osu 77 wrote: Sun Jun 08, 2025 8:59 am
RBH23 wrote: Sat Jun 07, 2025 8:30 pm
Mission15 wrote: Fri Jun 06, 2025 2:02 pm
Snoozer, this one will be a blowout, sub .500 team from Pennsylvania isn't what I was hoping to see in this open slot.
One of the challenges to being independent is that you end up having to schedule a game like this.
Will see more of these games as scheduling becomes more challenging.
I agree when teams are chicken

to play them.
It comes down to incentive. What really is the incentive for schools to schedule IHS?
IHS already plays Burg and Jackson; second and third best programs in the area. And IHS dumped most the OVC teams, so that doesn’t leave many options on the Ohio side in this area.
As for top Ohio small school programs, they are going to be turned off from the distance. Example: MAC schools do not want to travel all the way to IHS for a game when there are many good options closer. Same with Columbus and Cleveland schools.
Big schools in Ohio have little incentive because they can find better games closer to their schools. Plus, what’s the benefit of playing a really good D5 school far away when a decent D1/D2 school is nearby?
And this doesn’t even get into conference play which limits IHS’ options to mostly the first 4-5 games in the season.
Simply put: being independent is very difficult even in an ideal location. For IHS, this problem is going to get worse with Portsmouth joining the SOC, and GA most likely looking to leave the OVC as well.