Like millions of other college football fans, Jeff Compher watched as Boise State stunned Oklahoma in last year’s Fiesta Bowl. Mixed with the excitement was a realization for Compher, the executive associate athletic director at Washington.

The Broncos rallied for an overtime win using a flurry of trick plays. The trickery left Compher feeling similar to the Sooners’ defense: completely duped.

Three years earlier Compher, head schedule-maker at Washington, and athletic director Todd Turner noticed a difficult stretch at the beginning of the 2007 schedule. So Compher pushed back one of UW’s opponents to 2008, and filled the opening with the up-and-coming program from Idaho. And the team Boise State replaced? None other than the Broncos’ Fiesta Bowl victim, Oklahoma.

‘I thought, ‘Great move Jeff,” quipped Compher about his reaction following Boise State’s 43-42 victory that capped the Broncos’ 13-0 season.

The Huskies possess the consensus most brutal non-conference schedule. It starts by traveling cross country to play Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. That’s followed by back-to-back games against Boise State and BCS championship runner-up Ohio State. The Huskies end the season in Hawaii, but that’s no vacation. The Warriors already appear to have been dubbed the ‘Boise State of 2007.’

It should prove a difficult year for head coach Ty Willingham’s program, but there’s one thing Washington could receive more of than any other team in the country. Exposure acts as the crucial reason for putting together a challenging non-conference schedule.

‘It’s an opportunity,’ Compher said. ‘I think by chance if we could get off to a good start this year (it’ll bring national attention).

Marquee out-of-conference series’ such as Texas-Ohio State or Southern California-Nebraska were enjoyed by football fanatics during the past couple seasons. A home-and-home series against a top rival is a simple way for both teams to earn revenue and attract recruits. These games usually take place in September giving teams plenty of time to make up for a loss.

Nothing looks better on paper than a tough non-conference schedule. Well – except a win.

That’s the choice many traditional programs must decide upon when arranging its schedule. Schedule a weaker, less-appealing opponent and go for the easy win, or challenge your program by facing a prestigious foe in a high-risk, high-reward showdown.

Each school has its own viewpoint, but most that want to be taken seriously and garner national attention are tossing aside the Division I-AA cupcake opponent and licking their chops for the chance to clash with a high-profile team.

‘I don’t know if there’s a quote unquote ‘ideal’ (schedule),’ said David Plati, sports information director and head schedule-maker at Colorado, but he acknowledges arranging deals with marquee non-conference foes is vital to CU’s scheduling plan. He has assembled several top-notch opponents for the Buffaloes through 2015.

This year Florida State will travel to Boulder, Colo., for a nationally-televised game on ESPN. Plati tries to balance out the rest of schedule with formidable – but very beatable – opponents.

Plati greatly prefers a challenge like FSU than a foe like Division I-AA Eastern Washington, who Colorado welcomes in 2008. The school intends for EWU to be the last lower-division team Colorado ever plays, Plati said.

Other than the seemingly easy win, there are few other benefits from these games. The Division I-AA schools are handed six-figure paychecks to come in and, for all intents and purposes, lose. Modest opponents don’t result in packed stadiums, television deals or many of the other advantages that come from facing marquee programs.

Nevertheless, most top-tier programs enjoy having the ‘gimme’ win on the schedule. Washington prides itself on being one of few schools to have never faced a Division I-AA opponent, Compher said. Syracuse and West Virginia remain the lone teams in the Big East that do not meet a Division I-AA opponent in 2007.

‘What our schedule is this year is a darn good schedule,’ said Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson. ‘I think there’s a nice blend in there and I think as the years go on it’s going to be similar.’

More teams have appeared to entertain the idea of a marquee matchup. For a long time, the decision of whether to set up a game against a strong non-conference opponent was simple: Don’t risk it.

That all changed in the mid-80s with the rise of television dedicated to sports programming, noted Robert Zullo, a professor of sports management at Mississippi State University and an expert on college football scheduling.

The chance of having a game broadcast across the country caused sports departments to ‘think about (scheduling) in a different light,’ he said.

Zullo added schools find a variety of ways to utilize the medium. Scheduling games networks want to air provides money for conferences, which have deals with the network. On the recruiting trail, coaches can lure a high school star with the promise of his performances being viewed across the nation. Alumni love catching their alma mater on TV no matter where they live.

Networks will even suggest matchups they’d be interested in airing.

‘There are occasions where two teams might have an opening in a schedule and we can raise a possibility of a game between them,’ said ESPN spokesperson Michael Humes, citing this year’s contest between Virginia Tech and Louisiana State, two top 10 teams, as a game ESPN helped facilitate.

Money is not often involved in these situations. However, networks will pay six-figure ‘inconvenience fees’ to a school or conference that plays on a weekday, Zullo said.

Not everybody seems tempted toward making a demanding non-conference schedule. Traditional powerhouses, who fill 100,000-seat stadiums no matter the opponent or the price of the ticket, don’t need the extra revenue brought in by high-profile non-conference games, Zullo said. Moreover, schools like defending national champions Florida favor not gambling on a strong non-conference schedule, since UF plays in the dominant Southeastern Conference.

The Gators were criticized last season for scheduling Western Carolina – not only a Division I-AA program, but a bad one. Still, Florida finished with the toughest strength of schedule in the country.

‘I think it’s intriguing,’ said Florida head coach Urban Meyer about the possibility of scheduling a team like Ohio State or Texas in the future. ‘We’ve had discussions about it. But at this point we’re very satisfied with our schedule.’

It also helps that Gainesville, Fla., where the university is located, sits smack in the middle of one of college football’s top recruiting hotbed. Part of the reason for Washington’s trip to Hawaii will be to charm potential recruits into the Pacific Northwest.

But who knows? If the Huskies pull off a couple of upsets, recruits might be knocking on UW’s door to enlist in Willingham’s program. If a demanding non-conference schedule demands anything it might as well be some respect.

‘(The schedule) says we’re a top flight program who wants to get out there and play the best,’ Compher said. ‘We want to be seen in that light. Our fans expect it. Our coaches expect it.’

Published on August 30, 2007 at 12:00 pm