MoValley John wrote:RoyalShock wrote:A scrimmage against Denver is still far better than an exhibition game against a travelling team or D2/D3 team. You can't replace four hours of practice against a D1 opponent with a 40-minute game or another practice against each other.
A scrimmage being a better experience than a D-2 or D-3 team goes without saying. But I don't think Denver is even on the same level as Wichita State and these scrimmages are where you learn strengths and weaknesses. This is where you can expose your team to adversity without exposing yourself to negative press or God forbid, a loss. I just think Wichita State got short changed with this game. Kansas State would have been a good experience for both schools, Denver, not so much.
As for the D-2 exhibitions, if you aren't Evansville, these things mean nothing. Tell me McDermott was preparing the team for the season when he's subbing in walkons in the first six or seven minutes. The D-2 games are just there to whet fan's appetites, raise a bit of revenue and sell popcorn, I would like to see all Valley teams only schedule one exhibition and one scrimmage. I would hope the scrimmage opponent is on par with each Valley school. Wichita State tried, Kansas State screwed 'em, I think you did the best you could with little notice, but I still don't think it's all that great. Then again, come Valley play, what you learned or didn't in the exhibition won't matter, but it could help you in Maui.
I agree with pretty much everything you are saying. K-State did screw WSU. By the time they let WSU know they decided to not go with the scrimmage this year it was too late to get anyone of that quality.
It's still better than playing an even more meaningless D2 or D3 team in an exhibition. However, it's definately not AS ideal to have to scrimmage Denver rather than K-State. Denver is a decent squad and I'm sure coach and players will get more out of it than they would an exhibition so I'm not terribly upset given the situation.
