Tough slate helps East Carolina prosper

There's an easier path to football success than the one East Carolina has chosen.

The Pirates could schedule four inferior non-conference opponents and pad their win-loss record.

But that's not the preferred course of coach Skip Holtz or athletic director Terry Holland, who has lined up brand-name regional opponents for the next eight seasons.

Boom or bust, Holland has pitted the Pirates against BCS conference schools Virginia Tech, West Virginia, N.C. State and Virginia this season.

From now until 2016, the Pirates are scheduled to play Virginia Tech (seven times), N.C. State (six), South Carolina (five), North Carolina (three), West Virginia (two) and Virginia (one).

Extending the series against West Virginia also is a possibility.

Holland considers those matchups as "BCS Bowl games" for East Carolina and its fans.

"We are excited to play that level of competition," Holtz said before his Pirates beat Virginia Tech in last week's season-opener. "That's where we aspire to be, and I think the only way we can get there is if we line up and play (them)."

ECU doesn't automatically qualify for a BCS bowl, and it would probably take a 12-0 or 13-0 record to "maybe" get invited to one of the five BCS bowls, Holland said.

"We say, let's schedule our own BCS (bowls) and keep them regional, so our fans can participate," he said. "We think it is great for our fans, and we know it's a great thing for the coaches and players. It has had a tremendous impact on recruiting, a tremendous impact on our visibility, not only as an athletic program, but the university."

The way Holland sees it, beating a Virginia Tech or West Virginia brings more prestige to the program than "winning 10 or 11 games" against lesser opposition.

While East Carolina hasn't shied away from playing tough outside opposition, taking on too many non-conference heavyweights can knock a team out of bowl consideration and put a coach's job in jeopardy.

A wise, successful basketball coach once pointed out that scheduling ranked second to recruiting on his most important list, and his approach can include football as well.

North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour is cognizant of that philosophy.

"We enjoy having programs with traditionally strong football come in and play; our fans like that," Baddour said. "We also want to be careful we don't over-schedule, that our team has a chance to be successful in every way."

The Tar Heels opened last week against Football Championship Subdivision McNeese State and escaped with a 35-27 victory.

Carolina's other non-conference games are against Rutgers (Sept. 11), Connecticut (Oct. 4) and Notre Dame (Oct. 11).

"We are looking for a balanced schedule," Baddour said. "We also like to schedule non-conference opponents that help us be successful in recruiting. Each school has to sort out what is best for it."

For example, Duke beat FCS member James Madison in its opener and will play Northwestern, Navy and Vanderbilt in its other three non-league games. That's a realistic approach for a program that has long been down and trying to build under new coach David Cutcliffe.

(Contact A.J. Carr at aj.carr@newsobserver.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)