What are the advantages and disadvantages of playing East Carolina in a long-term series?

Hokie CPA: I guess it’s time for the annual message board skirmish over why we play East Carolina every year.  The old standby is always, “it’s a lose-lose situation for us: if we win, we don’t get any credit and if we lose, it means we’re the worst P5 team in the history of ever!”  Well, the truth, as always, is usually found somewhere in the middle.  While it’s true that they are currently a team that struggles at best, at one time the Pirates were Giant Killers. You could walk away from a game with them with a win and a modicum of respect.  And honestly, I get the feeling most people who frequent TSL really don’t have a problem with playing East Carolina quasi-regularly; they just wish we weren’t playing them EVERY SINGLE YEAR.  That’s a fair point.

Here is why a long-term series with East Carolina is a good idea:

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