Post by trues on May 25, 2005 9:33:11 GMT -5
I wish we would have played better against them. It would appear as if they was trying to run away from playing us.
WINSTON-SALEM -- Elon University has agreed in principle to its first football meeting with a Division I-A opponent, a 2006 date at Wake Forest. Wake athletics director Ron Wellman confirmed the impending deal Tuesday.
Wellman said he has sent the contract to his Elon counterpart, Dr. Alan White, and anticipates completing the deal shortly. White, attending the Southern Conference baseball tournament in Charleston, S.C., has declined to comment on the matter until it is official.
The schools were scheduled to play in September 2005, but the Phoenix asked out of the deal this past December -- apparently in search of more time as it builds its program while competing in what may be the nation's toughest Division I-AA league. To fill the void on his school's '05 schedule, Wellman chose an ambitious upgrade, a two-year contract with Nebraska. The Deacs play in Lincoln, Neb., on Sept. 10, then face the Cornhuskers in 2007 at Groves Stadium.
Asked if he had any reservations in renegotiating with Elon, Wellman said, "No. Not at all. Their reasons (for withdrawing) were legitimate, and we always knew it was tentative. Dr. White was up front with me from the very beginning."
The matchup became more attractive to Wake this month, when the NCAA's chief legislative body, over an objection from the ACC, approved the addition of a 12th regular-season football game for I-A members starting in 2006. Already burdened with the newly expanded and arduous conference schedule, Wake began discussions with Elon and Liberty, seeking a geographically close I-AA opponent.
In its football history, Elon has won national championships (the NAIA crowns in 1980 and '81) and has gradually moved up the NCAA food chain -- from Division II to I-A independence to membership in the Southern Conference, which voted three years ago this month to accept the school effective July 1, 2003. The Phoenix has gone 3-12 in two seasons of conference play, but has built an acclaimed on-campus stadium and had only one short-term goal to achieve in football. That was a meeting with a I-A foe, and preferably one close to home.
Wake Forest still needs to fill its 2006 nonconference schedule, which is expected to include East Carolina and Elon. Wellman said he's trying to close a two-year deal with Mississippi in which the Demon Deacons would play in Oxford, Miss., in 2006 and the Rebels would come to Groves Stadium in 2009.
WINSTON-SALEM -- Elon University has agreed in principle to its first football meeting with a Division I-A opponent, a 2006 date at Wake Forest. Wake athletics director Ron Wellman confirmed the impending deal Tuesday.
Wellman said he has sent the contract to his Elon counterpart, Dr. Alan White, and anticipates completing the deal shortly. White, attending the Southern Conference baseball tournament in Charleston, S.C., has declined to comment on the matter until it is official.
The schools were scheduled to play in September 2005, but the Phoenix asked out of the deal this past December -- apparently in search of more time as it builds its program while competing in what may be the nation's toughest Division I-AA league. To fill the void on his school's '05 schedule, Wellman chose an ambitious upgrade, a two-year contract with Nebraska. The Deacs play in Lincoln, Neb., on Sept. 10, then face the Cornhuskers in 2007 at Groves Stadium.
Asked if he had any reservations in renegotiating with Elon, Wellman said, "No. Not at all. Their reasons (for withdrawing) were legitimate, and we always knew it was tentative. Dr. White was up front with me from the very beginning."
The matchup became more attractive to Wake this month, when the NCAA's chief legislative body, over an objection from the ACC, approved the addition of a 12th regular-season football game for I-A members starting in 2006. Already burdened with the newly expanded and arduous conference schedule, Wake began discussions with Elon and Liberty, seeking a geographically close I-AA opponent.
In its football history, Elon has won national championships (the NAIA crowns in 1980 and '81) and has gradually moved up the NCAA food chain -- from Division II to I-A independence to membership in the Southern Conference, which voted three years ago this month to accept the school effective July 1, 2003. The Phoenix has gone 3-12 in two seasons of conference play, but has built an acclaimed on-campus stadium and had only one short-term goal to achieve in football. That was a meeting with a I-A foe, and preferably one close to home.
Wake Forest still needs to fill its 2006 nonconference schedule, which is expected to include East Carolina and Elon. Wellman said he's trying to close a two-year deal with Mississippi in which the Demon Deacons would play in Oxford, Miss., in 2006 and the Rebels would come to Groves Stadium in 2009.
