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I'd like to see the MIAA and GAC conferences work out a way to have teams play each other every year. Arkansas and Oklahoma are close in proximity to allow fairly easy travel for all teams and GAC puts out a fairly competitive product, certainly at the top of their conference anyway. Both have 12 teams and only play intra-conference games hampering the playoff selection committee and strength of schedule numbers. This is my proposal (and I'm basically prepared to be ridiculed).
The decision on which teams play each other inter-conference is made by the standings the prior year matching up across the standings. The matchups hold for two years so the teams meet in a home-and-away scenario. The decision about who they don't play in conference is also based on standings in reverse order, top does not play bottom for two years. So I am starting with the standings of 2017, the whole thing would reset from the standings at the end of 2019, 2021, 2023, etc. In this proposal, starting this year
-Fort Hays would play Ouachita Baptist in 2018 and 2019. Fort Hays would not play Missouri Southern those two years and Ouachita would not play East Central. Mo So and East Central would play each other twice.
-Northwestern would play Harding in 2018 and 2019. Northwestern would not play NEO State those two years and Harding would not play Oklahoma Baptist. NEO State and Oklahoma Baptist would play each other twice.
-Central Missouri would play Arky Tech in 2018 and 2019. Central Missouri would not play Kearney those two years and Arky Tech would not play SW Ok. St. Kearney and SW Ok. St. would play each other twice.
-Pitt St. would play Southern Arky in 2018 and 2019. Pitt St. would not play Lindenwood those two years and Southern Arky would not play Southern Naz. Lindenwood and Southern Naz. would play each other twice.
-Central O. would play SE Ok St. in 2018 and 2019. Central O. would not play Mo Western those two years and SE Ok St. would not play NW Ok. St. Mo Western and NW Ok. St. would play each other twice.
-Emporia St. would play Henderson St. in 2018 and 2019. Emporia St. would not play Washburn those two years and Henderson St. would not play Ark-Mont. Washburn and Ark-Mont. would play each other twice.
With just one out of conference game the scheduling would be pretty straight forward. i would recommend playing 5 conference games to start the season, then week 6 is the inter-conference game for every team then finish the season with 5 conference games.
My thinking as far as using the standings is pretty straight forward, I believe teams tend to trend in their location over a couple years. Top teams tend to stay at the top and bottom teams at the bottom. So it doesn't necessarily hurt your best returning teams FHSU, NW Mo, Central Mo in this case if they actually lose in season to a top team from the other conference. And it certainly helps if they win those games. Likewise your bottom teams tend to take multiple years to dig themselves out of the bottom, but in this proposal at least you give the bottom teams a chance to chalk one up in the victory side by taking on a like bottom team from the other conference instead of taking a huge L by avoiding having to play the top teams for a couple years. The middle tier teams get to play the top teams in conference still to try and move up, play the bottom teams to keep their record polished and play a like middle tier across the other conference which could bolster their resume. I also don't think missing 1 conference game is going to upset the balance of how the standings would play out. The proposal is also straightforward for the athletic directors - they don't really have to worry about (or negotiate) who to schedule because it's decided by the standings.
Finally, I think it's good for fans and D2 football to see some of these other teams play each other. Yes, it would mean setting aside some rivals for a few years sometimes, like Emporia vs. Washburn in the current scenario. But at the same time are we really that interested in seeing NW Mo take on NEO St. (that's not a rivalry) and not get to see them take on Harding for a couple years. I think in this proposal you'd see, especially at the top of the conferences, teams that have meet in the playoffs in the past become rivals. I think it also helps make even meaningless games at the end of the season have a purpose. You'll want to finish as high in the conference standings so going into the next couple years your schedule is likely to be increased by getting a slightly higher cross conference opponent.
The decision on which teams play each other inter-conference is made by the standings the prior year matching up across the standings. The matchups hold for two years so the teams meet in a home-and-away scenario. The decision about who they don't play in conference is also based on standings in reverse order, top does not play bottom for two years. So I am starting with the standings of 2017, the whole thing would reset from the standings at the end of 2019, 2021, 2023, etc. In this proposal, starting this year
-Fort Hays would play Ouachita Baptist in 2018 and 2019. Fort Hays would not play Missouri Southern those two years and Ouachita would not play East Central. Mo So and East Central would play each other twice.
-Northwestern would play Harding in 2018 and 2019. Northwestern would not play NEO State those two years and Harding would not play Oklahoma Baptist. NEO State and Oklahoma Baptist would play each other twice.
-Central Missouri would play Arky Tech in 2018 and 2019. Central Missouri would not play Kearney those two years and Arky Tech would not play SW Ok. St. Kearney and SW Ok. St. would play each other twice.
-Pitt St. would play Southern Arky in 2018 and 2019. Pitt St. would not play Lindenwood those two years and Southern Arky would not play Southern Naz. Lindenwood and Southern Naz. would play each other twice.
-Central O. would play SE Ok St. in 2018 and 2019. Central O. would not play Mo Western those two years and SE Ok St. would not play NW Ok. St. Mo Western and NW Ok. St. would play each other twice.
-Emporia St. would play Henderson St. in 2018 and 2019. Emporia St. would not play Washburn those two years and Henderson St. would not play Ark-Mont. Washburn and Ark-Mont. would play each other twice.
With just one out of conference game the scheduling would be pretty straight forward. i would recommend playing 5 conference games to start the season, then week 6 is the inter-conference game for every team then finish the season with 5 conference games.
My thinking as far as using the standings is pretty straight forward, I believe teams tend to trend in their location over a couple years. Top teams tend to stay at the top and bottom teams at the bottom. So it doesn't necessarily hurt your best returning teams FHSU, NW Mo, Central Mo in this case if they actually lose in season to a top team from the other conference. And it certainly helps if they win those games. Likewise your bottom teams tend to take multiple years to dig themselves out of the bottom, but in this proposal at least you give the bottom teams a chance to chalk one up in the victory side by taking on a like bottom team from the other conference instead of taking a huge L by avoiding having to play the top teams for a couple years. The middle tier teams get to play the top teams in conference still to try and move up, play the bottom teams to keep their record polished and play a like middle tier across the other conference which could bolster their resume. I also don't think missing 1 conference game is going to upset the balance of how the standings would play out. The proposal is also straightforward for the athletic directors - they don't really have to worry about (or negotiate) who to schedule because it's decided by the standings.
Finally, I think it's good for fans and D2 football to see some of these other teams play each other. Yes, it would mean setting aside some rivals for a few years sometimes, like Emporia vs. Washburn in the current scenario. But at the same time are we really that interested in seeing NW Mo take on NEO St. (that's not a rivalry) and not get to see them take on Harding for a couple years. I think in this proposal you'd see, especially at the top of the conferences, teams that have meet in the playoffs in the past become rivals. I think it also helps make even meaningless games at the end of the season have a purpose. You'll want to finish as high in the conference standings so going into the next couple years your schedule is likely to be increased by getting a slightly higher cross conference opponent.
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