TULSA (AP) — Athletic director Bubba Cunningham’s pursuit of more exposure for a rising Tulsa program has led him back to his alma mater, where he’s trying to put together a contract for the Golden Hurricane’s first ever game against Notre Dame.
Cunningham confirmed Thursday that he has met with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick about the teams playing during the 2010 season.
“They have some dates available. We’re trying to secure one of them, but I don’t have a contract yet. Hopefully it will work out,” Cunningham said.
“I think it would be good exposure for us, playing on NBC. To play at a historic stadium and institution like that would be a great experience for the students. I think it’s a great opportunity.”
Tulsa went 11-3 last season to set a school record for wins and has worked to set up games against high-profile opponents in recent years. The Golden Hurricane will open a home-and-home series against Boise State this fall and also has set up a three-year series against Oklahoma State beginning next year.
Games against Oklahoma are scheduled in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
“You need a balance and then you need to win, so you can’t overburden yourself but you also have to take some risks as well to get any kind of movement,” Cunningham said. “We have taken some risks. Sometimes it’s worked, sometimes it hasn’t but we think overall we’re headed in the right direction.”
Tulsa positioned itself for a potential BCS run with an 8-0 start last season before losing 30-23 at Arkansas — rallying to take the lead after falling behind 17-0.
In general, Tulsa has tried to form its non-conference schedule with one opponent from a BCS-affiliated conference, two from non-BCS leagues and one from the Football Championship Subdivision.
Cunningham has been creative in finding opportunities to get Tulsa on television. Of Tulsa’s 12 regular-season games this season, only seven are on Saturdays. Two are on Wednesday nights, two on Friday and one on Sunday.
“I think in an ideal world you’d like to play all of your games at 12 or 1 o’clock on Saturday and have everybody in the world watch, but that’s not a reality for us,” Cunningham said. “I think that these TV times give us a window to get some exposure.”
Cunningham said Tulsa has spread the word that it wants to play “high-profile games against quality opponents” and that leads to the occasional phone call.
“We hope the more that we get televised, the more people learn about the University of Tulsa being a small, private, high-end academic institution,” Cunningham said. “I think with our name and being in Conference USA, I think when you list off the schools, Tulsa sounds like Houston and Memphis — large, public, urban schools — and we’re not.”
