By Harry Minium

When Old Dominion announced in 2012 that it would join Conference USA and move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision, East Carolina was supposed to be part of the deal.

ECU was a longtime Conference USA member and then Pirates' athletic director Terry Holland helped persuade ODU to move up. Located a little over two hours away from Norfolk in Greenville, N.C., ECU is the closest FBS school to ODU and the Pirates were certain to become ODU's biggest rival.

That is, until the Big East (now the American Athletic Conference) beckoned and ECU moved on to a higher league.

You can't blame ECU for moving up. It was an opportunity that every Conference USA member would jump at if they had the chance.

But the loss of ECU as a football rival was a blow to ODU, and I think, in the long run, for the Pirates as well.

Six years after ODU moved up, the Pirates finally come to Norfolk Saturday at 6 p.m.

ODU coach Bobby Wilder hopes the series with East Carolina is extended.

The schools met twice before in Greenville, with ECU winning both. The teams aren't scheduled to meet again in the future, but there seems to be real hope that the teams will play a long-term series in the future. That would be a good thing for both schools. More on than later.

Saturday's game surely will draw a large and loud crowd, as ECU fans generally follow the Pirates by the thousands and ODU seeks revenge for a controversial two-point loss last season in Greenville.

That loss, which likely occurred because of errors made by a Conference USA officiating crew, may have been the turning point for the Monarchs. Had they won, I think it's likely they would have gone on to win six games.

Instead, they finished 4-8.

With less than a minute remaining last September in Greenville, Justice Davila intercepted an ECU pass that would have clinched a one-point ODU victory. The referee closest to the play ruled it a catch, but a ref who was further away overruled him.

Column on 2018 ECU victory over ODU

It was reviewed via replay, but because it was such a close play, the evidence wasn't convincing enough to overrule the call.

C-USA officials admitted the ref erred, that he should have ruled it an interception on a play that close and then sort it out on the replay. Had that happened, the INT surely would have stood.

ECU then kicked a late field goal to win the game.

Just like last season, this is a critical game for both teams. ODU is 1-2 after narrow losses at Virginia Tech and Virginia. The Monarchs earned a ton of respect by keeping those games close in the fourth quarter. In fact, you could argue that on both nights, ODU was the better team.

But gaining respect and being lauded for playing well doesn't get you into a bowl game, and that's certainly something ODU aims to do this season.

It's a lot easier to get to 7-5 or 6-6 when you're 2-2 entering your Conference USA schedule as opposed to 1-3.

ECU is 2-2, but lost badly to Navy and N.C. State and eked out a victory over William and Mary. Interestingly, ECU has not won a road game since beating Connecticut two years ago.

ODU is a one-point favorite but when it's that close, neither team is really favored.

East Carolina plays ODU for the first time in Norfolk Saturday night.

ODU coach Bobby Wilder said that his team's top goal is to win all six home games, and doing so makes you bowl eligible.

“When you look at our record, we've always played well at home,” Wilder said. “We've had some .500 records but we've never had a losing record at home.

“We normally play good football at home, and that's because of the fan base, the atmosphere, the crowd. We're going to need that Saturday night.

“East Carolina is a regional team. We recruit against them. They are in the American Athletic Conference. There's a lot about their program that getting a win Saturday would be a big boost for us.”

ECU and ODU should play more often

ODU and ECU are similar schools that are in conferences that require you to fly long distances. ODU's closest rival is Charlotte and ECU's are Navy and Temple.

It makes sense for both schools to schedule regional rivals, where you can bus your team and your fans can travel to see you play.

ODU athletic director Wood Selig told Ed Miller from The Virginian-Pilot that he is negotiating a series the ECU and that officials there have been receptive.

“I would love to see it,” Wilder said. “I hope that works out, that we play them more often, if not every year, on a more regular basis.”

So do I. It makes so much sense to bus two hours to a game rather than fly to a more distant rival. ODU recruits in North Carolina and ECU in Tidewater. ECU has a lot of supporters here and ODU has plenty in eastern North Carolina.

Even if the schools aren't in the same league, given time, this rivalry could be to football what VCU is in basketball.

ODU fans turned out at U.Va.

When ODU took a 17-0 lead over then No. 21 Virginia last weekend in Scott Stadium, U.Va. fans mostly sat on their hands. Not so for the ODU crowd, who although largely relegated to the nose bleed seats, made a lot of noise.

The “ODU” rattled around old Scott Stadium and could be heard in the press box.

It was something of a surreal moment for me. Yes, ODU has come a long way, but who knew that in just their 11th season, the Monarchs would dominate a national ranked ACC team in the first half on the road?

U.Va. rallied for a 28-17 victory, but even so, assistant coach Bryan Stinespring Tweeted a thank you to ODU fans early Sunday morning.

More than 1,300 tickets were sold or distributed by ODU for the U.Va. game and there appeared to be at least 1,000 more spread all around the stadium.

We'll never really know how many ODU fans traveled, because many purchased tickets on secondary ticket sites where prices were much lower. But I saw hundreds of ODU fans tailgating amicably with U.Va. fans and everywhere I walked in the stadium, I saw ODU blue and white.

“That was a really good showing,” Wilder said. “It meant a lot not just to me, but to our players to have that kind of crowd and how loud they were.”

Virginia's Bronco Mendenhall likes the series with ODU

Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said prior to last Saturday's game that he's in favor of playing ODU and Liberty at home and on the road, and FCS schools such as William and Mary and James Madison at home.

“I like the idea of in-state, close, regional [games] because of the intrigue,” he said. “If I have my choice to travel across the country to play Oregon or stay in-state, I would much rather stay in-state.”

According to Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times, Mendenhall thinks that U.Va's ACC schedule is difficult enough, especially with the travel Syracuse and Miami and many points in between.

“I would like to continue with [in-state] philosophy in place. I think it's a natural fit,” he said. “Virginia Tech has already grasped the same idea.

“When you have Liberty as an independent, ODU as Conference USA, man, the quality of FCS teams that are close, it just makes sense.”

Virginia is scheduled to play at ODU next season and host the Monarchs in 2021.

“I hope the series gets extended,” Wilder said. “Playing Virginia, a program that we respect so much, is very important to us.”

C-USA off to a tepid start

It's been a tough go for much of Conference USA in the first four weeks of the season. Of the 14 conference schools, only Marshall (2-1), Louisiana Tech (3-1) and UAB (3-0) have winning records.

Generally, a C-USA team or two knocks off a Power 5 school, but so far, the league is 0-15 against major schools. Five games with Power 5 schools remain, but all come against very good opponents.

Middle Tennessee, which has lost to Duke and Michigan, travels to No. 14 Iowa this weekend. Florida International hosts Miami on Nov. 23 in a game that surely will sell out.

UAB is at Tennessee and Rice goes to Texas A&M on Nov. 2 while Western Kentucky is at Arkansas on Nov. 9.

Rice's 21-13 loss at Baylor is the closest a Conference USA team has come against a Power 5 school. The next two closest games were ODU's 31-17 loss at Virginia Tech and last weekend's 28-17 defeat at the Virginia. The loss at U.Va. was by far the closest game with a ranked team.

Overall, the league is 10-8 against mid-major schools from other conferences, (including three losses to American Athletic Conference teams) and 12-1 against FCS schools. An encouraging sign for the league: C-USA is 4-0 against the Mid-American Conference. C-USA, the Mid-American and Sun Belt generally tussle for the seventh spot among the 10 FBS leagues in power rankings. The higher C-USA finishes, the more College Football Playoff revenue the league receives.

North Texas, a preseason favorite to win the West Division, hosts Houston, while Marshall, the preseason East Division favorite, hosts Cincinnati in the two biggest games of the weekend outside of Ballard Stadium.

Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu