While on the subject of scheduling I have three suggestions for Mr. Frazier.
1-Return all marque games to the Dome.
This will increase season ticket sales, almost guarantee a full house with upwards of 15,000 potential new fans at these games and give the team the home fields advantage they richly deserve.
2-Try to schedule Buffalo and Army on an annual basis.
Hopefully both but certainly one on a 2 home 1 away basis. Playing both NY teams will help establish our presence as "New York's Team" both upstate and down. These games would certainly be more attractive than Tulane, Maine, New Hampshire and of course Wagner. Because of the short drive from the schools we could also anticipate they would bring more fans
3- Replace the marquis game with an annual "Rivalry Game" against, you guessed it, Rutgers! The game would be played annually in the New York City area. With two relatively equally matched teams, both with large alumni bases in the area the game could easily become a hot ticket (something the marquis games never have been)
In my many years watching SU football there have only been two other rivalries. When I was a kid Colgate was the game. When Ben came and built the program to a national power the game was no longer competitive and the rivalry died. In its place came Penn State. When we were competitive with then the rivalry became fierce. When the program declined (and PS demanded 2 home 1 away) the rivalry died.
In order to have a great rivalry you need four things: teams of comparable strength, a turf battle, competition for the same recruits and two fan bases that hate each other. Unfortunately the Grob and Schiano years brought about an equalization of the two programs. We are now getting beaten by Rutgers for recruits we want. We need to play them and beat them to get our mojo back. Ask Coach Schaffer which team they wanted to beat the most. As for the fans - this board uses more ink on Rutgers annually than all other opponents combined. Nuff said.