What if?

That’s one question the Panther athletic department is asking itself after just missing out on scheduling Oregon and the $400,000 payday from the game, said Assistant Athletic Director for Development John Smith.

Smith, who negotiates the Eastern football team’s contracts for many games, said Oregon was one of a short list of schools the Panthers almost penciled in their schedule.

Illinois, Navy, Western Michigan, West Virginia and Auburn all were in talks with Eastern about scheduling a non-conference football game.

Eastern will receive $225,000 to play Brigham Young on Sept. 10 in Provo, Utah.

Smith said the athletic department aimed at netting $200,000, and after subtracting travel costs for the BYU contest, the profits will exceed its goal.

Eastern announced its 2005 schedule Thursday, and it was finalized later than Smith would have liked.

Both Illinois and West Virginia had concerns about their scheduled “money games” and spoke with Smith about playing Eastern.

Illinois is scheduled to play San Jose State, but the Illini were concerned over rumors about San Jose State’s football program potentially being terminated, Smith said.

Illinois and Eastern are scheduled to play in 2006 with Eastern receiving $300,000.

Smith said discussions about moving that game up a year lasted until San Jose State resolved its program’s issues, leaving Eastern with an empty date on the schedule.

“We were kind of hanging,” he said.

After that, Smith and his assistant began calling numerous major programs and inquiring about open schedule dates.

It was early December when Navy called back because the school was concerned with Temple’s football team’s stability.

Navy gave Temple a Dec. 31 deadline to sign a contract, and if they didn’t come to terms, Eastern would sign a contract to play the Midshipmen.

“I got a call about December 27, and they said, ‘Temple signed the contract,'” Smith said. “So, then we were kind of left at the doorstep there.”

Following more phone calls, Smith said Western Michigan became an option, but not at the right price – $150,000.

Smith said Eastern would have taken on the Broncos if it didn’t get a better offer, and then, the Panthers did.

“The one we were really close on, that would have been huge, was Oregon,” Smith said.

“I thought we were in on it, and then they called us and decided to go with Montana.

“That one really broke my heart.”

That’s when talks with West Virginia, Auburn and BYU picked up. And when BYU was ready to sign a contract, the Panthers pounced.

“It’s going to be an exciting game,” Smith said. “It’s a program we’ve never played before, it’s in Provo, Utah and it’s a nice stadium right there in the mountains.

“So there are a lot of positives about it.”

THE SCHOOLS EASTERN DIDN’T LAND FOR 2005

– Oregon

– Illinois

– Navy

– Western Michigan

– West Virginia

– Auburn