THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: September 11, 2013

While I understand the reasoning behind scheduling some lower division schools in college football through the month of September, it doesn't make it right.

Say what you want about those "cupcake" games, that they bring in money for those smaller schools that agree to get beat up on, but are they a smart idea?

THERE HAS been a few teams that have almost made that idea look really silly, with the Eastern Washington Eagles beating Oregon State during the opening weekend of games on Aug. 31.

Eastern, as you might remember, beat Idaho last year in the opener and gave Washington State all it could handle in Pullman last year before eventually losing.

Wyoming, which beat Idaho 42-10 last Saturday in Laramie, nearly beat Nebraska in Lincoln that previous weekend in Lincoln before losing 37-34.

Texas, which was ranked 15th in the nation before after beating New Mexico State by 49 points, has since found itself out of the Top 25 after getting beat by BYU last Saturday in Provo - a loss that resulted in the team's defensive coordinator being fired just two games into the season.

Some teams will stop snacking on those cupcakes and get into their conference schedules, where things will get a little more difficult for the remainder of the year.

JUST LOOKING at the quality of its opponents in the first two weeks of the season, the North Idaho College volleyball team should be well-tested by the time the Cardinals hit the Scenic West Athletic Conference schedule in a few weeks.

To open the season, they took preseason No. 1 Western Nebraska to five games, then beat 19th-ranked Casper College in three games at the Crystal Inn Invitational in Salt Lake City.

Last weekend at the Starr Corporation Invitational in Twin Falls, NIC went 3-1 - with the lone loss to 13th-ranked Blinn College - to move to 5-3 on the season headed into their final tournament before conference play begins on Sept. 27.

With the way they've played early on, it wouldn't shock me to see the Cardinals ranked in the first poll of the regular season, to be released today.

The NIC men's soccer team was receiving votes last week, but due to injuries and a pair of losses over the weekend, might not be receiving the same kind of attention they had earlier in the year.

What has made it tougher has been the team, along with the women's team, have traveled to Wyoming to play four games thus far.

For the men, the longest road trip they'll have between now and Oct. 16 will be traveling to Seattle.

When healthy, the men could contend for a spot to the NJCAA tournament.

NIC's women's soccer team will have to make a few more road trips to the Oregon and Washington area, but could be right in the mix by the time the postseason arrives for the Cardinals in the first part of November.

Whatever success they'll enjoy will be the result of hard work and practicing.

Not snacking on any cupcakes along the way.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com.