphis’ non-conference schedule is pretty much set through the 2023 season. It’s hard to project who will be good, or whether Memphis will still be good, six years from now.
It's even harder to convince borderline bowl teams from Power 5 leagues to play in Memphis when a loss to the Tigers could cost them bowl eligibility.
It doesn’t help that Memphis always has to be on the road during the second week of the regular season, which is a prime spot for a Power 5 conference home-and-home game, due to the Southern Heritage Classic.
But the Tigers played two Power 5 conference teams in 2014 and 2015, which were also the program’s best two seasons under former coach Justin Fuente.
Given the progress Memphis football has made in recent years, playing — and potentially beating — better teams is more important to elevating the program’s profile than simply stockpiling wins.
To his credit, Bowen meets with coach Mike Norvell weekly and part of their discussion revolves around getting teams to make the trip to the Liberty Bowl.
“My goal is to try to put together with Coach Norvell the best scheduling opportunities we have and create as many home opportunities as we can,” Bowen said, “and get (Power 5 conference schools) to agree to home-and-homes with us.”
How the schedule looks in years to come
It’s not impossible and wouldn't involve a radical change to Memphis' preexisting scheduling philosophy.
Temple, for instance, is slated to play two Power 5 teams, with at least one game at home, in six of the next seven seasons starting in 2019. UCF, which just came off an undefeated season, has the same sort of arrangement in 2018, as well as three of the next four years.
Memphis, meanwhile, has homeand-home series scheduled with Missouri, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Those are regional games put together since Bowen got to Memphis in 2012, and the program should be grateful he set up such attractive matchups.
It means in 2019, 2021 and 2023, an SEC team will be playing the Tigers in the Liberty Bowl, which is sure to draw the kinds of crowds Bowen wants.
But it also means in 2018, 2020 and 2022, the most notable non-conference home games will be against teams like Georgia State, Arkansas State, TexasArlington and North Texas. That’s a hard sell for casual fans.
For proof, all you had to do was look out at the crowd of 27,678 that came to the Liberty Bowl last week to see Memphis’ 59-22 win over Georgia State.
Norvell pointed out this week one of the reasons Memphis scheduled homeand-home series with those schools, as well as South Alabama, LouisianaMonroe and UTSA, is because they are all in fertile recruiting territories for his staff. But let's be honest: Do you really think a recruit is picking Memphis because the Tigers are playing any of those teams?
Maybe this fan base will get to a point where the Tigers' opponent doesn’t matter anymore. But we’re not there yet.
It’s still a lot of fun to watch Memphis football obliterate scoreboards with its high-flying offense. But it’s even more fun to see the Tigers play close games against brand name teams.